Switching from Plusnet to John Lewis using BT Home Hub

[#1]

@Prologica 

Fair enough. However I'm guessing that you missed the trick of looking up the cheapest competitors deal for a 12 month contract then ringing the customer options team and haggling. It is unlikely to have saved you the cashback and gift card but should have eliminated the extra rental cost.

Are you sure that you will be getting both a gift card and cashback for a 12  month ADSL service? That's impressive!

However the wireless performance of a 2704N is dire. This review from 2015 (yes 2015, we're nearly in to 2022), says it all. Especially this bit:

The router's 2.4GHz performance was lacklustre at best. With our test laptop’s built-in 802.11n wireless adaptor we saw speeds of just 3.9Mbit/s at 10m, dropping to a positively crawling 2Mbit/s at 25m. These are some of the worst speeds we’ve seen from any router.

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/plusnet/1403635/plusnet-hub-zero-2704n-review

[#2]

@Baldrick1 

yes I should get both but as we all know the cashbacks not guaranteed till you get it. 
re performance, I’m currently getting 18mbps to the HH6 router and 14 wirelessly from the 2704n WAP so unless the JL 2704N router really knocks that back, I should still get similar speed at the WAP I assume. The issue will be if the WAP signal carries far enough into other areas of the ground floor and if the router (upstairs) penetrates to all the bedrooms. I could I guess swap out the router, add another WAP or bring my range extender back into use, experimenting with what works best. Not forgetting retrying the HH6 as WAP if that now works. I’m not due to be switched till the 18th so will check this all then. 

[#3]

@Baldrick1 
wow! That’s encouraging!… I just switched off wireless on the HH6 through the admin panel, then did speedtests in every room and consistently saw 14 mbps! Unless I’m missing something that means my 2704n WAP is reaching all parts of the house even without the wireless signal from the router! It is positioned pretty centrally on the ground floor though it does have some substantial chimney breasts to get through.

[#4]

@Prologica 

If it works for you then that's great. It should be no different with the JL hub. For many of us 14Mbps would be totally unacceptable.

[#5]

I guess I haven’t yet been spoiled by high fibre speeds! My wife and I can both surf the web and stream catch up TV at the same time wot buffering, internet radio too. The only frustration I’ve ever had is on the odd occasion I’ve had to upload a large video file but part of that problem was browser related.

[#6]

@Prologica 

Be aware that the 2704n suffers badly from buffer bloat. If you are doing a big video upload you are likely to see any downloads at the same time suffering badly.

[#7]

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@Prologica wrote:

 As it’s a Plusnet service I figured no change in performance, £14 a month cheaper, £40 gift card and £42 Cashback making it only around £13 a month with just a 12 month contract.

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 With John Lewis you also get an Evening & Weekend Call Plan for free and a £40 John Lewis Gift Card to be used at only John Lewis I think

How are you getting the £42 cashback  though a cashback site I would double check that JL allow that .

I am interested why you think your outside of your house will be disturbed to have for the normal fibre 36Mb not the fibre extra 66Mb

[#8]

I definately see that, even on the HH6 too on my ADSL. Fortunately it’s a rare activity or me. I have also quite happily co-hosted zoom meetings, sharing 720 video in stereo sound during these perfectly successfully.

thanks for your great help as always Baldrick!

[#9]

@Smith7 Hi, when I enquired I was told it needs a grey connection box on the outside wall, plus as my master socket is on the first floor, black cable from the box up the side of the house (they told me if can’t be any other colour). Our fibre in our rural location is via telegraph poles, not underground. I popped over to see a neighbours installation. I didn’t want to get the painter back to paint the new cable and there’s no other suitable entry point for the master socket, so as I’ll be moving soonish (famous last words!) I thought I’d stick with adequate ADSL for our needs. I’ll definitely opt for fibre when I move which is why I went for a shorter contract.

[#10]

….and re the cashback there’s nothing in the T&Cs to say you can’t get both. I got both from BT previously. I’ve even had both from merchants who actually say you can’t get both but their system doesn’t follow through and block it.

[#11]

By the way @Baldrick1 we dogsat at my sons house last weekend. He has super fast Virgin broadband. It was very impressive seeing 100mbps + when I did a speedtest but I didn’t notice any great difference when surfing. And when we tried to watch catch up TV it was dropping the connection and buffering constantly! I had to bounce the router several times. He says this happens quite often. I think his problem may be that he’s not using a wired connection to the TV. My wife was finally convinced that our ADSL performance is not that bad after all!

[#12]

@Prologica 

Just to confirm about Fibre.

Are you talking about FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) or FTTP (Fibre to the Premise)?

If you get ADSL then you should get FTTC without any extra install required.

Brian

[#13]

@bmc Hi, our local fibre is FTTP carried via telegraph poles.

[#14]

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@Prologica wrote:

 And when we tried to watch catch up TV it was dropping the connection and buffering constantly!  He says this happens quite often. I think his problem may be that he’s not using a wired connection to the TV.

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It matters not a jot how fast the connection to the property is if you have a poor wireless link. It's like having a substantial chain with one weak link.

With ADSL you only have a 1mbps ish max upload speed so that will always give you trouble, it's just that some routers are better at handling the upstream data interlaced with the necessary upstream handshakes needed if you're downloading at the same time that causes additional issues.

[#15]

@Prologica 

FTTP availability will help when it comes to selling the house!

For FTTP the location of the Master Socket is largely irrelevant - it's not used. An Optical Network Terminator (ONT) is fitted to the wall inside so you have a bit of leeway as to where it goes. The existing phone entry point can be used (to save drilling a new hole) where the fibre is brought in and dropped below the Master Socket to reach the ONT.

Brian