Post Office Fibre Broadband – A Review
I was given a fibre broadband package to review for the Post Office. As it has now been up and running for around 6 weeks I feel it is a good time to share my thoughts with you.
Signing up for Post Office Fibre Broadband
Despite our package being provided free of charge as part of this review I had to sign up as normal.
The costs were then corrected on the bill at a later date. As a result, I can share the experiences of signing up as they are the same as everyone else.
It was very straightforward to sign up with all the standard questions as expected and nothing too testing. I was advised of the best “up to” speeds available on my line.
The choices between standard broadband and the two different fibre broadband speed packages were explained well.
Transferring from Another Broadband Provider
The online forms made it appear straightforward to change from another provider. I was curious to see if it would be straightforward in practice.
With my live date for the Post Office broadband, I was able to tell my current provider which date I was transferring.
They did already have this information but it is always nice to confirm isn’t it? The previous provider’s service then stopped on the day in question.
Delivery of the Post Office Broadband Equipment
The new router arrived around 5 days before my live date and was well-packaged.
The box contained the router, the adapter to plug it into the power, an Ethernet cable and a phone cable. I also received two of the interference filters that plug into the phone line.
All pretty standard stuff like I have had before with previous routers so I wasn’t too concerned.
The instructions were very straightforward and the diagrams were clear. The Post Office broadband equipment was clearly marked that it should not be plugged in until the “live” date.
On the Post Office Broadband “Live” Date
On the date, the Post Office broadband was due to go live I was of course concerned. What if now my previous provider had stopped their service there would be a problem?
I would end up with no internet! I know it sounds silly but we would all be the same, wouldn’t we?
Thankfully I didn’t need to worry, the Post Office Broadband Fibre service started at around lunchtime. I connected all of our devices to the Wi-Fi with ease.
The Customer Service
I had a need to call customer services very early on during our contract. We needed to check about how to log in to the online account (and couldn’t find our login information!) where you can view bills etc.
I was in a holding system for a while as to be expected. I did call at a busy time of the day at around 5 pm however the call was answered pretty quickly.
The assistant who answered my call understood my query and was able to look into it and answer it efficiently.
I was pleased to have discovered that it wasn’t one of those calls where you are transferred from person to person, this advisor resolved the issue immediately.
Day to Day Fibre Broadband
We have now had the broadband up and running for around 6 weeks. I feel comfortable I can give you my opinions and experiences of the service we have received.
The internet speed we have been getting has seemed good and when checked has varied but mostly around the 38mb “up to” speed we were advised of.
In general, it has worked with no problems. A couple of times we have had the Wi-Fi appear to stop working however turning the router on and off resolved this.
I am not concerned by this as with technology there will always be odd times things like this happen. It hasn’t been enough to be an issue.
Last week, however, there was an issue with the broadband and it wouldn’t connect at all. I phoned the Post Office customer services and was on hold in a queue for 20 minutes which was disappointing.
When the call was answered I was told it was because all the country had no connections to Post Office broadband with the systems completely down.
The lady told me they were working on it and expected it to be resolved by the end of the day and to contact them the following day if not. I was sceptical. Wondering if there was actually an imminent solution or if it was a delaying tactic!
I was pleasantly surprised when an hour later I noticed the connection was working again with no problems.
Would I recommend Post Office Fibre Broadband?
From the service we have received, I would have no doubt about recommending Post Office Broadband.
The connection and speed have been brilliant and the customer service has been great on both occasions I have used it.
I believe the price is relatively comparable with other providers. My opinion is you have to take things like customer service into account too.
Personally, I would rather pay a little more but know the service is good than go with an unknown provider with dubious customer service! Do you agree?
Just to let you know, I was given a package of Post Office Fibre broadband and a visit from their Wi-Fi Squad in return for honest reviews of my opinions of both. That said as always my reviews are always honest and fair.
The views and experiences above are my own and not in any way influenced by the Post Office Broadband team.
What about the range of the router?