Cable to ISP

I'm moving to an area which has no cable, so I'm forced into getting ADSL - not something I'm looking forward to.

I've been casing these forums for a couple of days, now - on and off - and I'm actually tempted by PlusNet - especially its pricing and claims to prioritise browsing traffic over other types.

All I can see in this forum is a lot of complaints, but I'm starting to think that there is a silent majority out there who have no trouble with them at all. It's the complete *lack* of positive comments about PN that makes me think this.

Has anyone had a trouble-free time with PN?

if u use browsing only, and dont mind the monthly cockups of service going down, mail servers dying and what not else (check service status over the last few months, 700GB of email lost, Usnet fell over too, CGI has been down numerious times, Phone system has been down alot too. etc etc etc list goes on)

Plusnet is ok for browsing only, and the occasional download. Anything else and u really really shouldnt consider them. I've migrated 3 Lines away, 2 were business lines paying

But surely the service going down is the fault of BT for not providing a reliable service? All PN do is supply the connection?

Lots of people have. Have you tried;

https://portal.plus.net/central/forums/index.php?membermenu=forums username:guest password: guest
Also
http://usergroup.plus.net/forum/

A pair of forums only for PN customers.

And no - I wouldn't blame you.

Hi

Bt or Tiscali could provide your connection , but plusnet manage it and if you read the forums you will find that a lot of complaint are about how plusnet manage it , which aint good

Depends on the reason for it going down, some faults will boil down to BT, and should probably have affected all providers equally, but each provider does control a fair bit of what the connection overall is like.

Andrew

I don't want to seem paranoid, but having a forum with glowing commendations about an ISP which is controlled by that ISP does not really seem all that great.

Is there *no* independent ADSL forum that has *anything* nice to say about PlusNet?

Welcome MM,

One thing to think about is activation as you are getting a new line.

Many ISP will give it free as long as you stay a year, then you can
move if not happy.
With PN it's 5 years (a Hell of a long time for a ISP).

If you are worried about the bad reviews on here,
I would be too!

There are plenty of people, like myself, who have had few problems with PN. There was a thread about this a couple of days ago, but it ended up being hijacked and descended into chaos. Here : http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=plusnet&Number=2743647&page=1&view=expanded&sb=5&o=0

Still looking for one.

In reply to:

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a forum with glowing commendations about an ISP which is controlled by that ISP does not really seem all that great.

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So a forum with a lot of criticism about the ISP that runs it, suggests that quite a lot of customers are unhappy. Bearing in mind only customers can post so it can`t be hijacked as some would have it.

That's not the whole story. They reduce the amount owed by 20% for each complete year you stay with them.

So does it or does it not take FIVE years to pay it all off at that rate???

I suppose that if you want to paint it in the blackest terms possible you could state it that way. However if you a trying to be informative to an enquirer you try to give the full picture. Your way of putting it implies that if you leave after 4 years 11 months you still owe the full amount which is not true. If fact you only have to pay 20% of the full amount if you leave during the fifth year.

I concede your point.

Let us not get off in a tangle on this eh.

Different schemes about that will appeal to different people.

Free after 12 months..usually a "true" 12 month contract. {it can cost a lot to leave early)

Deferred payment...you have the option to defer the activation costs and have them reduce year on year. Option of monthly contract so you can leave but have to pay the full activation cost in the first 12 months.

No deals...you pay the activation cost up front and generally monthly contract, so no cost to leave.

You pays your money and makes your choice, but as in all cases the total package offered by any ISP should be looked at not just how cheap it is to get on line I suggest, and anything that states "free" needs to be checked out for the conditions that apply.

Even the Tesco buy one get one "free" has conditions.

Totaly agree with you that everything needs to be looked at.

But as someone posted another thread, that they never knew
the T&C of the "free" activation, think it's wise to point out
how long it takes to be free!

In reply to:

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Even the Tesco buy one get one "free" has conditions

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I hope you don't have to wait 5 years to get one free from Tescos

There are many users who are happy and don't notice anything to do with traffic shaping on their connections.

To advise fully it would be helpful to know a little of your usage habits. Do you use p2p, usenet, voip, internet gaming, ftp? What kind of monthly usage do you have?

I use around 60-70Gb a month at the monent and download the bulk of this off-peak using usenet. During peak hours (4pm-12pm) usenet maxes out at about 2-3Mb usually for me but off-peak and I can download at the max BT will let my line work at (currently 4Mb but has been as high as 7.5Mb in the past)

Fair enough.

In reply to:

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Even the Tesco buy one get one "free" has conditions.

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I didn`t know that

*Shrugs*

AS i said, The only thing they do have going for them is the forum and the staff that help out on it.

Well, look at zen, theres the odd complaint but overall good service is mentioned alot even on forums not run by zen, and i have 2 lines with them and they are really good.

However you'll be right in some cases. You really need to read around on different sites to get an oponion on an ISP. theres alot of distate around about plusnet so bare that in mind too.

The problem is the service really lets them down. They seem to be attempting to solve the issues but theres been problems for over a year now. They dont seem to plan far enough ahead and get themselves into a big mess.

If all you do is browse/email/ the occasional game and download then you shouldn't have a problem. If you use more than 5~10GB in a month i wouldn't recommend them.

If it wasnt for the service problems, which more often than not is plusnets fault, they would be a reasonable low end isp.

Up to u. Read around. there are better and worse isps out there. Just dont choose tiscali :P

No, not for email.

PN loose more mail than the Oxford branch of the postal workers union:) And delivery is more erratic than the post office too. See http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=plusnet&Number=2742028

How many emails makes 700 Gigs?

In answer to your question, yes
I've had trouble free connection with PN.
So has someone else I suggested, and so far someone else who has a new connection.
I have a business connection, the other two are residential.

The only time I've had problems is when my exchange got contended

I have the bulldog connection purely because of the speed advantage and lack of contention.