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Service deteriorating

pebbles
Grafter
Posts: 69
Registered: ‎13-08-2007

Service deteriorating

We have been a customer of plusnet for many years and, before that, force9.  Up to 12 months ago I would have had no hesitation in recommending plusnet as an ISP.  We had rarely experienced any difficulty in the past and on the few occasions that we needed support the tickets raised were responded to promptly and the service provided to rectify problems was second to none in the ISP sector (in my opinion).  
Over the last 12 months or so we have become increasingly frustrated, disappointed, exasperated and annoyed at the service (or lack of) that we have received.  Having read a number of posts in the rants forum it appears we are not alone.  We can't all be imagining these problems and not all can be put down to the usual suggestions of failing microfilters, interference, etc.  Speedtests show our speeds vary vastly and, like many others, we have experienced frequent dropouts and although these are intermittent they appear to come along all at once.  We can have a large number of frequent dropouts one evening then stability for a week or more before we experience similar dropouts again.  
We raised a support ticket on Tuesday, it wasn't replied to until Thursday.  This would never have been the case until of late.  If I were to provide a similar delay in service in my current job my employment would be terminated in short fashion.  Perhaps the number of tickets being raised should give some inclination that the service provided is not up to scratch  Roll_eyes
We are currently paying for the premium package which is less premium and more below average, on occasions we have been receiving less than 1mb speeds on a line that is supposedly capable of up to 8mb - we are less than 1 mile from the exchange  Embarrassed  For the first time in about 15 years I am extremely sad to say we are doing some serious research into alternative internet suppliers.  Shame plusnet, you were once great in our eyes  Cry
7 REPLIES 7
Mand
Grafter
Posts: 5,560
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re:Service deteriorating

Hi there,
Firstly I'm sorry that you don't feel your current service is up to scratch.
Your current ticket is with our network team for further investigation.
Regarding your speeds, are the problems intermittent? You have the highest possible profile possible on your service, so certainly shouldn't see speeds as slow as you've mentioned as the norm.
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Service deteriorating

It sounds like you have an intermittent connection fault of some sort. It's a shame you didn't put this post on the Broadband Speed board where it might have had a quicker response. If you could do/answer the following -
First please check your phone line - I assume you have dial tone on your line, can you hear/have you heard any crackling or other intermittent noise on the line? Dial a 1 to get rid of the dial tone. If you need more time before the NUT (number unobtainable tone) dial the quiet line test 17070 option 2. (Don't use any ringback or other test). Who is your Telephone Line Rental provider?
What Modem/Router are you using? Do you know to access your Modem/Router ADSL line stats?
If you can post both Downstream and Upstream - Sync/connection speed, Attenuation, NoiseMargin (SNRM) and Power.
Try here - http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/frogstats.php - if you need guidance for many Modem/Routers.
Can you also post the results from http://www.speedtester.bt.com/ - (you need Java Runtime Environment installed for this to work - the latest version for your OS).
Login to https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed and advise what it says for your current profile/line speed.
Finally could you give an Outline description of your installation -
1) Do you have an NTE5 Master LineBox (the type with the removeable lower front plate) and which logo it has on it.?
2) Whether you have any fixed extension wiring and sockets & how many, and roughly how the cables go from one to another;
3) What filters do you have and where is the Modem/Router plugged in?
4) Do you have a corded phone, do you have a cordless phone - if so what type - DECT or Analogue?
5) Is any other POTS (plain old telephone service) equipment (Faxes, Answer phones, Sky boxes or Alarms systems etc) plugged in/connected.
One final tip: When you need to swap things around for testing, powerdown your modem/router and wait several minutes before unplugging anything that disconnects it from the line eg. it's cable, the filter, master faceplate etc. Don't do this more than 5 times in an hour, and then leave it alone for the rest of the day. This is to help prevent the exchange DLM from thinking you have a (more serious) intermittent line problem.
pebbles
Grafter
Posts: 69
Registered: ‎13-08-2007

