May change provider

As hard as it is to say this, i may have to change my ISP as they do not seem to be offering the service I require any more, not because i want more, but because their network just can not seem to cope any more.

I have looked at a few providers, Sky, plusnet and a couple of smaller ones, I even priced up TalkTalk, but I do not fancy Talk Talk to be honest even if it does work out cheaper than plusnet over 18 months.


so to Plusnet, i know a few people on Plusnet Fibre and while most of them seems to be ok with it, the service is not outstanding, which from where some of them are in relation to the cabinet it should be.

I know Plusnet use traffic management, which to be honest I am not fond of, but then again maybe if the network I am on used it then things would be better.

My main problem is filters, BT, sky, Talk Talk they all use these filters because our nanny state say they have to, I do not see them mentioned on plusnet site, so have Plusnet got away with not using them? I know they are not a large provider, but they are still owned by BT.


Second thing is, if I go through the ordering process, which I did to see what the prices was and what I got,, i am told i must pay p and p for a router i do not want,, I know it is only a few quid, but anyway to get away from having their awful router? I have my own which is far better than what they supply,.

My problem is that they want to charge £50 for a install as I do not have a phone line, most other providers wave that, certainly since i would be trapped in a 18 month contract anyway.

I am going to give my provider until the end of the weekend to sort things out, if they can't then i will have a look at my options.

At the moment money is a hit tight as i am on the sick for a few months, so chaging networks at this time is not ideal, but I need a constant speed, not super high speed, but at least around 10Mb/s

last of all, what are other peoples opinion of Plusnet? I scurried away from them pretty quick when they took over Metronet, I wanted nothing to do with them, but as i said I do know some peopel with them and they seem happy, apart from one.

My main problem is filters, BT, sky, Talk Talk they all use these filters because our nanny state say they have to,

They all have filters, but you can opt out. There have been various changes as to whether new customers or old customers are opted in or out by default, but I am not aware of any situation where you can't opt out.

I'm very happy with my PlusNet so far.

Are you moving house that you already have a provider but don't have a phone line?

Changing provider is often the cheapest option because of the absurd first time discounts and cashbacks available. When I moved from Infinity to PlusNet BT did offer retention deals, but couldn't get close to matching PlusNet over 18 months. Partly helped by PlusNet offering 40/20 which fits my needs quite well.

Edited by StephenTodd (Fri 23-Jan-15 11:11:17)

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

so to Plusnet, i know a few people on Plusnet Fibre and while most of them seems to be ok with it, the service is not outstanding, which from where some of them are in relation to the cabinet it should be.

I know Plusnet use traffic management, which to be honest I am not fond of, but then again maybe if the network I am on used it then things would be better.

I've been with Plusnet nearly a year now. The 'traffic management' is more like QoS - doesn't indiscriminately throttle all traffic, it prioritises certain time critical applications. It also only kicks in if/when there is network congestion. I never noticed it for the first 8 months but since January some of us have been experiencing a degraded service.

I've gone from this every evening when I run a test (two or three times a week as the mood takes me):

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/14171...

To this most of the time I'm at home:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/14213...

Aside from obviously off-peak times I'm now often finding that my single threaded throughput is variable and averaging out at less than half of my connection speed. Multi-threaded throughput is always flat lined at the maximum. Several other PN users are experiencing this but so far PN haven't really had much to say on the subject. To be fair it's unknown as yet where the congestion is occurring and/or whether PN can even be held responsible. It's also unknown how many people are affected but it seems likely to be a relatively small number.

I'm waiting until after this weekend now because there is BT maintenance work over the weekend and that might address the issue. That's my hope/assumption not PN's. Although PN have responded to the issue it's been along the lines of "that's odd, we'll get the network bods to look into it" which does come across as a little lackadaisical.

Edited by Andrue (Fri 23-Jan-15 11:27:50)

You can only opt out of cameron's porn filter (parental controls ie sky sheild),all the mass market isp's subscribe to the IWF and also filter/block web sites in accordance with relivent court orders (file sharing site ect) as well this filtering cannot be opted out of,

Edited by tommy45 (Fri 23-Jan-15 11:35:17)

He has a true local wireless connection.

Plusnet does not actively filter. There are no court orders against it so far as I know. I don't think they take any notice of the IWF either, unless BT Wholesale take care of that.

