BT Infinity 2 to Plusnet / something cheaper - questions

Hi all,

I'm new here!

I have been on BT Infinity 2 for 2 years and service-wise I have been very happy. I am close to the cabinet, roughly 100 mt, and I am always able to reach 75/19 Mbps as real speed (Speedtest).

However, the price they charge for this service, in my opinion, is too much: £30 + £17.99 (line rental). Recently BT sent an email, saying that by July 1st it will raise to a total of £51.93.

What recommendations do you have for me? I only care about speed. Maximum speed. I don't care about the phone line number, weird security packages, free cloud space and dodgy child safe-browsing systems.

I have put my eyes on Plusnet. They offer 80/20 Fibre for £22.49, without phone line (and rental). PlusNet does cap speed using rate limits based on activities, and I would buy the Pro package, £5, to get the maximum priority on most network services. This would be £27.49 compared to £51.93.

I also have another question: if currently my link speed is 79999/19999 (ish), and line stats are very good overall (I can post details), will I get the same speed and line quality with another ISP?

With PlusNet and Pro package I am expecting to have the same speed as BT. Is my assumption correct?

I don't mind paying an extra bit for speed, but not twice the price.

Many thanks in advance.

Post deleted by WelshWArrior

In theory you should get the same speed from all providers, as basically they are all using the same system (except Virgin Cable). I will leave it to others with more knowledge to discuss the details of any Plusnet restrictions and duplicate profiles.

I have been using Plusnet for about 8 years and have a rock steady connection, though not as fast as yours.

Customer service definitely went through bad patch recently when they had to cope with a hugely increased customer base, however when I rang them a couple of weeks ago I was through in 4 min. The support when you get through has always been good.

Of course there are people who are not happy and the Plusnet forum on here will give you some prime examples, however the nature of a forum is that people only tend to post when they are unhappy and there lots of similar posts in most of the others.

There are some ISPs who always stand out as being better, however they tend to be rather more expensive, so do not meet your criteria.

In reply to a post by WelshWArrior:

Surely there's still going to be line rental (£17.99 ish) on top of the £27.49 - making the total more like £45.48?? Still cheaper than BT though

I simulated the order. I can say "I don't want phone" and avoid to pay the rental price. In this case I will pay a one-off activation fee of £50.
I can post a screenshot
By looking at your signature, I can see your speed tests with PlusNet. What's your link rate and distance from the cabinet?

In reply to a post by philippercival:

In theory you should get the same speed from all providers, as basically they are all using the same system (except Virgin Cable). I will leave it to others with more knowledge to discuss the details of any Plusnet restrictions and duplicate profiles.

I have been using Plusnet for about 8 years and have a rock steady connection, though not as fast as yours.

Thanks for your answer. Have you bought the Pro package?
Anyway I am in Milton Keynes, Virgin is not available (sadly).
Last time I rang BT I had to wait 15 mins, and took another 15 mins to let them understand that I work in IT and no, I am not using Wi-Fi for speedtest (seriously, they are terrible...)

Edited by deleted (Thu 12-May-16 15:40:08)

TalkTalk is pretty good value as well right now.

£15 for fibre 80Mbps + Line rental. You can likely get cashback at topcashback or quidco as well.

Pro is a legacy add-on for older packages that had specific traffic management. The traffic management on current products is simply a prioritisation system to ensure things like VOIP and gaming get through their in-house routers as fast as possible, taking priority over torrent downloads and the like.

This is applied at individual line level, which benefits the user, and also at network level where it should also help. Link. In the past one user has claimed he gets better performance on Pro. However you can try it with and without, as Pro is a monthly option not subject to a minimum term.

There does seem to be a slight loss of maximum throughput, possibly on your line about 2Mbps. This thought by some to be mainly due to the buffering inherent in the traffic prioritisation system. Plusnet also apply a copy of the IP Profile rounded down to the 200kbps below the IP Profile. Some others also do similar but generally don't disclose it. It is to do with avoiding packet loss at the MSAN/DSLAM.

Re line rental, WelshWarrior is correct in a way. You have to pay it to someone. Just if you don't take Plusnet rental on top of the connection charge they are charging you £2.50pm more than they do if you have their rental, as well as that £50 setup, and there are no introductory cheap offers.

If you go back to the relevant website page you will see it says "from £22.49 a month + line rental".

I recommend Pulse8broadband for the line rental. (That link normally opens on the Business line tab, so click the Home one if it does). I used that for a while when on Plusnet broadband and still use it now on AAISP.

You could of course go the whole hog and take the P8 line and FTTC at £44pm inclusive. It is based on TalkTalk Business full LLU (MPF) and unless things have been sorted out may involve migrating on ADSL2+ then upgrading .

In reply to a post by WelshWArrior:

Post deleted by WelshWArrior

See my reply to the OP. You were right in that they have to pay line rental to someone.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

TalkTalk is pretty good value as well right now.

£15 for fibre 80Mbps + Line rental. You can likely get cashback at topcashback or quidco as well.

Hmm, how dodgy they are on traffic management?

Have you spoken to the retentions team at BT and advised them that you're thinking of leaving?

The might well be able to give you an incentive to stay.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Re line rental, WelshWarrior is correct in a way. You have to pay it to someone. Just if you don't take Plusnet rental on top of the connection charge they are charging you £2.50pm more than they do if you have their rental, as well as that £50 setup, and there are no introductory cheap offers.

If you go back to the relevant website page you will see it says "from £22.49 a month + line rental".

Thanks for Pulse8Broadband, I'll have a look, although I do not think it's worth for the price.
Regarding Plusnet and no line rental. Yes, I would pay £22.49 instead of £19.99, activation fee and no introductory offers, but in the end it's always cheaper.

Screenshot 1
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In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I recommend Pulse8broadband for the line rental. (That link normally opens on the Business line tab, so click the Home one if it does). I used that for a while when on Plusnet

Sorry, what do you mean with this? Line rental with a provider an fiber with another?!?

Edited by deleted (Thu 12-May-16 16:30:33)