In reply to a post by 4M2:

However their remote line tests indicated no problems even though there was crackling on the line whilst I was speaking to support which they could hear also!

Some time back, when I was living in N Wales, I first complained about hum on the line straight after they enabled it. Engineer came, his laptop reported a fault when plugged in at the test point, he disappeared to view various cabinets, eventually saying I would just have to "live with it". Must say I was annoyed as I'd never had constant hum on lines in 30+ years and in a few different homes... 3 months later they billed me and the engineer had the nerve to record fault with house wiring (when none was connected!). I challenged it (a) because of delay and (b) because none of the extensions had been plugged in when he came.

Later on when I was having problems with ADSL (160 kbps on a good day, nothing {and no voice calls either for up to 5 days} on a bad day) it took several fault reports before they fixed it. I was able to do a remote test when there was nothing plugged in (I had been using a Three dongle so could still run the remote fault checked via the web) and in every check it reported home wiring likely to be at fault.

6/7 months after first getting the line enabled, a young engineer spotted the drop wire had perished insulation... up his ladder before I even got to the front door and replaced it (and fitted new master socked in upstairs 'computer room' for me... end of problems!) {At least until ADSL 2+ came along, attenuation increased and speed dropped 40%}

In reply to a post by ultra:

6/7 months after first getting the line enabled, a young engineer spotted the drop wire had perished insulation... up his ladder before I even got to the front door and replaced it (and fitted new master socked in upstairs 'computer room' for me... end of problems!) {At least until ADSL 2+ came along, attenuation increased and speed dropped 40%}

Did/do you have ADL2+ with Plusnet?

Yes, in both locations (N Wales and Merseyside). The N Wales location was some 6km from the exchange and attenuation went from 59 dB to around 64 dB, which caused the speed drop, I think. Now I get around 12 Mbps for the sync speed. Am considering fibre (estimated speed 33.5 Mbps) so may use someone other than PN for it (they have similar prices, but for unlimited use on the 'up to 40 Mbps' offerings, while PN sets a limit... also, while PN offers new customers significant savings {+cashback}, they're not always on offer for their existing customers).

In reply to a post by ultra:

also, while PN offers new customers significant savings {+cashback}, they're not always on offer for their existing customers.

Are they with any ISP, other than O2 that in effect went bust wrt broadband?