2 months still no service

[#1]

I  agree HP.  I think clearing up the mystery surrounding the engaged tone instead of the dialling tone (phone works completely normally by the way.. just the wrong tone coming down the line.. in case its related to the speed issue) and then addressing the stated line speed.. and SN..
The things Adam was dealing with are not related to anything tech or actual service of phone/BB just tickets held open atm.
If I can get close to 1.7 upwards I will be happy. I knew what to expect when I moved here (I left behind a steady 24Mbps.. less than a hundred yards from the main exchange in a town..), at least what I SHOULD expect here as I asked quite clearly first from all the providers available to me! One of the main reasons I chose Plusnet was the unlimited service they offered me at around 1.9, a good price and promises of.. well you have seen the adverts right.. If there is no realistic chance of getting that combination of price, speed and everything else I probably would not have selected plusnet as my first choice at that time. Sorry PN, but its true, you won me over with promises.. and we all know that story.
I have every faith PN will do what they can. Don't get me wrong. Lately PN have gone to great lengths to make me a happy camper and I can live with a few tech issues / teething problems at this stage.
I know full well that most of this is not Plusnet's fault.  *'angrily shakes fist at BTOR'* *******'s
I will just wait and see what happens with the whole fault reporting bit this week.

[#2]

At a guess you have been put on a fixed speed 512kbps service hence the high noise margins - this needs a member of staff to fix

[#3]

If there is a voice line fault (engaged tone) then until that is sorted, there is no hope of fixing the BB speed issue.  Note that BTOR do not permit two concurrent fault reports on the same line.
You've had a really bad journey at the hands of BTOR - I hope that they soon get it fixed.  It sadly can take time, but usually PN get them to the right place eventually.  It took PN 6 months hammering on BTOR's door and 18 engineer visits to get my business bb service to reform to expectations... After which it was all very sweet!

[#4]

Thanks Townman, I know PN will keep at it. They are probably sick to death of my whining at this point
"At a guess you have been put on a fixed speed 512kbps service hence the high noise margins - this needs a member of staff to fix" << If this is the case can someone check please?
And yeah.. I hope BTOR never take over train services.. that would be a dodgy journey and a half! 
My neighbour reported when their line first went live they also had an engaged tone down their line for approx the first week, then it just vanished. They don't know if there was any intervention from BT but they had told them about it.

[#5]

BT engineers, 2 of. Arrived 5 to 8 this morning.
No fault on my line. The engaged tone is in fact an intermittent tone caused by a stuck message. The reason it has been there since they connected the line is because it was the engineer who installed the line that left the message on the line. (Should I have a message system on the line? wasn't aware of it until now.. and if so how do I turn it off! I have an answer phone of my own).
Other than that.. for a change they were very quick and efficient. They basically said considering my phone line is 660 ft of overhead cable across our farm followed by 3 miles of line to the exchange we have a remarkably good quality line! No reason why (based on neighbouring properties) we should not have in the region of 2Mbps broadband. Our noise test was perfect.
They were quite clear that the issue with our speed - because it has never changed or dropped which might indicate a fault - is unlikely a line issue and most likely our provider. Reading previous comments about it looks like my broadband is on a fixed 288/576 this is PN's problem not BTOR.
So could someone please look into this! (I am copying this info into my ticket!)
EDIT: As stated before, repeatedly. I never cared about the intermittent tone on the line. I purely care about the broadband speed and it looks like you could have checked this fixed speed issue without sending an engineer out! So don't expect me to foot the bill for it.

[#6]

Quote from: abstruse21

No reason why (based on neighbouring properties) we should not have in the region of 2Mbps broadband. Our noise test was perfect. They were quite clear that the issue with our speed - because it has never changed or dropped which might indicate a fault - is unlikely a line issue and most likely our provider. Reading previous comments about it looks like my broadband is on a fixed 288/576 this is PN's problem not BTOR.

Clearly you will need PN to confirm, but sorry, I believe this to be completely wrong!  Raw line synch speed bewteen your home and the exchange is completely in the hands of BTOR and their ADSL infrastructure.
Your SNRM is quite high which will detract from the best synch speed - this being the case, if these were ADSL engineers (rather than just POTS engineers) the could (should?) have arranged a SNRM reset, which would allow BTOR equipment to work out just how fast your line will work with a tolerable level of errors.  Anyone who tells you the synch speed is controlled by the ISP is simply not telling the truth.
This should not be confused with the data transfer speed (profile) which can be impacted by the ISP if the ISP does not process or does not receive updated speed data from BTOR consequential to a change in raw synch speed.
Sadly some BTOR engineers will tell you nearly anything to duck an issue.
Sorry I know this does not help fix the issue - sometimes matters are made more difficult due to the end to end service being delivered by different organisations.  The end user ends up being the 'integrator', therefore some knowledge of how things work can be helpful.  Why are PN not managing things I hear you ask, well if my experience is typical, PN put very clear instructions onto BTOR jobs - in my experience of 18 engineer visits, many of them did not know why they were here; those that did said their instructions were quite different to what PN told me they had requested.  Others confessed to not having looked at the full job details.  Some dd not even have the skill set required for the PN requested task.  From what I have read elsewhere some BTOR contractors do not even have the right equipment, let alone a laptop on which to look up the job.
User be ware, gather enough knowledge to ask hard questions of a BTOR engineer who says its not their problem - many know less than they should.  One even tried to tell me that running RouterStats would drag down my synch speed and line stability!

