Want to join Plusnet...

I am so excited that fibre is available at my post code after a long wait. It was so painful being on 3 Mbps for the last 17 months as I couldnt get VM cable at my new address.

I have been fishing around for the last couple of weeks and am happy to see a good unlimited package from PN.

I have been with VM national BB since August 2011. I believed it was a 12 month contract. However when I phoned their customer services couple of weeks ago I was told that I am on a 18 month contract.

My queries are:

1) How do I confirm that I was only on a 12 month contract with VM?

2) Can I place the order with PN first and then give termination notice to VM? [even if I am on 18 month contract as they say it should be over by end of Feb 13]

Edited by deleted (Wed 19-Dec-12 10:33:33)

In reply to a post by abhijack:

1) How do I confirm that I was only on a 12 month contract with VM?

Difficult unless you have documentation from the time you took out the contract. Do you have any emails, etc, that refer to the contract term?

In reply to a post by abhijack:

2) Can I place the order with PN first and then give termination notice to VM? [even if I am on 18 month contract as they say it should be over by end of Feb 13]

You will need a MAC from Virgin to place the order with Plusnet. I don't know how Virgin handle MAC requests - in theory you should be able to get one without actually giving notice to terminate the service, as you may end up not actually using the MAC. Once it is used you have effectively given notice to terminate, but you should do so to Virgin in any case. Depending on your contract you may be liable to early termination charges from Virgin.

PS sent you a PM.

Edited by kasg (Wed 19-Dec-12 11:49:51)

thanks kasg for reply.
i checked the few emails VM had sent confirming my order and there is no mention of any contract in those.

i will ring them up for MAC code later today.

You'll have to see if you can find a copy of their minimum contract terms at the time. I had a look at the T&C at the time (link) and all it says is "If you move from your home during or after the minimum period and wish to transfer your services to your new property you will have to re-contract for a further minimum period which will commence when the services are activated." but doesn't say how long this minimum period is. The order page (link) says "All new connections are subject to a 12 month minimum term when you buy online." but it's anyone's guess if that applies to your order. You may want to see other dates on the same site - that is just the last one they have 18 months before next February.
edit - I misread the OP thinking you had moved home and so you had been put on a new minimum terms. Anyway, the notes and old VM pages still apply - it did say 12 months for new orders online, but if you ordered by phone they may have given you different terms and "forgot" to mention them in any confirmation emails.

Edited by deleted (Wed 19-Dec-12 12:11:34)

thanks a lot..
i had moved home but this wass a totally new order. I was on cable at my previous address which I couldnt get at my new one unfortunately.

I did order over phone but dont remember exactly about the contract period being discussed. And definitely its not mentioned in any of the confirmation emails or on th first bill.

I will try to use that link you provided plus the fact that its not mentioned in any of their correspondences to me. But in the worst case scenario its only a month as I need to give a months notice anyway.

And I think I had a post yday saying there is some increase in price for some service. I will check it again and if its an increase in price I guess I can use that to get out.

I am too keen to get on PN being based in Yorkshire myself!!

Edited by deleted (Wed 19-Dec-12 12:29:54)

Beware of virgin media charged might applied to you, it happen to me when they told me there is no contract and a month later I recieved letter to pay £127 fee! Virgin Media is a liar bunch of company.

http://store.virginmedia.com/the-legal-stuff/terms-a...

In reply to a post by abhijack:

if its an increase in price I guess I can use that to get out.

Not if it is not detrimental, i.e. below RPI.

I have orderded Plusnet Fibre unlimted .. Got an engineer appointment on 02/01/2013.

Have phoned VM and requested MAC code although it was never asked during the order process by PN. I presume I should ring PN and give the MAC code when I get it by email.

VM says I am on an 18 month contract . However it ends eary February 2013 and hence they wont charge me anything. By the way I was with them for 4 1/2 years now . ( 3 years cable and 1 1/2 years natonal BB) ..

Hope the engineer turns on the right date...

