topic Re: Lack of support for Mac users in Plusnet Feedback

Lack of support for Mac users

smo — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:54:53 GMT

I recently raised a broadband fault with Plusnet and in fairness, despite the fault still currently being resolved I have been happy with the updates and progress thus far.
Now when I raised the fault I was provided with access using a temporary dial-up connection so I thought I'd give it a go which I'm sure many others have with similar connection problems.
This is the content provided within the email I recieved.
"Connect to the internet using your free dial up number is easy. Simply enter your one-word username (not the broadband username you currently use....)
Please note: you will need a modem to be able to connect"
Now I'm no technophobe, neither am I a miracle worker. I know my way round computers enough to set things up but this is nowhere near sufficient enough instruction.
So I thought I'd have a browse through the support pages (thank you 3G and Iphone) and after much searching I couldn't find anything of any help unless I was using a Mac operating system from the mid 90's.
Ok, so I tried ringing up the call centre, got through fairly quickly. A very kind and helpful lady did her best but it was clear from the outset she had no idea and when she did manage to get some advice from another colleague this was relevant to an older version of the current Mac OS. It then became clear that I would also have to use the internal modem on my laptop...maybe obvious to others but not to me at the time. What does this involve??..plugging the phone lead into my laptop which in turn means I can't use the phone at the same time and there's no chance I'm using a mobile to call an 0845 number.

So, I sacked it off and resigned myself to waiting till the problem is fixed, which I am happy to do...but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLUSNET...provide clear, concise and relevant instructions for us Mac users..not everyone has a PC

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

Be3G — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:23:40 GMT

This, from Apple's support site, should tell you everything you need to know. I agree though that Plusnet's Mac support could be much better – I've come across some support pages with screenshots that're way out of date. Having said that, I suppose that seeing as Plusnet generally aim for the lower end of the broadband market these days, that market segment probably doesn't have many Mac users – one can see as much from the lack of Mac-related posts in our Mac/Linux board. It would probably therefore be hard for them to justify spending lots of money improving the Mac support, unfortunately.

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

dvorak — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:16:48 GMT

Well when it's all sorted you could always write something yourself for the support library.
As I did for mac softphones as the pn info was way out of date.

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

smo — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:27:42 GMT

To do that I would need to know how to solve the problem I've just highlighted above.
jim:quote

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

adamwalker — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:48:32 GMT

Hi smo,
That is a very good point indeed. In case it helps at all you can set up a dial up connection on Snow Leopard (assuming that's the OS you have) from 'network' which I believe you can find in the apple menu, go to the 'modem' tab and click on the name of your dial up modem. (if you don't have one you can probably tether your mobile phone as a modem - please not we don;t support this and you'll need to check your phone documentation). Once you've done that you'll be prompted for the login details and dialup number that should have been sent to you when you raised the fault originally.
Hope that helps, if not I can arrange for someone to get in touch so let me know.
Adam.
tom:quote

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

Be3G — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:51:59 GMT

[me=Be3G]wonders if no-one spotted the link to Apple's dialup setup instructions in his earlier post – they should provide all necessary information.[/me]

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

Oldjim — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:58:56 GMT

except - connect a suitable cable from your telephone socket to the modem socket on the laptop or computer

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

smo — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:09:12 GMT

Be3G
I'm sure they did. Point being that said information should ideally be on plusnet support pages, be up-to-date and emailed instructions should be more concise as some people may not have alternative access to web pages so might rely on updates or information from plusnet either via email or telephone.
Thanks Adam for the info, duly noted for future reference

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

adamwalker — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:09:41 GMT

Quote
Be3G wonders if no-one spotted the link to Apple's dialup setup instructions in his earlier post – they should provide all necessary information.

Didn't miss it, just thought a personal touch wouldn't go amiss especially when someone has admitted that they may not be the most technically minded. No offence meant by that smo.

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

David_W — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:40:39 GMT

Quote from: Be3G
Having said that, I suppose that seeing as Plusnet generally aim for the lower end of the broadband market these days, that market segment probably doesn't have many Mac users

I'm more inclined to believe it's because of the Mac's low market share, rather than PlusNet. Mac's market share is less than 5% which is less than even Vista. PlusNet has (say) 200,000 subscribers, say 5% of those use a Mac, that's 20,000 Mac users? This forum has 14,000 users which is about, 3%? So if we work out 5% of 14,000 then there is the potential for only 700 people to come to this forum browsing on a Mac. Although the average online for the forum is 160, 5% of that is 8 people average here on a Mac which would explain why there are not many Mac posts, probably.

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

Be3G — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:07:44 GMT

Ah yes, but that market share is averaged across, well, the whole market, whereas the prices of Macs means it's obviously fairly likely that Mac owners will be at the more well-off end of the market. Thus, whilst I accept it's a bit crude, I would fully expect that the Mac market share is noticeably higher amongst customers using, say, BT Infinity Option 2 than it is amongst Plusnet Value customers. (That is not to say, however, that there're no Mac-using Value customers – I'm one of them.)

