Accolade

[#1]

I've recently had a problem connecting my Macbook Air to our Plusnet Hub WiFi, having only joined Plusnet recently.

After numerous telephone calls between Plusnet and Apple I got to speak to [CSA Removed] of Team 9 on your technical assistance teams. He was absolutely BRILLIANT !!!

Having got a Mac himself, he was able to lead us through various settings and got us back and running within 5 minutes.

If I could make a suggestion...set up a team that deals solely with Apple products as the 4 team members I spoke with prior to [CSA Removed] were unable to assist with anything other than the generic.In fact the member prior to [CSA Removed], [CSA Removed] was downright rude insisting that nobody at Plusnet was able to assist as it was nothing to do with the router and I should stop taking him round in circles !

Thank you [CSA Removed], a huge asset to Plusnet, give that man a bonus

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): CSA names removed as per Forum rules.

[#2]

Why do you think owners of fruity products should receive special treatment?

Hopefully your suggestion is not followed through. We should all receive the same level of support whatever products we have.

[#3]

I think this requires a bit more thought before dismissing the idea of specialist Apple advisors.

What's wrong in having specialist advisers who can advise on what are perceived as non standard broadband set ups, whether or not the equipment is "fruity" or not?

Many , if not the majority, of Internet connected devices are connected via wifi   these days. 

What about this: Perhaps ISP's would be best supplying a simple modem router with no wifi capbailty at all, but able to give a rock solid connection to their network and also display some indication of the line conditions  without having to delve into router configurations etc. It would then be up the customer to purchase and supply their own wifi access point and so remove responsbilty for this nightmare from ISP's.

[#4]

Fruity hardware is best used with a fruity WiFi airport doda , they not ideal with the PN pinkfooted doda .

But honestly there is not a lot of difference in performance between a Apple and  MS , the main difference is you pay more for a Apple Logo

[#5]

The pink-footed things will never reside here. If both my 582n routers fail, I'll be buying my own.

Strangely enough, my iPad works better than laptop, and they're both the same distance from the router.

[#6]

I suggest that the bottom line here is that guidance on connecting a.n.other device to the network termination device is not the ISP's responsibility.  Where would you draw the line?  What devices?  Would you want to include TVs, fridges or even (as I just bought for my daughter this Christmas) dehumidifiers?

No the list is endless - internal network connectivity be it wifi or Ethernet has to be the responsibility of the user or device provider, not the ISP.  On the Apple front they are notorious for messing up wifi connectivity.  All too often I find that with perfectly correct connection information, I need to tell my iDevices to forget the network and set all of the details up afresh to get it to work.  This has nothing to do with the ISP's termination equipment.

As for supplying non-wifi routers, I would go one step further and suggest no router be provided at all.  Let users obtain the router they chose at a price they want to pay, much in the same way as people buy their own telephone handsets having varying levels of functionality, rather than getting them from the GPO or later from British Telecom.  Much like those names, I think the practice of obtaining broadband termination equipment from the ISP, is somewhat archaic.

[#7]

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@Townman wrote: 

As for supplying non-wifi routers, I would go one step further and suggest no router be provided at all. 

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I do agree in part, but  the PN community  forums would be very quiet if that were the case!

I think ISP's would need to provide some kind of network termination device, perhaps with just a red / green LED for network connectivity status and an ethernet port. That's all 

[#8]

@Townman I agree with all you have said above, and in fact always have used my own router until it got temperamental just before I was due to renegotiate with PN about three years ago - re-contracted, got a 582n for the P+P, and had no router related problem since. Having said that, I wouldn't have the current router, merely because it is too locked down and I prefer to set things the way I want them, not how some faceless company decides they should be set.

[#9]

Hi John,

As it so happens, I am in pretty much the same situation.  I had a number of routers which (after a lot of trials and tribulations) were thought to be struggling with a problematic line ... and I managed to obtain a 582n.  It is darned good with long ADSL lines and is arguably one of the best PN supplied routers.  Setting aside VDSL, I suggest it is far better than any of the slugged / locked-down re-branded BT hubs PN are being forced to use.

[#10]

I’m not saying Mac users should receive special treatment but their operating systems are different to every other brand out there. As my post said, I had made numerous telephone calls resulting in the problem persisting. Only by virtue of the fact that I got through to someone that owned a Mac himself and had encountered a similar problem were we able to sort it.

At this point in time, it would seem that Mac users are NOT getting the level of support that you are.

[#11]

A different way of looking at things is why are Macs so darned difficult to configure?  Why are there so many issues with them?  Surely such issues are something to be directed towards Apple, not the ISP supplying a generic WiFi router?

Its a kin to not knowing how to work your telly and calling up your electricity supplier to get help.

[#12]

You all appear to be missing the point here.

The only reason I posted in the first place was to acknowledge someone that resolved a very irritating problem. I know that in a lot of work places, my own included, that whilst customers/clients are quick enough to complain, not many will acknowledge in a positive way. If such acknowledgments count towards any bonus scheme then that was what I hoped for.

Maybe in future I will not bother !!

As a matter of interest, a manager of the Apple IT team telephoned the Plusnet helpline and it was acknowledged that the fault lay with the router and not the product.

[#13]

Hi Diane,

Comments were directed more towards seeking specialised device support from ISPs.

The fact that your issue got resolved is wonderful - your follow-up comment though suggests that the agent changed router settings rather than helped you configure your MAC.  Details would be informative to others.

[#14]

The agent changed settings on the admin page. Both the agent and the Apple technician both established that the problem was with the router. 

The agent was writing a full report which could be accessed and referred to by other agents for similar problems.

[#15]

Hi there @DianeF

I agree it's great you finally found someone who fully understood and appreciated the problem you'd been having. 

However, do you know which settings in the router admin the agent altered? 

Were they wifi settings?

A change of channel perhaps? 

It could be useful to other Mac OS users to understand exactly what needed to be changed.  

Thanks