ISP Reviews by hoopla

Smarty is Three, same coverage, same company. Different support, different backhaul.

First the bad:

I got a Smarty Unlimited data sim. It connected at a good rate, though the routing was a bit odd, and the IP address you get is NATted, unlike the Three equivalent.

However, every 20 seconds or so, I was given a new IP address - normally the next one up the range. Connections using the old IP would just hang. Then 20 seconds or so later, the IP would switch back. But 40 seconds was too late, so the old sessions had all timed out.

I phoned support, who were totally useless. Repeating that it wasn't a fixed IP service and that they reallocate unused IPs. Refused to say whether my problem was due to a network fault.

Refused to put me through to someone who knew what they were talking about, so I cancelled and got my money back - six weeks later.

I suspect that they were working on the network, but the small saving compared to Three itself just wasn't worth it.

Now the good:

A Smarty 3GB Sim at £7 per month gives unlimited calls and texts on the Three network. Use less than 3GB of data in a month and you get £1 per GB (pro rata) back on the next month's bill.

Using wi-fi almost all the time, so hardly any mobile data use, this means that phone gets unlimited calls and texts for just £4.20 per month. Absolutely superb value!

With a cashback offer, it works out at £14.50 per month for both phone line and broadband.

What they are offering is a phone line rental with calls that look expensive to me (more on that later) but standard FTTC broadband through Openreach and Talktalk Business (as used by Zen).

The original signup didn't work. It took a call to them to get them to make it happen. An IT issue in their system.

However, it went live on the date set. The sync rate is the same as it was a year or so ago when we last had FTTC.

There is a problem, though. Shell Energy have yet to charge me any money and as far as they're concerned, the line isn't yet live.

Although the line is FTTC enabled, Openreach didn't connect the line to the exchange. This means no dial tone, presumably no phone calls possible. This is absolutely fine by me, but SE want it working for some reason. An engineer is booked to fix it later this week. I hope it doesn't impact my sync speed.

We've only used VOIP for years, and I was gobsmacked to see that Shell Energy charge 15p per minute for calls. There's no way I'd pay that! Perhaps there was a "calls inclusive" option that I'd not have chosen.

The speed you get depends on the connection Openreach manages from your fibre cabinet and on Talktalk Business for backhaul. Shell has no influence. I've seen no sign of any problems with the backhaul slowing data.