Are any broadband providers not shit?

[Gurke and Hare]

I've just bought a house that I'm moving into in a few weeks, and I obviously want to get the internet up and running before I move in. There's no option for Virgin Media (who despite the stick they get have been basically fine for the three years I've lived here albeit expensive) so it's going to be someone Openreach based.I want to have an online contract for BT Sports, so the path of least resistance is to go with BT Broadband as then I can get it for £9 a month less than if I get internet with someone else. People complain about BT broadband a lot but they seem to complain about all ISPs a lot, so it doesn't seem to make that much difference who I go with.

Feel free to share your broadband wisdom here.

[seepage]

If BT haven't installed full fibre (FTTP) yet but an 'Alt-Net' has e.g. CityFibre, and you want full fibre speeds, then you might need to go with e.g. Vodafone, but I think they get most complaints out of all the ISPs. BT are very expensive for me, but they provide Mesh Wi-fi extenders and a mini 4G router that the main router is supposed to failover to if there is an issue with the fibre broadband [both at extra cost]. Also, the moderators on the official BT forum can escalate issues if customer services are being unhelpful.

[Utter Shit]

Never had any problems with TalkTalk, Sky or BT. I think they're all much of a muchness to be honest, all companies have horror stories and customers saying they're the worst.

[Des Wigwam]

Talktalk were always fine and had them for 7 years. For some reason I don't remember the package I had to shift to was worse but cost more and Vodafone undercut them so I switched.

I think its 22 a month for fibre+ (rather than fibre super ++ extra or whatever they call their next one up).

I despise Vodafone and their customer service is appalling but the thing you are paying for is fast and reliable. Have to note I only have one TV that uses streaming and only I use the Internet for work (database / cloud based development) rather than 6 of us watching Netflix and online gaming at the same time.

Vodafone's tech service is great once you get through to them and like a personalised ASMR session.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Think one of the benefits of Vodafone is they're relatively new to the game, versus talktalk who have got a lot of customers and as policy pretty poor contention ratios (that's why they're cheap). Plus the whole data leak thing.

When I used a/vdsl rather than virgin I tended to go with plusnet they were fine. But owned by BT.

[Jerzy Bondov]

BT is fine. I've had good luck haggling with them. Also they came out to fix some shit and then tried to charge me £80 for it but I just got shirty on the phone and they backed down. Don't get the mesh router thing, you can buy your own mesh routers for less than you'd pay over the course of your contract, and then you can keep using them with other ISPs if you leave.

[Gurke and Hare]

Thanks for all the replies, this

I think they're all much of a muchness to be honest

is what I thought really. Probably just go with BT then.

For FTTP, do you need to get an installation for them to actually run the F to the P?

[seepage]

For FTTP, do you need to get an installation for them to actually run the F to the P?

Yes, steps:
1. They would have to had dig up the pavement at some point to lay the fibreoptic cable, and install a connection point, a Connectorised Block Terminal (CBT), near your premises.
2. Then, once the FTTP service is available, the CBT has to be connected to a Customer Service Point (CSP) box attached to the outside of your premises
3. then they drill a hole in the wall to connect the CSP to an ONT modem inside the premises, which then connects to your router.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I'm stuck at 2/3. City fibre have been round and because its several blocks put in a terminal cabinet at the end of the building (smaller neighbours just have a plastic terminal box in the ground). But if I query online it says the landlord/rectorer of the block beds to get internal installation.

[Gurke and Hare]

Yes, steps:
3. then they drill a hole in the wall to connect the CSP to an ONT modem inside the premises, which then connects to your router.

Thanks - won't bother with that then as the house is miles away and I'm not moving there for a few weeks. There's only me so it's not as though there'll be loads of people all watching Netflix in 4k at the same time.

[seepage]

ISPreview are reporting that BT broadband will change to EE for consumer customers around February time, along with the launch of a new EE-branded Smart Hub 3 router and new mesh wi-fi discs .