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Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

edward50
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Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

This may look like a question for the routers board, but really it's a question about the availability of technical support from Plusnet for problems with my broadband connection. When I moved to Plusnet nearly 6 years ago I opted to retain my Netgear router. I have had few problems with the broadband connection, but on one occasion when I telephoned about a problem I was told that the help I could have was limited because I had a third-party router. I am thinking of changing my router and am inclined to get another non-Plusnet one. Can somebody (preferably an admin or moderator) please clarify the current situation: do users of third-party routers have any less access to technical support than customers who have the router offered by Plusnet?

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Baldrick1
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

@edward50 

If you have a hub problem you will most likely find much more advice and support on this forum from fellow customers for any make of device than you will get in support of the substandard equipment provided by Plusnet.

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Thrall
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

I think it depends on the adviser you get. In general third party routers are out of Plusnet’s remit but some advisers will go above and beyond especially if they’ve got first hand knowledge or experience.

edward50
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

Thank you, Baldrick 1; I didn't really have hub problems in mind - I was more concerned that use of non-Plusnet equipment would give Plusnet an opt-out from helping with any problem in the performance of their broadband connection.

Mustrum
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

No ISP will have much of an idea of any router other than their own.

 

It is always good to take the ISP router even if you do not use it, except if you have a problem. 

edward50
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

Thank you, Thrall: the helpful approach you describe was the one taken by the adviser I spoke to when I did have a problem a year or two back. Given the acknowledged problems with Plusnet's own kit, they seem now to be fairly relaxed about customers using other routers, so I'm inclined to go ahead and get a BT hub.

Thrall
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

Good thing about the BT hub is that it’s practically almost the same in setup as the Plusnet Hub One, but may be more powerful depending on the model of BT hub

edward50
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

I wouldn't be expecting them to help with third-party router problems, but I think your idea is a good one as it would allow me to use the router of my choice without the risk that I would be denied help for non-router-related problems with the broadband service.

Townman
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

Anything which starts off with the stance "We cannot help because you are not using our router" is the wrong approach to support.  For most things, one router is much the same as another router.  Yes there are fringe issues where a particular issue might be predicated by your choice of router, but in general nearly any choice not to use a router out of the BT stable will be a good choice.

You mention Netgear routers - in general they do not give access to some key xDSL stats which can be very useful in diagnosing complex performance issues.  You might want to look at the routers which support diagnostic tools such as RouterStats (See the link below) or xDSLStats.

As an alternative approach, you might want to consider the superior routers Plusnet supply to John Lewis customers - Setup Guide — John Lewis Broadband - IMHO they are all much better than anything out of the BT stable.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

edward50
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

Many thanks to Townman and Mustrum for helpful advice. (I am new here, and when I first posted yesterday I expected my replies to appear below the message they were responding to. I'll be careful now to identify in each reply who it's responding to.) If, Townman, one router is much the same as another, should I notice much difference in broadband performance if I replace my Netgear DG834Gv3 with something more up-to-date? At present the wireless signal is not great in an adjoining room (brick wall in between) and distinctly weak on the floor below.

Mustrum
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

AS it happens I have used a Netgear D7000 for a few years now, it is easy to set up, has good access controls, excellent dual band Wi-Fi, and all the XDSL stats I could ever want! You do need to telnet to get them, or use a program like DSLstats.

adslctl info --stats
adslctl: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: Showtime
Last Retrain Reason: 0
Last initialization procedure status: 0
Max: Upstream rate = 24339 Kbps, Downstream rate = 76317 Kbps
Bearer: 0, Upstream rate = 20000 Kbps, Downstream rate = 75335 Kbps

Link Power State: L0
Mode: VDSL2 Annex B
VDSL2 Profile: Profile 17a
TPS-TC: PTM Mode(0x0)
Trellis: U:ON /D:ON
Line Status: No Defect
Training Status: Showtime
Down Up
SNR (dB): 6.2 9.2
Attn(dB): 8.6 0.0
Pwr(dBm): -9.0 -9.1

VDSL2 framing
Bearer 0
MSGc: 18 150
B: 239 236
M: 1 1
T: 22 5
R: 0 16
S: 0.1014 0.3771
L: 18936 5410
😧 1 1
I: 240 255
N: 240 255

Counters
Bearer 0
OHF: 600271869 247585
OHFErr: 4551 2679
RS: 0 3267308
RSCorr: 0 27217
RSUnCorr: 0 0

Bearer 0
HEC: 13115 0
OCD: 101 0
LCD: 101 0
Total Cells: 31090409 0
Data Cells: 776583146 0
Drop Cells: 0
Bit Errors: 0 0

ES: 1618 1631
SES: 3 0
UAS: 27 27
AS: 1008150

Bearer 0
INP: 0.00 0.00
INPRein: 0.00 0.00
delay: 0 0
PER: 1.67 6.15
OR: 114.31 202.87
AgR: 75449.27 20203.27

Bitswap: 2631/2866 519/520

Total time = 11 days 16 hours 2 min 57 sec
FEC: 0 27217
CRC: 4551 2679
ES: 1618 1631
SES: 3 0
UAS: 27 27
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 0
Latest 15 minutes time = 2 min 57 sec
FEC: 0 0
CRC: 0 0
ES: 0 0
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 0
Previous 15 minutes time = 15 min 0 sec
FEC: 0 70
CRC: 4 5
ES: 1 5
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: N/A
Latest 1 day time = 16 hours 2 min 57 sec
FEC: 0 1270
CRC: 526 140
ES: 91 92
SES: 1 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 0
Previous 1 day time = 24 hours 0 sec
FEC: 0 1442
CRC: 167 154
ES: 122 123
SES: 0 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 0
Since Link time = 11 days 16 hours 2 min 29 sec
FEC: 0 27217
CRC: 4551 2679
ES: 1618 1631
SES: 3 0
UAS: 0 0
LOS: 0 0
LOF: 0 0
LOM: 0 0
Retr: 0
NTR: mipsCntAtNtr=0 ncoCntAtNtr=0
#
#

 

 

Townman
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?


@edward50 wrote:

...it's a question about the availability of technical support from Plusnet for problems with my broadband connection. 


For clarity, the way you phrased the question, lead me to focus on the support aspect which would be delivered by Plusnet - the broadband (xDSL) side of the service.

WiFi does not fall within the scope of Plusnet support.  Anything your side of the BT NTE5 socket is your responsibility.  If you have a demanding requirement for wifi networking, how you skin that cat is down to you.  A single WiFi Access Point (WAP) as in a typical router might never be able to deliver the coverage you need, no matter what you buy or have supplied by an ISP.

BT Retail glibly advertise never go slow no no spot wifi but what the do not make clear is that requires the purchase of rather expensive mesh wifi components.

You might find that a better solution to getting good wifi around the whole of the house is to invest in powerline adapters with a WAP - such as those available from develo.

Certainly if your router is old, paying good money for a newer one will deliver the availability of 5GHz / ac and WiFi6 standards ... but they are only of any benefit if you have devices which can utilise such functionality.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

edward50
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Re: Do I get equal access to technical support when using a non-Plusnet router?

You're quite right, Townman, about the original focus of my question. However, your comments about routers in your post earlier today were just too tempting and I'm afraid I couldn't resist asking you to enlarge upon them. Many thanks for doing so. I entirely take the point about wifi being outside Plusnet support's remit. I'm most grateful for your suggestions and for Mustrum's.