Plusnet fibre products launch today (19th April 2011) including new Pro Add-on

[#1]

Hi Jojo.................Thanks for all that.......Very happy with the Fibre FTTC.......Made a big differance to my system....
Regards
Roger

[#2]

@Bob.  Thanks for sorting out the 18 month contract.
I have a couple of slightly strange speed problems which I was hoping you may be able to shed some light on.
I added Pro to my account last week and the speeds were as expected.  However I noticed yesterday, which was the first day of my new billing period, that my download speeds were slow.  Upon checking the traffic management pages I noticed that my web and Usenet downloads speed were exactly consistent for the standard Fibre Extra (i.e without the Pro addon) product for the time of day. i.e. 2Mb/s for Usenet and 10Mb/s for the web download server.  It was exactly like Pro was not activated and a disconnect did nothing.  I then removed and readded Pro to my account and which point the speed immediately increased to the ones I would expect.  Not sure why this happened.
I also have another issue, which may be related or just a coincidence.  The max throughput on my line has clearly reduced to about 34Mb/s, from the 37Mb/s it used to be.  Another disconnect / reconnect on Sunday evening made no change.  I also tried power cycling the VDSL modem this morning with no change.  My IP profile per the BT speedchecker has remained unchanged at 38,717 so either my line speed has reduced and the IP Profile has not updated or something else is causing the reduction.  Any ideas?

James

[#3]

Quote from: JEB

I then removed and readded Pro to my account

Check your next payment carefully - I suspect you may be double charged.

[#4]

Just thought I'd share my FTTC installation experience.
Installation Day:
ADSL goes down early morning, BT engineer calls shortly after to make it known he'll arrive shortly.
Engineer arrives and duly fits a new faceplate and everything seems fine, attempts to test the connection with what seems like a portable diagnostics unit; no sync, nothing.
Some confusion and phone calls ensue, long story short I was without internet service up until the beginning of the second week following installation.
Thoughts on FTTC:
Being just over 1 KM from the cabinet a visit to speedtest.net shows an average download speed somewhere in the region of 27 Mbps, upload hovering shy of 2 Mbps. In practice I have managed to download a relatively large file with an average speed hovering around 3 MBps which I'm very pleased with.
I'm over 3 KM from the exchange and on regular ADSL I was quite happily achieving just over 7 Mbps for a number of years, I doubted ADSL2+ would have been of great benefit to me so ultimately it's a thumbs up for FTTC from me!
I splashed out on a better router (Linksys) and that's working fine (PPPoE), those figures above were achieved whilst I was in another room on 802.11n.

[#5]

I hope this thread still gets looked at as I can't think of anywhere more appropriate...
Isn't is about time that the statements on what Fibre Value/Extra actually offers were consistent?

• We have http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/download_speeds.shtml which I believe is definitive, and shows download speeds limited on most protocols at all times other than between 1am and 7am.


• And we also have http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/broadband_experience.shtml which says traffic management is in place during peak hours which it defines as 4pm until midnight.


• Plus http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml which is missing columns for fibre altogether thus inviting interpretation as having the same management as ADSL. Which is not the case; even Fibre Extra is 'Slowed Down' rather than 'Managed' for almost everything by the definitions on that page

I actually find the fibre traffic management rather disappointing as nothing that could actually matter can be done at line speed other than between 1am and 7am. I hope that some of this management is reduced at some point. It is as well that I really signed up for the 120Gb/month limit!

[#6]

If you want unrestricted, go for the Pro add-on.
Also remember that most other big ISPs do something similar, even if they aren't as clear about what and how.

[#7]

I know about Pro, but can't justify it. What irks me is that, other than on Pro, everything that could matter is throttled almost all the time. On ADSL it is throttled for far fewer hours.
I do applaud Plusnet for being open about what they do although the main point of my post was that actually they are saying things that are inconsistent, still.

