Just joined from Be. Awful speed?

[#1]

Hi noogie1,
Let's hope the engineer can find something when they attend next week. If this problem persist then I'll certainly look over the account for you.
Keep us updated on how the visit goes.

[#2]

I quite frankly have never been more 'aware' of how terrible some internet providers can be, until I moved to Plusnet.
My broadband has been dead for the last hour or so,
A test from inside the Technicolor shows this

Quote

DSL ATM PPP IP Internet Connectivity to Gateway (81.146.167.1)

I am seething at the thought of having to pay £70 quid to leave you guys, after a horrendous month of un-usable internet. But frankly it's my only alternative.
Advice to people thinking to switch (Especially those on the Cheltenham exchange) DO NOT!
Such bollocks. 

[#3]

Oh cool, Nationwide outage. 

[#4]

Have you got dial tone on your phone?

[#5]

Yes, It was the wholesale outage.
My connection was never fixed. Cancelling soon hopefully.

[#6]

Well, although it's Plusnet's responsibility to get it resolved, I trust you realise it's not their fault. I personally think that the length of time BTw take to resolve exchange capacity issues is disgusting.

[#7]

Of course, I understand fully that it's BT's fault, I'm just pissed that I have to do all the leg work.
It cant be co-incidence that my particular fault occurs the moment I switch from Be to Plusnet.
I have even humoured Plusnet technical support and tried different routers, different filters, two different devices, All straight into the test socket. I've done all the speed tests avaliable, including BT's 3rd stage test (which involves re-authenticating, thus cutting out plusnet altogether)
The exchange status checker shows the amount of searches for the status of a particular exchange - It doesn't take a genius to work out that there are lots of people in Cheltenham who are suffering from slow/unstable internet.
I have no alternative now but to let a BT Engineer waste his time round my house, drink my tea and bitch about how silly the situation is.

[#8]

@noogie1 We had a similiar issue recently when one of the line cards in our exchange developed a fault. BT refused to accept there was a problem for almost 3 weeks, and then fixed it two days after they finally admitted there actually was something wrong.
I am incredibly grateful to the Plusnet guys for grabbing hold of the issue and not letting go until BT finally admitted there was a problem with their kit.
I hate to think how long we would have been waiting if we had signed up with Talk Talk, for example  
Yeah it sucks, but imagine just how much more it could suck if you had chosen a different ISP.

[#9]

Maybe so, But I dont want to suffer through a long drawn out troubleshooting procedure just because BT doesn't want to take responsibility. But my hands are tied.
It's a bit like buying a new car, finding it has loads of defects, and being forced to allow the garage (Plusnet) and the manufacturer (BT) every opportunity to fix it, despite the fact that while Plusnet/BT do their work my car is not working..
I would really love to know for what reason the Cheltenham exchange is at the top of the most searched list, There must be lots of people in Cheltenham having similar issues...

[#10]

It's simple, money.
They will fix it when they absolutely feel they have to. The point being if you left Plusnet tomorrow, you would have the same issue unless you moved to LLU  

[#11]

It's such a shame, because the Technical support side of things seems excellent, and I cannot fault them one bit, It's just a shame that they're reliant on BT's either horribly contended, or faulty equipment inside my exchange.

[#12]

indeed.
However - (trust me!) its much better than before BT bought PlusNet and PN were using 'TisCrappy LLU (Or Tiscali - if you want to use their trading name) -- but thats going back some years!
I completely agree, and totally understand the position you're in. Its a "suck it and see" kind of "I hope it gets better" or do you move over to an LLU provider with potientially more speed, but without the customer service/honesty?
Catch22. IMHO its worth staying on the ship and the hope that BT keep getting poked by varying ISPs about slow speeds. Problem is *everyone* launched Unlimited packages at the end of last year. Lots of people took the chance to swap to FTTC too it seems - as BTw were adding so many connections the network just couldnt keep up it seems. In my area they were drafting in engineers from non-FTTC locations to do both installs and repairwork^^
Regards

[#13]

I'm on the same Cheltenham exchange as you but not got quite as problematic line from what you've said. I've not seen any buffering of iPlayer in HD (although not really tested much during normal peak times). Only issues on our line are bursts of errors at random times, mostly evening usually but can occur at any time it seems (would be too difficult for any engineer to track down so I just live with it).
Also DLM has allowed a default noise margin of only 3db, which means we're getting the fastest speed ever for our line.
Oh and seems I wasn't cut off this evening unlike most users but I did have to go through a terrible ordeal during Easter with no phone or Internet for over 8 days.