Guaranteed speeds

[#1]

I am presently with EE on a 500mbps contract. I was with BT until they decided that they weren't interested in retail customers any more, a stance which, happily, they have now reversed.

I have no complaints against EE itself but will not be renewing with them when my contract runs out. I will either return to my beloved BT (don't laugh!) or will transfer to Plusnet. I would be renewing probably at 300mbps.

All I need is a basic no frills service with a UK based call centre and strong customer feedback, conditions which Plusnet more than meets. However, the guaranteed minimum speeds offered by Plusnet are often below the other two, and there has been some feedback on this forum regarding poor speeds under Plusnet. Any doubts on these areas would return me to the loving (?) arms of BT. Some things are worth paying extra for!

I felt that here, among actual users, would be the best place to air my fears and be either re-assured or shot down in flames. All replies of experiences welcome and thank you for reading thus far!

[#2]

The EE supplied router you have (and would need to return) is probably better than the router Plusnet will send you.

Plusnet also don't offer a phone service.

Beyond that, I doubt you would notice the difference between Plusnet's full fibre and BT's.

If you mostly use WiFi, the difference between router capabilities may be significant.

[#3]

@snes 

I wouldn't worry about the guaranteed speeds on Full Fibre. This is a throwback to ADSL / VDSL when distance and or line quality could (did) affect the speed received.

With FF there is no distance / line quality issues so you should always receive the advertised speed. If not then there's a potential problem.

I would go as far to say there's no technical need for an ISP to quote these numbers. I suspect to down to a legal requirement to do so.

Brian

[#4]

@snes I am not with Plusnet these days - I moved a few years  ago for reasons I won't go into here, as they are not relevant to your queries.

However, the vast majority of the 'poor speed' claims are not, in the vast majority of cases (>95%, I would say), Plusnets fault, but down to customers environments. In the vast majority of cases, these claims are   made by people who expect (say) 500mbps all over the house, from wireless connections, and don't get them. You only get the maximum speed from a wired connection, as wireless is very environment dependant.

As regards the call centre question, you would probably be talking to the same(UK based) people you are now - all BT Consumer customers (BT/EE/PN) are dealt with by the same  staff.

[#5]

Thank you so much to all who took the time to respond to my post - your comments were very reassuring!

Can I just throw one more item into the mix? I will return the BT router that was supplied, but I also have my own BT SH2 router and disc which I will continue to (hopefully) use if I migrate to Plusnet. Am I correct in thinking that this can be done and, if so, what would be the procedure?

Again, many thanks for all your help - it is much appreciated!

[#6]

but I also have my own BT SH2 router and disc which I will continue to (hopefully) use if I migrate to Plusnet

Am I correct in thinking that this can be done and, if so, what would be the procedure?

In order to use the BT hub , you need to be able to set the PPPoE credentials to your PLusnet ones. I THINK the SH2 will allow that but later BT routers won't. 

As regards the discs , it depends!. There are black discs and  white discs, the white ones will work (and will work with the Plusnet supplied Hub 2) but I  believe the black ones require a BT account & app to configure (which of course you won't have any more!)

[#7]

Thank you for your advice re using BT hub. I have the black disc which works well with my SH2 even though I am now with EE, so I am assuming the two will still pair up under Plusnet?

 EE never sent me a router (a blessing from what I hear!) as they were aware I was a BT customer.