Would you recomend Plusnet

Hello,
I am currently at Tiscali and ready to leave.
Would existing Plusnet members recomend this company.
Any problems, quirks to look out for????
The main reasoning is price as for the 18 month contract with discounts its £9.99 a month.

thanks

nomiswest

Hiya,

I'm not sure where you're getting £9.99 per month from? Our Value product is either £5.99 or £11.99 depending on your geographic location.

Either way, if you have any questions regarding the service, I'll be happy to help.

Hello James,

Its using the Quidco site for cashback.


simon west

I would if it weren't for the 18-month lock-in.

As a onetime customer of Tiscali, I have found PN a lot better than that (totally lost my rag with the Tiscali service desk one day - they persistently screwed up the billing, and then seemed to lose every record of every contact they'd ever had with me about it, and more-or-less accused me of lying!)

So, I have had no regrets, EVER about leaving them behind.

But I would hesitate to recommend an 18-month lock-in to anyone, no matter how reliable the company. I wouldn't sign-up to it myself, so can't in all good conscience recommend it to somebody else.

I am on a PN legacy product, which happily means the 18 months does not apply to me (albeit I'm paying well over the odds for the privilege). But I will have an issue if I ever want to change products, because I'm still not going for the 18 months malarky (or a year, I think it is, if you DON'T want a new router), so I guess I will have to shop elsewhere.

[Edited to mention about the router, before James correct me ;) ]

Edited by TLM (Fri 24-Jul-09 10:19:38)

Been with them 5-6 years - had some ups and downs as a company but on the whole excellent service especially from higher level CS. Good service presence in their own forums and here. If your in a market 3 exchange http://kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php
will let you know if you are. Current products are excellent value for money for non LLU if you are in a Market 3 exhange . Please note that there is an 18 month contract however. If you are a heavy P2P user they may not be ideal unless you schedule downloads for midnight to 8am for max speeds. If you are not a heavy P2P user then PNs policy of prioritising other protocals works well. Iplayer works well and I have had no problems with the ISP end for a very long time.

On the whole I can recommend them based on the above if you are happy with an 18 month contract.

Edited by deleted (Fri 24-Jul-09 10:28:43)

Hello Paddyclark

I have checked and i am in a Market 1 classification.
With no unbundled providers. Is this a hinderance to the Plusnet product???
I assume it will be better than Tiscali!

nomiswest

The only difference between being in a Market 3 area and being in a Market 1 or 2 is the price you'll pay.

As you're in a Market 1 area you'll pay £5.99 for the first 3 months then £11.99 thereafter for the Value product. If you were in a Market 3 area you'd continue paying £5.99 after the initial 3 months.

Please can you stop spamming the forums asking for reccomendations of ISPs. consolidate your threads into one thread please as you fail to understand the nature of this forum. Failure to do so may attract attention of a moderator and expultion.

Thats a little harsh... I dont know about elsewhere.. but

"Hello,
I am currently at Tiscali and ready to leave.
Would existing Plusnet members recomend this company.
Any problems, quirks to look out for????"

Seems a perfectly valid question to me...

In reply to a post by krazykizza:

Please can you stop spamming the forums asking for reccomendations of ISPs. consolidate your threads into one thread please as you fail to understand the nature of this forum. Failure to do so may attract attention of a moderator and expultion.

A tad harsh I reckon. could be interpreted as cross posting perhaps but the OP is asking for opinions of existing users, so to a degree asking such a question in the appropriate forum is understanable.

To the OP I suggest any further new threads regarding a choice of ISP be combined with any new ISP questions in the Which ISP forum as it does annoy members to see the same style question even with a different angle time and time again.

The only thing I would advise is that it is a 12 month or 18 month contract depending on your choice, if you currently have an internet connection posting up your routerstats will give someone a fair idea of what speeds you can achieve, or if you haven't going here http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php finding your exchange and the distance you are away from it would help

"To the OP I suggest any further new threads regarding a choice of ISP be combined with any new ISP questions in the Which ISP forum as it does annoy members to see the same style question even with a different angle time and time again"

The OP has asked for information from actual users... A logical place to ask is in the relevant forum for that ISP... I certainly dont frequent the which ISP forum.. do many plusnet users... A few "omnipresent" members may get annoyed but if they choose to frequent many ISP forums other than their own then they are likely to see many repetive postings and questions from many or a single poster if he is asking in more than one forum. To an extent that goes with the territory of being omnipresent.

Members can ignore or help... but the question is aimed at people with experience of this isp... so the best people to advise are actual users and to some extent floating "Gurus" with all round knowledge.

I made the point that it was understandable, however there comes a point where posters will not appreciate 4/5/6/7/?.....almost identical posts, different ISP

It would be so easy for a poster to copy and paste the same question in numerous forums with just a small alteration of names, it has happened in the past and should be generally discouraged.

How many times is too many times?...I reckon the OP has reached the limit and any further enquiries should be in Which ISP. That forum is for a more general ISP search and not so specific as one or two.

With your logic the OP could ask the same question in every ISP forum....that would not be acceptable, I hope you agree...so therefore this kind of search has to have a limit.

To all posterswho replyed to my question,

Thanks for your informed responces from my question.
Its good to hear from actual users from the ISP i was enquiring about. I feel you are the only people who can give true judgement on this particular ISP.
Otherwise how would i know how good an ISP is (advertising perhaps)???

Thanks

nomiswest

Please look here And you'll know what I mean.

Same style of posting, just replaced ISP name. Looked very bot like.

In reply to a post by krazykizza:

Please look here And you'll know what I mean.

Same style of posting, just replaced ISP name. Looked very bot like.

Looks like someone trying to get info to me.

What do you want from a ISP?
As PN uses throttling to keep their price down, need more info on what kind of use you need it for (P2P, surfing etc)

In reply to a post by DavidFinbarr:

In reply to a post by krazykizza:

Please look here And you'll know what I mean.

Same style of posting, just replaced ISP name. Looked very bot like.

Looks like someone trying to get info to me.

