Rejoining

I left Plusnet last year (fed up with slow speeds).

I'm now in a position where I'm looking for a new ISP (moved house and despite several emails got no response from my old ISP), so have things improved at Plusnet???

One of the reasons I'm recosidering is that I missed the ticketing system and graphs etc!

We believe that things have improved and are still improving, certainly in terms of customer support and turnaround time on tickets/calls.
Have a look at http://csc.plus.net for the latest info about call waits and ticket turnarounds.

We also invested in new capacity earlier on in the year and also have a range of new products out which may offer you a product better suited than our previous offerings. The new products have clear outlines of the expected speeds across a number of protocols, see these pages for more info:-

http://www.plus.net/residential/broadband/

http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/quality_broadband/speed.shtml

Good place to start is the "Compare" facility on this site. Here is an example,
http://tinyurl.com/33g6gm

I'm migrating away from PlusNet tomorrow after 4 years. In the last year, I was moved to LLU without consultation (which also caused a week's worth of downtime), had constant disconnection problems, slow ticket responses, inaccurate broadband usage and it then took 4 months to move me back from LLU to IPStream. There's also been the recent webmail problem. Enough was enough for me. It's nothing like it was a couple of years back.

However, saying that, they do appear to be more responsive than 6 months ago and definitely more open. Whether that's enough for you, I don't know. Certainly not for me having to live through it.

Personally, I think there is a way to go yet.

hmmm speed still seems poor when compared to others

>However, saying that, they do appear to be more responsive than 6 months ago and definitely more open.


Think we will know how much more open PN are when they get round to answering the questions about the web mail breach.

What I would ask yourself is what you want from an ISP ?

If you want a very fast connection and to download alot of P2P then Plusnet would not be a good idea given the current range of products. If on the other hand you are not a large downloader of P2P, enjoy online gaming and normal downloading then you will find Plusnet is fine. The support over the phone is good and they are active in forums here and on the Plusnet forums.

In reply to:

---

........and they are active in forums here and on the Plusnet forums.

---

To be fair, IDNet, Newnet and Entanet resellers are also active on here.

I've been with Plusnet for about 3 years. I actually used this site to help decide to chose PlusNet.

But about 18-24 months ago, the customer service became extremely dire (as you probably know having been with them). I would be hanging on the phone for an hour or more waiting for someone to answer the phone, whatever time of day or night. It was appalling.

However, I have just recently moved house and the service was vastly improved. All calls answered within less than a minute and always very helpful.

There was a problem with the re-connect and I was without broadband for over three weeks. But it was entirely a BT issue and Chris at PN helped in every way possible. WIthout his intervention and help, I woudl still be waiting! He also refunded the money for the lost time a further monthly fee refund as compensation.

So, I have had a mixed bag with them. Up until the move I felt they were dire and I was planning to leave them.
Following the move and the customer service I got (particularly from Chris) I am now staying. This is partly due to the fact that there is no particular ISP who stands out from the rest and you can find at least one horror story for each of them.

I think they have recognised the value of customer service, which is what is important to me. But as someone else pointed out, it depends what you want from your supplier.

If you were happy with them prior to last year, you will probably be happy again.

Chris

You need to be aware of Plusnet's traffic management policies which mean at certain times of day, depending on protocol and selected package, you will not attain speeds over 50Kbps no matter how fast your connection

http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/broadband_your_way/experience/speed.shtml

Also be aware of traffic prioritisation which, depending on protocol, means packets will be dropped, resulting in poor performance:

http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/quality_broadband/traffic_prioritisation.shtml

Edited by deleted (Fri 01-Jun-07 11:03:06)

In reply to

"You need to be aware of Plusnet's traffic management policies which mean at certain times of day, depending on protocol and selected package, you will not attain speeds over 50Kbps no matter how fast your connection "

That is on the entry level package on P2P and FTP type protocols - which the product is clearly and openly NOT designed for.. Medium to Higher packages fare somewhat better on those protocols if that is what the OP needs. Standard browsing/email etc is not limited in that way.

>That is on the entry level package on P2P and FTP type protocols
As already expressed by the OP and provided with a link

>which the product is clearly and openly NOT designed for..
This is the same issue that got PN in hot water with the BB+ account. If it isn't designed for it then it would be blocked, but if it's allowed, even at those limited speeds, then by definition it is designed for it.

>Standard browsing etc is not limited in that way.
It is. Some download sites and servers, even http ones, are restricted. Details in the link as provided earlier.

I really don't understand the need to challenge the earlier statement when that statement is, in fact, accurate (including the provisos) and a link provided for the person to make up their own mind.

Edited by rsharma (Fri 01-Jun-07 12:37:31)

There was no challenge whatsoever. Merely an addition of further detail to a generalised post. Had that post been the other way stressing best speed on highest product only from Plusnet it would have been shot down as spin. Of course spin goes both ways.

However, the post was 100% correct but stated worst case. Which would show the offerings in the worst possible light without digging further.

My post gave some balance, which I'm sure your in favour of... unless Im mistaken.

Edited by deleted (Fri 01-Jun-07 12:51:32)

>>Standard browsing etc is not limited in that way.
>It is. Some download sites and servers, even http ones, are
>restricted. Details in the link as provided earlier.

Perhaps to quote from the page... http://preview.tinyurl.com/2amlcv
( which goes to broadband_your_way/experience/speed.shtml ) which says:

"Internet applications not listed below, such as gaming, web surfing or video streaming have no specific restrictions at any time and are prioritised on our network at all times."

I have not seen others giving examples of sites where they are having problems with browsing. YMMV

They are restricted under 'Download Sites' and 'Download Servers'. The sites and servers that are included are listed in the link you have given.

>I have not seen others giving examples of sites where they are having problems with browsing.

