Has anyone had a good experience of moving from FFTC to FFTP?

[#1]

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@Smith7 wrote:

OpenReach are going to have alot of work to do putting fibre cable connections from pits or poles into properties 

One problem is they drill from the inside the propery to the outside hammer drill on full hammer and burst the front off the outside brick it looks a total mess🤔

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Raise a complaint, friend of mine had EE full fibre installed last year & the first person OpenReach sent out made a right mess of the installation, couldn't even install the box outside level on the wall. 

He lodged a complaint with EE & then OpenReach sent another engineer out, they took pictures of what had been done then corrected the poor installation work. 

[#2]

@Clarissa 

I have had two installations both from CityFibre with Vodafone as the ISP both went very smoothly no problems at all 😎

Moved from Plusnet because they didn't (at the time) offer fibre to my location and CityFibre did, also I wanted a fixed IP and take my landline number with me and both of these were on offer from Vodafone.

From a technical perspective CityFibre just plug together the fibre connection with pre-terminated fibres, whereas BT Openreach terminate and fuse fibres on site (so down to the skill of the installer).

[#3]

Hi jab1, I cancelled the FF145 contract during the cooling off period and tried to switch to Zen using their online form. I got part-way through and the online method said there was a problem with matching and I had to call Zen. The Zen agent said they have problems switching Plusnet customers, and I would have to manage the switch myself. 

I phoned Plusnet and they said it was possibly an issue with the order not cancelling quickly enough on PN side, and I should wait a few hours. I subsequently read about the matching process software Ofcom asks all ISPs to use. Plusnet was possibly right.

This incident made me wonder if Zen are knowledgeable enough or even truthful. So I decided to think about it some more.

[#4]

Thanks outcast, I am sacrificing my landline. We haven't used it in years and only receive spam/scam calls anyway. I unplugged it weeks ago to get used to the idea of it not being there.

[#5]

Yes, I did that when I was researching my options

[#6]

Hi Smith7, thanks for the warning, but I can't see what I can do about that.

Drilling is necessary for any FTTP service to be installed (OR or CF), and I can't stay on FTTC forever.

[#7]

When I called Zen they confirmed they could offer CF and would use the pole, rather than dig up my garden.

[#8]

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@Clarissa wrote:

Hi jab1, I cancelled the FF145 contract during the cooling off period and tried to switch to Zen using their online form. I got part-way through and the online method said there was a problem with matching and I had to call Zen. The Zen agent said they have problems switching Plusnet customers, and I would have to manage the switch myself. 

I phoned Plusnet and they said it was possibly an issue with the order not cancelling quickly enough on PN side, and I should wait a few hours. I subsequently read about the matching process software Ofcom asks all ISPs to use. Plusnet was possibly right.

This incident made me wonder if Zen are knowledgeable enough or even truthful. So I decided to think about it some more.

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Zen are very knowledgable - Internet is their business. I switched from PN to them with absolutely no issues, and have had excellent service for the past 4  years. It sounds like you were unlucky with whoever you spoke to there.

Who are you with now?

[#9]

TBF we have seen a couple of Zen foul-ups report around here this year. There are though usually very sound. My business account went over to them.

[#10]

True, @Townman , and have seen other 'less than favourable' comments elsewhere, although a number of them were from, shall we say, 'technically illiterate'  individuals.

[#11]

@Clarissa  have you considered A&A Home::1 CityFibre ?

At the same time A&A could also move your landline number to VoIP for just £1.44 per month.

A&A are consistently the highest rated ISP in the UK, and at £35 per month CityFibre FTTP is their best value broadband.

.

[#12]

Hi jab1,

I started getting bad feelings about Zen, after reading the reviews on Trust pilot. Trust pilot state they believe Zen use unsupported methods which can increase the likelihood of bias. No other ISP that I looked at has this flagged against their company name. I also found a survey of outages which puts Zen 13th on the table, quite far down compared to ISPs using the OR network. 

I then researched toob. They are offering 900mbps for £25pm. Amazing speeds over CF network. Almost sounds too good to be true. But some customers are saying they are getting fairly frequent intermittent dropped connections. So maybe not so good after all.

I have been round and round in my head about what to do these past few weeks, and spent countless hours looking at things from so many angles. I could write a book!

I wanted FTTP and a new wifi6 router, so the desire to switch to another ISP to get said router for free as part of the package was strong. A free router that is simply plug and play and compatible with the ISP is important to me. I'm not into fiddling with settings. Just want it to work.

I didn't want an offshore call centre when I need help. Some of the bigger ISPs have dreadful customer service reviews. Totally put me off going to any of them. 

I also found something about CF customers not having a good experience when switching between CF ISPs. Apparently the old service has to be switched off before the new service can be activated, and some customers were waiting 10 days or more for their new service to start!

I think switching is still in its infancy. Ofcom are currently consulting with the larger ISPs to get feedback on the process.

So hey, ho - I'm staying with Plusnet! I signed up for FF74 this morning. 

[#13]

Hi outcast, I am giving up the landline and staying with PN.

[#14]

OK, @Clarissa . Personally, I have a bad feeling about 'Trustpilot' , themselves, but each to their own, I suppose. Would be interesting to know what these 'unsupported methods' are, given that they (Zen) are consistently given high ratings in most technical publications.

If you are staying with PN, it seems rather pointless discussing this any further, but my thoughts are that you may live to regret it. They certainly don't offer a Wi-Fi6 router, for instance.

The Zen router is 'plug and play', their 'call centre is in Rochdale, and the individuals you talk to there are not 'crib-sheet' readers, but trained individuals.

Ah - OFCOM - way off.

[#15]

I think switching is still in its infancy. Ofcom are currently consulting with the larger ISPs to get feedback on the process.

@Clarissa switching isn't in its infacncy as such, but the new OTS (One touch switching) system is! OFCOM decreed that all ISP's should use the system from Sept last year and I get the feeling that there are still some gremlins in there.

The old GPL (Gaining provider led) process worked well for switching between providers who both used Openreach but could not cope where there were different infrastructures e.g Openreach to Virgin involved. The OTS system is supposed to handle a switch from anything to anything!