Broadband advice - Vodafone or Plusnet?

Hi everyone, we are looking a bit of advice re. taking out a new broadband contract. We are in the process of moving house and currently have a broadband contract with TalkTalk, however TalkTalk do not cover the new post code we are moving too so have agreed to let us out of our contract free of charge.
There isn't a great pile of options available to us at the new address as it is a remote area, but both Vodafone & Plusnet offer fibre broadband with the exact same download speed, Vodafone at £20pm and Plusnet £25pm. So my question is, is there any difference in either of them? I have read nothing but horror reports about both services so far, but then again I read nothing but horror reports about TalkTalk and I never had a problem with them!
I believe Plusnet is owned by BT, and uses the same equipment as BT, but is it worth an extra £5pm? Vodafone at £20pm for fibre broadband seems almost too good to be true when you compare it to competitors prices. Any advice folks?

Comments

  • onomatopoeia99
    onomatopoeia99 Posts: 6,951
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    Plusnet use BT wholesale backhaul, same as BT Internet and a number of other ISPs. TalkTalk use their own, which they also offer wholesale to other ISPs (the ISP I use offers a choice of both). To be honest, the wholesale backhaul isn't generally the problem.

    Where you're most likely to have difficulties is customeer service if there is a problem with your connection and TT, Plusnet and Vodafone are all at around the same standard. Plusnet historically used only UK call centres (don't know if that's still true) but that's only a limited benefit if the person in the call centre is reading from a script and knows nothing about telecommunications of TCP/IP - whether a person has a Yorkshire accent or a Bangalore accent makes no difference if they don't know what they are talking about or take ownership of the problem.
    Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 2023
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281
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    (I guess poor customer service is the price you have to pay for cheaper broadband)


    Judged by many posts on here no real difference between those two .
  • Xenon
    Xenon Posts: 229
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    Well i have been with Vodafone a few months - knew the horror stories but chanced my luck

    Touch wood has been fine no problems
  • AndyPK
    AndyPK Posts: 4,241
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    many more complains about vodafone.

    I guess it depends how important BB is to you or £5/month.

    If it were me I think I would go with plusnet for the 1st year, and at least understand what the line is capable of and get any issues sorted.
    Then in the 2nd year risk a cheaper supplier.

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  • Farmerbob
    Farmerbob Posts: 234
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    I left Plusnet last month for Vodafone and have had absolutely no issues the switch was seamless, the forum is full of woes on Vodafone!!!8217;s customer service but having been a mobile customer for 8+ years as well, I!!!8217;ve never had an issue. If you do choose to go with Plusnet however remember to use a cash back site when you sign up.
  • ValiantSon
    ValiantSon Posts: 2,586 Forumite
    As a former Plusnet customer I hold them in the highest disregard. Their customer service is truly awful. I'm also a Vodafone customer on my mobile and their customer service is not great either, but on balance, better than Plusnet. Many years ago , back in the dim and distant past, I was a BT customer for my phone (not broadband) and their customer service was.... abysmal!

    The moral of my story is that none of the telecoms companies I have had dealings with (and there are many more than those listed), except for my present one (SSE - but pretty expensive when it comes to renewal, so I'll be leaving after a super cheap deal for the last 18 months), have had good customer service. Go with the best cost.

    Of all of them, Plusnet were the absolute worst.
  • AndyPK
    AndyPK Posts: 4,241
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    Unusual for someone to say something good about SSE broadband.


    Many complaints going back a year or 2 about traffic management (slow download). Wonder if they sorted it.
  • ValiantSon
    ValiantSon Posts: 2,586 Forumite
    AndyPK wrote: »
    Unusual for someone to say something good about SSE broadband.


    Many complaints going back a year or 2 about traffic management (slow download). Wonder if they sorted it.

    I suspected that someone would comment on that. I speak only from my own experience. SSE have provided a consistent service giving around 76 Mbps upload and 19 Mbps download. We have not experienced any issues with throttling. There was a slight delay in the original transfer to them and without any fuss they acknowledged their mistake and paid the additional costs we had incurred from our then present provider. We contacted them about an issue with our router at a later date and they sorted that out quickly and without fuss. Furthermore, everyone I have spoken to at SSE has been polite, helpful, and knowledgeable. They have taken responsibility for sorting out both problems and followed up afterwards to ensure that everything was sorted and that we were satisfied. If they weren't going to be so hideously expensive after the end of our current deal then I wouldn't hesitate to renew with them.
  • I've been having problems with Post Office broadband for a while, where pages take ages to load which is very annoying, and spoke to a couple of people but what they suggest didn't make any difference and then when I email them it's as if they just have actors pretending to be technical support who don't do anything.
    My contract finished ages ago so I'm free to go to another company. Then on 6th September I had a phone call from Post Office about another 18 month contact, so I said that the service isn't much good so I don't want another contract. He was saying that he could save me money, but the 18 a month didn't seem much cheaper than I was having at the moment and my package didn't have calls included so the bill was quite expensive with calls added. He said I could have all calls included for free for three months, but he wasn't going to pressure me as I could have time to think about it.
    I waited a while for information in the post so I could read and decide if I want it, but information in the post didn't give that much information, so I emailed to request somebody call me to go over the contract again, and it was a similar kind of person who helps with the technical work that doesn't know anything and can't help. All she said was it looks as if I took out the contract on 6th of September and I would have cancellation charges if I change now. So I said it looks as if I've been conned into taking out a contact then, and all she said was could she phone me back on Monday with her manager listening. I don't want to talk to her again as she doesn't know anything, and they're going to con me by saying I can't cancel the contact now.
    Does anybody know who the ombudsman is or any organisation who can help me to know my rights?
  • ...and all she said was could she phone me back on Monday with her manager listening. I don't want to talk to her again as she doesn't know anything, and they're going to con me by saying I can't cancel the contact now.
    Does anybody know who the ombudsman is or any organisation who can help me to know my rights?

    If you won't even let them talk to you then nobody can help, stop being a child and put your big boy pants on and talk to them.
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