I didn't say they would suffer problems. I stated that they are not completely unrestricted and in fact have speed restrictions applied as per the link.

As posted before the bulk of the "restricted" Http sites - are those that host/file sharing. through Http - so effectively the same as P2P In a lot of instances of the more "Adult" nature and or illegal copies.

More of a concern is that there has been advice that one of the "Restricted" IP no's / ranges affects bbc.co.uk which is more noteworthy but I have never seen any speed issues on that site and I am a heavy BBC visitor.

It would appear you remember the other thread where this was discussed in great detail. That being the case I see no point in distracting this thread from its intended purpose and therefore have no reason to repeat what has been stated there. If I get the time I will find the link and post it here later for those interested in discussing it further.

please dont be condescending. No doubt the OP was not party to it and its therefore relevant. It is therefore not off topic. A balanced view is what the Op requires and selective negative information is hardly what he deserves though some would prefer that, or is it only PN that are required not to spin and to be open and honest.

I don't know why you become so aggressive and read more than is written but I have no time for it. I leave you to it.

Not aimed specifically at RS

A balanced "open and honest" view cuts both ways - selective postings that are either negative or positive are not fair to the OP. There is a tendancy in this forum for some non/ex customers to be overly or aggressively anti for months/years after thay have had any deailings with PN as a customer and of course the opposite also applies. A Balanced "open and honest" view is more sensible.

Do you want to download large amounts via P2P / Filesharing - then PN is not the best option. Others without traffic shaping are far more suitable.

Websurfing, gaming etc then they are worthy of consideration amongst others, depending on price point etc.

Edited by deleted (Fri 01-Jun-07 18:41:42)

In reply to:

---

selective postings that are either negative or positive are not fair to the OP. There is a tendancy in this forum for some non/ex customers to be overly or aggressively

In reply to:

---

Paddy this the type of posting that you post , and can be very selective as Pro Pn , yet you jump on any poster that could be selective anti pn..
May i ask you this how long have you been with PN..?

thanks

Edited by sattaff (Fri 01-Jun-07 19:55:43)

Since March 2004.

OP: "(fed up with slow speeds)"

I would not recommend Plusnet if the OP wants speeds that reflect their bRAS profile, particularly as severe speed restrictions are in place during the evening when the majority of users utilise their broadband.

Even on the most expensive Option speeds are throttled right down, including a lot of HTTP download sites, possibly to worse speeds than they are getting now with their current ISP.

Have you actually experienced the speeds that PlusNet customers on BBYW are getting. Although I do not do a lot of downloading I do not see any problems with speed.

I doubt it .. hes with Newnet

As usual, churn out HTTP speedtests that have no restrictions in place. Let's see some P2P, FTP, Usenet, restricted HTTP server speedtests during the evening showing 7Mb speeds on BBYW...

No, I am not with Plusnet any more but have referrals/friends who are and often get feedback from them on slow download speeds. Downloading the same file at the same time from the same source with identical bRAS profiles, whilst I download files in, literally, minutes they often have to wait several hours.

Why the apparent denial that speeds are throttled with Plusnet? It is well documented on their site, I am merely highlighting the fact.

For example, on Plusnet Option 3 downloading via P2P at 9pm, 256Kbps is the maximum speed achievable with an identical bRAS [7Mb]. Thing is, with Newnet I will get full line speed, that is a huge difference.

Stating facts here seems to be taken as criticism! Also bear in mind to achieve even 256kbps at 9pm in the above example it will cost

Funny .. I was just pointing out that you were with Newnet and you take umbrage or were you looking at my signature as a post??

Ah.. FTP .. now I get downloads of .. 750 to 800k but at busy times 650 but then I am on PAYGO. and dont use P2P or Usenet. And I pay less than

Edited by onlyme2 (Sun 03-Jun-07 11:37:40)

Any big P2P users will now steer clear of Plusnet due to their new product range. This is probably a business decision on Plusnets part to maximise profit. It is good for gaming and fine for normal downloading but no use for P2P etc unless you managed to get onto PAYG or Premier before the changed product line up. My Premier 1 account can download alot off peak at line speed but the new packages seem very limited in comparison.

People have to make their mind up on their intended usage and it is clearly explained on Plusnets web site.

Indeed. It would be most useful to have actual BBYW customers reporting, rather than ex-customers giving third-party views, and possibly of "legacy" accounts not the most recent account types.

Since new customers can only choose from BBYW options, it does seem that such info is sadly lacking, at present. Then again, it might be rather more difficult to encourage posts from new customers given the general anti-PN slant of some posts / posters...

I guess it will be a while before we see actual speedtests from BBYW customers.

I just ran the AG speedtest and got 4255.88 Kb/s
Ran FTP download from ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/test/fullfile256 and got 520 KB/s
I'm on BBYW2 and syncing at 5120 Kb/s

I know I always jump on these when I probably shouldn't, but:

> This is probably a business decision on Plusnets part to maximise profit.

It's a business decision, but I just wanted to say that we don't sit around here saying "How can we screw as much money out of customers as possible?" - Yes, to stay viable we have to turn a profit (Although if you do the maths, you will see that we are now taking a longer term view of that and we don't expect a new BBYW customer to be instantly profitable with today's wholesale pricing). The reason we restrict P2P and other non time sensitive downloads is not about a refusal to invest in capacity, but about the changing usage habits of Broadband consumers generally and what that means in a world where one unchecked customer can cost an ISP in excess of

Incoming

That was my point really. Plusnet are not gearing themselves up for heavy downloaders of P2P etc and have made the decision to concentrate on another area of the market. Which makes sense as why should average customers subsidise continual excessive heavy users who don't the full amount for what they use.

P.S. Do I get a free months broadband from Plusnet for towing the party line

No ya dont... and I should know - ROFL

Worth a try !!