Yes indeed, the OP has trawled a few forums

Now posted here >>> http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/which_isp/t/3673671...

In reply to a post by Apprentice:

Now posted here >>> http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/which_isp/t/3673671...

Which is where Don requested that he post any further enquiries... seems some are making a lot of fuss about very little to me.

To All

So sorry to have caused such a fuss.

All i wanted was a few answers from certain ISP users to help me. They are after all best placed to judge and comment on their ISP's.

I didn't realise all my posts would be checked so intimately and thouroghly

I will now leave you all alone and trawl through the internet my self.

As a curly haired scouser said "calm down, calm down".

Thanks to all those who helped me.

nomiswest

In reply to a post by nomiswest:

All i wanted was a few answers from certain ISP users to help me. They are after all best placed to judge and comment on their ISP's.

There's a fine line between justifiably asking similar questions in multiple forums, and spamming... you came a bit close to that line, but neither Don or I thought you'd gone over it.

And you followed Don's request to post further queries in Which ISP.

End of matter...

If he had only posted in Which ISP I wouldn't have seen the post (I don't often look in other ISP forums).

If he'd posted in multiple forums "What are XXX like and would you recommend anyone else" he'd of been bang out of order, but as it is I can't see anything wrong with what he's done.

If you could post what you use the internet for (do you download lots, use P2P, watch a lot of streaming videos etc) and how much bandwidth you use we could comment better on the suitability of the Plusnet packages.

Might have been an isolated case or might have been genuine carelessness from plusnet but to the OP if I was to recommend Plusnet? (former customer here) I would say no. Had loads of speed problems with them and each time a fault was raised they said there was no fault (even after sending me a new router nothing improved infact things got worse) and I felt their customer service was very unhelpful and down right rude to be honest. Had to go to the ISPA to be released from my contract without a penalty (and that took a fair effort too) if it was me I would say no. Didn't think I would say this but BT have been a lot better for me since I came back to them.

In reply to a post by nomiswest:

Hello James,

Its using the Quidco site for cashback.

Depending on which package you are looking at, Plusnet are offering three months free. Featured on the uSwitch site, who incidently, also feature in the Plusnet awards section.

"Exclusive 3 months free

Get 3 months free value broadband and home phone with Plusnet. Enter promo-code "uswitch" at checkout to claim. Up to 8Mb broadband with free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. Only £5.99 a month." uSwitch

The Value package is heavily rate limited though, don't expect to achieve full 8Mb downloads much of the time, if at all, even if your line is capable. Similarly, the Unlimited package is severely rate limited. Pro is not rate limited but is subject to traffic prioritisation, packets of certain protocols will be dropped if the network is busy, effectively rate limiting those protocols.

Edited by deleted (Fri 24-Jul-09 22:44:07)

Neither can I, I think it's the best way to find out if an isp is any good or not, nothing like asking actual users. I notice that the OP is a newbie, and is grateful to all who have helped with their informative replies, it's unfortunate that he was "told off" I know if that had been me a few years ago it would have totally put me off visiting the site again, fortunately I've toughened up

On Pro all traffic is Gold or better, i.e. at worst it is given the same priority as browsing and streaming for all other users. I'm on the old PAYG account which gets the same priorities and start asking what's going wrong when dip below 4/5 Mbps. Usually that's rare but there have been some issues in the last 3 or 4 weeks; more capacity is coming on-line RSN apparently. Quite frankly, for someone who's usage fits 15GB per month it is very unlikely that they will ever notice any speed issues on Pro.

I've watched and read this thread with interest and whilst I have no wish or intent to wind the moderators up (honestly, as they are supreme beings ), isn't this all a bit of a storm in a teacup?

I've posted on TB (or it's former adslguide.org) for awhile now and I didn't know the "Which ISP" Sub Forum existed!
My main focus is to seek info about the ISP I wish to join or the one I'm currently with. So in doing that I only frequent a few subforums on TB and may very occasionally visit someone like PlusNet if i'm looking for an alternative suggestion/recommendation for a friend.

To be fair to any new user or even seasoned user for that matter of TB, the list of sub forums is probably on the high side of any forum you'll find on the web. Whilst the ISP sub forums are excellent (imo) and are layed out in a clear manner, the other non-isp forums are a bit of a mess (imo) and I'm rarely interested in visiting them.

Whilst "spamming" forums can be annoying (plus i hate that term), isn't that a bit of an oxymoron when it comes to this site? OK, a specific sub-forum has been created to ask people's opinions on what ISP may suit them "(Which Isp"), but why NOT go straight to the Horses Mouth and ask there - I would!? You'll most likely get a far more accurate response from the people who may only ever frequent that specific ISP forum than those giving a "Generic View" on a sub-forum that those "in the know" may rarely frequent, if ever at all.

I doubt too that many posters who are genuinely looking for good accurate feedback would "Spam" more than a few sub-forums, as i would imagine by the time they are ready to move ISP, they would have narrowed down their choices to an ISP short-list. If it were me looking for feedback, I'd want to hear it from current customers, ie the good, bad and the ugly (that's the feedback, not the state of the customers )

At the top of this page it says "ThinkBroadband - YOUR guide to Broadband Internet", surely if you are polite and courteous, it doesn't matter how you have your question/s answered?

Edited by Vorlon (Sat 25-Jul-09 00:16:03)

In reply to a post by Vorlon:

The storm started with the unnecessary post by krazykizza. The two mods have since tried correctly to calm it without totally condoning what the OP did.

From where I think "nothing better to do" has taken over the discussion.

The reason the mods have to frown on it, which I am quite sure they would not have done if the kk post had not been made, is because if they didn't - once a discussion/argument had started - then others in future would try to justify genuine cross-posting crying "But teacher you let him do it!"

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by Vorlon:

The storm started with the unnecessary post by krazykizza. The two mods have since tried correctly to calm it without totally condoning what the OP did.

From where I think "nothing better to do" has taken over the discussion.

