Plusnet or BT for FTTC

I currently have Sky Unlimited Broadband, and a BT phone line. I don't want Sky FTTC as that entails taking their phone service. So the options are BT or PN. I don't want to move my phone line.

BT estimates my download speeds to be 67-80Mb and the connection charge is included in the price.
Unlimited BT Infinity 2 up to 76Mb download £20/mth for 3 months then £26.

PN estimates my download speed at 66Mb, £50 connection charge and £5.99 router p&p for a router I don't particularly want. I understand I could save £50 taking PN's phone package but don't wish to do so.
Unlimited Fibre Extra 66Mb download £22.49 pm. Is this 66Mb a hard cap, what happens if my line can exceed 66Mb?

Should I decide to move to PN would I need to get a MAC from Sky, I'm currently on their LLU unlimited broadband?

The 66 Mbps is not a hard cap, just a sales estimate. Line can go faster or slower and you don't know until connection is live

£5.99 router p&p for a router I don't particularly want

Use of the Plusnet router is entirely optional however at £5.99 for p&p it might be worth considering as a spare. If you don't want it uncheck the box when signing up.

In reply to a post by wingco1:

So the options are BT or PN. I don't want to move my phone line.

There are other ISPs who will provide FTTC with the phone provided by BT.

The router is optional. The speeds are an estimate based on line length and distance from cabinet. To my knowledge, you will get identical speeds whether you choose BT or Plusnet. Both are unlimited with no caps. BT is more expensive.

I switched from BT (ADSL2+) to Plusnet FTTC yesterday, and even though I always intended to use my Billion 7800n router, I still paid for the one from Plusnet in case of emergencies. Even with that £5.99, it's still cheaper than BT.

These are the speeds this brand new Plusnet customer has been getting since yesterday anyway.

Edited by deleted (Sat 13-Sep-14 09:06:17)

In reply to a post by wingco1:

Should I decide to move to PN would I need to get a MAC from Sky, I'm currently on their LLU unlimited broadband?

Yes.

I moved to Plusnet in June after being with BT for 19 months for two reasons. 1) its cheaper and 2) Plusnet has options such as static IP that BT don't offer.

I've not seen any difference in the actual service, and I've only had to contact support once (the day I joined) to get my profile sorted. I had to contact sales when signing up as my order didn't go through properly, but that seems to happen to people moving from BT to plusnet for some odd reason.

I didn't take the Plusnet router as I have two here already. Plusnet will get an openreach engineer to install a modem which means you can use any router with an ethernet WAN port.

In reply to a post by wingco1:

Should I decide to move to PN would I need to get a MAC from Sky, I'm currently on their LLU unlimited broadband?

You are on Partial LLU with Sky as you have a BT line. Therefore you need and should use a MAC.

As an add on question to all. I have four third party email addresses, would I be able to use the PN smtp servers?

In reply to a post by wingco1:

As an add on question to all. I have four third party email addresses, would I be able to use the PN smtp servers?

Do the addresses not have their own SMTP servers you could use?

Unfortunately being on Sky at the moment I can't check. Currently using sky.tools.co.uk

Yes you can use the Plusnet outgoing server - I already do for several third party email accounts

Edited by deleted (Sat 13-Sep-14 22:22:50)

Many thanks for that. I'll ask Sky for my MAC on Monday

The big difference for me is who I speak to when I ring support i.e. can I understand them and vice versa - I'm with PlusNet so it's someone in Sheffield although waiting times are occasionally abysmal.

good fast isp plusnet are go with them

Edited by deleted (Sun 14-Sep-14 11:49:53)

In reply to a post by wingco1:

Many thanks for that. I'll ask Sky for my MAC on Monday

Don't forget to check cashback sites for offers.

Don't forget to check cashback sites for offers.

Thanks for the heads up, however as I only want broadband and not phone it isn't worth much.

Having trouble getting a MAC from Sky

Are they failing to get that your phone is not LLU (partial broadband LLU)? Only if it is (full) LLU can you move without a MAC. Most of their first-line support won't have a clue about that, as non-LLU phone on Sky is very rare these days.

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 15-Sep-14 23:14:32)

I eventually got there. They were failing to get anything! Live Chat was a complete waste of time they were annoyed that I wouldn't tell them why I wanted to leave, or listen to their retention speech. The Live Chat was closed by the operator.

I emailed complaints included my full name and account number in the email. They replied that the details I supplied didn't match their records, and could I let them have my full name and account number I replied and included the details requested.

Received another email today from Customer Services asking me to ring them regarding my "account cancellation request". Spoke to a Scottish guy who gave me the MAC over the phone.

Three days to get a MAC is laughable. The Scottish guy basically said the overseas call centre was a waste of time.

Plusnet FTTC ordered this evening.

Daft, innit!

Now the next daft bit!

There is a chance somebody in Plusnet provisioning will see a Sky order and start a line transfer procedure, on the assumption it is an LLU line . They've had such grief getting Sky LLU line+broadband transfers to work smoothly they may default to a cockup.

Keep an eye on what goes on.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 16-Sep-14 23:00:11)

I hope not. During sign up I made sure only the broadband was ticked.