Andrews & Arnold (AAISP) Reviews

A little more expensive than rivals but also a great deal better. Migration took one day and the (UK based) support was excellent. Speed and reliabilty also very good.

The on-line control page and account system are also very impressive. They might lack the slick whizz-bang presentation of a corporate portal but the relative simplicity makes it easy to find and do what you want.

The only possible complaint you might have is that the software in the supplied router is a little basic: it does the job out of the box without issue but there are no options for MAC address reservation and stuff like that. Though as A&A provide all the relevant details you can happily use your own router. Which I did.

I recently switched over from BT fibre to Andrews & Arnold when my original 18 month contract expired. I have been with a bunch of ISPs over the years before switching to BT for fibre: was on O2 for quite a long time on the get it as cheap as possible principle, but decided that paying more for better service was worthwhile.

I have had an ipv6 tunnel service for some years now, as I use ipv6 for technical stuff. So switching to native made sense; BT seems to have no intention of providing it.

BT also seem keen on spending on sports rights not good internet, and I had to work around their poor technical choices (no ipv6, DNS hijack, poor routers, censorship).

Switching to A&A was very simple, BT offered me a discount to stay, I got updates on what was going on, and it just worked on switch over when I reconfigured my router (I already had a good one running openwrt which I had got instead of the BT one so I didnt get one from A&A).

The internet service is noticeably faster, lower latency and much better performance on video streaming. I get the maximum 80/20 connection, and the diagnostic info in the system is very helpful in case anything goes wrong. I haven't had to use the support yet but there is already a log in the system of all the stuff from setup and and changes I make. There is great attention to detail (gpg signed bills). Although the service probably caters largely to a tech audience, it is a proper service that does not try to dumb anything down. You pay a bit extra but that means the business is sustainable (the last ISP like this I used, Black Cat years ago, stopped doing broadband as it is unprofitable).

I recently began migrating several of our business ADSL2+ and FTTC lines over to AAISP having used their mobile data sim and VoIP services for some time.

The CQM graphs are an excellent tool to identify faults with the line and their control panel lets you tweak every aspect possible.

They are not the cheapest ISP around but is that such a bad thing; Their service and expertise is second to none and their transparency is a refreshing change.

Just need to wait for the minimum term contact to end on our other connections to get them moved over.

One last deal closer for us was the ability to set the downstream line rate on AAISP's router - setting this to 95% ensures no queuing on the downstream and services like VoIP work a treat - try getting the likes of BT or Sky to do that for you?...

Andrews and Arnold are unlike any other ISP around today; they actually give a damn about doing things right.

A&A's staff are both highly knowledgeable and approachable, not that you'll need to contact them often. They give you no BS, and take none from their wholesale providers.

You can even chat with them on IRC, which I found was the most convenient way to ask technical questions prior to ordering.

The transparency and openness is also very refreshing. While their control pages seem quirky at first, you'll quickly discover they expose far more pertinent information and provide far more control than that of any other provider. All changes on your account are listed (and who did it if applicable), and you can change not just line profiles but everything down to when you prefer LNS resets to happen.

Best of all, you can see for yourself plots from their Constant Quality Monitoring system. Should BT or TT let you down with their end of things, you have vivid graphical PROOF there is a problem.

A&A also have a conspicuous commitment to technical progress and excellence. For example, they've provided IPv6 access for all new customers YEARS before anyone else. The DNS servers are on the Google white list for IPv6, and they validate DNSSEC. They have better latency control in their downlink shaper (which is adjustable in the control pages.) I could go on and on; have a look through their knowledge base and wiki if you want to know more.

They are not the cheapest ISP for an Internet connection, but they provide so much added value in comparison that I consider the Home::1 tariff a bargain. Discerning users should accept no substitute.

I decided to switch ISP when my previous ISP was taken over by a satellite TV company who I didn't want to do business with.

AAISP was recommended to me, and now I see why. I'm on the Home::1 tariff, which gives me 100GB a month.

A router was supplied which was preconfigured to just work, including IPv6. And everything has just continued to work. 3 months in, and nothing's gone wrong. I've not seen any slowing of the Internet during what might be considered busy times.

The line monitoring feature is fabulous, and I can select my line profile from so many options. I've set the target SNR margin to 6dB (from an initial 12dB) as I'm on a long line and need every last bit of bandwidth.

A little more expensive than vanilla ISPs, but I reckon that you get what you pay for.

