Moved from MaaF to PlusNet - BIG mistake!

I moved my parents from MaaF to PlusNet (PN) to benefit from the 10Gb download on their basic package. I thought network would be the same, but on the 17th, the line started dropping about every minute or so. We called PN, who said there was an issue at their end. They then asked BT to take interleaving off the line (don't know why, we never had it off in all the years with MaaF and had a solid 6.5-7 Mb connection). Since the 17th, I am not getting more than 1.5 Mb....

Luckily, we are not in a contract, so am now considering alternatives. Maybe O2?

Hi
I moved from MAAF to Plusnet in Feb this year, and around summertime I noticed my line started behaving very badly.

After raising a ticket with Plusnet they eventually raised a request for BT to switch interleaving ON, which surprised me, as I had always had interleaving with MAAF.

So it might be an issue driven by the changeover and Plusnet's default view on interleaving (doesn't explain why my line survided reasonably ok for a few months...).

Check your router stats for attenuation, noise margin and sync speed. It seems likely the poor performance of the line has led to the target margin being raised by the line management gear.

Given the dramatic drop in speed you could raise a fault with Plusnet as the line is outside of the FTR rate (I think this is 80% of the maximum stable rate you had when you first trained on ADSL Max).

Anyway, not advising if you should leave or not, I've found Plusnet ok, but the traffic shaping definitely shows compared to MAAF - e.g. driver downloads seem slow from certain sites, but I'd look to get the line problems sorted in the first instance. The new target set by the DLM will likely mean poor initial performance even if you migrate to another provider, unless you're lucky enough that the exchange is unbundled and you can get away from BT wholesale altogether!

Good luck!

Thanks.

Router stats are as follows:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 8128 kbps 64 kbps
Line Attenuation 39 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 9 db 8 db

Are these ok? Upstream looks terrible, downstream ok to my untrained eyes.

In reply to a post by met68:

Thanks.

Router stats are as follows:

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 8128 kbps 64 kbps
Line Attenuation 39 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 9 db 8 db

Are these ok? Upstream looks terrible, downstream ok to my untrained eyes.

The upstream connection figure is terrible, and the upstream noise margin is less than the downstream figure, very odd.
Don't know why they took interleaving off your connection as it is usually beneficial, some gamers like it switched off in order to get better ping speeds i.e. less latency, when they're gaming.

Are the results taken with the router connected to the TEST socket within the BT master socket as this helps to eliminate any problems with extensions used in other rooms.

I assume the micro filters in use are OK and there isn't a problem with the router over heating.

Hopefully one of the PN Comms Team will pick this up, if not you could always send a PM to bpullen with details and the "username" for the parents connection.

In reply to a post by met68:

Luckily, we are not in a contract, so am now considering alternatives. Maybe O2?

Which O2 package? The LLU Standard, Premium and Pro are excellent, and Standard should be all they need.

O2 Access is currently a disaster area.

Another 30 minutes or so on the phone with PlusNet (PN) - mostly being placed on hold waiting - have resulted in nothing being done and my upload is now still 50Kb and download remains below 1.5Mb. Our patience has run-out and we spent close to £10 being placed on hold on their 0845 number.

We really, really urge anybody considering PN to think again. We have had a solid BB connection for the last 4 years or so with BT and MaaF before, but moving to PN was a big mistake and they were unable to help in any way whatever when the line started to go faulty.

We have now requested MAC code and will be looking at alternatives.

Edited by deleted (Fri 20-Nov-09 11:49:44)

Hi met68,

Would you mind PMing me your username so I can try and get the fault moved on for you? I understand your issues and am sorry that things have happened like they have, I'd love the chance to try and sort things out for you if that's alright?

Thank you for your offer to help, but we spent £10 or so calling your helpdesk and speaking to your colleagues over the last 4 days and they were unable to help, so I am not sure why you think you can help now. Anyway, it's too late now, as we have requested the MAC already. Suggest that you try and help when people call (and pay for the 0845 call) in the first place and not just when they come and post on this forum to vent their disappointment.

Edited by deleted (Fri 20-Nov-09 11:14:08)

If you can give us a username we can address the support issues directly with the agents involved.

I'm sorry that your issue got this far, however requesting a MAC doesn't mean you have to use it. If you would like us to take a look I'd be happy to do so, and I'm sure we could come to some arrangement for the call costs.

It may be worth taking Mand up on her offer as if there is an underlying line or exchange problem it will move ISP with you.

You stat's look good except for the weird upstream...?