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Possible business broadband switch

cjags
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 508
Thanks: 24
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Possible business broadband switch

Hi. Have got a business contact who currently has broadband (via BT line) at 18M down, 1M up.  They have just taken on a cloud based file server and want to boost the upload speed.  their current ISP says Annex M is available (but not FTTC) but the ISP is going through a takeover/rebrand and can't do anything for several weeks (if at all).
Would switching to Plusnet be viable?
16 REPLIES 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Hi cjags
Definitely 🙂
If you pop the phone number of the line in question into the BT Wholesale line checker (http://www.dslchecker.bt.com), you'll be able to see what broadband services are available.
If your contact is happy with going ahead based on the line checker speed estimates and the pricing and terms on our website (http://www.plus.net/business) then the next step would be to ring the broadband provider and ask for a migration authorisation code (or MAC) for the service. This enables us to migrate the broadband over and most of the time this happens with a very small amount of downtime.
If Annex M is available, it can be chosen as part of the Plusnet signup process. Your contact would need an Annex M compatible router (the routers we supply are Annex M compatible).
The best prices are available on a 24 month contract when phone as well as broadband are taken, though 12 month and rolling 1 month contract options are available for standard "ADSL" broadband if flexibility is required. It's a 12 or 24 month contract on fibre (FTTC).
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Rob
cjags
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 508
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Hi.  I did the checker and Annex M is available but not FTTC.  Not sure if they want phones as well - the current issue is with broadband and the current ISP being unable to supply anything.
If taking Annex M, would the priority service also be needed?
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Short answer: You can take either Annex M or Prioritised Service or both, it's your choice. Taking Prioritised Service as well as Annex M will not increase the potential upstream speed but it will mean that the best possible speed and the highest priority is applied to both upstream and downstream traffic on the line.
Long answer: Prioritised Service will increase the upstream speed if the 20CN network (up to 8 meg downstream) is available and 21CN (up to 20 meg downstream) is not available on a customer's line. (On a 20CN line where the customer has chosen Prioritised Service, we will order a product called "Max Premium" from our supplier which has a potential upstream speed of up to 832 Kbps. On a 21CN line where the customer has chosen Prioritised Service, we will add "elevated traffic weighting" to the order we place with our supplier. Regardless of the options chosen, if the line supports 21CN and the downstream speed estimate is above 4 Mbps, we will uncap the upstream anyway, giving speeds of up to 1.3 Mbps.)
As you've run a line check and found that Annex M is available, we would provision the service on the 21CN network. If Prioritised Service is taken as well, there would not be a direct increase in the potential upstream speed. Instead, what it would mean is that if the network is congested, that line's traffic would be prioritised at the exchange level by our supplier. This would not change the traffic management that we employ on our network which prioritises business customers regardless of the options the customer chooses. There are more details about our traffic management here: http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml
Prioritised service is £7.00 per month (ex VAT)
Annex M is £10 per month (ex VAT)
The contract length is just 30 days so you can try out both and then remove Prioritised Service if you don't need it.
There's a Prioritised Service FAQ here - http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/prioritised-service-faq.shtml
Hope that helps! Remember that if your contact decides to go ahead, give them your username to enter as they go through the signup and you'll get discounts on your bill as their referrer  Smiley
AlaricAdair
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Registered: ‎21-03-2011

Re: Possible business broadband switch

While I'm generally happy with PN as a business internet supplier you might want to suggest your client has two different suppliers for the provision of internet connection to the cloud for the purposes of resilience, possibly with mobile internet as a tertiary backup circuit.
Now Zen, but a +Net residue.
cjags
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 508
Thanks: 24
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Update:
They have a dedicated fax line and are wanting to put broadband on that as a backup to the current broadband.
Trouble is, the broadband checker for the number says there is a marker on the line.
How do they get that removed and how soon could broadband be provided?
Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 6,346
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Would you be able to PM me the telephone number you're referring to so I can take a look for you?
cjags
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Update 2:
Their current ISP no longer offers AnnexM (even though it is available at the exchange) so they are currently stuck with only the 1M upload (now down to 0.8M) which is proving too slow.
The plan is to get a second ADSL service on the other phone line from an ISP that will provide the AnnexM (Plusnet maybe?) and use a Draytek 2830n to hook up to both ADSL lines and use the load balancing features of the Draytek to use both at the same time.
Does anyone have experience of the Draytek 2830?  They have a Draytek 2800 which has been brilliant so I would expect the 2830 to be as reliable.
Once that is done we can see what difference AnnexM makes and can migrate the current ADSL to yet another ISP who provides AnnexM.  So the end result will be 2 ADSL2+AnnexM lines from different providers handled by the Draytek.  Should provide reasonable upload speeds and some resilience.  The Draytek also accepts a 3G USB dongle for a third link which could be handy for fail over.
At the moment, both lines are BT lines but there are some LLU services in the exchange.  Would it be worth switching one line over so both don't use BT?
AlaricAdair
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Posts: 5,658
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Registered: ‎21-03-2011

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Consider "Bonded ADSL" services. A google search will give you more information. Typically you can bond up to four connections.
Now Zen, but a +Net residue.
cjags
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Looks like all is ready to go.
They are looking for a new line install with broadband.
I can fill in the online request and just hope that the installation goes smoothly.
cjags
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Order placed for new line and broadband.
BP02425838
Will the new line be terminated with an ADSL faceplate?
Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 6,346
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Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Yes it will be. An engineer will come and fit that for you if this is a new line installation.
cjags
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 508
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Line instalation and activiation went smoothly.  Only a couple of hiccups.
1. BT engineer did not fit ADSL faceplate so am currently running with a microfilter.
2. Annex M does not appear to be enabled so can only connect at ADSL/2+
Have got ticket open for Annex M query 82774476
Pettitto
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 6,346
Fixes: 5
Registered: ‎26-11-2011

Re: Possible business broadband switch

Sorry for the delayed response.
I'm really sorry about the faceplate issue, if we need to take action on this, please get in touch with our Support Team and we'll get that sorted out for you.
We've just got your Annex M order placed, that should complete on Monday morning for you.
cjags
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 508
Thanks: 24
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Possible business broadband switch

I was surprised when you said BT would install an ADSL faceplate but it seems to be working OK with a microfilter so it's not a problem.
Not having Annex M is a problem. Nothing happened on 31 March so still only ADSL/2+ even though the extra for Annex M is being billed.