Having had a complete nightmare with BT, and getting nowhere with trying to sort our landline and broadband, we decided to find another ISP. Andrews & Arnold were excellent from the outset. As well has helping us chose the most appropriate business package they persevered and kept us informed at every step of the transition away from BT. The communication from the team were excellent, in particular Louise Acres kept us up to date with every step of the transfer of ISP and battled on our behalf with BT. When you need to speak with someone who knows what they are speaking about, and has sensible suggestions and treats you like a person, does not pass you from pillar to post and actually has some customer service, use A&A. I cannot recommend them enough.

They cost a little more than using BTinternet or the suchlike (although having dealt with my In-laws' BT, account and their incompetent helpline staff, *any* amount of money is too much for the BT service) but the service is truly outstanding.

They have recently brought out a new tariff that would be more appropriate for me, and when I emailed to enquire whether I could change over, they couldn't have been more helpful. They've even backdated the tariff to when it was brought in, so that I save more money. They've taken note of my average usage, suggested ways to circumnavigate any problems with settling into my new tariff, and not charged me anything extra. I also know that if I phone them, I will get straight through, and talk in person to someone who knows what they are talking about, will not patronise me and not attempt to tell me to "turn it off and on again" because they've clocked I know my arse from my elbow and have already tried that. They will certainly not attempt to tell me that my brand-new router is broken because they couldn't be bothered to change a password (unlike BT last time I spoke to them).

They even wished me a lovely Easter break on the email telling me that they were going to save me £17 on this month's bill!

Had AAISP two weeks so far, switching was easy, they kept me in the loop with texts and emails. The account management tool is also very good.

I've used AAISP for our business ISP for some years. No one was as flexible or competent as them. But when it came to choosing a home service AAISP is more expensive. Frankly the extra cost is marginal and you get so much more. You can see where they spend their money, how much are you paying for those glossy leaflets that pour through your door from the likes of BT and Virgin for services that probably aren't available in your area and for 'deals' that last at most 6 months.
My only worry is that when a 'rare ' problem occurs the level of technical competence on the first line help desk is so good I feel slightly daunted!
Factually.
Quick, accurate, online response to request for service. Fixed IP address included. Clear pricing. Bundled internet only phone line [ie no triple play confusions or 'offers']
Superb online monitoring tool which gives both tech details [if you need it] and progress of install and router shipping etc. Quality router with clear indication of logon and password on removable card attached.
Speed limited only by ADSL capabilities of the line. No filtering or restrictions by content, port number, time of day.

I like:
- IRC support (only during business hours but other customers are often helpful at all hours);
- fairly responsive e-mail support, sometimes they even answer on the weekend;
- support is manned by actual human beings who are not blindly following a script;
- it Just Works;
- clear website.

I don't like:
- confusion with accounting/billing;
- a bit expensive.

Details follow:

This is the first time I got an internet connection in the UK so I don't have much comparison points. I picked AAISP mostly because I kept reading scathing reviews of pretty much every other cheaper competitors while seeing good praises for AAISP itself. Compared to other ISPs in the same price range, I was mostly attracted by their position with regard to censorship/filtering, their clear website and the fact they are one of the few in the UK offering IPv6 by default.

My first contact with AAISP has been via IRC to enquire about some technicalities. I think the answer I got was actually from another customer but I found what I was looking for and ordered the service shortly thereafter.

I ordered the service before moving into my new home. I was asked to pay for a new line (£75) and told I would be reimbursed if it turns out there was already a phone line on the premise. I asked for the router to be sent to my work as I was not sure it would fit through the mail slot. They said they would but they sent it to my home address.

On the day I was supposed to move, my ex-future-landlord decided to pull out and I was left looking for a new home with one week left of tenancy in my previous home. I asked AAISP to change the address and start date of the order to be determined later. This was a pretty painless process for my part compared to the emergency home search itself. However they charged me £18 to cancel/change, supposedly because of BT. That charge is not advertised on their website.

After I found a new home and moved in, I asked AAISP for a connection at the new address. They ended up creating a new account for this. Again I asked for the router to be sent to my work (I didn't get the previous one since I didn't get access to the property they sent it to; luckily they didn't charge me for that) and again they sent it to my home (although this time they didn't claim they would do otherwise). It turned out to be fine as the router did fit through the mail slot.

A few weeks later I realised they did not transfer the £75 they owed me to the new account and asked them to rectify. About the same time they asked me to rate them on some other website. After a bit over one business day of silence and a reply to the feedback request mentionning my own pending request, I got a call first thing in the morning asking whether I would like the £75 refunded or credited to the new account. They still debited me the same day but hopefully they won't for the next two months.

I never had to call technical support. I haven't got around to measuring the speed of the connection or play with IPv6 or any of the reporting tools yet. So far, for basic internet usage it all works fine.