This review has been written so it may help others determine what type of broadband service Plusnet delivers. It may also help users with installing their McAfee security software.
Plusnet customer service.
Excellent! When I signed up with Plusnet any queries I had were dealt with promptly. Email transcripts to their CHAT service were also promptly delivered to my email account. Admittedly accessing the correct CHAT topic did not always connect me but I was quickly redirected to the correct department by the adviser from another department like sales.
Broadband Speed
Plusnet recently emailed me to say what line speed the superfast broadband they provide me with can achieve. Plusnet quoted between 47Mbps and 67Mbps. So I have tested it using four different sources. The results of these tests are as follows:
broadbandtest.which.co.uk/ Download Speed: 63.5 Mbps Upload Speed: 17.7 Mbps
uswitch.com/broadband/speedtest/ Download Speed: 62.65 Mbps Upload Speed: 18.8 Mbps Distance from exchange: 1.1 miles
speedtest.net/ Download Speed: 59.62 Mbps Upload Speed: 18.3 Mbps
broadband.co.uk/broadband-speed-test/ Download Speed: 63.95 Mbps Upload Speed: 18.35 Mbps
I would like to say that I am very satisfied with this.
Router Signal
The Plusnet Hub 1 router gives me a very strong signal within the 1932 built house I live in. You can imagine that it has good solid brick walls. The WiFi icon is fully lit, no bars missing. To test its performance I have walked to the bottom of my back garden and logged on to my laptop which connected effortlessly and checked my email. At this distance from the Plusnet router, about 105 feet (Including 25 feet of house), the WiFi icon was down to the last blip. Now that's good!
Overall I am very happy with the Plusnet super-fast broadband service. Image intensive Web pages such as Youtube load swiftly.
The Hub 1 has a USB port which shows up on the Plusnet Hub One management page accessed by entering into the URL bar of any browser connected to the hub the values 192.168.1.254
From here you can map a data storage device to your computer which should then be able to be a shared area for anyone on the home network. Although I have connected my WD 500GB passport to my Plusnet Hub One USB port and seen it available I have not mapped it to my computer and cannot say I fully understand how to. But it could be a handy feature to some users if they can understand it.
McAfee Anti-Virus
My Plusnet broadband package allows me to download a FREE install of McAfee Anti-Virus software on up to seven devices. My previous broadband provider was Sky and I had to remove their McAfee software before installing Plusnet McAfee package. I used the Windows removal tool to do this. When I installed the Plusnet version the McAfee Security Centre would just flash open and vanish when I opened it.
I suspected I had not done a clean uninstall on my previous McAfee anti-virus software so here is my advice to remove a version properly:
Uninstall McAfee using the Windows removal tool. Ensure you also remove McAfee Siteadviser (An old outdated FREE tool) and/or McAfee Webadviser (Siteadvisers replacement software). If you do not remove the Siteadviser yourself it will remain on your system and it will not be updated to Webadviser. On reinstalling McAfee Anti-Virus software McAfee Webadviser will be automatically installed for FREE.
Reboot your computer.
Go to McAfee and download the McAfee removal tool. Run it.
Wait until it has completed a complete scan of your system and removed all remnants of any McAfee software it finds.
Reboot your computer.
Go to Plusnet and under Add-ons download McAfee Anti-Virus software.
Reboot your computer.
You should now be ready to surf the WWW more securely.
P.S. Rebooting your computer when you make changes ensures any updates are complete.
