Does Plusnet throttle?

Hi, I'm with O2 ADSL at the moment, and get about 6.5 Meg down speed. It is reliable but not cheap. For just a couple of pounds a month more I can get about 40 Meg down speed from Plusnet fibre. Their pricing seems very good.

Any problems with it? Do their speeds drop at peak times? Does Plusnet Fibre throttle torrents (BitTorrent)?

There don't seem too many complaints about them, so I take it their service is good?

Any other reasons why I shouldn't switch, or anything else to watch out for?

Thanks.

Usage Allowances - http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/res_b...

Traffic Management - http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/tr...

Perhaps worth pointing out 'overnight' (0000-0800, must check for fibre!) does not count against allowance.

Must admit that since I last looked, things seem to have changed a bit (Value vs Extra vs Pro).

I am on Extra (not fibre, yet) and about to absorb the traffic management info.

To be fair though, I do watch streaming video a lot day and night, whether from BBC, YouTube, or webcams (and Android World Wide Webcams app can be running for hours). Rarely hit the 60 GB limit (but do d/l a lot from iPlayer overnight).

We're looking to update those pages soon as the speeds are actually a bit more relaxed than are shown on those pages now.

Thanks for your quick replies, Camieabz and ultra. I'm glad I looked into this, as I almost signed up to an 18 month contract that would have been slower for everything I do except browsing.

I'm glad I read those links you gave. At PlusNet's 'Traffic Management Key Facts' for Plusnet Value Fibre (the package I was interested in) it seems just about everything apart from browsing, audio streaming, VoIP and IM (neither of which I use) are crippled in the evenings.

I'm currently on O2 Home Broadband Standard, which is unlimited and I've never noticed any traffic shaping. I just tested my speed and got 9Mbps down, 1.03 up. It never drops below 6.5Mbps down.

The page download speed shows I would get far slower speeds on fibre for everything apart from browsing except during the night (when I'm asleep), so I'd be silly to change. I appear to be on the best package for my needs.

It looks like my obsolete copper ADSL is quicker than superfast fibre!

I'm glad I read those links you gave. At PlusNet's 'Traffic Management Key Facts' for Plusnet Value Fibre (the package I was interested in) it seems just about everything apart from browsing, audio streaming, VoIP and IM (neither of which I use) are crippled in the evenings.

The speeds aren't nearly as low as those shown on that page, over time we've relaxed and removed some of the rules but have been a bit tardy in updating the page. I've not got the details to hand but the speeds aren't restricted as much as they show.

In reply to a post by camieabz:

Usage Allowances - http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/res_b...

Traffic Management - http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/tr...

Not that they will be correct � Still, cut and paste 'em into JLB!

Edited by professor973 (Wed 08-Aug-12 10:18:34)

Just been having a chat about this and the updates we're looking to do to the download speed pages. On Value Fibre, P2P and Usenet are only rate limited between 8pm and 10pm to 2Mb. Outside of these times there are no rate limits in place for these services.

You could also add the Pro add-on which will remove these rate limits completely for an extra £5 per month.

What about all the other speed limits on Value Fibre - do they now only apply between 8pm to 10pm and during that time is the lower limit 2Mb for all of them

Edited by deleted (Wed 08-Aug-12 11:03:17)

We'll be updating the page within the next few weeks with the actual speeds now, I can't remember them all off the top of my head.

I thought the bandwidth allowance page to be more pertinent for the OP. Plusnet have never been 'torrent-friendly', and I assumed that the OP wouldn't care for the allowances. As a non-torrent user myself, I like my ISP to be fairly strict with heavy torrent users. It frees up the bandwidth for the rest of us.

You need to let go of your anger.

In reply to a post by professor973:

Not that they will be correct � Still, cut and paste 'em into JLB!

Are they applicable to John Lewis, on a Plusnet wholesale contract? The PN pricing structure certainly isn't.

In reply to a post by camieabz:

You need to let go of your anger.

I can assure you there is none, though I feel many need let go of the fanatical support for an iffy outfit. I am continually entertained by the almost daily misinformation by PN, along with rejoicing that I no longer suffer it. It is a wonder the CS bods are not too embarrassed to pop up. There are thousands of visitors here that are witnessing it, which probably turns untold numbers away. Possibly a sub-forum entitled the 'Daily Ricket' might help. Either that, or redirecting funds intended for silly ads claiming top service toward CS retraining and re-wrining the info pages! {

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by professor973:

Not that they will be correct � Still, cut and paste 'em into JLB!

