Broadband Provider?

Ok, it's been a year since we signed up with Sky for a basic internet+Line Rental. They've just bumped the cost from 19 pounds a month to 34 out of the blue (which is how I realize that the contract has ended). Needless to say, I'm looking for other options. 

In snooping, I see that SSE (who is our energy provider) has a good price, but has a fair-use provision that seems to say that they can throttle down speeds as needed to keep their network stable. EE has a good price, with no such throttling mentioned. Both otherwise say that they are "unlimited" downloads. SSE would be no setup cost and no contract, with the price guaranteed for 3 years. EE has a 100 pound gift card and an 18 month contract.

I may also contact Sky and try to haggle. However, before I do anything, I thought I'd see if anyone has any experience with either SSE's or EE's broadband?  We have a telephone, but pay per call as we almost never phone out on the house phone. (It's for people to phone in.)

So, anyone use either of them?

I may also contact Sky and try to haggle.

This is what I was going to suggest. Just tell them that you'll be happy to stay with them if they will agree to return the monthly charge to where it was, otherwise you will go elsewhere.
I don't have Sky so I'm not sure how they will respond, some companies will try to keep you happy, others, like Virgin, really don't care!

Yeah, I had to do this every year with Time Warner in the USA. Tedious....

I have to do it every year with Sky but they do do it.  You’ll be signing up for another year though.

We've had PlusNet for internet & line rental for the last 8 years or so, and they've been fantastic. We've had small increases in price over the years, but never anything like the massive hikes we had with Sky. We're currently paying £14.99/month for unlimited fibre broadband.

We use PlusNet and have fibre at our house. Used to have BT but they raised the rates on us.

Looks like I'm seconding PlusNet!

We use PlusNet and have fibre at our house. Used to have BT but they raised the rates on us.

Looks like I'm seconding PlusNet!

we have PlusNet too... never had a problem with them in 4 years.

Hmmm.

Will check on PlusNet.  The thing I liked about the SSE option was that it was no contract, no setup charges. Plus, I could do it through the Meerkat thing and get the free movie tickets for a year.

But the 14pound PlusNet, is that for broadband and line rental included? The cheapest I'm finding on their website is 19pounds-something.

My husband just haggles every year with sky. It's less time than getting set up somewhere new. He has a colleague who only pays £9 a month and he always mentions her.

If you change do NOT change to BT. They are terrible.

Seriously? 9 pounds a month?
Wow.

Yeah, I'd heard horror stories about BT.

My husband signed up for BT. But then we didn’t do any research. Knowing him it was probably the cheapest option. What horror stories are there about BT?


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My husband signed up for BT. But then we didn’t do any research. Knowing him it was probably the cheapest option. What horror stories are there about BT?


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They just jacked up the price on us as soon as our contract ended so we changed.

My husband signed up for BT. But then we didn’t do any research. Knowing him it was probably the cheapest option. What horror stories are there about BT?


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Horrific customer service, problems with slow speeds, problems getting tech help, that sort of thing.

When we originally got BT they told us it was an 8 week wait for a tech to come out and install the line.  Then it didn't work and they tried to charge us for internet for the 2 months that it took for them to send another guy to fix it, and then they tried to charge us £80 for the call out visit, when it was their fault for not installing it correctly to begin with.  Then it was completely slow and almost unusable, to the point of the internet needing to be reset at the box at least once per hour.  SO annoying.  They also charged like 50p a minute to call their help line to talk to some awful guy in India who once called me rude words for complaining that the internet didn't work (and I was being nice, too).  HORRIBLE.

Sky, at least, has a call center in the UK, although the only times we've ever had to call them are for my husband to renegotiate the price.

I also use plusnet.  Buying internet access in this country is like complete anarchy and every single company is trying to rip you off mercilessly. 

In my case, I found that even though plenty of companies wanted to charge me a fortune for "superfast Fibre Broadband" , what they actually meant was that there was fibre optic cable somewhere in the path, but not to my house.  The internet was still coming to my house on 40 year old copper cables wrapped in wax paper.  And they were going to force me to buy a phone line that I did not want. 

Plusnet seems to be the less evil, Sky is a company that is so evil on so many levels it is difficult to comprehend.  I have literally stood in a sky shop on the high street screaming like a lunatic in sheer frustration.  And that was when I was begging for those incompetent morons to SET UP my broadband.  It was even worse when I tried to leave.