Well you live and learn
TBH I'd forgotten that ISP's various have their own portals - probably because my (low speed) line is Orange and their portal is utter sh**t and my (high speed) connection is a Tooway satellite and they don't have a portal
Once upon a time I made my own portal / home page with the links I used most but Safari, Google and Firefox all have good "home pages" now with customisable most visited icons. In browser speed tests (on Yosemite) Safari is fastest but I guess like HiFi ( and most things in life) it's whatever floats your boat and there is no "best"