The reason the mods have to frown on it, which I am quite sure they would not have done if the kk post had not been made, is because if they didn't - once a discussion/argument had started - then others in future would try to justify genuine cross-posting crying "But teacher you let him do it!"

I see.....

I do know multiple cross posting does annoy many on other forums when the question is singular and the aim of the cross posting is to speed up any response. And you are right it wasn't a mod, rather than a member that cried foul over a multiple posting which wasn't singular in it's nature and from what I can see was reasonable and genuine. Personally I find those type of posts, which are often current in any of the ISP sub-forums on TB really helpful, as often they attract good and more importantly current feedback as to how that ISP is performing.
With 21CN being rolled out here and there too and there being various teething problems with it, info and feedback can change on a daily basis.

Perhaps some people refer to when going clothes shopping with their wife/girlfriend/partner that they are going "Clothes Spamming"! 'Come On luv, that woman said your bum did look big in that size 14 in Principles, going into Dorothy Perkins and asking the same question is just plain Spamming!

Funny how everyone focuses on me. No it wasn't "unnecessary" As at the time I had reason to believe it was kinda like spamming, and i gave reason for it when prompted. But whatever, you seem driven to pride home your point of he did it, its all is fault, im telling my mommy of you.

Upbeat as ever.

final note: don't join plusnet, they will screw you over while giving you slow speeds.

Right everybody!.

Listen up...As per usual in this forum it has been sidetracked. It seems impossible for members to concentrate on the OP.

If people want to discuss moderating policy or whatnot do it directly via TTTS.

Just to clarify... the OP was not "told off" by mods, in fact my interjection was to counteract a post that did so.

Keep to the OP please and try hard keep any molehills you find in this forum small.

Seeing that this post is asking about PlusNet and essentially how they perform, I'd like to ask a question.
Looking at those detailed speed vs time period charts that PlusNet show for their packages, are those speeds in practice generally held up. Or can there be times when say a throttled speed of say stated at 128Kbps in their chart, actually goes lower than that? So in the main do PN stick accurately to going NO lower than the advertised throttled speeds?

final note: don't join plusnet, they will screw you over while giving you slow speeds

.
Ok genuine question can you base this on actual personal experience or is it just guesswork on your part not trying to inflame any argument as I'm genuinely interested, there appears to be a problem at the moment with certain services and I wondered if the poster was experiencing this

In reply to a post by krazykizza:

final note: don't join plusnet, they will screw you over while giving you slow speeds.

Your signature seems to indicate that you are not a Plusnet user - if you are perhaps you could update it. Otherwise can you explain how you can make such an assertion please.

In reply to a post by Vorlon:

Seeing that this post is asking about PlusNet and essentially how they perform, I'd like to ask a question.
Looking at those detailed speed vs time period charts that PlusNet show for their packages, are those speeds in practice generally held up. Or can there be times when say a throttled speed of say stated at 128Kbps in their chart, actually goes lower than that? So in the main do PN stick accurately to going NO lower than the advertised throttled speeds?

The speed is a maximum of 128Kbps, not a minimum. Depending on which protocol is used, packets are prioritised on the network, then either forwarded or dropped by the network management.

All the information is provided in the links, for example; the Value package rate limits the Usenet protocol to 128Kbps between 2pm-4pm, if you were connected to PTN-AG1 Plusnet 3 at that time today, your 128Kbps bandwidth was possibly losing 13% of packets, therefore reducing the 128Kbps maximum rate limit. Usenet is classed as Best Effort on the Value package, they are the first packets to be dropped.

You will hear Plusnet subscribers talk of Gateway Hopping, as reconnecting may change Gateway to a less busy one, ie one which is dropping less packets.

It is complicated, but in short, depending on protocol priority, the maximum speeds may not be achievable if packet loss on the Gateway is high.

EDIT:Typo

Edited by deleted (Sun 26-Jul-09 00:02:22)

In reply to a post by jelv:

On Pro all traffic is Gold or better

Yep, I keep forgetting. But it is not unknown for Gold packets to drop, for a few months recently Gold packets were dropping regularly at peak times.

It seems to have improved, but at the expense of a big increase in packet drops for lower classed protocols.

I won't comment on the "screw you over", but it is well documented that things are slowing down.

In reply to a post by Pod:

In reply to a post by Vorlon:

Seeing that this post is asking about PlusNet and essentially how they perform, I'd like to ask a question.
Looking at those detailed speed vs time period charts that PlusNet show for their packages, are those speeds in practice generally held up. Or can there be times when say a throttled speed of say stated at 128Kbps in their chart, actually goes lower than that? So in the main do PN stick accurately to going NO lower than the advertised throttled speeds?

The speed is a maximum of 128Kbps, not a minimum. Depending on which protocol is used, packets are prioritised on the network, then either forwarded or dropped by the network management.

All the information is provided in the links, for example; the Value package rate limits the Usenet protocol to 128Kbps between 2pm-4pm, if you were connected to PTN-AG1 Plusnet 3 at that time today, your 128Kbps bandwidth was losing 13% of packets, therefore reducing the 128Kbps maximum rate limit. Usenet is classed as Best Effort on the Value package, they are the first packets to be dropped.

You will hear Plusnet subscribers talk of Gateway Hopping, as reconnecting may change Gateway to a less busy one, ie one which is dropping less packets.

It is complicated, but in short, depending on protocol priority, the maximum speeds may not be achievable if packet loss on the Gateway is high.

EDIT:Typo

Whilst your answer is more on the technical side, seeing PN isn't an ISP I'd consider myself, I'm not really interested in too much detail.
My participation in this thread was because I was looking to see if PN was worth recommending to a friend who is a light user.

With the Traffic Shaping in mind, I was more interested (as per the OP) as to what was the reality with PN and were those figures shown in their charts reasonably Real World?

After reading this from your link:-

4. Speed Problems

We can't guarantee that you'll always see these speeds, but if your line and the network are running properly then it's rare to see much lower - your broadband speed can be affected by a number of things. Read more about them here.