[#8]

Quote

I do applaud Plusnet for being open about what they do although the main point of my post was that actually they are saying things that are inconsistent, still.

Throttled to a speed which wouldnt matter?!
e.g. browsing, max of 20mbit (throughput is normally 20-25mbit)  -
Although its "slower" your still getting more than what most people were able to get on ADSL. Looking at it this way, its not bad?
Youtube @ 10mbit, = plenty for HQ streams ... Gaming at 5mbit .. i dont know of (m)any games that will cause a problem with that.
Also you can do well over 100gb in the off peak hours, so you can really use alot of bandwidth (3 days worth would put you over BTs FUP of 300gb!)

(although i do agree with the inconsistency, someone needs to get on those pages)
Regards

Edit: my figs are based on extra obvs... 5meg for YT and 2 meg for Gaming, is plenty. What are you doing thats not do-able? 

[#9]

I'd really like to see some downloads getting closer to line speed during the hours I'm actually awake!
As for all the rest, why throttle it if you can't reach the speeds?
It still irks me that fibre is much more restricted than adsl. But not to the point of actually complaining, and I am happy overall with the offering.

Still, my main point is that it is time those pages were made consistent.

[#10]

Quote

I'd really like to see some downloads getting closer to line speed during the hours I'm actually awake!

So pay for it?

Quote

It still irks me that fibre is much more restricted than adsl

Because PN dont want their CS staff overloaded with "WTF I've used my ENTIRE allowance in a week?! now what do i do.."
If it was truely uncapped, and people did "get closer to line speed during the hours im actually awake" then dont you think *some* people would get carried away... particularly those who sign up then complain about shaping/allowance limits?
Regards

[#11]

These people are the folks who are advertising Fibre in Cornwall (100% coverage by 2014!) and their link to PlusNet is still "coming soon" so you could be missing out on a bit of traffic there (maybe a lot, the links they do have are generally to sites that are pretty hard to navigate).  Might be something for your chaps to have a look at.

[#12]

Quote from: Bob

Quote from: JEB I have just had a call from a very polite customer service rep to process the account change.  There was some confusion at first about charges but when I explained that I was a trial FTTC user that was fine.  The rep did say that I would be subject to a new 18 month contract and also checked with her supervisor, who said the same, when I said that this was not correct.  In the end I didn't bother arguing because I have no intention of leaving, but just thought I would mention it for staff training purposes. I've just written off the 18 month contract on your account, will have a word with the rep you spoke to. Quote from: JEB As an aside I note my usage page has gone weird, e.g. my free usage is "-18277176.81KB".  I assume this is just due to the account change and is nothing to be concerned about. *scratches head* I've seen this before but I can't remember why it happened...

Bob
I was on the fibre trial on the old pro package, I switched to Value + pro and have notcied on my account I am now lible to cessation charges etc.. can you remove these please
User/account name is rmills

[#13]

Quote from: David

These people are the folks who are advertising Fibre in Cornwall (100% coverage by 2014!) and their link to PlusNet is still "coming soon" so you could be missing out on a bit of traffic there (maybe a lot, the links they do have are generally to sites that are pretty hard to navigate).  Might be something for your chaps to have a look at.

Thanks, I've emailed them and asked for the hyperlink to be updated.

Quote from: nibor

I was on the fibre trial on the old pro package, I switched to Value + pro and have notcied on my account I am now lible to cessation charges etc.. can you remove these please

the cessation fee is applicable to everybody?

[#14]

Quote from: nibor

I was on the fibre trial on the old pro package, I switched to Value + pro and have notcied on my account I am now lible to cessation charges etc.. can you remove these please

Have you read the What's this? link beside the Cessation Charge on your account details? It's on everybody's account and is only charged if you cancel broadband (i.e. leave Plusnet and don't move to a new supplier using a MAC)

[#15]

Quote from: Bob

Thanks, I've emailed them and asked for the hyperlink to be updated.

NP - just don't forget to add me as the referrer  (they updated the link already)