Aquiss Reviews

Having used aquiss for many years and found them to give a good connection at my old address, I chose them to provide broadband for my new address. After signing up for the 2 month offer on their site I was told I could have over the phone, they continued to bill me with no sign of the "2 free months". I queried this and found (which is not listed on their site and I was not told on signup) is that they would not honour their 2 month offer because I had previously been a customer. And also now that the order had progressed I was stuck in a 12 month contract with nothing to show for it. Some may agree with them but the simple answer I could have had my house mate sign up and pay, which is ledgitimate. £68 is alot to be cheated out of in the current climate. Please beware of non-existing small print from aquiss now, maybe they have grown too fast or arent growing enough to resort to this?

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I have been with Aquiss since 2006 and been generally very happy.

I moved to them after my previous ISP (NDO/Namesco) kicked me out for excessive usage. After searching online forums for an ISP with clear, up-front conditions instead of the usual 'unlimited downloads'/'fair use policy' combo, willing to pay for the service I use, I switched to Aquiss.

At the time I could only afford a private broadband package that restricted bandwidth use during weekdays. Since then, all those limitations have been removed (now unlimited all-day everyday), the broadband speed has increased, and the price has gone DOWN.

Also, friendly, competent staff everytime I had issues to sort either via phone or email.

So for what I want from an ISP, Aquiss have consistently provided the kind of service I was after when I switched to them, and delivered exactly what they offer. I am quite happy to pay a *little* bit more for my broadband (they certainly aren't pricey IMO) and actually get what I paid for.

Can't comment on speed compared to other providers, I think I got about 1.5 Mbps actual d/l speed on an 8 Mbps connection.

They do have a leaving charge (£30) and I wasn't too happy when that was applied when I moved house (but stayed with Aquiss), but I guess that is common practice.

Currently I am having trouble getting Aquiss broadband on my new BT phone line and am not sure if it is BT Retail or Aquiss who are causing the problem.

I moved to Aquiss after being cauight up in the Fast4/Biscit debacle a few years ago.

I'm surprised to see any negative comments because I've been delighted with the service & speeds I receive from Aquiss.

On the couple of occasions I've had need to call them the phone was answered in seconds by someone technically competent. One occasion was the sunday of a bank holiday weekend and I was expecting a recorded message. Took me by surprise to find a real person answering.

I'm waiting for them to offer domestic voice services so that I can finally avoid trying to get any sense out of 'downtown delhi' every time I need to phone BT retail.

My line is rated at 17MB and I'm getting 16, so that can't be bad, especially since I'm using a Netgear 834g router which is rather long in the tooth now.

Unlike cheaper offerings the line speed doesnt vary either, even during peak times. I could get cheaper, but I doubt I'd get better. They're only based about 10 miles from me so in extremis I could take my musket down there and actually talk to them :-)

Edited. May have been a bit harsh. Bad idea writing a review when peed off.

There log shows I use between 30 GB and 40 GB of traffic EVERY month.
I think the peak rate of 8.00am until midnight is too wide. If they had an 8.00am until 6.00pm, then I would not go over my limit so easily.
Aaisp peak is 9am-6pm Mon-Fri.
If you go over your 30 GB allowed download they slow your internet down to 125kps. Which is too slow to use. If you want to resume normal speed you need to purchase more data. Minimum of £13.00 plus VAT for 10 GB.

Very surprised to read james86's comments, they certainly don't reflect my experience of Aquiss.

Nearly 3 yrs ago I chose Aquiss as my first broadband provider. As a non-techie I chose them on the basis of good reports of their UK-based helpline and this has proved correct. No set-up problems. Helpline staff and forum members (some of whom are staff) were very helpful when I needed assistance with choosing a router, in terms a non-techie newbie could understand.

The lack of a long contract remains attractive. Contrary to other comments, manual payment is no bother as long as you check your emails weekly - they email you a week before payment's due and it only takes a few clicks. Alternatively, payment by DD or SO is now possible.

The connection is very reliable (just a few hours downtime in total) but when I've had a query I've always got through by phone easily or had a quick response to an email.

My speed isn't good due to distance from the exchange, however my neighbour gets identical speed with one of the big players who brag about fast speeds. Aquiss are far from cheap, but recently introduced more competitive options.

AVOID this company, after 3 days from joining them (paying a large activation fee) and then my 30 odd for my 1 month subscription i lost my internet, of course they blamed BT, and following that wanted an extra 150 for re-activation 49.99 to fast track me back onto the net and then AGAIN 30 odd for the month i had already paid for... Of i had no intenention of paying so went to phone them ooh they only answer from 10-5 great for them not so good for customers so i left a voicemail basicaly saying im not happy with this. I then recive a call back telling me IM RUDE?!and that i should pay or prepare to be taken to court!

So my ratings ----

Caring for customers 0
Caring about money they didn't earn 10

I've endured my fair share of ups and downs on the ISP rollercoaster when trying to find a speedy, reliable and friendly supplier. Previous experience has proved many ISP providers to possess only one or two of these key features but never three.

I run an oil and gas consultancy business and so reliability is the key factor my business depends on. Aquiss has certainly delivered this for me and my business has never suffered because of it. The additional speed (making it now lightening quick) and capacity they have added to their ISP, as well as new Paypal functions, over the last 6 months has only strengthen my opinion that this is the best ISP I’ve have ever used or come across.

I might not be as technically gifted or astute as some of the readers and commentators of this site but for my two cents - for what they are worth - if you are looking for a speedy, reliable and uncomplicated broadband provider, who has technical support that is very easy to get through to and very helpful then i wouldn’t look any further than Aquiss. I wouldn’t hesitate recommending Aquiss to anyone i know.

...They are all the same.

Been with Aquiss for 2 month and its been a rollercoster ride. Using their new LLU service.

1, Line is fast but occasionally drops, for a MMO player it is not ideal.

2, Customer service is bad when you don't have the internet to complain. They may have a number, but everytime I have tried I have never been able to get through, and don't expect to be place on hold on the telephone as they will just tell you 'lines are busy, call back later' and cut you off.

My line had problems and I was disconnected. Tried to call but could not get through.
I had to wait till the following day when I was at work to send them a E-mail. This was a BIG down point for me.

3, Customer service seems to be a 1 man band and his name is Marti. Good old Martin until he stops listening and starts going on about his 15 year experience, another BIG no no from customer service.

4,Payment system is terrible. No standing order payment system. You have to use PAYPAL to pay everymonth. Thats if you do not forget.

5, good point is that the contract is only 1 month.

But due to these reason, I have decided to leave them and look for another ISP. As their method of customer service is not for me.

I was with Vispa and they were fine but I ran out of download allowance so I moved to Nildram. They were fine until I had an exchange problem and they failed to get it fixed. 2 months of grief. Moved to Fast and they were fine but ran out of allowance again. Moved to Aquiss over a year ago and have had no problems. 2 small outages have been fixed quickly. The boss Martin Pitt seems to answer most e-mails whatever time of night you send them. He was also boss of Vispa. Speed is good and seems to be getting better. More expensive than the completion but it seems to be worth it and their off-peak allowance is a massive 300Meg. They have a family connection for most of us and a special games connection if you’re into that.