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

David_W — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:22:35 GMT

You raise a valid point, Mac's carry a premium, but Infinity (that's fibre yep?) would only be available in select locations. 0% of people in Cornwall for instance (probably) are able to get BT Infinity so would probably opt for the service that gives them the best deal for the best price, or would go triple play with Sky (phone/broadband/tv) quad play for Virgin (phone/broadband/tv/mobile) or, well, TalkTalk. I came to Force9 because it was a more technical ISP back then (with CGI webspace!).
The stats don't give which browser a person is using, which in itself isn't indicative (iPhone using Safari for instance) but I wouldn't be surprised if only a handful of people actually visit the forums on a Mac, more may do on Linux (especially old timers) but the vast majority will be on Windows XP.
That isn't to say PN shouldn't have an up to date Mac help system though, 5% of their user base (actually, they can probably give an exact number of Mac's connecting) is still large enough to warrant up to date help.

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

Santiago — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:34:38 GMT

OK so I use plusnet broadband and don't have an Apple computer. it seems I am stupid and poor?

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

MacOS10 — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:41:25 GMT

It's worth bearing in mind that Apple don't sell new Macs with a built-in internal dial-up modem any more - though they do offer an external USB dial-up modem as an optional purchase. I can understand that, as dial-up is practically obsolete in most markets nowadays.
However, if your Mac is one of the older models that has a built-in modem, like mine is, then it's always been dead easy to set up a new dial-up connection.
Just open System Preferences > Network, click on the 'Internal Modem' category and enter the relevant details you've been given...

...and click "Apply" button to save it. Also, tick the "Show modem status in menubar" option and it's easier to connect and disconnect by going under the little telephone icon in the top menubar to start/stop a new connection.
Note: in the above example, item 2 is the phone number you've given given as a dial-up account, NOT your telephone line number!
That's all you need to do.
PS: the above snapshot is taken from a Mac running Leopard 10.5 - if you're using an earlier version of OS X, then it might look slightly different, but the content will be the same.

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

dvorak — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:57:17 GMT

Quote from: Oddball
OK so I use plusnet broadband and don't have an Apple computer. it seems I am stupid and poor?

glad the penny has dropped

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

MacOS10 — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:05:02 GMT

Quote from: Be3G
one can see as much from the lack of Mac-related posts in our Mac/Linux board.

I'm an active contributer on various other Mac publications' forums, but ever since this forum re-organisation where we're now all lumped together in with Linux, I just don't have the time or inclination to wade through the mixed up posts to find the Mac ones that need help. Most of the posts don't specifically mention it being a Mac problem, so that makes it even harder to find them if the description doesn't shout "MAC PROBLEM!!"
When there was a dedicated Mac category, I used to post a lot more. This new categorisation doesn't help or encourage Mac users to post as it's just too hard to find any Mac related posts among the Linux stuff. I suspect there are quite a few Mac users on here who are equally as put-off contributing since the re-organisation of these forum categories.
BTW: I don't object to there being a Linux category (each to their own and all that), but I don't really wish to be lumped together with a platform that is completely unrelated to the Mac operating system - Linux and Macs couldn't really be more different really. I suspect the Linux users think similarly, with these damn pesky Mac posts littering up their forum category!
If you split up the "Mac/Linux" category, you might find people, especially Mac users, more active in their participation. Just a suggestion - it is, after all, in the Feedback category.

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

Be3G — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:12:41 GMT

Fair point, we are indeed open to suggestions. However, the reason we merged the Mac and Linux boards is… because the Mac board was seeing so little use. As a Mac user I know where you're coming from with your complaint, but as a moderator I feel I have to stand by the decision to remove the board – the main aim of the forum redesign was to remove subforums and reduce the number of boards in general, by eradicating ones that received little use, and the Mac board did unfortunately fall squarely in to that category. (I'm pretty certain there were times when weeks would pass without a single post there.)

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

matt_2k34 — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:13:02 GMT

and quite a good one MacOS10 - came from the forum shakeup unfortunately.
i agree with adiewoo on this one, unfortunately being on the "lesser" market OS, PN will probably rely on users to fill in the support library (hell, thats what its for) - and alot of people are more than happy to help - i mean look around the forums

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

MacOS10 — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:31:25 GMT

Quote from: Be3G
I'm pretty certain there were times when weeks would pass without a single post there

Maybe that's because Macs "just work"!
(joking)
Yeah, I know what you're saying, but I bet since they were merged with the Linux thread there's been an even greater drop in Mac related posts - purely because it's hard to find any amongst the raft of Linux and general PC posts.
I agree, before the re-jig there were far too many categories but I think there was, and still is, a need for a separate Mac thread. Just my opinion, mind!

Re: Lack of support for Mac users

matt_2k34 — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 22:34:55 GMT

or you could just get people to add a starting tag with their OS before the title of their query..
e.g.
[Mac OSX] i have a virus and i dont know what to do...
[Ubuntu Linux] Samba streaming sucks- ideas...

etc. ?