....they would suggest those figures are fairly accurate and for most of the time. So if you have a good line rate/bras profile, do users feel those figures are reasonably portrayed by PN, especially as they use the word "Rare" in their technical quote (above)

I have used a plusnet connection before and have a buddy in the south who has them for an ISP and has had speed issues since migrating. I don't need to be a plusnet user to voice an opinion. Your basicly saying to speak about the labour party you need to be a member of it.

poppycock.

In reply to a post by wingco1:

...it is well documented that things are slowing down.

"endless tweaking of Ellacoyas" [jelv]

This is the main reason I would not recommend Plusnet. But, try explaining exactly what that means, it's far easier to say O2/Be*.

In reply to a post by Pod:

Yep, I keep forgetting. But it is not unknown for Gold packets to drop, for a few months recently Gold packets were dropping regularly at peak times.

True - it was quite common to see Gold drops at 0.5% of Gold traffic during peak times. Only the pickiest would notice that!

In reply to a post by Pod:

It seems to have improved, but at the expense of a big increase in packet drops for lower classed protocols.

It got a bit ropey when the Andy Murray matches were on with the phenomenal increase in iPlayer streaming.

Perhaps you should do some more extensive reading of the Community forums (especially topics relating to usenet) and the service status postings. They found an error which meant some people were getting much higher rates than specified for their account type with the consequence that others were affected. Since this was rectified things have been a lot better and apparently more capacity is coming on-line RSN. The rough period that prompted my post lasted a week or so.

(I note you didn't comment on a very critical post from a "fan-boy" - some of us take a balanced approach and comment appropriately on each situation)

In reply to a post by krazykizza:

I have used a plusnet connection before and have a buddy in the south who has them for an ISP and has had speed issues since migrating.

More information please. We have seen a number of people who have signed up to value or "unlimited" (God do I hate that about turn - in no way is that account unlimited - "unmetered" maybe) having been very attracted by the prices and not looked closely at the specification of the products and then complained about peak time speeds of downloading, P2P etc.

For a light user who mainly does email and browsing, maybe watches a bit of utube or iPlayer, uses VoIP or some on-line gaming, doesn't do much downloading other than the automatic M$ and other updates, Plusnet Value (or Unlimited) are absolutely great.

If they do some of the lower priority activities such as P2P or usenet, but their peak time (8am to midnight) usage can stay within 15GB Pro is very good.

In reply to a post by jelv:

More information please. We have seen a number of people who have signed up to value or "unlimited" having been very attracted by the prices and not looked closely at the specification of the products and then complained about peak time speeds of downloading, P2P etc.

Can you blame them? The average person does not know what an internet protocol is, nor even a Kbps, just that their friend downloads quicker than they do, but are also 'on 8 meg'.

I agree with you - I think Plusnet could do more to make sure people were aware without totally losing out to the other ISPs who are also less than honest about their networks and the traffic management.

I must admit I'd have preferred Plusnet to keep some quality in their products rather than go all out for the bargain basement prices!

In reply to a post by Pod:

Can you blame them? The average person does not know what an internet protocol is, nor even a Kbps, just that their friend downloads quicker than they do, but are also 'on 8 meg'.

The best way is to try a product and see if it fits your needs.
PN use to let people do this, and even after that could eave after a month.

Now no trial and 18 months lock in, seems where a while ago PN believed in there product, and kept customers because they were happy, now they feel they have to lock them into a long contract.
Tells a lot of what PN thinks of there own service.

some of us take a balanced approach and comment appropriately on each situation)

Some of us are prevented from doing so by those that consider every post to be a personal attack on their manhood.

I don't use the word "fan boy". Regardless of what you think I don't think PN is the devil. My post was in response to your request to a poster to explain his assertion, "that Plusnet will screw you over whilst giving you slow speeds".

As I stated I won't comment on the "screw you over" but it seems rather disingenuous to ask someone to justify slow speeds when you have already complained about them.

It is a valid point to make to anyone thinking of recommending any ISP.

Post deleted by Vorlon

...and that is stopping a lot of existing users from swapping to the new products when they could potentially save money. We can just hope that Plusnet eventually see sense and at least give an option to opt for a short contract without the free house move, free hardware etc.

There must be some sort of legal get out of these long contracts if the product does not suite surely. You are agreeing to something from a distance you cannot see or try. If there is not there should be. Maybe OFCOM needs a kick in that direction.

We can just hope that Plusnet eventually see sense and at least give an option to opt for a short contract without the free house move, free hardware etc.

I doubt PN are in a position to do that. The introduction of the long contracts signalled a greater input by BT. PN were doing more than the average ISP with the one month trail, which I believe was a PN not BT initiative.

I feel BT are exerting more control than ever before. The "unlimited" product would never have been introduced by PN for reasons they have frequently stated. I believe the latest product set and contract lengths were a fait accompli.

I agree.

How it can be looked at is,
The more time passes, the more people with be on the longer contracts, either by swapping to the new products, or new customers.

In say a 6 months time, many more people will be "trapped" into a contract.
Now if pipes become over congested, what can a user do, than to put up with slow speeds?

In business there is a reason for everything, feeling the need to "trap" people into a long contract they clearly have a plan why the need to do this?

"Now if pipes become over congested, what can a user do, than to put up with slow speeds?"

True but PN have doubled capacity over the last year... as Kitz posted recently.(albeit including MAAF and Brightview) which dont account for that many customers. The problem of undercapacity may well be a thing of the past.

It might not be a problem of the present, but who knows what the future will hold?
A future PN now feels it wants to "trap" customers into.

More disingenuous negativity.... always the negative... do the facts disturb you...

Plusnet is trailing 21CN. This statement sums it up nicely,

"21CN isn't delivered using 622 gateways, so if Plusnet is planning large scale migration of users over to 21CN they wouldn't want to be ordering more gateways and associated equipment."

The question is how long will customers suffer slow speeds, whilst as you say locked into a long contract.

edit to add link as a matter of courtesy, not to score points;

http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,7787...

Edited by wingco1 (Sun 26-Jul-09 12:13:01)

Yes I think a 18 month is a negative.

