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Not doing me proud so far....

PeterH1
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎23-05-2018

Not doing me proud so far....

I recently decided to leave Sky, broadband first, TV later. The services and reliability were great, but Sky have become complacent about customer retention and pricing.

So I decided to move broadband from Sky standard fibre (totally reliable except for Sundays, getting normal download speeds mid 20s) - and upgrade to Plusnet Fibre extra which offered mid-range of mid 40s. I prepaid the phone line for 12 months, opted for safeguard to be off, and waited....

So my phone line change activated on schedule, 9 May. I got a text telling me that broadband would be operational from midnight 10 May (a day later, no big deal), but not to connect my router until I can received a text telling me to do so.

I waited eagerly. 10 May, 11 May, 12 May....no text. In fact, there has never been a text, now it is 23 May. I did receive a letter yesterday, dated 16 May, welcoming me to Plusnet but telling me not to plug in my router until I get a text or email, which has never arrived.......

My daughter got bored on on 12 May plugged in. And what do you know? We have a service. But:

1. Speed - averages mid 20s download, peak 28. So how come I’m paying for fibre extra but getting no better than Sky gave me on standard fibre two weeks ago. And the 10 day testing period must be over....

2. Drop out - yes, I get the spinning wheel, and the service drops, for anything from 10 secs to 5 mins, sometimes every two or three mins....then it works again.

3. Safeguard is on. Permanently. Even when I turn it off, reboot router, and unblock the sites. So that’s not what it says on the tin is it?

4. To be frank, the Plusnet website is useless. Lots of tools that end in a dead end. The embedded speed tester tells me that my line is running at half the speed my own Speedtest app (apparently the same tester) tells me - even worse than I think I’m getting. And whenever I go to ‘chat’ it is never available. I have no messages, no data, no communication from Plusnet - apart from taking £217 for line rental and month one fees upfront.

 

So I am feeling unloved, and not being done proud. I am considering cancelling and going back to Sky, cap in hand. What’s happening Plusnet?

I wait for a reply, but I really don’t believe one is coming.....

PeterH, somewhat disillusioned.

8 REPLIES 8
Baldrick1
Moderator
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Registered: ‎30-06-2016

Re: Not doing me proud so far....

Welcome to the forum.

You may well feel unloved by Plusnet but this forum is active and you will find fellow customers ready to help if they can. First can you advise what line speeds you should expect by putting your phone number in here: https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/. If copying and pasting the results back to this forum (if you can that's great) blank out personal data like your phone number. Forget the 10 day training period, it's a myth.

Safeguard is causing problems ar the moment, I understand that Plusnet are trying to fix it.

Live chat will not work if you have a pop up blocker. Some web browsers have it built in and it is activated by default.

Are you measuring your speed using wifi or an Ethernet cable between your router and modem? 

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Gandalf
Community Gaffer
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Registered: ‎21-04-2017

Re: Not doing me proud so far....

Hi there.

I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing problems.

 

1. Speed - averages mid 20s download, peak 28. So how come I’m paying for fibre extra but getting no better than Sky gave me on standard fibre two weeks ago. And the 10 day testing period must be over....

Our tests are showing your speeds below expectations...

Sync Status In Sync
Downstream Speed 32.4 Mbps
Upstream Speed 4.6 Mbps

Speed estimates.

Featured Products

Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)

  High Low High Low
VDSL Range A (Clean) 62.2 44 14.1 9.2

Unfortunately line tests aren't finding a definitive cause of the problem so I'd recommend trying the steps here just to rule out any potential issues with the internal wiring of the property then raise a fault to us at http://faults.plus.net

 

2. Drop out - yes, I get the spinning wheel, and the service drops, for anything from 10 secs to 5 mins, sometimes every two or three mins....then it works again.

Apart from a few drops, logs show that your connection is stable:

Are your devices connecting over WiFi or straight to the router using an ethernet cable? If you're using WiFi, would you be able to try a wired connection? This will help narrow down where the problem lies.

If your connection is OK that way, then it's likely the issue lies with the wireless signal and I'd try the steps here and also in this post over here too.

 

3. Safeguard is on. Permanently. Even when I turn it off, reboot router, and unblock the sites. So that’s not what it says on the tin is it?

