Unlimited/Essentials product launch December 2012

[#1]

I could deal with the package ending in that they no longer allow customers to take it up. What I’m concerned about is what happens to those that already have it if Plusnet find they now have 1000’s of people constantly hammering there network 24/7 and can’t deal with that sort of demand. I’m looking for assurances that if in 20 months Plusnet decided to move everyone off the unlimited package I would have the option to go back to my old legacy package or that they would never take those who already are on the package off it or modify it in any way in the first place like adding a FUP, Usage caps, traffic/ bandwidth management or anything that would no longer make it an truly unlimited product. I already have an unlimited product for 16 hours every day. I simply don’t use it for anything heavy between 16:00 and 00:00. Except for true unlimited broadband I would never want to give it up, even if the usage limit was set very high or something. I’m skeptical and cynical about taking up what looks like such a good offer to the point of probably unhealthy paranoia but I just don’t want to lose what I have on something that looks unsustainable and too good to be true.
The other question I had was about the explanation I read on how the traffic prioritization worked. It made it seem like each connection is separately monitored and prioritized. I.E that if 4 users are in the house using the internet and 2 are surfing, 1 is gaming and the other is maxing the connection by downloading from bit torrent then all the prioritization does is effect that connection locally so all users on it are managed appropriately and separately to every other customers connection. Is this the only area the traffic prioritization is in effect? Or does Plusnet give that as an example for customers so they can understand the process more? As my belief was an ISP with traffic prioritization enabled on their network would do this on a mass scale for all the users sharing out the ISP’s bandwidth locally for the ISP. So instead of it just being about the 4 users at home and their individual connection it’s now about thousands of customer connections all with 4 users on the end using different services via the internet. Meaning that if 1000’s of users are downloading on bit torrent the traffic prioritization would manage their data even if that’s all their connection is doing at the time so that the other 1000’s of users trying to play games on plusnet’s network would keep their latency as low as possible. Does anyone know how the prioritization works in this regard?

[#2]

If Plusnet were short of capacity prioritisation would apply across the board - Plusnet have said this won't happen. Providing they have enough capacity for each Unlimited line to run at full speed on demand it will only apply to the connection.

[#3]

Cards on the table moment:  From a precedent point of view, we used to have an 'Unlimited' product, which although had no usage limit, did have traffic management across it which included rate limits.  We stopped selling, and critically, increased the price of it after we had stopped selling it.
So, based on what we've done before, yes your concerns could apply.
Right now, can I see us needing to do that?  No, especially based on BT themselves going "Unlimited" as well.  If we did increase the price, that would be an option for exiting the contract.
You've got to weight that up really, in a similar way to changing phone/energy tariffs for what looks like a better deal 😕

[#4]

So what I take from that then is based on passed decisions if the unlimited package was withdrawn or determined to be unsustainable in its current incarnation, then plusnet would most likely attempt to increase the price of the product rather than attempting to modify it? They would also see their network capacity is starting to stress and actually stop selling the unlimited package rather than just adding on more and more users like some ISP’s do without unlimited packages, leaving there network highly congested? What I mean by that is if you have 1000 capacity and within the next 2 months 10,000 more users take up the unlimited package taking the used capacity up to 980 then is it plusnets current intended policy to responsibly stop selling the unlimited package before you start to go over the capacity and into 1250, 1500 etc. Or alternatively simply keep selling the unlimited package but increase your capacity to 2000?
I have no problem paying more if need be. The cheap prices are in fact something I find off-putting. For unlimited broadband I would feel more comfortable paying £30 a month not £9.99. I’m much more concerned about the connection and its limits changing then I am about the price. Heck I’d even be willing to keep paying £21.99 a month just as extra insurance payments that I keep the legacy product in the event the unlimited package is changed either in price or function.
The main pause for thought I have now is latency for gaming. If the network has no priority for gaming at the ISP end and lots of users start using there unlimited capacity to download from bit torrent I’m concerned how it will affect latency in gaming.

[#5]

Quote from: chaoticmess

The cheap prices are in fact something I find off-putting. For unlimited broadband I would feel more comfortable paying £30 a month not £9.99.

That is just perverse. Companies that overcharge survive on that basis.

[#6]

Back in 1995 I had a 56k modem with force9 giving me a telephone bill of £80 a month. Anything less than that and I still consider myself better off. I wouldn’t pay a company that over charges just for a standard internet connection. I would want something extra in return like no usage cap or FUP or in this case a guarantee of always being able to return to my legacy product.

[#7]

We continue to add capacity as more people sign up, and as those customers usage habits change to increase their usage.  This will continue.
With regards to the withdrawal, changes of the package etc, we are talking about something which hasn't happened, we aren't planning on happening, and I (we) truly hope we'll never do.
Based on how we've historically done this, we'd probably firstly, withdraw the product from sale and hope its replacement would sort the problem.  Next, if we needed to, we'd increase the price (therefore causing a contract exit notification).  I can't really imagine us changing the associated traffic management with the product.  It's sold as Unlimited, it needs to be.  If we did, again that would be a contract exit notification.
Please bear in mind, I'm just thinking this through based on how we've acted before in an attempt to answer your questions.  This isn't guaranteed, and tbh, extremely unlikely in the first place!  Please remember this

[#8]