Looks like I might have been wrong, and it can be a present issue.

Well there have been problems this week as regarding Usenet there are posts about it on the PN forum, they are blaming capacity and are adding more in a couple of weeks, personally I wasn't so badly affected as some but it is annoying, it seems to be sorted for the moment as I'm back to line speed. Everything else on the service has been good for me except for this hiccup, I'm hoping it is only a hiccup and I don't have to up sticks again, I'm not a big downloader I only don't even use my allowance every month but I do like something that works

Seeing how you have had issues of late, would you sign up to a 18 month contract?

Well something is definately going on, back up to speed last night, having said that I could have been the only one not invited to the party so was home alone. God I hope it's not going the same was as Orange when they introduced cheap packages

Absolutely not, I was thinking at the beginning of last week that maybe I would as everything was running fine and had been since I joined (odd niggle but nothing serious) however I've seen the speeds dropping this week, surfing streaming all fine, so the product would suit someone who just wants that, but come to usenet and it's a different story, all was fine till midweek when something went wrong and speeds were fluctuating like mad, I hope they've sorted it now, otherwise I might sneak off to AA

Thanks for your answer.

Glad you have the option to leave.
Lucky you did think about it, and not just blindly signup to the cheaper price weeks ago.

Yes I did think about it when I signed up and had it been 12-18month I wouldn't have done it, I had previously been with o2 access on 12 month contract but luckily had a 30 day trial, as soon as I realised how bad it was going to be I was able to get out so having nearly got my fingers burnt I wasn't prepared to make the same mistake again.
I was with Zen before that and when I left o2 access I went back to Zen as I was so desperate to get away. I found PN and was lucky to get on the BBYW legacy product (it changed a few days later to value and unlimited), due to my previous mightmare with o2 I wouldn't have considered anything over a 30day contract at that time, I very nearly changed my mind with PN as up till last wednesday they've been very good and couldn't fault them, but we'll see how it goes from now on.

In reply to a post by wingco1:

it seems rather disingenuous to ask someone to justify slow speeds when you have already complained about them.

I think he fell into the "I'm all right, Jack" category all the time he was defending PlusNet against all and sundry complaints and accusations. Now that he's back on the same product as the masses, he seems to have had plenty to complain about.

But it's funny how long-term PN customers can complain bitterly about the service on their own board and yet defend it to the hilt on this forum. Who does that help?

Simon

Utter rubbish!

It has become apparent since I made those posts that my return to the same method of connection as the masses coincided with a specific problem which was significantly affecting speeds. I've just checked the current speed http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/results/04416450.png - I'm quite happy with 6368kbps down, 704kbps up.

I will defend Plusnet to the hilt when a certain group of people are making totally unjustified statements (often based on experience of Plusnet many years ago).

In case you haven't noticed, I'm far from adverse in making critical comments in here (in fact I've deliberately made posts in here in the past knowing you would pick them up when I wanted to cause maximum discomfort to Plusnet when they'd got something wrong - the last time was the latest product refresh when they tried to say existing users couldn't change between the BBYW levels).

I don't know of his motives of joining them, But I knew him when he was about to sign up, would of jumped to push him out the way of a fatal bullet.As for his plan, He signed up to the unlimited but as ever with any ISP that is cheap and cheerful, he wasn't going to stand a chance getting a workable connection for what he wanted.

Also, I have been at an internet cafe once upon a time and it was slow with a couple other people in, speed test registered barely into the low 100's

In reply to a post by jelv:

I've just checked the current speed http://www.mybroadbandspeed.co.uk/results/04416450.png - I'm quite happy with 6368kbps down, 704kbps up.

I am always a bit dubious of Plusnet speed tests, I don't know which package you subscribe to, but you could achieve the same result on a Value package whilst being unable to download anything at more than 2Mb, except off-peak.

PAYG (that's why I was on RIN when it was running) - equivalent of Pro.

I rarely go over 10GB, if I have larger downloads I do them after midnight. For my usage PN is a superb choice, but for someone that downloads a lot using P2P, Usenet or download sites and expects near line speed Plusnet is not appropriate. That's why blanket "wouldn't touch Plusnet with a bargepole" type posts are totally inappropriate without knowing the sort of usage pattern required.

if I have larger downloads I do them after midnight.

Fair enough, but not for everyone.

but for someone that downloads a lot using P2P, Usenet or download sites and expects near line speed Plusnet is not appropriate.

My bold, so where do you download your downloads from that makes PN suitable for you?

I download from download sites like Akami or usenet (Astraweb) and usually get speeds over 600KBps - because on my package everything is in the Gold or better queue. By "downloads a lot" I meant people who use more than 15GB 8am to midnight who would end up paying for the extra bandwidth if they were on Pro. For someone who's peak usage is less than 15GB Pro is a very good option.

Are you on the new pro, or on the "old one"?

PAYG 15GB special which is the same price and identical shaping to both old and new Pro (I've never seen even a hint that there was a difference between traffic management on old and new - however the new doesn't include hosting etc for new Plusnet users).

In reply to a post by jelv:

For someone who's peak usage is less than 15GB Pro is a very good option.

For those people I would recommend Newnet Home S. An extra 5GB per month off peak and a monthly contract.
Slightly more expensive [if paying monthly, cheaper if annually], fewer off peak hours and no free router, but no long tie-in and no traffic management. Speaking from experience Newnet are an excellent ISP and score better than Plusnet in the comparison checker in all categories on this site.

Edited by deleted (Sun 26-Jul-09 21:07:51)

Mine is this at 9.30pm just as a comparison http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results/id/1... it is a bit slower than usual. I download some things in the morning and otherwise after midnight which is fine, speeds have been fluctuating a bit but I have a handy little prog that shuts eveything down after 30mins so it's no problem

Just checked forum and more capacity this week and again in 3 weeks time so hopefully things will improve, don't think I'd like the value or unlimited products though

Edited by deleted (Sun 26-Jul-09 21:43:45)

In reply to a post by jelv:

I rarely go over 10GB, if I have larger downloads I do them after midnight. For my usage PN is a superb choice, but for someone that downloads a lot using P2P, Usenet or download sites and expects near line speed Plusnet is not appropriate. That's why blanket "wouldn't touch Plusnet with a bargepole" type posts are totally inappropriate without knowing the sort of usage pattern required.