We had an issue with this which has since been resolved.

Can you try adding Safeguard, waiting 2 hours then removing it?

 

And whenever I go to ‘chat’ it is never available.

Which web browsers have you tried using?

Do you have any pop up blockers installed which may stop live chat from working?

 

I have no messages, no data, no communication from Plusnet - apart from taking £217 for line rental and month one fees upfront.

From what I can see we've been sending you regular e-mails about your service.

Is your e-mail address on your account here up to date?

 

I hope this helps.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
PeterH1
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎23-05-2018

Re: Not doing me proud so far....

Thanks for the reply Baldrick, and Gandalf - restoring my faith....

I'll try a few of the suggestions, although it is daunting when you're not too technical.

I have been using WIFI for speedtest, but will try a cabled connection too. I am connected to the master socket so that shouldn't be an issue.

Thankfully the safeguard issue has now been resolved - thanks PlusNet - and the service seems to be stable which is good.

Speed is still around 29, Gandalf's response suggests that this is unexpectedly low. I will check out with a wired test and if it doesn't show anything then report a fault for resolution.

 

PeterH1
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎23-05-2018

Re: Not doing me proud so far....

Thanks Gandalf, you'll see from my reply to Baldrick that the Safeguard issue is sorted. I've also referred to other issues and your advice in that reply.

Regarding emails etc - yes, PlusNet have my email correctly recorded, but I've only received emails about trying to turn safeguard on and off - nothing about activating my broadband, and no texts. So that is definitely a process error at PlusNet end.

I'll update on progress as it happens.

Baldrick1
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Re: Not doing me proud so far....

It is very important to do speed tests with a wired connection as in many cases the problem is with the wireless link.

Some wireless devices have difficulty with the way the two wireless bands built into the hub are syncronised by default and work better if they are seperated, To do this click on the following link and follow the instructions https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Making-5-GHz-have-separate-SSID-with-the-Hub-One/m-p/1349587... Note that you need to enter the router IP address (192.168.1.254) in the browser's address field at the head of the page, not the search field if your browser has one.

When you have done this you will have either one or two Plusnet wireless signals to choose from on your devices, 2.4GHz and 5GHz (only if your wireless device supports this band). Connect to each in turn and see which gives the best result. 

If you have difficulty with any of this do just come back and ask for clarification

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PeterH1
Newbie
Posts: 4
Registered: ‎23-05-2018

Re: Not doing me proud so far....

Thanks Baldrick.

I have spent an afternoon doing speedchecks. Unfortunately our line seemed to have a few broadband outages which made it a little tricky, but results so far:

Before - I was getting a max of 28 download and about 3-4 upload on wireless from 'customer' port on master socket.

Testing - used ethernet, and wired router into master port socket (i.e. unscrewed front plate, direct, no other connections) - saw a max of 32 upload and 7 download

After - back to wireless and customer port - I've seen a 'peak' instantaneous reading on speedtest of high 30s download (actually for a moment it went up into the 70s) and 9 upload, although my final results seem to have moved up to 29-30 download and 4+ on upload.

So it seems that something has shifted, positively, a little - which is good. And if I believe that peak reading then it looks as if the line can sustain higher speeds.

I will monitor speed for the next 24-48 hours. However, it strikes me that PlusNet should now be rechecking and retesting my line. And if I don't see a step change up then it is time to log a fault, as the line estimator from Gandalf shows much higher expected speeds and I feel that by using ethernet and master socket I've eliminated a significant detriment resulting from my 'in house' set up.

Thanks, Peter

 

 

Baldrick1
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Re: Not doing me proud so far....

Plusnet will not log this as a fault unless it is either picked up here or you report it using the fault reporting link that @Gandalf gave you in post 3: https://community.plus.net/t5/Fibre-Broadband/Not-doing-me-proud-so-far/m-p/1541063#M75843. 

If you have done the tests then I suggest that you get it logged straight away and therefore in the queue to get it addressed.

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idonno
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Re: Not doing me proud so far....

@PeterH1  Which speedtest? I've found this one to be pretty consistent of late, give it a go. Speedtest

Ever helpful. Grin Sure, I’d love to help you out. Now which way did you come in?