Re: Service deteriorating

Hi there,
I'm feeling rather more settled again with Plusnet.  Over the past few days I'm pleased to say we've had speeds that would be expected from our line and the intermittent connection problems we were experiencing seem to have disappeared.  We are having problems accessing a particular site but that is being dealt with by ticket (appears to be a traffic prioritisation issue).  It has taken over a week and still no resolution as yet which I'm not particularly happy with but if the issue is resolved fairly soon then we can live with that.  My other half is at work currently and does all the technical stuff but I'll answer your questions best I can.
Mand:  yes the problems do appear to be intermittent.  We were getting very, very low speeds as per ticket 30550995 raised at the end of October.  Things have been mostly ok since then but there have been times when even web browsing has been painfully slow.  Fingers crossed this last week seems to have seen some improvement.
Anotherone:  Our equipment works fine for the majority of the time and the issues, though frustrating, are intermittent.  Thankfully the intermittent connection drops seem to have ceased.  The line speed does still drop during high demand but that is to be expected.  There is no problem with the phone, has dial tone, no crackling/noise on the line.  I'm not sure how to get the ADSL stats from the router (Linksys WAG160N) but I'm sure the other half could do that although everything seems fine again.  There are a number of stats and speedtest results posted on ticket 30550995 which would be more relevant as these were entered whilst we were experiencing problems.  
Telephone number:
   0160978xxxx
Phone exchange:
   NORTHALLERTON
Estimated line speed:
   8 - Checked on 2009-11-21 15:17:17
Current line speed:
   7150
I'm reluctant to start carrying out more tests now as it's been stable for nearly a week now and I don't want to upset the boat !!  All we need now is for my other halves gaming site to receive appropriate traffic prioritisation and we'll return to being happy PN customers again.  It's a Java based game.  He has very poor network quality when playing the game and frequently lags out.  It is not uncommon for him not to be able to connect to the server for hours.  During those times he knows the server is working fine as he talks on Teamspeak with others in USA, London and Denmark who are actively playing on that server.  I hope it is just a simple matter of altering the traffic prioritisation as this will keep my other half very happy   Cheesy
Sorry for the earlier rant  Lips_are_sealed  We were becoming increasingly frustrated and they say it helps to get it off your chest  Wink
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Service deteriorating

Hi again,
if things seem stable, fine, don't go round disconnecting anything or swapping anything. If your other half can post the current information as per reply #2, then we might be able to offer a bit of advice on how to proceed should the problem start again. HTH.
alanr1303
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: ‎25-11-2009

Re: Service deteriorating

Quote from: pebbles
We have been a customer of plusnet for many years and, before that, force9.  Up to 12 months ago I would have had no hesitation in recommending plusnet as an ISP.  We had rarely experienced any difficulty in the past and on the few occasions that we needed support the tickets raised were responded to promptly and the service provided to rectify problems was second to none in the ISP sector (in my opinion).  
Over the last 12 months or so we have become increasingly frustrated, disappointed, exasperated and annoyed at the service (or lack of) that we have received.  Having read a number of posts in the rants forum it appears we are not alone.  We can't all be imagining these problems and not all can be put down to the usual suggestions of failing microfilters, interference, etc.  Speedtests show our speeds vary vastly and, like many others, we have experienced frequent dropouts and although these are intermittent they appear to come along all at once.  We can have a large number of frequent dropouts one evening then stability for a week or more before we experience similar dropouts again.  
We raised a support ticket on Tuesday, it wasn't replied to until Thursday.  This would never have been the case until of late.  If I were to provide a similar delay in service in my current job my employment would be terminated in short fashion.  Perhaps the number of tickets being raised should give some inclination that the service provided is not up to scratch  Roll_eyes
We are currently paying for the premium package which is less premium and more below average, on occasions we have been receiving less than 1mb speeds on a line that is supposedly capable of up to 8mb - we are less than 1 mile from the exchange  Embarrassed  For the first time in about 15 years I am extremely sad to say we are doing some serious research into alternative internet suppliers.  Shame plusnet, you were once great in our eyes  Cry

I have been a long standing customer of Madasafish, and have also seen the rapid decline in the quality of customer service. The start of the decline seems to me to correspond with the acquisition of the company by BT.
In a later post you say the service has improved, don't be surprised if it fails again and again and again............. I have had recurring problems since April, typically taking 7-10 days to fix.
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Service deteriorating

alanr1303, your post has no relevance to the possible intermittent connection problem to the exchange that this user seems to have experienced. Intermittent problems of this type are difficult to track down and fix and are not caused by Plusnet.
If you wish to have a moan about poor customer service please start your own thread. If you still have a speed problem, if you post similar information in your own thread as requested in reply #2 above, I'm sure someone will be able to help. Thanks.
ukweb
Newbie
Posts: 5
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎06-01-2010

Re: Service deteriorating

To state that his post has nothing to do with the problem, you're right, but it was the original poster who STARTED the thread mentioned customer service, so he was merely referring to that.
To support what both of them are saying, yes customer service has declined. I first joined Plusnet a few years back and it was excelent, then tickets began to go unanswered for days, and they realised this, and sorted themselves out.
Since BT bought them out it has slowly declined again. I havn't had the need to contact them for about 12-18months, then when I did a few weeks ago I was shocked by the length of reply.