New Plusnet customer

[#1]

Having trawled a number of ISP forums most of them seemed to be full of people venting spleens etc at the service they have been provided with and quite a few appear to be new customers trying to get their service up and running as it ought.  Anyway, I've taken the plunge and signed up with Plusnet.  I was with Talk Talk and, to be fair to them, I have never had a problem with the service they provided. However, I left because they quoted me a stupid price for fibre and being a Yorkshireman I thought I ought to be paying something back to God's country anyway.
So, having read the forum I'm expecting:

• delays for the installation because OR are not 'up to speed/scratch'
  


• a crappy modem/router that won't reach the parts other modem/routers will


• a speed less than spectacular that will need tweaking

At least my eyes are open!!!
As an aside, do most people use the provided router or have you been and bought something better?  If so, any suggestions gratefully received.
Regards,
Robbo

[#2]

Hi Robbo
Welcome to Pluset and the real world, i see you are up to speed with things that are happening around here, from what i can gather there are the problems you mention and just waiting for my upgrade to go through.
I will probably be looking at a different router as i need a good wireless signal amongst other things and still debating wether to go the whole way and have a modem router in one or settle for using 2 boxes and just getting a different router but think i will at least try the supplied router first but don't that will be the end of it though.
You never know it may well go ok and won't have any problems which does happen.

[#3]

hiya    I left  Bt  for  Pn..  a  few  months  back and  100%  the  best thing  i ever  did ,,
Yes    i  use  there      own  router..  its  terrific  .. and  in my  opinion  ,,  wouldnt use  anything  else..
  the  WI-FI  signal is  truly  amazing....  and  goes  everyware  in the  house..
  yes im  thrilled....

[#4]

Hi Robbo1876,
Welcome to the forums.
Yep, be prepared for the delays, but they may not happen (but judging by the weather forecast mid-week on, I can't see the MBORC going away soon)!
As mushy has implied it's a separate Modem (supplied by OpenRetch) and a Router supplied by Plusnet.
Technically you are not supposed to remove the Modem as that is the demarcation point for Fibre at this time.
It''s mainly the wireless performance of the Router some are grumbling about. I like the way you posted  that comment    It's a 582n that's been flashed with different firmware so you end up with 3 Ethernet ports as one is used as a WAN port. Some people are using their own router.
It depends on how far away from your cab you are as to what sort of speed you'll get, but generally most are getting the speed anticipated. OK, you are bound to hear about those that get a problem on a forum, but Plusnet are normally pretty good at trying to get problems resolved.
I hope you installation goes smoothly when you are given a date (soon I  hope).

[#5]

Hi Robbo,
Welcome aboard! 
Just to comment and hopefully reassure you a bit re your order we should be updating ticket 61562145 as soon as possible with regards to an appointment, if you have any concerns about the appointment being fulfilled beyond that I'd advise giving me a nudge (preferably via PM) to ask me to check the order progress for you a few days before it's due. I don't expect there to be any issues but at least if there is that would give me a few days to deal with it for you.
Re the routers we supply IMHO it would never be possible for us to supply a router that would cater for everyone's needs, however the TG582n does suit a lot of peoples needs, in fact I've used one for well over a year now and it does everything I need it to which includes gaming via Xbox 360 and PC and connecting and sharing files across a number of other devices too.
Re your speeds if there were to be any issues again just feel free to give myself or one of my colleagues on here a shout and we'll be more than happy to help you investigate any problems.
Adam

[#6]

Thanks for the welcome, gents,
Adam, thanks also for the heads up about the appointment etc. although I'm not sure where to find the 'ticket' you're referring to.  I'm pleased to see that there are some satisfied customers    and I'm quite happy to wait and see what transpires regarding the connection/equipment etc.  We only live in a modest abode so I'm not expecting the signal to be disappearing as I wander though the estate!
Cheers

[#7]

Tickets are found here https://www.plus.net/wizard/?p=search - login needed

[#8]

Welcome Robb ive only been with plusnet 4 months and im happy here, you have seen some negative feedback but did you read all the good feedback too
I suppose we all have our little moans and rants but really PN are a nice company to get services from and the community here is fab everyones nice and helpful!
I also hope everything goes well for you

[#9]

I've just had a quick look and can see that an appointment has been booked and the ticket updated, I failed to mention yesterday that you should also have an SMS to confirm the time and date.

