Internet service providers - back to BT?

[movingeast]

Hi all,

Hope I am posting in the right place. Looking for internet provider recommendations.

We are based in east Dulwich near peckham Rye and we are with virgin. We lost the internet for a day or more last week and despite having devolo units to boost the signal everywhere in the house, we still have a few dead spots.

Is anyone happy with their service? We have used sky and BT in the past, but again we weren?t that pleased with the service. I have family deep in the countryside who say they are now getting great speeds everywhere at home with BT?s new system. Have any of you found an improved service? Very important for us as my husband will be working long days WFH until at least September if not the end of the year.

TIA

Robyn

[gabys1st]

BT weren't coping about a month ago..mine packed up and stressing fact disabled shielded etc., on a Friday agreed that little modem I had frome previous problem wd be conected on the the Monday. When I expostualed at the wait was told that others were having to wait a month.

Wasn't impressed when we moved a couple of years ago to find it took them nearly a month to connect us.

[worldwiser]

We've been with Virgin for 15 years or so. The trouble is that they offer blisteringly fast speeds that no other local domestic provider can (yet) match, especially on the up side. Yes, they can go offline from time to time which is utterly infuriating, but other providers are certainly not immune. If you want a guaranteed service you have to go with a leased line commercial provider that will cost you a fortune. And while it would be more reliable it won't be anywhere near as fast. From what I read and hear there is no super supplier. They all have their faults so I say stay with the one you know.. unless you particularly like the other services from their competitors.

[Siduhe]

BT provision can be excellent - but it depends where you live in ED. We're at the Library end of Lordship Lane and have Fibre with Halo 1. You get great speeds and it's rock solid - one or two major outages in the last several years and those affected most of the country, not just ED.

However, some parts of ED (esp near Goose Green) don't have the same coverage and get very low speeds with no prospect of being upgraded in the near future. There are a few old threads about this.

So worth checking what service BT can offer you - if they can supply fibre it's fast and reliable in my experience.

[edcam]

Virgin are patchy but still better than BT or Sky.

[Penguin68]

There are only two residential local network providers in this area (indeed most areas) BT and Virgin. Everyone, whatever their brand, uses these networks. Plusnet is owned by BT, as are EE. Most of the other virtual operators use BT's (Openreach) network, because regulation requires that these services are offered wholesale. HOWEVER - most of the big virtual players will place their own equipment (racks) in BT exchanges - these have the line cards which 'operate' network and broadband services. These are called 'unbundled' services because they have been taken out of BT's network system.

Locally Virgin have massively over-sold its network so that there are frequently congestion problems, and quite small faults can take out a lot of customers. But as regards underlying network infrastructure - there are only two players in town. [but note that high bandwidth connections between nodes can and are supplied by other carriers, selling on a business to business basis].

Similarly a number of different network suppliers provide links into a national network from mobile phone masts.

Basically, unless you buy direct from BT or Virgin retail there may be multiple players in the network you think you are using.

[DadOf4]

As Penguin says - there's ultimately only 2 choices: Virgin network or BT network (sold by many others)

Another dimension is that the BT based stuff can either be traditional (copper based) or their fibre

Its worth noting that the virgin infrastructure is c.25 years old whereas the BT fibre infra is only c.10 years old - that, with overselling, is the root-cause of virgins issues around here IMO

My experience of Virgin (5ish years) was horrendous - very unreliable and their customer service is terrible

Moved to BT - much more reliable but patchy customer service

Been with sky now for last 3 years. Its based on BT fibre, but their customer service is superior

[Bic Basher]

Siduhe Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> BT provision can be excellent - but it depends

> where you live in ED. We're at the Library end of

> Lordship Lane and have Fibre with Halo 1. You

> get great speeds and it's rock solid - one or two

> major outages in the last several years and those

> affected most of the country, not just ED.

>

> However, some parts of ED (esp near Goose Green)

> don't have the same coverage and get very low

> speeds with no prospect of being upgraded in the

> near future. There are a few old threads about

> this.

>

> So worth checking what service BT can offer you -

> if they can supply fibre it's fast and reliable in

> my experience.

The closer to the exchange and the fibre cabinet you are, there's a better chance of getting faster speeds if you use the Openreach Network. I live between the exchange and the fibre cabinet on LL opposite Melford Road, so you can imagine that I get a rock solid service from TalkTalk.

Some people who live on or around Dog Kennel Hill are on the Brixton exchange on the furthest point of which they serve customers, so they get really bad speeds, especially on the old copper ADSL connections.

Those who live on the south side of Peckham Rye Common are on the Dulwich Exchange, while those on the north side are on the New Cross exchange, which is just off St. Mary's Road in Peckham where they're more likely to get faster speeds.

[doogsey]

Near Goose Green, BT are reliable but *extremely* slow (3mbit). Virgin OTOH are unreliable but *extremely* fast (300mbit). I prefer Virgin and then tether to my mobile when their service goes down, which lately is about once a month. It's a bit of a pain but 4G on a mobile is still miles faster than BT copper, and my mobile plan can handle a few days a month of extra bandwidth usage.

[ruffers]

What happens in your house re deadspots etc is nothing to do with bb connection no?

2 separate questions.

[Penguin68]

If your house has 'dead spots' that will normally be to do with the WiFi (normally delivered via a WiFi hub/modem connected to your broadband) you are using - some hubs are more powerful than others. If you have dead spots (and assuming those aren't being caused by electronic interference by another piece of kit in your house) then you can extend your WiFi either through your own electricty (mains) circuit via gadgets that plug into the mains from your hub and which can then be plugged into around your house, either by a wireless router or via an ethernet cable - useful for a 'fixed' piece of equipment like a desktop or a TV - or via a wireless receiver - but this has to be close enough to your hub to pick up its wireless signal before relaying it wirelessly. BT offers an (expensive but well reviewed) relay system. If you are using WiFi at all, then the speeds you can achieve will be less than directly plugging into your hub using ethernet. So a poor (i.e. ADSL) speed of delivery will be significantly further attenuated by using WiFi - and further by contention with other bits of kit also using that WiFi.

Dead spots can also be caused by the house's construction, including any metal used in construction - often when rooms are opened up it will require RSJs to be installed, which may interfere with signals to upstairs rooms. Dead spots can be overcome, however, in the main. But they will be nothing to do with the broadband being delivered over wired networks into your house.

[Ruskin]

Virgin promised us a cable package, came round to fit the box and run cables through the house (I even took up some floorboards before they arrived) then when it came for the street team to connect us they then decided they couldn't extend the cable 100m away from our front door. We dropped them like a hot potato and have never regretted going to BT.

[juliephilippart]

I have been living in the area for nearly 4 years now, I live in barry road, 1 min away from Peckham rye and sky has never given me problems and we are pretty much (three of us) connected to internet all day.

only once one year ago internet went down for half a day and we got a credit added to our account.