Difference between Unlimited & Premium on ADSL2??

Hiya guys and gals I have been with Plusnet for about 3 or 4 years and have been pretty happy with their service to date. One thing that has occurred to me is this:

Premium (Unlimited) ADSL2 - which I am on £19.99 per month

Plusnet Unlimited (Contracted) ADSL2 - which my brother is on £9.99

Now given that my exchange is classed as Market 2 and Fibre is not likely to be available for years can anybody explain to me what the differences are in these packages because I cannot find any apart from peak time allowance 60GB vs 120GB.

I probably average about 150GB per month with 90% of my downloads being done off peak overnight.

So anybody shed any light on what the differences are and if I would take any hit on performance if I switched to the cheaper package as I suspect I may be paying for something that essentially isn't actually available any more.

thanks rik

I don't understand the question - there is no peak time allowance on Unlimited or Premium Unlimited but there is on Premium. Given the price I assume that you are actually on Premium
The main difference other than the price of course (and the 12 month tie in) is the traffic shaping
The new package is essentially unshaped whereas your old one is heavily shaped
To be honest moving to the new package is a no-brainer
Your brother must have been really fast off the mark to get on the new package immediately as it only went live today and it changes on your billing date

Edited by deleted (Wed 19-Dec-12 21:56:48)

Thanks for the info Oldjim.

My brother has been on the unlimited ADSL2 package for about 12 months - it had a peak time allowance of either 40 or 60GB @ £9.99 per month on a 12 month contract. The premium package which had an allowance of 120GB now seems to have become obselete with the new packages coming into play.

I have looked at my account details and I started the Premium package on 31 Mar 2010 so it looks like I have just been paying £19.99 per month since joining - though I think Plusnet did up the peak time allowance a bit in that time ...

So basically I am paying an extra tenner as it stands for having traffic shaping - no other catches whatsoever and I should switch immediately??

thanks rik

In reply to a post by rikky:

My brother has been on the unlimited ADSL2 package for about 12 months - it had a peak time allowance of either 40 or 60GB

Confusion there because people don't normally refer to "Allowance" packages as unlimited even if the off-peak is.

The new Unlimited packages are completely so. No peak time limits at all.

Your brother is on the old "Extra" with a 60GB peak-time allowance. That was replaced today, as oldjim says. But nobody gets automatically moved. You have to upgrade through your Member Centre.

In your case, it seems the answer is yes. It will become effective at your next billing date. Not until.

And neither of you are likely to be on ADSL2. ADSL2+ more probably, which is a lotttttt different.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 19-Dec-12 22:33:38)

If it had a peak allowance then it was not an unlimited package, but one that had an unmetered period during the night

You have to watch out if you switch. There is no charge for the switch, but the contract, (cheaper) version has a 12 month minimum term, and continues on monthly afterwards at the same lower price. The non-contract doesn't, but is £2.50 or something extra per month for ever.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 20-Dec-12 10:00:07)

Ok thanks guys that clears that up then I guess - I wasn't sure how my brothers "Extra" package was worded but it looks like I will "downgrade" from the old £19.99 Premium package and tell my brother to do likewise with his old "Extra" package ...

regards rik

Note I've added the word "extra" in front of "per month".

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 20-Dec-12 10:01:57)