As you say, the usage pattern is vitally important.

However on the previous packages I could recommend the lowest one for someone's elderly parents being introduced to broadband, (and still these turn up remarkably frequently), as the equivalent Newnet was a 12-month contract and more expensive - the better Newnet throughput being irrelevant. I cannot really do that now with an 18-month contract in place.

Pro I still can recommend for low usage gamers, and the previous (non-Pro) 15GB package made a lot of sense in particular to Newnet Lite (3GB) users having to upgrade to the Newnet 12GB one at a higher cost than Plusnet 15GB. Several did this, but even then they were worried about the shaping. They were able to make the jump for the same reason I was able to jump to O2 - the getout clause.

I think the only acceptable package on Plusnet for now is Pro, but it is absolutely certain the sites like uSwitch will continue to bring in many poor mis-guided souls.

The marketing men are not wrong on the changes unfortunately.

There I agree with you...

just for the record.. on a point of principle I would not sign another 12 month contract with PN.. Nothing to do with service that has been smooth and as I would expect just the the well discussed subject of forcing existing customers to sign up for 12 months if they want to take advantage of the new plans.

1) My legacy product is less rate limited (marginally)
2) Well within download limits...

In reply to a post by paddyclark:

There I agree with you...

You lot are trying to mess with my mind I reckon.....and it's working.

Indeed they do rate higher... actually How much higher is uncertain as the sample size of voters is SMALL ie less than 100 to 6-700 in plusnets case.

In reply to a post by Sadoldman:

In reply to a post by paddyclark:

There I agree with you...

You lot are trying to mess with my mind I reckon.....and it's working.

Well that happened to me too, so in the end I gave up wanting to know anything more about the PlusNet Phenomenon

I think I can simplify things for you Don:

Nobody, but nobody (whether "fan-boys" or "bigots") likes the 12 or 18 month contracts.

The concession that existing users could ask for a 12 month contract on Value and Unmetered (which normally have 18 month contracts) if they waived the free house move and hardware was not met with wild celebrations!

Not wishing to reignite a flame war. I don't really understand the notion that existing customers should get preferential treatment. It doesn't seem to happen much in other businesses. Loyalty usually counts for nothing.

I'm happy that PN customers have extracted a concession from PN, but I doubt it would have happened in other areas.

In reply to a post by jelv:

I think I can simplify things for you Don:

Nobody, but nobody (whether "fan-boys" or "bigots") likes the 12 or 18 month contracts.

The concession that existing users could ask for a 12 month contract on Value and Unmetered (which normally have 18 month contracts) if they waived the free house move and hardware was not met with wild celebrations!

As soon as an ISP starts offering unlimited products and 18 month contracts most people start to wonder what is going to happen to the quality of service. If your product is good enough why remove the free trial and make it an 18 month contract ?

I am on the Pro Package with Plusnet and it is fine.

In reply to a post by jelv:

I think I can simplify things for you Don:

Nobody, but nobody (whether "fan-boys" or "bigots") likes the 12 or 18 month contracts.

The concession that existing users could ask for a 12 month contract on Value and Unmetered (which normally have 18 month contracts) if they waived the free house move and hardware was not met with wild celebrations!

Totally agree with you.
The more the issue is brought up/debated, the more chance it will get changed.
This can only be of benefit to both old and new customers.

I stated when it was first introduced that a customer should think long and hard before entering long contracts, things change fast as you know.

It is also not unlikely that midway into a long contract circumstances change, and if a change of package is required I would think it unreasonable to require a new contract.

New contracts where they give something to get something I understand, even if I don't like them much,...... but a basic admin change for an existing customer should not have such onerous requirements I reckon.

It is this creepy sense of agreement that is doing my head in. I have entered an alternative universe.

I agree with you about the unlimited and value it does send out alarm bells, mine is ok at the moment as well but I'm not counting my chickens, the BBYW product was a good one pity things had to change

in my limited experience (used to be with Newnet and have a client with Plusnet) l would rate NN way above PN.
Simple things like actually reading the whole ticket or managing to escalate a fault to Bt the day it was reported, not 5 days later...
Hopefully won't be an issue much longer - client will be migrating to be real soon now

The dumbest aspect of these contracts is that Plusnet have done nothing about providing an option for students who would typically rent accommodation for less than a year. I think one argument Plusnet put forward was that when they moved out they could take advantage of the free move - but if they go back to their parents each summer where there is already a broadband connection?

I have been with Plusnet (broadband & phone) since late 2007. Originally I was getting speeds of 6.6 Mbs most of the time. Slowly, but surely, my speed has been slowing down. I'm getting not much over 4 meg at the moment, despite it being over 1.20am. I have a downstream attenuation of 20, Broadband Pro, and am on fast path. Router is plugged in the master socket through a BT I-Plate. At least my connection is stable and I haven't had any drop-outs for quite some time.

I know others have suffered similar problems with slow speeds. I'm getting really fed up now. I can't see Tiscali being much slower, tbh

...and Andy Murray can't be blamed this time!!!

I wouldn't recommend Plusnet at the moment, I'm afraid.

In reply to a post by ggater:

So why still with them?

I did actually reccomend plusnet, sods law is was about a week before they rehauled their packages, the major bad change been the introduction of 18 month contracts.

Now I would find it hard to reccomend plusnet to anyone, for people who have no llu available on their exchange I would consider reccomending the value package if cost is of paramount importance above all else, but the pro I think because of the 18 month contract would be a tough one to reccomend.

Pro is a 12 month contract (Unlimited is 18 month)

We're currently looking for another ISP - preferably also broadband and phone. Just not sure which one yet! In an ideal world it would be with Sky, but not the Sky ADSL service.

