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Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

tiffy
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Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

I have signed up to the Sam Knows White Box monitor program, hardware not yet arrived, however, just read Chris's announcement dated 9/10/15 ref. this subject and his advise not to use this on a capped contract, I am still ADSL2+ with 10 Gb./month cap, currently adequit for my requirements although I will very likely have to change to un-capped in the near future.
In all fairness I did not receive the offer via. Plusnet, got the link from my daughter who is also Plusnet but fibre, then volunteered, I did clearly state on registration that My system was ADSL2+ with a 10Gb. cap, did not seem to matter, my offer was accepted.
The Sam Knows team do state that the data testing attributed to the White Box will not effect my provider allowance, don't know exactly how they can differentiate, I believe the test data can be quite frequent and substiantial, have read quite a lot of reports on various forums on this subject, most opinions suggest the box should not be used on a capped service as indeed Chris does in his post.
Anyone any experience on this under similar circumstances, any capped user left ?
Tiffy
48 REPLIES 48
tiffy
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

Obviously not a big lot of interest on the Sam Knows White Box project then !
Phaeton
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

I've had one fitted for a couple of years, Plusnet staff appear not to like them, I was told their information was not accurate, although I suspect that is only as as it contradicts what Plusnet themselves want you to believe. I went onto a new package with Plusnet & was assured that nothing would change & it was only the phone line coming over, strange how my download speed dropped by 10Mb from 55 to 45 but of course it didn't according to Plusnet.
But unfortunately that doesn't help you as I'm not capped.
pwatson
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

From the Sam Knows FAQ
[quote=https://www.samknows.eu/faqs/]How much bandwidth is used by the SamKnows tests?
The Whiteboxes download approximately 3GB per month and upload around 1GB if you’re on a sub-50Mbps product. For products faster than 50Mbps the usage volume is higher and varies by product speed. If you’re on a product with a low usage cap then we’d advise against signing up, or at least informing us beforehand so that we can apply a different testing profile.
Where have you seen "The Sam Knows team do state that the data testing attributed to the White Box will not effect my provider allowance" as this on the face of it is rubbish?  Only if an ISP has a specific arrangement with Sam Knows to ignore test traffic I would have thought...
PeeGee
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

Have a look at Why do I need to consent to send personal information to my ISP?.
Phil
Plusnet FTTC (Sep 2014), Essentials (Feb 2013); ADSL (Apr 2009); Customer since Jan 2004 (on 28kb dial-up)
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
MisterW
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

Hmmm, in light of Chris's post
Quote
Please make sure that you’re on an unlimited account, as the tests will use some of your bandwidth.
it doesn't look like anyone at PN has told the Data Usage system about it not counting towards your bandwidth allowance Roll_eyes

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.

tiffy
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

Thanks to all for the comments.
Yes, quite a bit of contradictory information from Sam Knows, certainly Plusnet have given me no indication that any allowance will be made for the "white box" data usage, can't think how this would be implemented anyway ?
I have just applied for unlimited data service while remaining on ADSL2+, although available, don't currently need VDSL2 fibre as my exchange line is short and performs well, can't justify the extra cost for my needs.
I had intended to change to unlimited data anyway as recently retired from a 2 & 3 week work/ leave basis occupation and now need the greater data allowance.
My white box is in the post but I will not be connecting until my unlimited allowance kicks in at the end of the month.
Have connected my daughters white box at the start of this week, she is VDSL2 fibre, unlimited with Plusnet, the stat's to date confirm what I suspected, very poor connection, will be very interesting to see how PN react to this information after a few weeks data collection & analysis, after all, they seem very keen to encourage participation in the project !!
Will be interesting to see how my stat's. look by comparison to my daughters, although not like for like, ADSL2+ / VDSL2 fibre, the principal of the tests are the same after all.
I have always religiously monitored my line stat's. using RouterStats / DSLStats and have a good appreciation of what a good connection should be.
Again, thanks to all for their inputs,
Tiffy
Phaeton
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

It appears we no longer live in a democracy & that Plusnet moderate their forum expensively read this quick before it also gets deleted
Chris
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

Your issues were split in to their own thread, in a more appropriate section: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,145467.0.html
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
jelv
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

So how about you giving a sensible response on that topic?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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Chris
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

I have already replied on there, and will try to respond again later today. My previous response on there was perfectly sensible, directly from the notes on the account.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
PeeGee
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

From a response to a query about my 2 year old whitebox
Quote
As part of our re-launch, Ofcom and the major providers in the UK have agreed to help us out with validation of user details going forward. This simply means they will confirm the product information we have on our systems is correct or not, as well as removing any data caps currently in place for any of the users so our Whitebox does not cause any issues with data over-usage.

Phil
Plusnet FTTC (Sep 2014), Essentials (Feb 2013); ADSL (Apr 2009); Customer since Jan 2004 (on 28kb dial-up)
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
tiffy
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

Hi PeeGee,
Thanks for this information, very interesting, did the quote come from Plusnet or Sam Knows and when ?
As originally stated, there is a lot of contradictory or at least abmigious information relating to the data usage associated with the SK White Box, that is obvious from the posts in this thread, I can certainly state that I have never received any assurance to date from PN that any White Box data usage will be factored into my monthly allowance.
In fact, referring back to PN Chris's original notification of 9/10/15 he appears to advise non-participation when on a data capped system !
The issue is now somewhat hypothetical in my case as I have changed to an unlimited data contract starting at the end of this month, I did get a good deal on this after some negotiation with the telephone advisor, however, had to sign up for a further 24 month contract and the rate reverts to normal after that period.
The White Box data usage was not mentioned in this negotiation, if I had known then what I know now then this certainly would have been a factor and I would have put up a bit of a fight on those grounds !
I have now received my SK White Box but will not be connecting until my new data contract kicks in later this month.
Tiffy   
PeeGee
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

The reply was from SK.
Phil
Plusnet FTTC (Sep 2014), Essentials (Feb 2013); ADSL (Apr 2009); Customer since Jan 2004 (on 28kb dial-up)
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
tiffy
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Re: Sam Knows White Box on a Capped Contract

Yes, I thought that would be the case, it would seem that PN are not totally singing from the same hymn sheet as SK on the test data usage issue !
Wonder if any of the other ISP's have the same issues relating to the SK White Box test data usage ?
I would imagine that data capped users are very much in the minority now with any ISP especially with the roll-out of fibre based data systems with their associated, high usage contracts, hence the practical non existance of what would have been a much bigger issue a few years ago when the SK White Box project was first launched. 
Anyone from PN care to comment further ?
Tiffy