topic Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope in Broadband

No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Alan1001 — Sun, 21 May 2023 22:16:28 GMT

Sorry this is a long post - just skip to the last couple of paragraphs for the abridged version.

It was almost 2 weeks ago that my Plusnet Internet service died and this nightmare began.

First I tried the option of "text 'help' to this number" and waited but nothing happened - this should have been a hint of what was to follow.

The next day I phoned Plusnet Customer Support (the first of many calls - I have lost count of just how many) they ran some checks and concluded it was a line fault. A BT Openreach engineer visited and spent much of the next day at my house and the local Exchange but could not find any evidence of a line fault but as a precaution he did swap most of the routing of my phone line to the Exchange.

Back to Plusnet and a request for the problem to be escalated - but that was against policy - I needed a second visit from an engineer before they could do that. The engineer was booked for Saturday afternoon but didn't show, although he did appear unannounced on Sunday morning and unsurprisingly concluded the line was OK.

Back to Plusnet again - they finally agreed to escalate to their 'cat' team and also to send me a replacement router - I had already tried and failed with two of my own routers - so I wasn't hopeful it would help but was willing to try it.

A cat team member phoned me, ran some more tests and yes, you guessed it, concluded it was a line problem. I could now look forward to a visit from a 'Senior Engineer' and a wireless dongle would be posted to provide alternative Internet access while the 'line' problem was being fixed.

Next day I got a text message (in a format that I couldn't reply to) saying the problem had been fixed. It was evening when I got home from work (I should be working from home but that's hard without Internet connection) I checked and found broadband still dead. I called Plusnet again to find the engineer visit had already been cancelled as the fault had been fixed and it was too late to rearrange. I asked for the problem to escalated to their management - was told they would call back - they didn't. Later I spoke to a more helpful Plusnet Customer Support person who rebooked the engineer appointment.

The 'Senior Engineer' turned out to be the same bloke from BT Openreach who had visited previously. During a phone conversation with him at the Exchange he did notice a crackling line, which he fixed - I suspect this was simply due to something that had been disturbed during previous visits - as this did not fix the broadband issue. And the Plusnet router was no help either.

The wireless dongle had also arrived but wasn't so helpful for use on the 2 desktop computers I use (it could only be plugged in one of them) and although it gave me internet access and I could receive e-mails I could not send e-mails.

Back to Plusnet again for another escalation request and another broken promise - I am still waiting for them to respond.

E-mail is rather important at the moment as I am just about to move house and just prior to the death of my broadband I received an e-mail from my solicitor advising me of a potential mining subsidence issue which I needed to forward to my surveyor. Only now I couldn't. When I finally found a convoluted method for forwarding this e-mail I got an auto-reply saying the surveyor had just left on holiday for 2 weeks.

So the current situation is I have been without Internet access for 12 days. After numerous conversations with representatives of Plusnet and visits from BT Openreach engineers I am no nearer to an understanding of the problem or a satisfactory resolution. There are numerous "fingers in the pie" from BT Openreach (for the line), BT Wholesale (for the exchange equipment) and Plusnet as the Internet ‘Service’ Supplier. The Plusnet customer service people are polite and friendly but out of their depth with complex issues and are unable or unwilling to provide access to anyone else in the organisation. There is no evidence of anyone at Plusnet coordinating the response. Far too much of my time has been wasted trying to get a resolution, my house purchase chain is on hold (and I am hoping it won’t break), my stress levels are through the roof, working from home has varied between difficult and impossible and I still can’t send e-mails.

Why do I write this? I have a forlorn hope that it might somehow reach someone at Plusnet with the skills needed to investigate and resolve what just might be a complex problem.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

willcutforth — Mon, 22 May 2023 08:38:41 GMT

Hey there @Alan1001 that sounds grim! I recently went through a purchase of a house and it is stressful enough without having to add the stress of the broadband going down on top of that!

So the CAT team are the main faults guys who have it at the minute but I will speak with them to get this picked up today for you!

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

banjomir — Mon, 22 May 2023 10:12:48 GMT

What an absolutely dire situation! I am in the same boat with my plusnet boradband being delayed and Plusnet blaming OpenReach. But when these type of situations keep being repeated with people signing up to Plusnet, It makes me wonder who is really at fault...

Whatever the case, it is utterly unacceptable.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Alan1001 — Mon, 22 May 2023 12:47:35 GMT

Well the latest update from Plusnet is they are missing some information from the last visit from the BT Openreach engineer. They tell me the only way they can resolve this is by another visit from BT Openreach. It appears that Plusnet have no ability to communicate directly with BT Openreach. I am at loss to understand what this fourth visit will tell them that they have not learned from the previous three visits. And that visit will be on Friday, so no sign of this problem being resolved anytime soon.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

banjomir — Mon, 22 May 2023 12:50:53 GMT

That is unbelivable. Plusnet absolutely DOES have the ability to communicate with Openreach directly. So either Plusnet is failing to communicate, or Openreach engineers are absolutely incompetent. It is a hopeless situation with everyone relying on Openreach (who are now independant, BTW. No longer part of BT).

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Alan1001 — Fri, 26 May 2023 11:08:31 GMT

Unbelievable!!! I report broadband is not working to Plusnet, they arrange for an Openreach engineer to visit, they find there is no problem with the line. Plusnet still think this is an Openreach problem and schedule another engineer visit. I have now had four visits from Openreach engineers that have all concluded there is no problem with the line. This has been going on for 2½ weeks – is there anyone in Plusnet who can actually talk to Openreach and agree an action plan that will resolve this issue? So far there is no evidence that Plusnet have this capability. I can’t get beyond Customer Support who clearly don’t know how to resolve this issue.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

banjomir — Fri, 26 May 2023 11:20:55 GMT

At this point, you may as well cancel and go with another ISP...plusnet is absolutely hopeless.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Mustrum — Fri, 26 May 2023 11:26:28 GMT

@Alan1001 not sure I understand your position. You say you reported a fault, but not what it is. You say Openreach come out and can't find the fault - do you not show them what the fault symptoms are?