There are LLU providers on our local telephone exchange (Cross Hills), but no 'fast' broadband providers. They are all up to 8Mb only.

Talk Talk predict that our line would support 12.5Mb with 'Speed Boost'. I would have throught it would be higher than that with a downstream attenuation of 20? Also, the 18 month contract is a bit off-putting.

Decisions, decisions! :?

Not a lot to choose from as you say .

If you said what your current Plusnet package is and why that no longer suits your needs people might have more suggestions for alternatives for you to consider.

In reply to a post by jelv:

If you said what your current Plusnet package is and why that no longer suits your needs people might have more suggestions for alternatives for you to consider.

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/plusnet/t/3676656-r...
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/plusnet/t/3664187-r...

I was hoping for a bit more information. Although he has a 15GB allowance on Pro we have no idea how much of that he uses (well under or struggling at the end of each month?), how much overnight, etc, all of which might influence people's recommendations.

If the only issue is getting support for forcing BT to sort out his line, and due to no LLU presence it has to be BT based, my first thought would be A&A.

I'm on Broadband Your Way up to 15GB. I've only used half a gig paid-for broadband since my billing date of 26th July, but I always use far more during the long, dark Winter months! Maximum has been around 8GB paid-for allowance. I would probably be using more at the moment, but haven't watched BBCi Player much recently due to buffering.

Latest speed test >> http://www.dslzoneuk.net/speedtest/speedtest.php?id=...

I always used to get around 6.7 at this time of the afternoon.

Have just tried testing on DSL Zone and it is not recording my results on the 'Today's Last 10 Results' table. I only did one speed test last night, so no idea why? Maybe DSL Zone don't like Plusnet

I don't know if BBCi player is classed as peer-to-peer? Whatever, I don't use torrents or the like. I watch quite a few YouTube videos, though.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Tracing route to portal.plus.net [212.159.8.2]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 20 ms 23 ms 21 ms lo0.plusnet.thn-ag1.plus.net [195.166.128.101]
3 133 ms 33 ms 94 ms vl703.thn-gw1.plus.net [84.92.4.241]
4 26 ms 206 ms 209 ms ae0-102.ptn-gw01.plus.net [212.159.1.53]
5 20 ms 21 ms 20 ms gi0-2-32.ptc-gw1.plus.net [195.166.129.10]
6 28 ms 28 ms 28 ms pos1-0.pih-cr1.plus.net [195.166.129.250]
7 28 ms 28 ms 29 ms vlan8.pih-gw4.plus.net [212.159.0.30]
8 28 ms 28 ms 29 ms if25.pih-lb04.plus.net [212.159.0.18]
9 32 ms 30 ms 30 ms portal.plus.net [212.159.8.2]

Trace complete.

-----------------------------------------


System Up Time 9 days 01:13:02
Port Status TxPkts RxPkts Collisions Tx B/s Rx B/s Up Time
WAN PPPoA 535819 762042 0 125 1047 9 days 01:12:39
LAN 100M/Full 0 0 0 0 0 9 days 01:12:45
WLAN 11M/54M 780190 550173 0 1067 127 9 days 01:13:02

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 8128 kbps 448 kbps
Line Attenuation 20.0 db 10.0 db
Noise Margin 9.0 db 25 db

Sorry about the above info being jumbled up!

Go to go out for now - back later.

By the way, I'm female

no real difference, they both extremely long for a consumer contract.

The speedtest on DSL Zone isn't working at the moment, giving all sorts f crazy results including wrong isp's

Try this speedtest, and see how it compares; www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk

I don't think iplayer shouldn't caused any noticable throttling by Plusnet, as it's classed as streaming. Also, maybe you could try dis/re-connecting your broadband connection to see if that helps, as the your first few hops seem to show some lag with-in the Plusnet network.

Have already disconnected a few times in the last few weeks, though. I even bought a new Netgear router in case the 'old' Netgear was causing problems. It's made no difference! Until March 2009, my speeds were mainly good. I've used the BB Max tester in the past and regularly got 6.9Mb.

BB Max (Thursday evening)
Download Speed: 3473 kbps (434.1 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 378 kbps (47.3 KB/sec )
Download Speed: 3681 kbps (460.1 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 378 kbps (47.3 KB/sec )
Download Speed: 2761 kbps (345.1 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 381 kbps (47.6 KB/sec )
Download Speed: 2641 kbps (330.1 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 354 kbps (44.3 KB/sec )
Download Speed: 2869 kbps (358.6 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 377 kbps (47.1 KB/sec )

{Midnight}
Download Speed: 5163 kbps (645.4 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 373 kbps (46.6 KB/sec )

[Friday morning 2:00am]
Download Speed: 6525 kbps (816.1 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 355 kbps (44.4 KB/sec )

Sometimes during the night the speed drops to under 4Mb, but mainly it's not too bad.

I'm guessing BT contention (even though my exchange is showing as green) - and possibly some congestion on Plusnet's network? It's almost like throttling is going on, even though my current plan is advertised as unthrottled at all times ^ Traffic shaping should be made illegal, anyway. I don't agree with it at all.

Still some lagging going on. Will reboot during daylight hours.

I would guess it's BT contention too, as I get a bit of that at times, with an exchange which seems to be showing red quite often. But then my connection speed is usually only between 4.5 to 5.5Mb/s, so I can't test at your speeds.

Traffic shaping should be made illegal, anyway. I don't agree with it at all.

I have been with Plusnet (broadband & phone) since late 2007

That does beg the question, why are you still with Plusnet.

In reply to a post by dieselglider:

I would guess it's BT contention too, as I get a bit of that at times, with an exchange which seems to be showing red quite often. But then my connection speed is usually only between 4.5 to 5.5Mb/s, so I can't test at your speeds.

Exchange congestion is one thing. Backhaul and BT Colossus backbone are a different thing altogether.

I very much doubt there is congestion on those. Particularly Colossus. All BT Wholsale ISPs would be getting the same degradation, and they aren't.