In reply to a post by abhijack:

Have phoned VM and requested MAC code although it was never asked during the order process by PN. I presume I should ring PN and give the MAC code when I get it by email.

Yes. Otherwise the migration will not happen.

Thanks...

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In reply to a post by abhijack:

if its an increase in price I guess I can use that to get out.

Not if it is not detrimental, i.e. below RPI.

Not true - VM's T&Cs make it clear that you can terminate the contract if they put the price up. You have 30 days to give notice of leaving from when they informed you of the price rise (not when the price actuallly goes up)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by abhijack:

Have phoned VM and requested MAC code although it was never asked during the order process by PN. I presume I should ring PN and give the MAC code when I get it by email.

Yes. Otherwise the migration will not happen.

Question - Does the MAC process cover an ADSL to FTTx move then? If so, does it also cover FTTx>FTTx migration?

In reply to a post by ferretuk:

Question - Does the MAC process cover an ADSL to FTTx move then? If so, does it also cover FTTx>FTTx migration?

Yes. Yes.
(But if you do an ADSL to FTTC upgrade with the same ISP then that is just a package change, not a migration).

So I have a provisional installation date - 7/1/13.

Any advise on what to expect on that day?

Edited by deleted (Thu 27-Dec-12 11:39:33)

(Assuming the date is confirmed - it might be wise to check nearer the day).

Usually it is an a.m. or a p.m.appointment?

The engineer has two things to do. Usually the first one is at the cabinet where he disconnects your line temporarily from everything and connects the exchange side of it to the fibre cabinet. At the fibre cabinet the link he has put you on is already connected to a fibre feed from the exchange and the voice and broadband signals are merged by the DSLAM, a mini version of the kit in the exchange that you are on at the moment.

The link back from there to the PCP, (phone cabinet), is then connected to the existing line from there to you. Your phone should start working again.

Then he comes to your place where he fits a VDSL interstitial filter plate to the master socket, between the bit on the wall and the detachable faceplate. He brings and installs a VDSL2 modem connected to the DSL socket on that. He may want to wall-mount the modem, it's up to you whether or not you let him do that, but if you don't mention it don't be surprised if he does. I have more detail and a pic of the socket on this page.

He checks the modem is sync'ing (connecting) with the DSLAM, and really the rest is up to you. He should run tests, with luck a piece of kit called a JDSU, handheld and a bit bigger than a shop credit card reader. That tells him the connection speeds, approximat line length to the FTTC cabinet, attenuations and overall noise margin. You may be able to get those from him. At some installations this isn't done and he just contacts a control centre who verify it's all working. No numbers so far as I know.

Your Plusnet router should arrive well before this, with full and very clear instructions what to do. Note that when it talks about a 15 minute delay from when it looks as though it is connected, it means it. So don't worry if it looks OK but acts dead.

Good luck!

Thanks mate. That was really helpful... Hope I get the router in time and the engineer shows up on time. Its an AM appointment.

I was originally given 2/1/13 at the time of online booking. But by the time I gave them the MAC code the earliest available date had shifted to 7/1/13. ad:

Edited by deleted (Thu 27-Dec-12 16:02:20)

Hi guys.

I had placed the order on 19.12.12.

The router hasnt arrived yet. The engineer appointment is on 7/1/13.

Is it already time to get worried about no show of router and to ring plusnet? Or is this a usual timescale?

My router came three days after I placed my original order on 26th December but this order was cancelled almost straight away by the system and placed again on the 28th so in fact the router came next day!! My installation date has drifted out from the 2nd (what I chose originally) to the 7th January. I have just had to chase Plusnet for confirmation of the engineer appointment as it was still provisional according to the Help Assistant question system.

I would get onto them about the router if I were you...

Thanks mate.
I just phoned PN sales team.

I was told they usually send it out couple of days prior to the engineers appointment date.

