Pulse8 Reviews

After leaving virgin,(300mbp+) we just wanted a decent, reliable internet connection!

Pulse8 was our choice, D,-70mb/18mb U, riding on the talktalk business side of things, our internet is great, 2 drop out in 2 years, 1 due to my phoneline, 1 tt,s fault. all traffic shapped with my pfsense box, the speed drop hasnt even been noticed.

My only gripe is, its expensive for what it is, staff who have no clue what hardware you are using ( pfsense ) try to get u to use draytek when you have no need to!

But the major pro's that swing it for me was, actual english speaking folk who actually talk to you, and its only a 1 month contract, with no cancellation fee either.. WIN WIN.

Been a Pulse8 Broadband customer for 3 years now and I'm happy with the decision.
No frills, business-based provider that also cater for home customers.
Excellent customer service via phone or email.
No email included, so if your existing email is tied to your ISP, you'll need a separate account (if you're switching from Sky, you can keep your Sky/Yahoo email after you leave them).
Rolling 1 month contract.
Static or fixed IP options.
Broadband and phone package has reasonably priced call charges.
ADSL line speed can vary at times, but mostly stable and reliable. Connections aren't throttled.
Packages can be tailored with extras as needed.
Like most non big-name providers, if there's a fault with the line you'll have to pay the Openreach fees (although they offer a £1 pcm "Openreach Charge Assurance" option). So if you have issues with your line, get your current ISP to sort them out first.
Router isn't included, so you may need to factor in the cost of a decent router to the initial setup costs, if you don't have one (or the one you have is locked to your current ISP). Just make sure you get a router that supports the type of internet connection you're getting (i.e. fibre (VDSL) or standard (ADSL)). Pulse8 give you all the config info and tech support you need.
Not as cheap as over-subscribed big names, but competitive compared to top ISP prices.

During the 20-odd years prior to my signing up with Pulse8, my ISPs had been Metronet, Plusnet, ADSL24, Coms.com and Timico respectively. Moving from the excellent Metronet and ADSL24 was forced on me due to changes in ownership, and the result in both cases was a massive deterioration in quality.

The need to change again arose a few months ago, this time at my own instigation after Timico had 'accidentally' instructed Openreach to disconnect my line and needed 9 (nine!) days and lots of chasing before they requested reconnection following a catalogue of further internal errors. Chasing Timico via their premium rate customer service number cost over £30 in call charges, though this was eventually refunded without argument and they gave me a month's free subscription as 'goodwill' in answer to my request for three months.

I researched intensely for an ISP that I could trust to give the highest level of service at reasonable cost, looking into every provider listed within ISPreview. Pulse8 eventually made it to the top of my short list, but I had one more test to try in the form of an email asking several questions, and I received their fully answered and personalised reply just 12 minutes later. That sealed it for me, similar emails to a couple of other providers of high repute (and higher cost) receiving slow and/or not fully helpful replies.

Once I'd signed up with Pulse8, the transfer went without a hitch except that I'd chosen to use my own router and couldn't figure out the settings needed to connect. I called their customer service number (free-phone) and they answered within five seconds (no 'press 2... press 3...!). I was impressed that they already knew the make and model of my router (TP-Link Archer VR900 v2) from our previous correspondence, and they soon had the instructions for it on their screen. They talked me through the necessary key presses and connection was made quickly and easily.

A couple of days later I received an email asking if all was still OK and inviting suggestions for improvements to their service. I replied with the suggestion that their 'new customer' letter be made clearer on the method of connection for those, like me, who decide to use their own router. I received a reply from their senior partner the very next morning in which he outlined an addition he hoped to make to the letter to meet my suggestion.

Download and upload speeds have been well up on the estimate they provided (test results just now were 37.4/9.5, on their 'Up to 38/10' offering - I'm 500 metres from the green cabinet), with never a hiccup. Their service includes useful touches such as the monthly direct debit invoices listing phone calls by number, duration and cost - which my previous (more expensive) ISP was unable to provide - and their phone call charges are impressively low. Their monthly broadband plus line-rental charge is slightly higher than some of the bigger outfits, but they are so worth it (hence my ten star award).

I now see how they have the confidence to operate without tying customers to contracts. If all continues as at present, I won't ever be leaving!

Pulse8 are a small ISP which means you get to speak to real, human people when you call. As it's so small the guys often know about issues other members of the team are working on. The one month contract for Fibre Broadband is great and the reason I found them. Very reasonably priced too. The supplied router is crap but that seems to be the case with most ISPs. Speed seems good, I have no reason to think I'm not getting the full amount, +/- 10% as with all. They are a TalkTalk re-seller so you get the TalkTalk filters but you don't have to deal with TT customer services so it's fine. There are cheaper ISPs out there but I doubt any are better value.

Found this provider after a lot of research on the net. Currently only one in the country to offer FTTC on a monthly contract. At the moment I am waiting for the install but because it takes some time for me to be taken off BTw over to their grid I have been put on their standard ADSL service. Costs me less for line + broadband package than it did with my previous supplier (ZEN). The service is better (faster up and down,more responsive too) and there is no usage limit. It is a no brainer really and I wish I had found them sooner. Support is really good too. Helped me with the set up and settings - they can set your SNR target there and then and their `fast` channel is really fast unlike most of others.
See my stats for a 52dB line below.

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3460199604

Brodband is critical to me and I certainly don't mind paying the extra for excellent service and the lack of a "fair usage policy".
Depsite being out in the sticks my speed has gradually increased from under 3mb to over 6mb since they upgraded my line to 21cn for free :-)

Competent web/design company based in Devon that's getting stingy in its old age when it comes to monthly broadband usage. Their ISP arm currently only offers 10 GB/month for a whopping £18-99, although there seems to be an unspoken limit of around 35GB/month.