Re-contracting after FTTP trial has gone wrong and I’ve no usable internet!

[#1]

Openreach came yesterday (28 June 2023) and replaced my existing ONT (a Huawei EchoLife HG8240 and battery backup unit) with a Nokia-ONT, model G-010G-Q). They also replaced my Plusnet Hub One with a Plusnet Hub Two router.

The router shows a blue light to indicate it’s connected successfully. In addition, when you login to the router’s Admin page, this too shows it is successfully connected.

Whilst the Openreach engineer was still here, I mentioned I couldn’t access websites or perform a speed test. He said it might take 15 minutes or so for the router to perform updates etc but would be fine after this.

I had a bad feeling about this but took him at his word. Unfortunately, I was correct as my internet is still mostly unusable.

When I can perform a speed test, it shows I’m getting 37Mbps down (I’ve subscribed to 145Mbps down and 30Mbps up). This, however, isn’t the biggest problem. The main issue is that my upload speed varies between 0.00Mbps and 0.1Mbps. This effectively makes the internet unusable as most HTTP requests are failing.

I called support and they said they could detect a line fault outside of my house, and this would be the likely reason. However, I’m concerned this might be a red herring, as I’ve been on the FTTP trial since early 2018 and never had a single issue in over 5 years. It therefore seems more than coincidence that on the day I switch to an “official” product, an external line fault materialises.

I therefore fear that support may be barking up the wrong tree, as switching from FTTP trial to an “official” product seems to have confused the process/people! For example, they didn’t think we were a Plusnet customer at all, then they didn’t think we had FTTP, then we ordered the new router and nothing was delivered… we had to call and then something was done manually to bypass the system etc…

I’m not sure if the system is still confused, as our “live” date was 28 June 2023, but on logging into https://www.plus.net/member-centre/home, it still shows: -

An error has occurred

You can't change your products for the moment, you already have a product change in progress.

I’m glad this forum is still here after all these years, and I’m really hoping somebody can help – as I think the standard support route might be unable to resolve.

Thanks in advance.

[#2]

They also replaced my Plusnet Hub One with a Plusnet Hub Two router.

@Wheeldo was the Hub 2 supplied by Plusnet ?

Login to the Admin page and check the username showing there. If it shows setup@plusdsl.net then disconnect, change it to your correct username and password and try reconnecting.

[#3]

Thanks for the suggestions MisterW.

I've already done that. It did say setup@plusdsl.net to begin with, but this is not set correctly for my account.

[#4]

Sorry, missed your first question: yes, the Hub 2 router was supplied by Plusnet.

[#5]

Hi @Wheeldo 

I'm just taking a look for you to see what I can do to help and will post back shortly.

[#6]

@Wheeldo Looks like things have gone badly wrong, you're probably right that phone support will be unable to help you, they don't know about the FTTP trial so probably think you are still on FTTC. Maybe that's why the think there's a line fault, I would take that with a pinch of salt.☹️

You really need one of the more experienced forum staff to help you here.

Just a question, do you know why Openreach had to replace the ONT when you could have been connected with the existing one? Plusnet seem to have problems with FTTP orders when there is an existing ONT and sometimes order a new installation. Combined with the fact you already had FTTP on the trial appears to have messed things up.

Edit     I see you have had a reply from the wizard, he is definitely the one who can help.😀

[#7]

I don't know why Openreach replaced the ONT.

Perhaps the Openreach appointment might have been scheduled due to the system not realising we already had FTTP (I'm guessing).

Not entirely sure... but I do think the detected line fault is potentially a red herring.

[#8]

@Wheeldo 

Becuase of the "bodges" used to set people up on the FTTP Trial the PN system thinks you have a FTTC product. This can cause confusion if you need to phone support. To all intents and pruposes they know nothing about the Trial.

Usually the transfer from the FTTP Trial itself goes seamlessly but to get upgraded speeds a member of staff needs to submit a manual transfer order - the PN systems can't do do.

When I and two neighbours moved recently I made sure a member of staff was aware of the order (as it happens it was the wizard) and the necessary changes were put in place on a timely basis.

Brian

[#9]

Hi @Wheeldo 

I've placed a modify order to upgrade your service to the Full Fibre 145 package, which should go through tomorrow. I'm also seeing if the installation order we'd placed can be cancelled as it's not really needed.

I suspect there is a fault as tests are showing a potential issue with the ONT. Could you drop me a private message with some dates when you can be available for another engineer visit? The timeslots are 8am to 1pm, or 1pm to 6pm, from tomorrow. Alternatively, we could wait and see if the modify order fixes the issue remotely.

Apologies for the hassle, as it should have been a straight-forward upgrade.

(edit)

Just to provide an update for the Community's benefit. It turns out when the ONT was replaced, the engineer had only updated the records (serial number etc) for the new service, but not the original service.

The new service was provisioned to port 2, but the new ONT only had one port, so the original service running off port 1 still worked, to a degree, until the records were remotely updated by Openreach.