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Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Bookman
Grafter
Posts: 269
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

I have a Teleworker Premier account (by definition, for working at home) and - after reading all about PN's Home Phone and weighing it up against other options - decided to move my phone from BT to PN.
But when I started the process of signing up to Home Phone in my account on the PN web site it told me I can't have it because it is only available for those with "residential" accounts.
Why can't I have Home Phone with Teleworker? It seems illogical not to offer it for this account! (As well as being bad business - surely PN would like to have me paying them for my phone as well as my broadband?)
Come on, PN - I'm offering you a chance to make more money!  Cheesy
13 REPLIES 13
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Hi there,
We're currently only able to offer Home Phone to residential accounts.  I believe the reasoning was down to credit limits not being suitable for business accounts and such like.
Would any of our residential products suit your needs?
I'll also have a word with Mand and see what she can suggest, if anything.
Bookman
Grafter
Posts: 269
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Hi James,
Thanks for the quick reply.  I don't know where the "credit limits not being suitable for business accounts and such like" would come in. The way I pay is by monthly direct debit, same as residential account holders.
I'll have a look again at residential accounts but, to be honest, I find it a bit difficult on your web site to make comparisons between residential and business features. I found this a problem when I migrated in, too. For instance, I don't know whether residential accounts have access to the cgi server.
I'll have a look and then come back to you.
Thanks,
Peter

James
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Hi Peter,
If you do have any specific queries about the residential accounts, then please do let me know.
All of the BBYW accounts come with CGI access.
Bookman
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

The BBYW accounts are categorised into 1, 8, 20 and 40 GB - what is the GB usage allowed on the Teleworker account? I couldn't find this information on the Business page.
I don't normally look at my usage because it is not heavy - mostly web browsing and download of software updates (mostly only a few MB) every few days. In my account it only shows the "per month" usage for the last two months - about 1.0 and 1.5 GB - but I don't know if it was much more than this at any time previously - is that information available?
Peter
James
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Hi Peter,
There's no specific usage allowance on Teleworker, but you could definitely save some money on one of our residential accounts given your current usage patterns.
Bookman
Grafter
Posts: 269
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Yes, I have now found the BBYW features page and it looks like I would be far better off with that. It's just a matter of deciding on the GB usage using the "Configure Broadband Your Way" page.
My account shows usage in the following two billing periods as:
21 Jul - 20 Aug          1.45GB
21 Aug - 20 Sep        1.05GB
Do you have a record of what it was in the earlier months of this year (I signed up in March) so that I can check if this is typical or whether it has been much higher (my username is "mybarnes"). I'm not interested in the specific months, just need to know was it always below 2 GB or not. (Or can I find this info somewhere on the PN web site?)
Thanks,
Peter
James
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Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

I don't I'm afraid.
I think your best bet would be to go for Option 1 with an added GB included.  You can always add additional GB at 75p / GB should you require more.
Bookman
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Yes - except that I see a warning that if I go above the limit PN will knock my speed back to 128 kbps for the rest of the month. Which for my purposes would prevent me doing my work for the rest of the month!
So I guess it would have to be the other route - tick the box to allow PN to charge £1 per GB extra if I go above the limit. I assume this applies only for that month (£1 added onto the month's bill) and that in the following month it would revert to my previous level until I go above again?
[The reason I'm concerned that I would have had a much higher usage in past months is that a few times a year I send out an email broadcast to a large number of people]
Peter
zubel
Community Veteran
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Registered: ‎08-06-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Quote from: Bookman
[The reason I'm concerned that I would have had a much higher usage in past months is that a few times a year I send out an email broadcast to a large number of people]
Peter

You can put yourself on fixed usage, and if you hit the cap then buy additional GB's as required.
tbh though, even massive email campaigns rarely use gigs of bandwidth.  Even if you individually send a 20kb mail to each recipient, that would require 50,000 recipients to hit a gig of usage.  Most mailshots are done using proper software that will send the mail once to the mail server, but address it to multiple recipients.  I think Plusnet have a 10? recipient limit on each mail, so in effect you would have to send a 20kb message to half a million people to hit a gig of usage!
B.
Bookman
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Barry,
Thanks for the comments - I should have done that calculation myself!
Perhaps you can help with another query? I guess I will switch now from Teleworker Premium (TWP) to BBYW with a couple of GB and the option to PAYG for any extra use. I've looked through all the features of BBYW compared to TWP and I'm happy with what i see. But there is one technical point on which I'm unsure.
I read that BBYW is dynamic IP by default, but with the choice to have static IP. I've always had business accounts, with my previous ISP and then this year with PN, and they have always been static IP. I have a basic idea of what these terms mean but don't know why I should have one or the other. I hear that dynamic is better for security - but then why do business acounts have it?
Although I am running a business my needs are fairly basic. My web site is on the PN server and I don't do any fancy computer work - although I do use Linux rather than MS Windows.
Any suggestions as to which is best for me - static or dynamic?
Thanks,
Peter
James
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Posts: 21,036
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

Peter,
You'll be able to keep your static IP.
I can think of not reason why you shouldn't do this.
Bookman
Grafter
Posts: 269
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Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

PJ, thanks for comments. I will probably go for the first option - paying for extra. My use of the internet is likely to stay fairly static now - this all started out with me wanting to get Home Phone rather than a changed broadband account. But it seems to have been a worthwhile diversion.  Wink
James, It looks like I'm almost there now. I'll probably go for a few GB with option to buy more GB. That means less money for PlusNet. But never mind, there's always a silver lining - I expect to put my phone with PN's Home Phone too!
As I write, Mand has just rung and we've discussed the options. I said i would switch to BBYW as above and put my BB phone with Home Phone. But I have another phone line for my faxes - Mand explained that I can set up a dial-up account and then put the other phone line on that. She's also setting up a ticket that I can use to get all this done. Thanks Mand!
So I get cheaper broadband and phone calls, and PN gets two Home Phone accounts!  Smiley
Thanks for all the help everyone,
Peter
zubel
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,793
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Registered: ‎08-06-2007

Re: Why can't I add PlusNet Home Phone service to my Teleworker account?

A dynamic IP address means that you will be quasi-randomly assigned a different IP address every time your computer or router connects to the internet.
For those people using a computer and modem combination, this usually means that every time they connect to the internet they get a new IP address
For people using routers, which often stay connected for days or weeks at a time, these dynamic addresses obviously change less frequently.
From a security point of view, if you have a computer and modem then a dynamic address could be preferred.
To understand why, I'll try to describe the habits of 'crackers'.
A cracker may use a piece of software to remotely scan a range of computers (something like nmap, for example).  This can be used to identify and highlight computers that may be running a specific piece of software (such as a particular mail server like Exim or Sendmail, or maybe remote access software like RDP or VNC)
They can use this information to build up a database of computers, so that if a vulnerability is published for that specific piece of software, they automatically have a 'hit list' of targets.
Using a dynamic IP address obviously means that when they come looking for you, you're not there any more!
With the prevalence of routers on the market, with built in NAT and SPI Firewalls, this practice is becoming less and less common.  Most of the 'port scans' that are reported nowadays are automated scans from worms trying to propagate themselves.  As such, they are very much 'scan and infect immediately' rather than return later, and a dynamic IP address won't help you avoid it (although a router will help ;))
So, Personally I see very little difference between a dynamic or static IP address in terms of your specific use.  I would, however, recommend that you have a router not a modem!
B.