[#10]

Thanks Jim for the link.
Thanks Ste for the welcome; this does seem to be a welcoming place!
Adam, thanks for the update.  I did get a SMS and a call to say that the appointment was about to be made.  Judging by the date of the appointment there must be quite a demand for the service.
Regards,
Robbo

[#11]

Congratulations on a wise choice.  I've been with plus.net since the very moment our village got copper capable of carrying broadband back in early 2007 and think it is the bees knees.  At that time plus.net was the only provider even willing to attempt to provide on my 12.6k long line and have gone on to be exceptionally supportive in the longer-term - though let me qualify that with a warning that not all staff evidence the same level of proficiency or understanding and it may take more than one call to get the best answer.
As far as the router supplied goes I can assure you that, basic as it may be, the technicolor TG582n does do the job.  My abode is 3 stories high and even with the router tucked under the stairs on the ground floor I can still retain a connection way up in the gods at the top!  There is a saying that goes 'what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander' but, as far as routers go, a far more appropriate one might be 'different strokes for different folks'.  On my long line the technicolor currently supplied by plus.net attains similar speeds to that of my netgear DG834v3 which in turn was 100% faster than my old bt one and is about 30% slower than my bipac billion 5200gr.  However on my friend's much shorter line the netgear is slightly slower but more stable than his USRobotics but maybe 5-10% faster than the bipac, though he could watch streamed HD from BBC iplayer on both, so the technicolor (which I can't try there because the firmware is locked into plus.net) might prove to have the same advantage.  On the plus side the technicolor, like the netgear, is far more stable than the bipac and far less susceptible to dropping connection in response to line/exchange faults.  I suppose what I am saying here is that only trial and experiment (plus investment) will answer the question of how good the technicolor will prove for you.
As far as the overall line speed attainable at your address goes, check out the links at SamKnows or do a search for bt's dslchecker.  Whilst plus.net has a reputation for slow speeds on copper that I would ultimately have to go along with, my neighbour on bt with a homehub crawls in comparison whilst another with talktalk fairs no better than I.  My mother, with plus.net's thompson 585 and a much shorter line than mine, fairs little worse than my friend with talktalk, my netgear and a shade longer line than hers.  The only bone of contention I would voice is both talktalk customers mentioned herein have unrestricted usage 24/7 whilst my plus.net account only allows this after midnight.  On the obverse the plus of plus.net's local and extremely willing support department in my opinion far outweighs the advantages of many others including those providing greater speeds, often at a higher cost.
As far as fibre goes the only comment I can make about that comes recently from an openreach engineer who commented that with the new fibre deal from bt his line is now that fast that his computer cannot cope and he is getting slower speeds than he had before!!
One warning I would give, hopefully not applicable but relevant none the less.  Some time ago I persuaded a friend of mine to convert to plus.net.  2 months later I found out she was still without service and got involved in trying to sort out the problem (this is where persistence, getting through to the right person/department, not being fobbed off and knowing what you are talking about comes in handy).  Because she hardly knew the difference between broadband and elastic band, and plus.net had just taken on a new batch of staff, first line support kept assuring her that the problem was with her equipment - she was getting more and more frustrated but no further forward.  In the event it turned out that when openreach/bt wholesale, whichever, activated her plus.net service they failed to remove her from the LLU cabinet of her previous provider.  Hence she was trying to connect to plus.net through her old service provider and getting 'take a hike' in response.

[#12]

Hi Folks!
Actually Iv come in sticking up for Plusnet!
I moved North from South Coast at the end of last year (that WAS a mistake, but thats another issue!)
Previously having been a TalkTalk customer, I didnt move to get away from them, but I couldnt wait to get to be able to leave them. Id applied for my MAC code and they are quite reluctant to let you have it.. thats if you can get thru to them in the first place. They made it difficult. Their service was intermittant and their CS was absolute rubbish. It took three qtrs of an hour (if you were lucky) to get thru to their fault line (and it was needed many times) Refunds for bad service (offline n dead phone on more than a dozen occasions [per year]) and their inability to keep taking it back once it had been given.... Enough is enough. SO I moved and got straight on to Plusnet.. Im absolutely delighted. And as another poster said (prior to me coming in here and jumping up'n'down on my soap box) its the best thing they ever did. I agree with them.
You wont be disappointed .. Admittedly I had a bit of a misunderstanding with them (PN) a couple of weeks ago over advance line rental, but have to say I now know what they are like in the event of a little bit of a dispute happening. They have been attentive in their dealings with me and once Chris P got on my case, everything worked out just fine.
Initially I was told that Plusnet just covered the North (because I had tried to get with them before leaving the South coast) and was chuffed to bits to get my 'up north postcode' haha! I ordered the phone and internet to be put into my new property on December 1st. The broadband, although it was meant to start a few days/hours AFTER that, it was in the same day. I realise there are others in here who have had problems; but as with everything "you only hear about the bad things that happen in many parts of general life, people rarely come out of their shell and voice a positive opinion about things. So Iv come in to do just that!"  Iv had a great service all along the way with Plusnet and have just booked my next 12months with them. I have recommended people to them as well, not because there may have been any 'reward from plusnet' to me for doing so, but because I was picking up my own reward..the fact that I was able to help a fellow human or two, get the BEST provider, just like I have. 
Buggar! I just hurt my ankle jumping off my soapbox!!