Zen internet Deals & Offers

this is an OFCOM ruling , all companies are not allowed to charge extra for caller display from 1st Oct. no doubt they will increase charges in other areas instead. been with Zen for years , great provider but , like many these days , only have the landline for the broadband.

I suppose every ISP has issues dependent on their router, area, servers, structure, customer services, cost etc. With Zen, I had nothing but issues, I was paying double what I now do with sky and had nothing but issues as I’ve stated previously. For me, I wouldn’t go back to then if they were cheaper than sky, my personal experience just dictates that. I had no end of problems over a year and was paying through the nose for a sub par service. ive been with shy for longer now and never had any issues.

Out of interest who did you move to? I've been with about a dozen ISPs and this is the only one that's been rock solid, every other ISP I've been with I had to switch router off and back on again weekly to reconnect or to get the correct speed, I've literally not touched this router in 2 years. That said they are on the higher end of the price, but it is nice to speak to a clearly spoken UK based professional when you need to call.

I agree. I was with Zen for a couple of years. They are fine, but broadband is broadband.... I moved away from them and still get a good service + speeds with another provider. I'm not anti Zen, its just a premium payment for very little benefit. That said, I'm surprised they have been charging for Caller ID given the amount you pay. As a result this isn't a 'good deal' - they are behind their rivals

Noticed that I’m now getting caller id with SSE. I’m assuming it’s free as they’ve not told me otherwise

When I disable my VPN / firewall I am getting my full 38 Mbps download speed,my current package limit ( tested via wifi - speedtest.net),however Zen report I should be getting "Typical 20.03Mbps -Max 31.18Mbps".Maybe database not updated correctly.

For the sake of feedback - when I first signed up I was getting around 58Mbps down / 19Mbps up. They enabled g.inp at some point, and now I'm at about 70Mbps down (up stayed the same, it's already maxed out). I've had zero issues with them.

I swapped over to Zen in December, their router is excellent,only disconnected once and I think that was a firmware update at 3 am.And just this week I have had a speed boost. Now getting download speeds of 36 Mbps and upload speeds of 7 Mbps. Before I was getting 25/26 Mbps download and 3/4 Mbps upload so well happy now with a free boost.

What speed are you getting at the router? or at the wall, plugged directly into the socket from a PC with ethernet? Also have you tried a different cable? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just trying to help diagnose the problem you're having... and it still doesn't forgive their CS from shoddy work if they haven't already asked you to do the above.

I switched to them from BT on Infinity 2. Their Wi-fi router is terrible compared with the BT one. The speed is dire - often only 10Mbps on Ethernet instead of the 70 I was getting with BT. Their support has been rubbish - “it should be working”. They don’t chase up when I email. They used to have a very good reputation for customer support. I am trying to get out of my contract without much success so far. AVOID in my experience.

Most people's "Zen Big Deal" contracts should be ending very soon - don't rush to switch though, unlike most other providers, the monthly cost will remain the same. It's still a very good deal!

Thanks for the post. The link still appears to be live as I’ve just signed up for it. Fingers crossed this price is honoured.

First time I've heard of Zen doing this sort of offer, maybe times are hard. I was with Zen until about 6 months ago when I was lured away by one of the BT deals. Customer Service was on the whole good, but not excellent... I found the Live Chat option was never available and support was limited to office hours and Saturday morning only... I think it's since improved. The major advantage is that you speak to someone who has English as a first language and who clearly knows what they're talking about. They upped the price and changed conditions on my phone package which irritated me a little so I ended up having to switch to a different package. Billing support was frustratingly office hours only. When I left, they clearly mucked up the final bill as they sent me an email asking why I hadn't paid them a couple of quid I apparently owed... I replied saying I assumed it had all come out of the direct debit (which was still active). I paid and complained about their handling of it and didn't hear anything back until a month later when I chased it up. So yes, a pretty good reliable broadband and phone service and reasonable customer service, but at a price. I wouldn't rule out going back to them when the BT deal comes to an end, but it will depend on the price at the time.

