Zen vs. Plus.net - Contention question

I'm not particularly sure what contention actually means, I gather it's
to do with how many people share your bandwidth but would really
appreciate some clarification.

The reason for this thread though - Zen (who I am currently with) claim:
"BANDWIDTH TO SPARE
We guarantee NO CONTENTION on our network. "
And quite rigtly, I have always experienced (what I consider to be) very
fast download speeds, regularly downloading near the 50kB/s mark.

What I'm worried about is whether contention problems are going to
affect my download and upload speeds on plus.net - I imagine not, but
I'd rather I was a little better informaed before making the switch.

Thanks for any help you an give,
--
Meurig
(http://xboxmods.meurig.com)

"Meurig Freeman" <meurig2@*NoSpam*doublegeek.com> wrote in message
news:4149de9e$0$22755$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm not particularly sure what contention actually means, I gather it's
> to do with how many people share your bandwidth but would really
> appreciate some clarification.
>
> The reason for this thread though - Zen (who I am currently with) claim:
> "BANDWIDTH TO SPARE
> We guarantee NO CONTENTION on our network. "
> And quite rigtly, I have always experienced (what I consider to be) very
> fast download speeds, regularly downloading near the 50kB/s mark.
>
> What I'm worried about is whether contention problems are going to
> affect my download and upload speeds on plus.net - I imagine not, but
> I'd rather I was a little better informaed before making the switch.
>
> Thanks for any help you an give,

Why go for the switch ? - I have been looking abroadband isp's & am hoping
sign up with Zen shortly.


--
--
Niaz Khan
'..getting old & still playing video games..'

"Meurig Freeman" <meurig2@*NoSpam*doublegeek.com> wrote in message
news:4149de9e$0$22755$(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm not particularly sure what contention actually means, I gather it's
> to do with how many people share your bandwidth but would really
> appreciate some clarification.
>
> The reason for this thread though - Zen (who I am currently with) claim:
> "BANDWIDTH TO SPARE
> We guarantee NO CONTENTION on our network. "
> And quite rigtly, I have always experienced (what I consider to be) very
> fast download speeds, regularly downloading near the 50kB/s mark.
>
> What I'm worried about is whether contention problems are going to
> affect my download and upload speeds on plus.net - I imagine not, but
> I'd rather I was a little better informaed before making the switch.
>
> Thanks for any help you an give,
> --
> Meurig
> (http://xboxmods.meurig.com)

From what I understand, Zen is not the cheapest, but is pretty much the best
for customer service and overall service.

PlusNet are very good and very good value. I don't think you will notice
any difference in performance on PlusNet, but certainly, if you are used to
the service levels of Zen, there is little reason to move other than cost.

AMO

Niaz Khan wrote:

> "Meurig Freeman" <meurig2@*NoSpam*doublegeek.com> wrote in message
> news:4149de9e$0$22755$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>I'm not particularly sure what contention actually means, I gather it's
>>to do with how many people share your bandwidth but would really
>>appreciate some clarification.
>>
>>The reason for this thread though - Zen (who I am currently with) claim:
>>"BANDWIDTH TO SPARE
>>We guarantee NO CONTENTION on our network. "
>>And quite rigtly, I have always experienced (what I consider to be) very
>>fast download speeds, regularly downloading near the 50kB/s mark.
>>
>>What I'm worried about is whether contention problems are going to
>>affect my download and upload speeds on plus.net - I imagine not, but
>>I'd rather I was a little better informaed before making the switch.
>>
>>Thanks for any help you an give,
>
>
> Why go for the switch ? - I have been looking abroadband isp's & am hoping
> sign up with Zen shortly.
>

Zen are great, don't get me wrong I've never had a problem with them
from a technical point of view.

Thing is, it's £6 a month cheaper with plusnet at 512kb/s, or a whoping
£10 a month cheaper at 1Mb/s.

So quite simply, I could upgrade to 1Mbps for just £2 extra a month
(plus some possible switching upgrade fees) if I switch.

--
Meurig
(http://xboxmods.meurig.com)

"Meurig Freeman" <meurig2@*NoSpam*doublegeek.com> wrote in message
news:4149e37c$0$22762$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Zen are great, don't get me wrong I've never had a problem with them
> from a technical point of view.
>
> Thing is, it's £6 a month cheaper with plusnet at 512kb/s, or a whoping
> £10 a month cheaper at 1Mb/s.
>
> So quite simply, I could upgrade to 1Mbps for just £2 extra a month
> (plus some possible switching upgrade fees) if I switch.
>

Do plusnet offer a good as service like Zen ?
I will have a look at there website now to gather info.

We have Zen at work & I am very impressed with the service & usenet server
is very good. Not sure on plus.net's - anyone know ?


--
--
Niaz Khan
'..getting old & still playing video games..'