By the way BTOR have always said that what your neighbour gets is no assurance as to what your line can achieve.  Individual lines are differently routed and have different characteristics.  I agree with the logic that they should be the same, but individual circuits can be different.
Interrupted dial tone (what you described as an engaged tone) is part of the free 1571 answering service, which if you have an answer phone would only 'kick in' whilst you were on the phone.  Instead of a caller getting an engaged signal, they'd get the BT provided 1571 message service and be charged for the privilege.  You can ask for this to be turned off.
Edit: sorry for all the typos!

[#7]

Hear what you are saying Townman and understand your reasoning. I know PN have been pushing info at BTOR.
The engineers didn't duck anything I believe. They were quite open about it was a suggestion of what I could expect and based purely on what they are aware neighbouring properties are getting not definitive information.
And I am fully aware as these are engineers 10 & 11 to my property over the last 2 and a half months that they often have no real information about why they have been sent most of the time!
My concern is the line tests were all fine. The noise/silence test I have carried out myself several times prior to the engineers testing it and I couldn't hope for better. The fact that the speed is and has always been stable with no dropouts suggests no intermittent fault and no variation due to noise or interference from other devices kicking in or turning on/off.
With the info I posted from the router many people have suggested that this is a fixed speed product and that this IS an issue PN could have & SHOULD have looked at (no engineer required).
To date I have had no response from PN regarding this. Until I get confirmation from them that this is or is not the problem I cannot make a full judgement. My neighbours are on the same farmland as me. same poles, same hole in the ground, same exchange. My line tests came back as better than expected. I cannot see why I should expect only 25% or less of the speed that they get.
As incompetent as BTOR have been over the last two months, in this instance everything currently points to the info my router provided being the cause of my low speed. A fixed speed product capping my download. All I want is confirmation if this is the case. If so, please fix. If not, then we can get back to ******* about BTOR. 

[#8]

Just my 10 cents worth, but I also think the engineers were probably correct.
The fixed-rate profile (if that's what it is) will be controllable by PN so that's who you need to ask to investigate.
Why it's there is another issue, it could be an error or a "legacy" (from another life   ) but PN should be able to determine what it is and get it changed, unless there's a very good specific (usually technical) reason for it. It may not be obvious to see on their systems if it's been applied in error, so get the cattle prod out!
Good luck, sounds like you're getting there, albeit slowly.  
And a little bonus point, if your line is across empty farmland there should be less "stuff" to cause interference. Except maybe the odd rogue electric fence or automatic pump.  
PS Don't forget to add your router stats to any ticket at PN, they tell a lot!

[#9]

Thanks HP.
No Electric fences.. not a cattle farm No pumps on route.. All trees cut back (at great expense) from any poles and cables. The farmer said this was an issue a few years back when the line was replaced so have kept on top of that annually.
Like I said, it is literally a waiting for PN to confirm the fixed-rate profile issue Yes/no/why etc before anything further can be done.
PS. anyone know how to turn off the voicemail function thing on my line? called 1571 all i get is an option to change the greeting. Didn't even know you got 1571 with PN? or why its default is on.

[#10]

https://portal.plus.net/plustalk/index.php?page=wlr_remove_call_features should do it

[#11]

Thanks OldJim
When I looked at my account it listed all the things I could add.. never saw that voicemail was included already until i followed that remove services link!
Very helpful! Maybe I could have tried harder 

[#12]

Be kind to yourself - there's a lot to find around here... But it does need to be looked for and read.
PN provide more on line account control than I've seen anywhere else.

[#13]

Townman. I know.
And I have said it before, the forum staff here are excellent, and efficient. No complaints in that respect and Linn K knows how much I think of the forum staff here.. eh Linn 
The fixed-rate profile issue has been raised on here for a few days and has been noted on the ticket so I expect someone will get on it.
I only meant that it is really the only thing that I need answering at this stage though I am curious as to why it wasn't looked at when the engineers visit was raised for today by PN. PN were aware of it before booking that in so could possibly have checked that prior to or at the same time perhaps?? (That is an assumption of course).

[#14]

Quote from: abstruse21

I am curious as to why it wasn't looked at when the engineers visit was raised for today by PN.

Following the "one thing at a time" logic I'd guess.
These profiles can, I think, be applied automatically on really bad lines so getting the line checked first would be logical. 

[#15]

@HP & @Townman
I do recall actually Linn saying something to me about "lets just check the line to make sure that is fine before doing anything else!" and me agreeing with her 
Logical steps are the best route afterall. (I genuinely don't know how much effort is required to check my profile anyway?) EDIT: let alone investigate the reasons behind it.. which could take a lot longer than just confirming it is / is not the case.