The guy said he will arrange for it to be sent out today. [ i hope they wud have done it even if i hadnt rung them!! ]

I mentioned about tomorrows bank holiday and suggested that it shud have been posted already ideally. The guy said the engineer can carry out his job even if the router hasnt arrived. He said he will make sure it is posted today and that it should be here in time.

Fingers crossed already...

The status now is - Hardware Queued for ordering

Yes the engineer can do his job without your router but if you are like me you would probably want to check it is working yourself before the engineer leaves!!

You are still dependent on the service being activated at the Plusnet end though. I was told this happens automatically but was not given any promises about just how quickly...

Good luck with the install, we can compare notes next week

In reply to a post by bluefish2303:

You are still dependent on the service being activated at the Plusnet end though. I was told this happens automatically but was not given any promises about just how quickly...

Mine was certainly up and running as soon as the modem was connected, but I was upgrading from Plusnet ADSL.

Edited by kasg (Mon 31-Dec-12 17:37:25)

I also want to check that its running. I hope that router arrives in time.

Anyway will update on 7th as to what has happened..

In reply to a post by bluefish2303:

Yes the engineer can do his job without your router but if you are like me you would probably want to check it is working yourself before the engineer leaves!!

You can check it is working without a router: http://community.plus.net/library/broadband/fibre-he...

thanks mate...

Hi there,

If you could post a ticket ID from your account we can take a look and make sure everything's on schedule for you?

do they send the router via royal mail or courier?

Royal Mail

hmm... thanks..
got a text this morning saying that my router is in post.
hope it arrives before mondays installation...or else i wont be very impressed as i placed the order on 19-12-12 and also had to remind them of the router this monday.

Router is sent First Class post so hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. Ironically the text to say my router is on its way came AFTER the router arrived in the post

Then it should arrive tomorrow...Thanks...

No show of router in todays post too...Not very impressed...

I doubt if Royal Mail will deliver it tomorrow, but you should have it on Monday when you need it. What time does your post come.

Waiting for the engineer for my AM appointment... FIngers crossed...

But have you got the router?

Waiting for the postman too...
Hope both turn up at the same time..

In any case PN support said engineer could do the job even if the router doesnt arrive. I got their text on thursday that router is in the post.

I too am waiting for the engineer but have a pm appointment so he's not due until 1300 at the earliest.

I am assuming that the engineer goes to the PCP first??

BTW done one last speed test on the old ISP, see my sig below.

Bad start...

I am fuming here... Took the day off and stayed at home...

No show from engineer .. Called PN at 1.30... According to engineer notes engineer couldnt get access to property...

I was home and nobody rang my bell.. Also nobody rang me on the number I gave...

This is ridiculous as I dont how long I will have to wait now...

Not good abhijack

Did the router arrive?

I too am sat at home, the engineer will definitely not have that excuse either!!

Not sure if I should contact PN at this stage; only 1 hour into the 5 hour time slot...

You need to look at this link to see what to do about getting compensation for no-shows.

Have you confirmed with PN that the engineer has been given the correct address?
You never know...
But it does sound like an excuse to me. He probably drove past at speed and claimed he couldn't get access.

I will look at that link..Thanks.

But you know now the engineers can give such false excuses even when people stay in the property.

If you ring them now all they gonna say is they cant track it until the slot time has lapsed.

Hope it goes well for you.

BTW the router arrived in todays post which wont be of no use until some future date it looks like..

I did and also confirmed the mobile number which was added in the notes to engineer.

I read some silly excuse in another thread of engineer no show that enginners dont carry mobiles apparently...

Anyway isnt it an offence to put a false update?

In reply to a post by abhijack:

I read some silly excuse in another thread of engineer no show that enginners dont carry mobiles apparently...

I wouldn't know about that but when I had an engineer appointment to look at a line fault they phoned my mobile asking if I was in. The caller ID appeared to be a local landline rather than a mobile although of course BT could have shown whatever they liked there.

Anyway isnt it an offence to put a false update?

