Why do PlusNet continually pretend they have no connection to BT????

[#1]

Intermittent and very annoying phone and broadband problems for the last 3-4 days.  This is a household with 2 retired disabled people, so unwarned-of phone outages aren't just an inconvenience.  If we didn't have a mobile phone we could be in serious trouble.  BT's responsibility, not PlusNet's, I accept.

I live in a small Scottish town of some 2000 people, and over the last week I reckon half the Openreach vans in the country have been parked somewhere in this town - just about every box opened - clearly some major problem.  That said - over the last year or two I can't recall a single week some Outreach van hasn't had a lid open somewhere in my immediate vicinity.

Not so much bothered about the outages - I suppose they have to happen from time to time.  But what really [-Censored-]es me off is messages from PlusNet recommending I talk to my phone supplier.  My phone supplier is BT.  PlusNet is BT!!!!  Why can't you guys just GET ON WITH IT?

Apart from anything else, I've been pondering a faster fibre connection for some time.  But if Plusnet can't even guarantee my current broadband service, what would be the point?

[#2]

Hi pixwix,

A warm welcome to the forums.  Let's see if I can help you understand things a little better.

Broadband is consider to be an 'additional service' delivered over the 'copper' pathway.  For broadband to work proficiently the 'copper' pathway has to be 'sound' (in good working order).  The responsibility for managing the 'copper' pathway lays with the voice (phone) service provider, which by the sounds of things in your case is BT Retail.

Therefore if there is a 'coper' pathway fault which impacts broadband operation, resolving the 'copper' pathway fault is the responsibility of the phone provider, not the broadband provider.  These rules are devised by Ofcom and BT Openreach.

At this point it's worth mentioning that "BT" is not a single company, but a collection of (by Ofcom rules) independent businesses.  BT Oenreach own, operate and maintain the 'copper' pathway, exchanges and the interconnection network.  BT Wholesale sell those services to retail Communication Providers (CPs) - phone services - and retail Internet Service Providers (ISPs) - broadband services.  BT Retail, PlusNet, Sky and Talk Talk (to name but four) are such CP / ISP retail suppliers.

As I hope you can see it is all rather complex.  Personally I think it unwise to use separate retail suppliers for phone and broadband.  Using the same retail provider means if there's a fault - any fault - you the end user only have one party to deal,with.

If your "broadband" issue is deemed to be caused by a 'copper' pathway fault, unfortunately it is incumbent upon you sorting that out with your CP.

[#3]

Hey pixwix,

Sorry to hear about the phone and broadband issues. Definitely sounds like a wider issue.

Townman has summed it up pretty well, in that the phone is the more overbearing component. Has a phone fault been raised with BT retail at all?

When it comes to BT Retail, we have no dealings with them. We couldn't even give you a name.

Personally I think it unwise to use separate retail suppliers for phone and broadband.  Using the same retail provider means if there's a fault - any fault - you the end user only have one party to deal,with.

It also generally tends to be a lot cheaper.

[#4]

I moved from BT to PN last year, phone and Fibrewithout issue, just let them do everything, and don't tell BT you are cancelling service, be aware BT require 30 days notice, so arrange PN to take over after 30 days to save getting charges twice.