Purely Plusnet capacity in my opinion.

Purely Plusnet capacity in my opinion.

Maybe, but I haven't been getting speedtest results as low as ggater, which is why I suspected exchange contention more.

I suppose if ggater did the BT speedtest, that would confirm one or t'other.

Btw, on the Plusnet forum 'Ask the boss' thread, it was confirmed that Plusnet would keep capacity growth well in hand with customer growth, so that's that then.

The account is under my dad's name. He's elderly and severely disabled with osteoarthritis. I help to care for him as he has falls.

Anyway, he knows that I'm unhappy with the service from Plusnet and he wants to change the broadband and phone package to Talk Talk. I'm very wary as there have been horror stories about Talk Talk.

Timing out when doing traces and pings on Talk Talk *Alarm bells go off* All 4 packets were lost during the ping test.

Tracing route to portal.plus.net [212.159.8.2]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 21 ms 23 ms 20 ms lo0.plusnet.thn-ag1.plus.net [195.166.128.101]
3 33 ms 221 ms 212 ms vl703.thn-gw1.plus.net [84.92.4.241]
4 26 ms 25 ms 22 ms ae0-102.ptn-gw01.plus.net [212.159.1.53]
5 131 ms 237 ms 225 ms gi0-2-32.ptc-gw1.plus.net [195.166.129.10]
6 29 ms 33 ms 33 ms pos1-0.pih-cr1.plus.net [195.166.129.250]
7 28 ms 32 ms 30 ms vlan8.pih-gw4.plus.net [212.159.0.30]
8 33 ms 32 ms 33 ms if25.pih-lb04.plus.net [212.159.0.18]
9 33 ms 32 ms 31 ms portal.plus.net [212.159.8.2]

Trace complete.

Off to reboot router...

Edited by deleted (Fri 31-Jul-09 20:51:53)

Still bad lag. First hop still times out, plus over 500ms on a couple of the hops.

Not even 3:00 in the afternoon and speed test 3.5Mb. It's a mystery as my connection used to be rock solid and very fast. Anyway, I'll leave it at that.

Edited by deleted (Fri 31-Jul-09 20:55:36)

In reply to a post by dieselglider:

Purely Plusnet capacity in my opinion.

Maybe, but I haven't been getting speedtest results as low as ggater, which is why I suspected exchange contention more.

I suppose if ggater did the BT speedtest, that would confirm one or t'other.

Just spotted your post. Have performed the BT Speedtest just now (9:00pm)

Test1 comprises of Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Your DSL connection rate: 8128 kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP profile for your line is - 7150 kbps
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 5979 kbps

Not sure what it proves, but;

Tracing route to bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.138]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 49 ms 49 ms 50 ms lo0-plusnet.ptn-ag1.plus.net [195.166.128.123]
3 49 ms 49 ms 47 ms gi2-2-303.ptn-gw01.plus.net [84.92.3.9]
4 49 ms 48 ms 48 ms te2-2.thn-gw1.plus.net [212.159.1.54]
5 47 ms 51 ms 50 ms te2-3.thn-gw2.plus.net [212.159.1.58]
6 203 ms 213 ms 214 ms rt0.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.239.25]
7 50 ms 52 ms 56 ms 212.58.238.133
8 64 ms 59 ms 59 ms virtual-vip.thdo.bbc.co.uk [212.58.224.138]

Trace complete.

Tracing route to portal.plus.net [212.159.9.2]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 49 ms 75 ms 58 ms lo0-plusnet.ptn-ag1.plus.net [195.166.128.123]
3 164 ms 200 ms 147 ms gi2-2-303.ptn-gw01.plus.net [84.92.3.9]
4 216 ms 122 ms 206 ms vl32.ptn-gw02.plus.net [195.166.129.12]
5 57 ms 52 ms 48 ms te2-2.pte-gw2.plus.net [212.159.1.106]
6 54 ms 53 ms 53 ms 92.core.plus.net [212.159.1.92]
7 56 ms 56 ms 55 ms fhw-lb04.plus.net [212.159.1.146]
8 55 ms 56 ms 55 ms portal.plus.net [212.159.9.2]

Trace complete.

They have added extra capacity this morning however it seems that the gateways need balancing as a lot are full, best bet it to try to get on another gateway and see how that goes, some routers have the option to disconnect from a gateway and reconnect to another without having to power down your router

I've just done pings on a number of isps.

These didn't drop any packets:
Entanet
Idnet
Namesco
ADSL24
Virgin Media
Eclipse
UK Online
TitanADSL
Plusnet

These isps dropped all 4 packets:
Talk Talk
Sky Broadband
Orange
Tiscali
Zen
Newnet
O2
Pipex
Freedom2surf
BT Broadband

Do some isps have a way of completely blocking ping requests, or could it mean problems with their network?

EDIT: Looks like port blocking. Nothing to worry about.

Edited by deleted (Sat 01-Aug-09 01:30:54)

its icmp blocking, nothing to worry about.

If you were getting the same speedtest results as before and yet the bt test shows higher results then its a problem with the ISP

I'd just like to let people know that it's not me who keeps giving Talk Talk 10/10 and Plusnet 1/10 on the DSL Zone isp ratings! DSL Zone should make it that you can only rate once in so many months, plus your rating is linked to your account. It's ridiculous that some people appear to be multi-voting.

Not bad for me this afternoon on BB Max

Download Speed: 6578 kbps (822.3 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 372 kbps (46.5 KB/sec )

In reply to a post by ggater:

I'd just like to let people know that it's not me who keeps giving Talk Talk 10/10 and Plusnet 1/10 on the DSL Zone isp ratings! DSL Zone should make it that you can only rate once in so many months, plus your rating is linked to your account. It's ridiculous that some people appear to be multi-voting.

Not bad for me this afternoon on BB Max

Download Speed: 6578 kbps (822.3 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 372 kbps (46.5 KB/sec )

I can hardly believe anyone would give talktalk 10/10. I would never return to talktalk NOT even if they paid me to use their service.