The more information you can provide the more people on here and PN and Openreach can help - but it sounds like you have washed your hands and are sitting back just watching what PN and Openreach are doing!

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Alan1001 — Fri, 26 May 2023 12:14:24 GMT

Hi Mustrum, all help gratefully received. The fault is my broadband died completely 2½ weeks ago. I simply can't connect to anything. Openreach when they visit can see there is no Internet from my router but have checked the line and say it must be a Plusnet fault. Plusnet keep saying it must be a line fault. They can both see that I am getting no Internet.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Mustrum — Fri, 26 May 2023 12:29:23 GMT

@Alan1001 that is very dissapointing.

How are you with logging into the router and posting pages on here? Which router do you have?

How is your phone line - is your number being reported if you dial 17070 and on option 2 is the line quiet?

Do you have another router to try?

Am surprised @willcutforth has not come back with more info/help.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Alan1001 — Fri, 26 May 2023 13:32:10 GMT

I have tried several routers all with no Internet connection. The Plusnet router showed an orange light and a red B, Logging on to this router would sometimes show an IP address but mostly just didn't connect. ASUS router showed DSL connection but no Internet connection. Openreach engineer checked for a quiet line while I was listening.

I really need someone from Plusnet to have a technical discussion with Openreach to agree a strategy to solve this. As the 'service provider' I don't understand why Plusnet cannot do this. I can't get beyond the Plusnet Customer Support.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

MisterW — Fri, 26 May 2023 13:42:48 GMT

The Plusnet router showed an orange light and a red B

If you have a solid Orange , as opposed to flashing, then there's not a line fault, its either a routing or authentication problem.

The Openreach engineer should have been able to establish that and talk to their DCoE ( engineering dept ) to investigate

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Mustrum — Fri, 26 May 2023 13:46:58 GMT

@Alan1001 is this for ADSL or FTTC?

Is the Asus router capable to FTTC?

Have you recently changed your password on the PN member centre?

And for now have you tried a factory reset on the PN router - find the little hole on the back, insert a suitable pin or similar and hold until the lights change. This will reset the username and password on the router, but if you are still on the PN router management system it will change the router to the correct one.

If this does not work I have another way which may get you back online if you are able to try another username.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Alan1001 — Fri, 26 May 2023 14:47:37 GMT

This is ADSL. It was the ASUS router that was working OK until 2½ weeks ago (the Plusnet router is new). No password (or any other) changes. Yes, I have tried numerous resets of both routers. I am open to further ideas.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Mustrum — Fri, 26 May 2023 14:58:30 GMT

Just sent you a PM @Alan1001

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Townman — Fri, 26 May 2023 15:23:29 GMT

@banjomir wrote:

At this point, you may as well cancel and go with another ISP...plusnet is absolutely hopeless.

Different ISP, same BT Openreach and BT Wholesale services, so there is nothing to be gained in following your "advice".

Fact Check - Both BT Openreach and BT Wholesale are owned (are part of) BT PLC.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Townman — Fri, 26 May 2023 15:30:11 GMT

@Alan1001

Have you done the basics in your diagnostic journey? Used a handset to dial 17070 and check that...

There is a dial tone
You are connected to the right number
There is no noise on the line
That you can dial out

There are a whole host of problems which might result in BT Openreach (or their sub-contractors) having cross connected your line. Such could result in Plusnet's remote tests detecting a fault ... which is not found when the engineer tests from the property.

Whatever, before the next engineer leaves, ask them to confirm their no fault diagnosis with an Exchange Head Eclipse automated exit test. I have had multiple engineers (18) attend a fault over many months, all claiming that there was no fault ... in the face of the exchange head test system clearly indicating that there is a fault.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Alan1001 — Fri, 26 May 2023 16:06:13 GMT

Always good to remember the basics. Yes the line is fine - dial tone, correct number, no noise and I can dial out. On the first Openreach visit the engineer confirmed with Plusnet that a reset at the Plusnet end was detected by his tester - confirming that my line had not been crossed with someone else's i.e. both ends were testing the same connection.

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Alan1001 — Fri, 26 May 2023 20:17:55 GMT

Unfortunately things only seem to get worse. The latest Openreach engineer visit was this morning and again concluded there was no line fault. Mid-afternoon I called Plusnet Customer Support in search of an update. They had no knowledge of the results of the Openreach visit but did tell be that a dedicated Plusnet support person has been identified and they would be in touch with me by 18:00, 25^th May – unfortunately that was yesterday – I have still heard nothing.

Plusnet have provided me with an EE wireless dongle which is giving me some internet capability but it is a very unreliable connection (slow with frequent dropouts). Currently I can receive but not send any e-mails (Plusnet email via Microsoft Outlook) – any ideas how to fix this (it worked OK previously when the Plusnet broadband was working)? I am guessing the EE wireless dongle cannot connect to the appropriate Plusnet e-mail server (I have not changed anything in Outlook).

Re: No Internet, No Help, No Hope

Townman — Fri, 26 May 2023 21:46:48 GMT

This sounds as thought the outgoing server is not configured to use a username and password.

There is unhelpful guidance in the email setup documentation which suggests that there is no need to supply username and password for the outgoing (SMTP) server configuration. Such is fine whilst connected to the Plusnet network.

However when connected via some other means (such as an EE dongle) the SMTP server connection MUST be authenticated. Frankly there is no good reason NOT to configure authentication in the Outlook settings. Chose “same as incoming server”.