Thanks for the replies. I’m a lot more content now. I grasp that nothing is guaranteed but I guess I just wanted some reassurance on how you’re likely to handle the situation if it were ever to arise. I also appreciate it never has which is also comforting.
I now have 1 more question which is not entirely related to the topic of the unlimited package but since I’ve started here I feel continuing here makes more sense.
I just went to order the upgrade to unlimited but got stopped at the home phone selection page. I’m currently with BT. I find it convoluted at best to need to involve 2 different company’s when all I want is broadband on the line. I have no need for the phone side of things at all. What I would like to know is how my phone line is handled in terms of repair and faults if I switch my phone to Plusnet instead of BT. From my perspective if I have crackling on the phone line and because of that the broadband from Plusnet does not work then I need to ring BT in order to get them to fix it and make my broadband work in the process. If I switch my phone to Plusnet do you take full control of the connection at that point and if my phone line crackles I would get someone from Plusnet come out and fix it? Or would I still be dealing with BT and just end up ringing Plusnet who then rings BT? I would like to get away from BT completely but am not sure how the line management/ownership works in this regards. The connection I’m taking would be ADSL2+.

[#9]

You would phone Plusnet who would arrange for a BT engineer to come and work on it.

[#10]

When the phone service is with BT it is actually with BT Retail who get BT Openreach to fix the fault. If you switch the service to Plusnet you ring Plusnet support to report a phone fault and they get exactly the same people to fix the fault (BT Openreach). In neither case does the customer deal with Openreach.
Having the broadband and phone service with the same company means that a phone fault that has its major effect on broadband does not cause "nothing to do with us, ring your broadband supplier" and "nothing to do with us, ring your phone supplier" conflicts. It seems to me that could be an advantage for the usage you describe where having a phone line is primarily to support broadband.
If you want to you could also take up Plusnet's Line Rental Saver where you pay £125.88 for 12 month's line rental in advance which is the equivalent of £10.49 per month.

[#11]

You raise a good point, though I still feel a bit like I’m dealing with a middle man. Would it solve the problem of me ringing up and saying my broadband isn’t working then have a BT engineer sent out, find a broadband fault, fix it then finds a phone fault and saying ‘I only have the work order and ability to fix the broadband fault’. Or the other way round where he fixes the phone and tells me there is a broadband problem still that he doesn’t have the paper work for or the authorization needed to do something about it? Because from my experience there is a big difference between having the services from the same company and BT still not being able to dynamically fix either or both services there and then while standing in your house.
Do BT charge for leaving them? Their 12 month contract expired in 2006. Do I need to contact BT and tell them I want to leave or would Plusnet handle it all once I place the order with them?

[#12]

Oh my God.  Just do it 

[#13]

Whether your line rental is paid to BT Retail or Plusnet makes no difference to the dealings with BT Openreach who are called to do the work. BT Openreach do not deal with you directly in either case.
Sorry, only you know what contract arrangements you have with BT Retail. You will have to honour those. When I moved my phone from BT to Plusnet, Plusnet handled it all. BT Retail received notification and eventually paid unused quarterly rental back to me (by cheque I think).

[#14]

BT do charge as we've found to our cost! The 12 month contract ended at the beginning of December on our second home, but they didn't notify us as their website says they will! When we eventually realised at the beginning of January, when the "reverted to quarterly charging" bill came in, we rang to complain but they wouldn't accept their systems were at fault. We wanted to cancel since it wasn't worth having a phone there - but we were then stung for a thirty day cancellation charge so have had to effectively pay a penalty of two months rental (£30)  to terminate the service. In fact they deducted £45 from our account so I presume we'll get a refund of £15 presently - or action will be taken!

[#15]

Quote from: maryf

Oh my God.  Just do it

Yeah, I appreciate I'm sort of taking my time and thinking about things too much or like I said previously I’m paranoid to a fault. But I believe that knowing exactly what I'm getting, what I'm doing and how it’s going to happen before I do it stops me needing to come back to these forums saying 'I have a problem' or 'this is not what I expected'. I'd rather post on the forums like this then after the fact with actual issues that could require a lot more posts and more importantly a visit from a BT engineer (shiver).

Quote from: spraxyt

Whether your line rental is paid to BT Retail or Plusnet makes no difference to the dealings with BT Openreach who are called to do the work. BT Openreach do not deal with you directly in either case. Sorry, only you know what contract arrangements you have with BT Retail. You will have to honour those. When I moved my phone from BT to Plusnet, Plusnet handled it all. BT Retail received notification and eventually paid unused quarterly rental back to me (by cheque I think).

Ok, thanks for the info.

Quote from: drj

BT do charge as we've found to our cost! The 12 month contract ended at the beginning of December on our second home, but they didn't notify us as their website says they will! When we eventually realised at the beginning of January, when the "reverted to quarterly charging" bill came in, we rang to complain but they wouldn't accept their systems were at fault. We wanted to cancel since it wasn't worth having a phone there - but we were then stung for a thirty day cancellation charge so have had to effectively pay a penalty of two months rental (£30)  to terminate the service. In fact they deducted £45 from our account so I presume we'll get a refund of £15 presently - or action will be taken!

That sounds like you asked them to terminate the line altogether, not switch to another provider? I could see why BT might charge to terminate.
Meh, stuff it I’ll try for the phone as well and see how things go. Rather Plusnet got the line rental charge then BT anyway. Just placed the order. 
My thanks to all who answered. Hopefully I won’t be back here in a month with a problem. I don’t like change, it’s scary.