Possibly. If they try to charge for missed appointment it may be considered fraud. (edit: disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer etc etc etc)

Edited by deleted (Mon 07-Jan-13 14:25:59)

In reply to a post by Uilebheist:

Possibly. If they try to charge for missed appointment it may be considered fraud. (edit: disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer etc etc etc)

I never even thought of that scenario... OMG... Charging me for staying all day at home idly and waiting for an engineer who never showed up..

I hope it wont get that ridiculous...

Kelly Communications guy just arrived.

I though I read other reports where the first thing the engineer claimed was "nobody at home" but then changed it to "running late" (probably the second excuse in the list). However after searching everywhere I can't find it again.
Still make sure PN has on their records that you challenge the engineer's lie.

In reply to a post by bluefish2303:

Kelly Communications guy just arrived.

great..update us on how it went.

Abhi - have you heard back from Plusnet yet?

they said they will book another date and let me know tomorrow.

Well, I hope that you get booked for Wednesday! When does your current contract end?

I'm with BE till 27th of January and have a PN install (hopefully) on the 22nd

why wednesday? it would be nice if that happens which seems unlikely going throught the posts here..

my current contract with VM ends on 30th of Jan .

Well, ASAP then !

thanks mate...
hope ur installation goes fine as well...

The Kelly engineer was all finished up after about hour.

He set up the modem and router and changed the faceplate at this end first before going to the cabinet (I told him where I thought was - thanks to another thread on here ). The modem has not been attached to the wall (at my request).

I am still going through the last bit of the PN setup after entering username and password so no internet just yet...

Wife tried to be clever by setting up wireless on her laptop but got defeated by a 4 or 8 digit PIN it was asking for. Will use WPS on mine

I'll update my sig on the next post

I thought in the Plusnet user guide it said, you don't have to set up a user name/password, as long as you wait 15 minutes ?

Errrmmm well I had to and I did (didn't read the manual tbh, just followed on-screen instructions).

There was an initial 15 minute set up period PRIOR to entering username and password where it told you to go away and make a cup of tea!!

BTW how do I display the thinkbroadband speedtest in HTML rather than a link??

Thanks for the reply - the username/password is shown in the booklet as 'if you did not wait 15 minutes' - maybe an error!

Not sure what the question you are asking re speedtest (it's embedded so how about you view the source html in your browser?)

Really sorry to hear about your problem, especially after you helped me out. It seems these Openreach (or subcontractor) no-shows are far too common as are the excuses trotted out for them. There is absolutely no excuse for the lack of communication and even less for apparent lies. It seems the ISPs can do nothing about it other than book another appointment, which then gives them a poor reputation. Plusnet plays the game and won't slag off Openreach publicly for it - they won't even mention them by name, which is probably all part of the deal. This surely cannot continue indefinitely.

Re: the speedtest result in my sig, I just wanted to display the picture of the result rather than put in the link.

My initial results using the thinkbroadband speed tester are:

34.3 Mbps down (estimate was 34Mbps)
5.2 Mbps up (estimate was 6 Mbps)

Edited by deleted (Mon 07-Jan-13 19:11:10)

Okay - well on this forum you cannot insert pictures, it's a shame because they don't exactly use much bandwidth. Fine on the speed very close to the estimate. Keep the modem switched on and see what it does (it may increase!!)

the lack of communication is the main issue.
cant see any logic in why they cant ring a customer atleast when unsure about being at right property.

yeah..PN refers to them as 'our suppliers' not BTOR.

hope i get another appt in the near future...

you have got exactly same estimate as mine.
good to see you are getting the estimated speed..

Yes I'm pleased with that, all I need to do now is to speed up my Vista laptop to keep up!! Probably need to upgrade...

Oh and I worked out how to put the 'picture' of my speedtest in my sig

Tell me about it... I had to take out the Homeplugs and install CAT 6 cabling just to keep up! The upshot is my home ethernet is now faster than works...

In reply to a post by bluefish2303:

Yes I'm pleased with that, all I need to do now is to speed up my Vista laptop to keep up!! Probably need to upgrade...