Are they applicable to John Lewis, on a Plusnet wholesale contract? The PN pricing structure certainly isn't.

The misinformation regarding the likes of caller display is. If a correct answer cannot be given for something as simple, it does not really inspire confidence to handle a problem.

I asked you about a statement you made which was either total bunkum and simple stirring/trolling, or had some justification.

You haven't answered that question, which implies trolling. Either justify the possible troll post or delete it please.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I asked you about a statement you made which was either total bunkum and simple stirring/trolling, or had some justification.

You haven't answered that question, which implies trolling. Either justify the possible troll post or delete it please.

Who the hell do you think you are to talk to people like that, do you own this site? You are without doubt the most rude and irritating individual I have come across. You may know a little about Broadband, but it is a pity you cannot put your view over in a polite and civil manner. I answered you by indicating that PN caller display misinformation was something that applied to JLB. Also, if you can read, you will see that PN CS confirmed that the links I referred to, were as usual with PN wrong and out of date. You may not like what I write, but I only refer to facts. If you are trying to wind me up till I get banned again, feel free.

Edited by professor973 (Wed 08-Aug-12 14:48:55)

In reply to a post by professor973:

If you are trying to wind me up till I get banned again, feel free.

I don't need to. Neither do I need to use heated bad language.

You wind yourself up when challenged about some of the things you post.

Specifically, my perfectly civil question was clearly about your suggestion that the Plusnet allowance details and traffic management information should be posted somewhere relevant to John lewis.

You have not answered that question. Why not?

You have not answered that question. Why not?

As far as I am concerned I have answered your question and as I have said I don't have to explain anything to someone like you.
I like many sat back this week when you tore into a Freeola employee in a rude and disgusting manner. You were so cock sure of yourself, but it turned out the only 'facts' you had, were a half truth from a OP with a grudge and an over inflated view of his diagnostic powers.. I understand it though, after you stated that any misinformation regarding the 10 day period hit a sore spot with you. I feel exactly the same at the mention of you and PlusNet. Now sit down quietly, there's a good boy!

In reply to a post by professor973:

As far as I am concerned I have answered your question ....

I've seen not a peep from you about why cameiabz should post the Plusnet allowances and traffic management details in some unspecified JL place. Instead, you went off on some unrelated tangent. Possibly to maximise your scatter-bombing.

Have I missed something?

In reply to a post by professor973:

You are without doubt the most rude and irritating individual I have come across.

I wasn't going to respond to this, but if there were a contest between you and RobertoS for the most rude and irritating individual on these boards, you and your previous alter-ego(s) would win it hands down; I'm afraid you are rather deluded in that respect.

FWIW Plusnet is one of the best companies I have ever dealt with.

Have I missed something?

Possibly!
Top Quality ISP !

Doesn't look good. However, we only have the OP's version of events, and I was told recently by someone not to rely on that.

Back to the issue in this thread - once again you deliberately completely avoid my question and jump to something else.

Why? Is it an embarrassing question? It wasn't intended to be.

Plusnet were a great ISP, don't get me wrong. Now I think they are becoming a loss leader. Reason being is they used to have a reasonable pricing structure and didn't advertise much (a quiet, niche ISP), but nowadays I feel they are selling it off cheap and spreading it to the masses.

When I was with Plusnet (it was ADSL Max I should say), my download speed dropped from 6.5 Meg down to 3 Meg during peak times.

Some activities - namely YouTube streaming, gaming and downloading from Steam seemed to be slow all day (even when my connection speed was 6.5 Meg) this indicates rather heavy throttling in certain areas. Yes, peer-to-peer is throttled (or as they put it, slowed down).

Other things to consider are that I think the support is going downhill. It appears there are a few threads on here of late where support have made significant mistakes (lost them now but I'm sure I've seen some).

Something they did to me was when I called to complain about my performance due to throttling, the guy on the end of the phone was looking at my IP profile (set speed) and he set it to 0.5 by mistake. As I noticed the large drop in speed, I reported it as a fault. I suffered 1 week of a download speed of 0.29 Meg during which all Plusnet did was send me pretty speed graphs. They didn't tell me what the issue was in the end, the profile just sorted itself out and the stagnant support ticket was closed over time. I only realized what they'd done once I had put 2 and 2 together.

I'm with Sky now and it performs top notch, I haven't needed to contact support and the price is very good.

In reply to a post by Xplosion:

When I was with Plusnet (it was ADSL Max I should say), my download speed dropped from 6.5 Meg down to 3 Meg during peak times.