Very surprised to see Zen in one of these deals - excellent Customer Service. ** Ends today. ** Always worth comparing deals though. e.g. MSE have a new comparison tool :- https://broadband.moneysavingexpert.com/

I was going to sign up with them tonight anyway as my current BT offer finishes in a few days.... So this is a big fat bonus - Ordered. I tried to setup a VPN with BT and it was an absolute pain..... You seem to be forced to uses their DNS system if you like it or not

I was tempted but in the end I went with PlusNet as they were offering up to 17Mbps Broadband free for 12 months just paying for line rental. I called them up and prepaid the line rental for 1 yr. Total cost for 1yr 192.87. It comes with a phone line I won't use as it's cheaper just using voip.

I see what you're saying, but Zen do all that too. I'd also argue that their network is one of the best in the country. It has full QoS throughout and business-class service. Don't forget also that AA use BT and TalkTalk to deliver their services; especially EFM. Zen also do this, but they also have LLU services in some areas which tie straight back to Zen's own network. In my opinion this makes Zen's service a far more appealing offering. As I said in a previous post, Zen used to drop lines into fields, blocks of flats, etc, for me in 2 days. I never ever had a problem from Zen's side with any of them and if there ever was a problem they were all over BT. Usually though that was during the expedite so I never saw the issues.

It's their customer service in general, but when it comes to faults they are most likely market leaders. They used to monitor lines and let you know when you had a possible fault. When you had a fault, if the engineer did not turn up (which is common) they would be on the phone minutes after the missed appointment raising an escalation.... Also It's down to QOS on the network - they are mainly focused at the business market. Use to work for an ISP back in the day - if you want a home service, then i would use Zen, but for business where a data connection is relied upon, i would have A&A as a back up to a leased line.

Err, I have fibre but it's FTTP not FTTC. There's many FTTC cabinets around my village but due to a bit of weirdness with the ordering we can't get FTTC not that it's a problem as I'd much rather have more consistent optical fibre.

Nope! That's one of the reasons I chose Zen. :)

Way, way too pricey, I do feel sorry for those stuck with DSL I'm on a nice fast 120mbit cable connection here, but there is a downside, I do have to pay a little over £24 a month for the privilege. Anyways for a DSL comparison, Plusnet give 76Mb download (max) fully unlimited broadband with anytime phone calls, rental and free router for £32.97 a month. As you can see this makes the Zen offer at £47.94 with no calls dam expensive. Breakdown:- Free installation as your taking the phone package too Router provided free (£5.99 P&P to pay if you want it) 12 month line rental (£131.88 payed at the beginning) 12 month fiber (£224.91 - 9 months at £17.99, 3 months at £24.99) Regards Flea

But I'm with virgin get free router, unlimited usage, 30mb speed, do approx 45-50gb a week and pay 11 a month for 6 months then 25 a month no line rental, had a referral so no installation charge Have had no glitches and perhaps customer service for some isn't great but I've had no problems and for the equivelant of what I'd get with zen would could £42 approx and for that I could have TiVo TV package too

Presumably on things like customer service, reliability, consistent performance, latency, features. At least, those are the reasons I continue to pay Eclipse £30 a month for 8Mbps/256Kbps rather than TalkTalk, say, £7 a month for the same speeds.

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A bit dear but not extortionate. The 76Mb is the same price as Sky iirc and you have to take a line from Sky now.

Terrible and dishonest company. I would regularly call them if I could get a better speed than the 0.5 mb I was getting. Always told me no. I suspect because I had an unlimited line and they didn't want me to increase my usage. Switched to Plusnet because I got tired of paying £25 a month. After switching my speed increased to 3mb even though Zen told me just before then and countless occasions before 0.5mb was the best I could hope for.

Zen isn't just for business broadband, they do home as well. I've been with them for years. They may be a bit more expensive than other ISP's but you get what you pay for and on the very few occasions I've needed to call them they were brilliant. Hot for the offer but unfortunately I don't live in a fibre area (out in the sticks!)

A good bargaining tool for a chat with VM tomorow... And I may well swap over if they don't pull their finger out. Cheers!

But Zen is for business broadband whereas plusnet is home

is it true...you get a better fibre signal if you eat brown bread ? :D