Oh and I worked out how to put the 'picture' of my speedtest in my sig

How did you put the speedtest result in? (Can you PM me?)

In reply to a post by shalom2005:

Oh and I worked out how to put the 'picture' of my speedtest in my sig

How did you put the speedtest result in? (Can you PM me?)

Grr! .
Pictures of a one-off speed test in a sig are a PITA. By the next day they are old hat. After a week a bit irrelevant. After a month, fully qualified for the epithet.

They just add wasted space to scroll through for those of us using Flat mode, the majority.

I don't even know what the intention is in putting them there.

Sorry but I'm the proverbial boy with a new toy at the mo....

It'll wear off in a week or so

That's fine. But we often see them literally years old, and sometimes not even the same ISP.

Got a new provisional date in 2 weeks time.:mad:
PN trying to escalate it as its an engineer fault.
Hope it works out..

Openreach do sometimes bring it forward in these sort of circs, when pushed.

Good luck.

We're working on it, I'll update your ticket as soon as we've got a date.

Thanks again Chris.

Some good news.
PN have managed to bring appt forward to next monday.

Fingers crossed. Hope I get a more sensible engineer coming this time who will ring me if has any difficulty finding the right property.

Let's hope. Is it difficult to find?

I have never missed any posts.

Occasionally takeaway guys have gone to a set of flats which is at the beginning of the road just before my house.

It could be slightly confusing that flat name is K Court and the road K Close.

Edited by deleted (Wed 09-Jan-13 17:03:39)

I expect the postman knows about the confusing naming which is why your post arrives fine.
It may be worth asking PN if there's a chance to let OpenReach know about this and tell them to make sure they do try the righ tdoor this time? Or ask the people at the other flat if they can put a note on their door when you are expecting the engineer to install

"Dear BT Engineer, You are at the wrong house"

In reply to a post by Uilebheist:

Or ask the people at the other flat if they can put a note on their door when you are expecting the engineer to install

In reply to a post by jelv:

"Dear BT Engineer, You are at the wrong house"

lol..thanks... as its the flats i will have to put the note at the buzzer by the main door...

another funny option is to put a big welcome banner at the beginning of the road.. or even sitting at the bus stop by the road for the whole slot time waiting for a BT van...

Jokes apart I will try to check with Chris @ Pn whether he can pass this confusion to the engineer...

Edited by deleted (Wed 09-Jan-13 18:02:11)

Guys I am thinking of asking the engineer to set up a data extension cable about 5 - 6 metres long as my master socket is placed in conveniently in the hallway.. I had couple of queries about it...

1) Will it have any significant negative impact on net speeds by using a 6 m extension cable?

2) If I feel it has a negative effect on speed will I be able to discard the extension kit and plug in the modem directly to master socket easily?

No.

Yes.

Make sure Plusnet have ordered the "Home Wiring Solution" for you. Free, but if not ordered you might have a problem.

thanks...

i had ticked that in the hardware section of the order.

and on a recent phone call to them re: router delivery i had pointed out that i didnt get the data extension kit to which they replied that will be carried by the engineer.

anyway i shud know in a few hours...

my second install date has come ...waiting eagerly for the engineer...

Bit late now but for the benefit of others there is a box on the Plusnet fibre order form where you can leave a comment for the engineer if your house/flat is particularly difficult to find.

In reply to a post by abhijack:

they replied that will be carried by the engineer.

That is correct.

Good luck this time.

Have given my number in that engineer notes.

And as this is a second appointment that too expedited by PN they have told me they will add in the notes to ring my number if they have difficulty finding me.

Hope it goes ok this time.

2.30 hours gone...another 2.30 hours left till 1 pm...fingers crossed...

Hi there,

I guess as you didn't come back to this thread that everything went ahead fine? Certainly hope so, but please let us know if not or if there's anything else we can help with.

http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,1105...

The instal went fab..It was a very helpful engineer..

But post install its not looking great with line speeds..

I will start a new thread on that in aa moment..

I would appreciate your help...