"AMO" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4149e39e$0$40442$(E-Mail Removed)...
> From what I understand, Zen is not the cheapest, but is pretty much the
best
> for customer service and overall service.
>
> PlusNet are very good and very good value. I don't think you will notice
> any difference in performance on PlusNet, but certainly, if you are used
to
> the service levels of Zen, there is little reason to move other than cost.
>

Have just been reading the forums on adslguide - plusnet seems to be ok -
has had a few speed issues but nothing serious
Customer service seems to be ok as well - I'm on bt 56k at the moment so ??


I can't find anything about the quality of the usenet server though ?
So anyone using plus.net could you please report ?


--
--
Niaz Khan
'..getting old & still playing video games..'

AMO wrote:

> "Meurig Freeman" <meurig2@*NoSpam*doublegeek.com> wrote in message
> news:4149de9e$0$22755$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>>I'm not particularly sure what contention actually means, I gather it's
>>to do with how many people share your bandwidth but would really
>>appreciate some clarification.
>>
>>The reason for this thread though - Zen (who I am currently with) claim:
>>"BANDWIDTH TO SPARE
>>We guarantee NO CONTENTION on our network. "
>>And quite rigtly, I have always experienced (what I consider to be) very
>>fast download speeds, regularly downloading near the 50kB/s mark.
>>
>>What I'm worried about is whether contention problems are going to
>>affect my download and upload speeds on plus.net - I imagine not, but
>>I'd rather I was a little better informaed before making the switch.
>>
>>Thanks for any help you an give,
>>--
>>Meurig
>>(http://xboxmods.meurig.com)
>
>
> From what I understand, Zen is not the cheapest, but is pretty much the best
> for customer service and overall service.
>
> PlusNet are very good and very good value. I don't think you will notice
> any difference in performance on PlusNet, but certainly, if you are used to
> the service levels of Zen, there is little reason to move other than cost.
>
> AMO
>
>
Thing is, I've Never had to contact zen customer services - is this
really likely to change drastically with PlusNet?

I don't mind the (very) occasional outage for the saving. Not if (as
you say) the performance is likely to be the same.

Thanks,
--
Meurig
(http://xboxmods.meurig.com)

"Meurig Freeman" <meurig2@*NoSpam*doublegeek.com> wrote in message
news:4149e4c9$0$22761$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > From what I understand, Zen is not the cheapest, but is pretty much the
best
> > for customer service and overall service.
> >
> > PlusNet are very good and very good value. I don't think you will
notice
> > any difference in performance on PlusNet, but certainly, if you are used
to
> > the service levels of Zen, there is little reason to move other than
cost.
> >
> > AMO
> >
> >
> Thing is, I've Never had to contact zen customer services - is this
> really likely to change drastically with PlusNet?
>
> I don't mind the (very) occasional outage for the saving. Not if (as
> you say) the performance is likely to be the same.
>

I think it might be harder for you to switch if like you say Zen offers an
excellent service (we use Zen at the office & have never had any problems
yet).

I'm currently on bt 56 dial-up so an upgrade to broadband will be a breath
of fresh air. Having said that I have been with bt for 7 years now with no
major problems - the odd occasional outage

It's all a bit new for me but I think it's time to make the jump - I've gone
more towards Zen because of the usage at work - they have a very good usenet
server & I think before I look at plus.net - I would need to check on the
quality of the news server.

But the price difference like you say is significant when you can get a 1mb
Plus.net connection for nearly the same as a 512k with Zen.


--
--
Niaz Khan
'..getting old & still playing video games..'

"Meurig Freeman" <meurig2@*NoSpam*doublegeek.com> wrote in message
news:4149e4c9$0$22761$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thing is, I've Never had to contact zen customer services - is this
> really likely to change drastically with PlusNet?
>
> I don't mind the (very) occasional outage for the saving. Not if (as
> you say) the performance is likely to be the same.
>
> Thanks,
> --
> Meurig
> (http://xboxmods.meurig.com)

The reason you've never needed to contact Zen, is because they're that good.

PlusNet are a worthwhile move no matter what package you are on.

It costs to upgrade from 512K to a higher bandwidth - £15 - so see if Zen
will do this free with no ties before you move.

Also, check the billing cycles - most ISPs need one months notice and will
charge you for a full month from the final charge to your account within
that month. So its best to ring them a few days before your billing cycle.

AMO

"Niaz Khan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Do plusnet offer a good as service like Zen ?
> I will have a look at there website now to gather info.
>
> We have Zen at work & I am very impressed with the service & usenet server
> is very good. Not sure on plus.net's - anyone know ?
> --
> Niaz Khan
> '..getting old & still playing video games..'

Yes, PlusNet are very very good.

Everything is good and everything is cheap but there is no subsidising of
anything.

You pay if you want a modem. You pay if you want an upgrade to your line -
as this requires a BT engineer to upgrade your line.

It's best to get these things out of the way with other ISPs before moving
to PlusNet.

AMO