In reply to a post by StephenTodd:

They all have filters, but you can opt out. There have been various changes as to whether new customers or old customers are opted in or out by default, but I am not aware of any situation where you can't opt out.

I know that the larger providers have filters you can opt out and i know that they are also told to block certain sites, but that is easy to get around anyway.
My provider have no filters what so ever, because they are only a small provider and do not have to use them.

I'm very happy with my PlusNet so far.

Ok, so do you get the speed you are meant to get?

Are you moving house that you already have a provider but don't have a phone line?


Changing provider is often the cheapest option because of the absurd first time discounts and cashbacks available. When I moved from Infinity to PlusNet BT did offer retention deals, but couldn't get close to matching PlusNet over 18 months. Partly helped by PlusNet offering 40/20 which fits my needs quite well.

My provider is wireless, so i got rid of the phoneline when I changed from ADSL. I can not see my provider giving me any retention deals and i do not expect it.
I said I would never go back with BT, it is a shame that Plusnet is part of BT, even if it is ran as a separate company

It is the 40/20 I am looking at as it is not worth going higher as i would not get it. I did look at Talk Talk, which works out cheaper than Plusnet, but it is TALK TALK and the thought of signing my life away with them makes me shiver.

i do not really want to leave my provider, it is a small local company, ok not so small these days, but still small compared to others. they supply a broadband service for people who can not normally get any decent broadband speed, the people who live out in the sticks and for that I praise them.

But over the last few months the quality of service to me have been erratic, i am suppose to get around 10Mb/s, which is ample for me, but I been getting between 1 to 5 most of the time, bursting to ten when it feels like it.
Like now, I am downloading a ISO, it started off at 1.1MB/s, now it is down to 500Mb/s, which is still good compared to the speeds I have been having.

It will leave me with a heavy heart if I do change, .

As has been said, the Plusnet traffic management is QoS these days on current products.

See my reply to Stephen re filters. However, the word "actively" is in there because people occasionally get caught by at least one backhaul route through BT that Plusnet sometimes use. Most other users at the same time have no problem accessing sites that are blocked to the complainer, but some experience the same problem.

I don't see any way out of the line installation charge, but of course there is always a cash back deal of some sort or other. The Plusnet router is optional. If you don't take it you don't pay the P & P.

i am told i must pay p and p for a router i do not want

Where does it say this? The router is optional but IF you select the router when ordering, Plusnet do ask you to pay p & p.

In reply to a post by Andrue:

I've been with Plusnet nearly a year now. The 'traffic management' is more like QoS - doesn't indiscriminately throttle all traffic, it prioritises certain time critical applications. It also only kicks in if/when there is network congestion. I never noticed it for the first 8 months but since January some of us have been experiencing a degraded service.

I've gone from this every evening when I run a test (two or three times a week as the mood takes me):

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/14171...

To this most of the time I'm at home:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/14213...

Aside from obviously off-peak times I'm now often finding that my single threaded throughput is variable and averaging out at less than half of my connection speed. Multi-threaded throughput is always flat lined at the maximum. Several other PN users are experiencing this but so far PN haven't really had much to say on the subject. To be fair it's unknown as yet where the congestion is occurring and/or whether PN can even be held responsible. It's also unknown how many people are affected but it seems likely to be a relatively small number.

I'm waiting until after this weekend now because there is BT maintenance work over the weekend and that might address the issue. That's my hope/assumption not PN's. Although PN have responded to the issue it's been along the lines of "that's odd, we'll get the network bods to look into it" which does come across as a little lackadaisical.

This is what I have notice at my mates place, he lives almost next door to the cabinet and his speed can go from around 70 odd down to 40 ish in a jiffy. i know that speed is never constant, but that is one hell of a drop.

Saying that 40 would be fine for me, not that I would ever get it here, I expect the max here would be about 30 ish, which is ample for me, more than ample.

He have had some problems in the past with his phone lines, I still don't think they are 100%, but I do not think they are what knocks his speed down.

Plusnet router is awful, so maybe that do not help,

got some thinking to do over the weekend

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

Plusnet router is awful, so maybe that do not help,

I'm using a Billion 6300 or somesuch FWIW. Actually a bit of a pain because I can't find a 'disconnect' button so if I want to change gateway I have to reboot the router (or go upstairs and pull the cable manually). That's why I haven't bothered. It sometimes comes good of its own accord anyway.