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Now TV or Idnet?

MarkyR74

ULTIMATE Member
After some advice, looking to leave BT Infinity and choosing someone else next month.

I am split between NowTV and Idnet, you may think these are odd ones to be split between so these are my reasons.

I have the Netgear Orbi wireless system so for me it makes no difference what ISP router I use.

I am interested in Now TV because it's got an offer of no contract unlimited Fibre BB (I can only get around 32mbps max) and evening and weekend calls for £33.99 a month for 12 months. That's with the entertainment pass. I also get half decent support and from what I've read Sky's speeds aren't too bad. But it will increase to around £44 a month after 12 months. I also have Sky LLU kit in my exchange if that makes a difference to Fibre?

I am interested in Idnet because it's got excellent customer service, and it's network seems to have redundancy built in, but it costs a bit more. I would hope to use my BT SmartHub and Orbi system with them. I believe I am right in thinking they will offer the most speed too? They offer their unlimited Home Fibre and telephone package on a 12 month contract (for the Fibre) for £35.50 a month without a inclusive calls package and £40.50 with, can I add this later on if I choose? Also the website does not claim this is an offer but the normal price.

So which is best? I want fast smooth performance, I stream media, browse and email and play games online with an Xbox One, PS4, not PC. I, not interested in Idnet gaming package as it's far too expensive. Are Idnet any good for home use, they seem to be good value. I want an unlimited service which they both claim to offer with little to no slowdowns.

So performance wise which is best?

Also when can I place an order for a new provider if my BT contract finishes on April 13th? Do I have to wait until 2 weeks before the 13th? And with leaving BT, will Idnet and Now TV automatically move me from BT, I will have to cancel my free BT TV before that date anyway.
 
All things being equal both should perform about the same (FTTC speed wise), although IDNet has the better reputation and so you're more likely to get a better quality of service from them. The trouble with trying to answer this question is always that we don't know how each will perform in your specific area since we don't know how much capacity they've both applied, although the underlying physical network should be more or less the same (Openreach).

You're less likely to run into trouble with IDNet though, while the NOW TV Combo (Sky) is fairly new to the market and so we haven't seen much in the way of feedback about it. However Sky are one of the large providers that tend to receive fewer complaints and are usually rated more highly than most of the other big providers, so I'd assume that also rubs off on NOW TV.

As for the migration system, we wrote a guide for that here:
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.ph...dband-and-phone-provider-after-june-2015.html

Generally I'd wait till you're either just out of contract or 1-2 week away from being out of contract before starting the move as it will take 10 working days to switch. You should just need to sign-up with your chosen ISP and all of this will be handled automatically.
 
Something to remember is if you select NowTV it could cost you dearly if it doesn't work out and you need to return to BT's network as landline will have moved over to Sky's network. To return normally means billed as a new install for phone line which is anything from £72 to over £100.
 
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Thanks for the advice, I read that idnet can heavily throttle your connection in the evenings which is no good to me. Is this true? I just thought I would end up on the Sky backbone network especially as their LLU kit is in my opinion as exchange and they don't have a lack of bandwith.
 
I've not heard about IDNet throttling peak connections and this would seem to go against their commitments to the service. Your best bet is to ask them directly and get their reply in writing.
 
Hmm still thinking about this one, I guess Idnet don't do contract free services for the home? And is their any difference in the contention? I guess not as it's a FTTC line?
 
The thing I'm worried about is this declaration on Idnets website:


All broadband services are contended and may be subject to congestion at the cabinet and/or exchange during peak times which can reduce throughput speeds.


–-----------------------

Now you can pay £10 a month extra to get higher priority in the evening but that makes it an expensive offering then. It seems they won't guarantee throughput speeds?

And yet on the ThinkBroadband Speedtest site, they score a perfect 1 which is the best score for a network? Will I get slow thoughputs in the evening? I mean I doubt anyone else has ever heard of Idnet in my area but loads are on BT.
 
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That will be the same regardless of where you go all connections are shared if you want one to one you have to go leased line.
Another thing to remember the cheaper you go the more they add to the network to cover the costs.
 
That will be the same regardless of where you go all connections are shared if you want one to one you have to go leased line.
Another thing to remember the cheaper you go the more they add to the network to cover the costs.

Yeah, but it's worrying when you see an add on option to reduce congestion! It makes you think how bad is it then? I won't pay the extra £10 as it makes it near AAISP pricing levels. I see you have Aquiss, how have you found them? Are they fast and stable with good support, that also works out of hours?
 
I have no problems with speed I have business package as I use the computer a lot by day and watch TV over the internet at night.
I use a draytekVDSL router which has a uptime of 35 days seldom see connection less than that I sometimes reboot router due to TV wifi dropping routers problem not my ISP.

I have had tickets replied to late in the evening but to be fair not needed support much since I moved to Aquiss. Support even though it isn't 24/7 is 100 times better than my old ISP VM.
 
I have no problems with speed I have business package as I use the computer a lot by day and watch TV over the internet at night.
I use a draytekVDSL router which has a uptime of 35 days seldom see connection less than that I sometimes reboot router due to TV wifi dropping routers problem not my ISP.

I have had tickets replied to late in the evening but to be fair not needed support much since I moved to Aquiss. Support even though it isn't 24/7 is 100 times better than my old ISP VM.

Thanks, I checked and Aquiss are a bit too expensive for me, I gather Idnet will be of similar quality. I guess the main thing I'm stuck on is how much better overall speed Idnet will offer on its Wholesale fibre package over NowTV on Sky's network. If it's something I'll notice on fibre, so game downloads are faster for instance, then it's an easier choice.
 
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Ok so I've decided to narrow my options to Plusnet, John Lewis because it seems I can get the up to 70mbps package with them which means higher upload speeds, as they resell Plusnet business BB. And Pulse8 which resells TalkTalk business fibre.

I've seen stories of Idnet speeds dropping in the evening, and NowTV I'm not sure of anymore.
 
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