Do you mind if I ask how long ago that was? I ask as our capacity planning recently (several years) has been very good and we see very very little latency and slowdowns on our network during peak periods.

Some activities - namely YouTube streaming, gaming and downloading from Steam seemed to be slow all day (even when my connection speed was 6.5 Meg) this indicates rather heavy throttling in certain areas. Yes, peer-to-peer is throttled (or as they put it, slowed down).

As mentioned previously, we're updating that page as the speeds shown are much much lower than real life.

Other things to consider are that I think the support is going downhill. It appears there are a few threads on here of late where support have made significant mistakes (lost them now but I'm sure I've seen some).

I'm not going to say that we don't make mistakes, we do, everyone does. I'd like to think that when we're informed of an issue we do what we can to resolve it.

Something they did to me was when I called to complain about my performance due to throttling, the guy on the end of the phone was looking at my IP profile (set speed) and he set it to 0.5 by mistake. As I noticed the large drop in speed, I reported it as a fault. I suffered 1 week of a download speed of 0.29 Meg during which all Plusnet did was send me pretty speed graphs. They didn't tell me what the issue was in the end, the profile just sorted itself out and the stagnant support ticket was closed over time. I only realized what they'd done once I had put 2 and 2 together.

Sorry about that, as you've left there isn't a great deal I can do to help now but honestly that shouldn't happen.

In reply to a post by chrisparr:

Do you mind if I ask how long ago that was? I ask as our capacity planning recently (several years) has been very good and we see very very little latency and slowdowns on our network during peak periods.

That's as maybe, but I see fair fluctuations on my SNR, mostly through the day and into the evening, and especially in the evenings.

http://www.camieabz.co.uk/snr.png

Also, if I run a tracert, the bad hops are almost always Plusnet's hops. Just making the point.

Well we can't really affect the ongoing SNR, that's negotiated with the exchange equipment and your router, this changing has nothing at all to do with our capacity.

The bad hops on a tracert may well be because our network equipment is told to prioritise the actual routing of traffic above ping requests.

What's the real world quality of your connection like? Can you browse and stream without problems as these would be more indicative of issues than SNR fluctuations.

In reply to a post by Xplosion:

Do you mind if I ask how long ago that was? I ask as our capacity planning recently (several years) has been very good and we see very very little latency and slowdowns on our network during peak periods.

From late 2011-when I left in May this year is when the issues were really bad.

Most of the time it's fine. Occasionally there's a delay. The only real quibble is that before I could sync at 16000kbps with a profile of 14000, and speeds of 13350kbps. Granted, the sync wasn't stable over a an entire day, but with the Royal wedding, the jubillee, Euro 2012 and the Olympics it's been difficult finding a quiet month or so for long-term testing. I'm waiting for the Olympics to end so I can try things out a little more.

At present I sync at 14621kbps, with a profile of 13.8 Meg and am getting speeds no faster than 12.3 Meg, which seems a little stingy. Not complaining over the speed (it's far better than ADSL max), but last week my profile had dropped to 12.6 Meg and the throughput was 11.6 Meg.

It can drop in an instant, and takes an age to rise back up. Usually a BT speedtest or two sorts it after a couple of days though. If only there was a way for the BT systems to lock the profile (I appreciate the problems of a twitchy SNR make this idea problematic). While I know that 16,000 is too high for a stable line, 15,600 is stable, and the profile and throughput should be 13.8 Meg and 13.0 Meg respectively. Plus or minus 0.1 meg.

Question. The increase in capacity to coincide with the Olympics (Plusnet's and/or BTw's); will it remain in place afterwards, with a view to coping with BTO adding more 21CN and FTTx upgrades to the country?

Also, bear in mind that I'm on the Pro package, so can't comment on behalf of Extra / Value customers.

The majority of your post is regarding sync speeds and profiles updating, again this isn't anything to do with our capacity but the quality of the line and how the DLM treats it.

The increase in capacity to coincide with the Olympics (Plusnet's and/or BTw's); will it remain in place afterwards, with a view to coping with BTO adding more 21CN and FTTx upgrades to the country?

It depends on the overall usage of the capacity, we'll monitor it and make a decision as to whether it's kept and how much is kept.

There was obviously something causing your issues but I'm very confident in saying that it wasn't our capacity. The main reason we've had slowdowns earlier this year were due to being out of balance following large periods of BT maintenance.

RobertoS and Professor979 can I suggest you both stop this bickering or will stop it for you BOTH