Considering migrating to Plusnet ...

Looking at migrating to Plusnet in the near future.

My usage is lite at around 10-12GB per month and main usage of the Internet is general surfing, YouTube downloads, occasional software downloads and Facebook.

The plans I have looked at are the Plusnet Basic and the Plusnet Extra ... apart from the extra download capacity is there much noticeable difference in evening speeds of the two packages?

Thanks.

No point in going for Plusnet Value (I presume that's what you mean by "basic") if you are likely to exceed 10GB. If you do, Plusnet Extra would be no more expensive and give you up to 60GB. There are some minor differences in traffic shaping but I've used both and haven't noticed anything significant. You also get free McAfee AV with Plusnet Extra if that is of interest to you.

Youtube streaming can be a little slow occasionally on extra. That's the only one that really bothers me. It's mostly at the weekends iirc.

http://usergroup.plus.net/prodcomp1.php will give you a comparison.

My Internet usage is similar to yours so I am surprised you exceed 10GB a month.
I would try the value package first. It's easy to upgrade later.
In my first two months I have not exceeded 10GB.
I occasionally download large files between 24.00 and 08.00 - its free during these hours.
I think there is an additional charge of £6 a month each time you exceed 10GB
but they send you a warning e-mail if you are going to exceed your limit.
You can track your usage on a daily basis on their site.

I moved from Sky and get faster speeds at half the price.
The PlusNet website and customer service is miles better.

Edited by deleted (Fri 31-Dec-10 14:22:13)

You can set your account so that additional allowable charge is zero whereby, if you exceed 10Gb, you'll just get lower speeds but no extra money will be taken.

it is actually £5 for 5GB extra but I have my limit set to zero so I would be limited to 128kbps for the rest of the billing period - never actually happened yet

My brothers connection went over the limit. 128Kbps? Could barely navigate to the plusnet site to check the usage. Certainly wasn't anything like the equivalent of 3 times dial up - felt more like old 128bps than kbps.

The zero excess setting is a great idea. I tend to feel that anyone needing more than 10Gb a month needs to get a life...!! Like OJ I have not exceeded it yet.

Meldrew

Just like to say thanks to everyone that replied.

I have decided to give Plusnet a go and will probably opt for the Plusnet Value package and upgrade to Plusnet Extra if I find that I'm exceeding the 10GB allowance regularly.

Thanks.

In reply to a post by meldrew:

The zero excess setting is a great idea. I tend to feel that anyone needing more than 10Gb a month needs to get a life...!! Like OJ I have not exceeded it yet.

Meldrew

Depends on what you are doing. My parents normally use around 10GB but two months running went over 15GB because the first month my brothers PC downloaded the warcraft updates (about 7GB) and then downloaded call of duty (I think a similar size). You may not think that is having a life but many do so would suggest you consider that others have different interests.

Hi mk2,

Thanks for joining us - if you've any issues or questions please post here or join us on our community forums and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Seems my migration has not gone ahead to Plusnet because there is no capacity available at the BT exchange till end of January at the earliest.
Just had to cancel my migration

If you are on a DSLAM that can't support ADSL2+ they should be able to move you to an ADSL connection, as that wouldn't need a change of DSLAM. Then upgrade you when possible.

Hi Mk2,

It looks like Adam's picked this up over on our community forums here, he's got this in hand for you.

From the Community thread

I have just contacted Newnet with regards to the obtaining a new MAC key and they cannot generate a new one till the 2nd February when the present one I used runs out

If you rang about that you may have got misinformation.

You previous MAC should now have been "cancelled" by Openreach as it has in effect been used. So instead of ringing again, just go into the Support Pages and (before the takeover) there used to be an online MAC request facility.

If it is still there it is fully automated and will go straight through to Openreach. So if I'm right about the old one having been "used" you should quickly get an email back. Newnet used to reckon about 10 minutes from request. They failed with me, it was 20 minutes. But that might have been my email host!

It's worth a try, costs nothing and does no damage if it doesn't work.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

From the Community thread

I have just contacted Newnet with regards to the obtaining a new MAC key and they cannot generate a new one till the 2nd February when the present one I used runs out

If you rang about that you may have got misinformation.

You previous MAC should now have been "cancelled" by Openreach as it has in effect been used. So instead of ringing again, just go into the Support Pages and (before the takeover) there used to be an online MAC request facility.

If it is still there it is fully automated and will go straight through to Openreach. So if I'm right about the old one having been "used" you should quickly get an email back. Newnet used to reckon about 10 minutes from request. They failed with me, it was 20 minutes. But that might have been my email host!

It's worth a try, costs nothing and does no damage if it doesn't work.

Thanks Bob.

I was informed by Newnet that my present MAC key was valid for 30 days and that they could not generate a new MAC key on my account till the 2nd February

I have just tried to generate another MAC key via the Newnet Broadband Migrations/Terminations and the second part of the process informs me

This account already has a MAC code
MAC Code: xxxxxxxx
Expiry Date: 02/02/2011

I did not proceed to the next stage and cancelled the order. I guess doing so would just have generated another MAC key on the 2nd February, as Newnet had early informed me.

My original MAC Key was generated in 10 minutes, so no issues there

That is a system bug at Newnet then.

The reason a MAC cannot be issued within 30 days is that two simultaneous ones are obviously not allowed.

However once it is received from the new ISP and acted upon by OR it has been used. If the migration is then cancelled Openreach systems can issue a new one.

The wording you give indicates the 30-day restriction is coded into the Newnet side and incorrectly prevents a request being submitted to OR .

You can see why they have done it, to prevent users submitting multiple requests and possibly causing mayhem, but perhaps they could do a manual request to OR?

Why didn't you let it go through to produce one in Feb anyway? Or would you rather stay as you are as you can't yet get ADSL2+ on Plusnet?

It hasm't been used as transfer hasn't been made. The first MAC is still legit

I believe not kamelion, subject to facts about how and when OR process the received MAC, rather than either of our opinions. I think it is "used" at the point of order receipt by OR.

I'm sure in the past after a failed migration from another ISP that a second MAC was obtainable. I think it was in the Entanet mayhem days of resellers going bust.

Otherwise if the existing MAC is still legit it could be re-used immediately. As you imply. So if it can't, then a new one must be feasible.

One or other case has to be true.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 15-Jan-11 09:22:19)