Are cheap broadband providers a false economy?

[CrispsandStEtienne]

Accidental landlord here, and need to instal wifi in a London flat while we try to sell it.

Big providers such as BT only offer 24 month minimum term contracts, but there are others such as Community Fibre and Shell Broadband which offer 12 month contracts. Are they any good? We are letting the flat short term til we sell, to try to recoup some costs, but I don't want to get stuck with a provider who is useless as it will be a false economy.

Please tell me your experiences.

For example I've seen a fairly good deal by Three - are they ok?

Sorry to sound clueless. We have BT wifi at home and it's good (we need it for work) but expensive.

Anything which is "cheap" by relative standards, is likely to be more expensive in the long run.

Which would you prefer

"Expensive" broadband, which is fast and reliable. Or a "cheap" service which has poor signal and fails on a regular basis?

That's what I want to know @Hereyoume - if cheap broadband fails regularly or not.

Some cheap things are fine - I'm thinking Lidl laundry products vs Persil, Skodas vs BMWs - others are not.

So depends on what the connection is.
If it's Openreach fibre then many providers are just billing you but it's the same actual cable to the door. Maintained by Openreach not by the actual company sending the bill. So the difference between providers is the quality of the customer service not the quality of the connection

Virgin and some others, I think Community fibre, actually have their own cables. So then you are relying on both the quality of their customer service and their actual connection. I hear mixed feedback on Virgin. Don't know about others.

IMHO you're overthinking this. Do the maths. If you want to sell inside 12 months then don't get a 24 month contract. Simple

Thanks @Anameisaname I do want to sell asap but I don't have time to be dealing with the tenant ringing me saying 'my broadband isn't working'.

I was hoping someone would say 'Three is crap, don't go there' or 'Community Fibre is actually really good', or 'Now are great' to give me some steer. They are the firms offering 12-month contracts.

Cheaper BB isn't necessarily less reliable but ime if it goes wrong, you end up with a ping pong of blame... you report a fault, the cheaper company blames Openreach (who in most cases provide the infrastructure to 3rd party company) Openreach then blame the 3rd party... who will have their own equipment in the main OR exchange, they will then use "white card" mtce engineers, firms that have zero interest in you or the company they are contracted too, they are poorly paid and work for multiple different telecoms companies that cannot afford their own engineers.

Also you'll get a cheaper router, with a poorer wifi range.

I don't know how much the flat is worth but BT BB is around £40 per month? (cheaper if you negotiate) say it take 6 months to sell, its cost you around £240, vs the cheaper company which might cost you £180.

Good quality BB is a selling point surely?

Aside, i worked in telecoms and networks for 35 years, i have never used anyone but BT, i think that tells its own story.

Three is really crap - so crap I had to sign up to another internet provider whilst still in a. Contract with Three. I'm with Virgin, who I've had no problems with. EE are also crap.

Thanks GPTec. Interesting points about eg range, which isn't an issue as it's a tiny flat.

The problem is the good providers (eg BT) insist on 24 month contracts - I am hoping to sell it well before then!

I've been told Community Fibre is good which is encouraging as they offer short deals.

Thank you so much @lightbulb101 - I had clicked on one deal from them which looked great. Thank you, I shall discontinue that one.

But if you sell within the 12 month period, you'll still have to buy out of the contract, whether is 3 months remaining or 12 months.

e.g Leave BT 4 months early, will incur a fee of £67, a similar buy out from CF is £100.

So i'd look at comparing the buy out costs and notice periods too, not just the monthly fee.

I have community fibre in my flat and it's great - high internet speeds at all times, at the time it was cheaper than other providers. Would recommend - with more people working from home, fibre is the way to go. Like PPs mentioned, they have their own cable network, so I'm confident that any issues would be more easily resolved, but I've had none so far.

Thanks all, I am signing up with Community Fibre. Glad to know you like it @LemonFanta1 ! Think I might swap from BT at home as everyone keeps saying how good it is.

Everyone will have different experiences. I'd suggest looking at Which or some other consumer feedback sites to get a comprehensive view.
In any event, I'd be giving your tenants the phone number for customer services and telling them to contact directly rather than being a go between!

Im curious as to why it's up to you? Last time I rented (albeit about 15 years ago) that was up to me to sort. Surely it's the same as other utilities and the tenant sorts and pays it?

Why are you putting broadband in a rental - that’s up to the tenant.

You would probably be best asking the neighbours than random ppl on here. There's so many factors to consider. Someone might be closer to the exchange than you are. So they might have faster broadband or you could be in a ditch and get no signal.

One person's experience won't be the same sadly due to location and what someone on here might say is crap could suit you better ...

In short term rentals it's up the LL to provide broadband.