Hello and Moving from BT - ADSL -> PN FTTP

[#1]

Hi guys,

I note that it seems some people have moved from ADSL with BT over to the PlusNet FTTP trial successfully. Has anyone had any issues doing this? I don't want to come over to PN, only to be told I can't join the trial.

FTTP is available where I live as part of a rural initiative (FTTC was available - but the distance to the cabinet resulted in even slower speeds than ADSL).

One of my neighbours has just had it activated (BT), but at £50+ pm, it's too rich for me! Frustratingly, BT offer it to new customers at <£30! Having spoken to their retention team, there's nothing they're willing to do to keep me.

So, having seen that this trial is underway at PN - what are my chances of being able to come on over? I understand that I'd have to join as an ADSL customer first, and then swap to the trial - and this is what is concerning me a little. Has anyone ever been refused? i.e. Come over to ADSL, and then stuck on it for the rest of their contract.

Many thanks in advance for any help/advice offered.

Phil

Oh, the engineer that laid the fibre to my neighbour's property said that information that may help an order to my house (just to show it is active, as the computer systems sometimes show it's not available), is that the ID# of the CBT block is CBAISEP, it's a 12 port block, less than 60yds from the house, and the ducts are clear).

[#2]

Just an update.....

I've gone ahead, after an on-line chat, and then a phone call, and joined PlusNet! 

We'll see how this pans out - but I've been assured by both agents that I should be able to join the trial with no issues. 

[#3]

@The_Dreamer

Multiple people have followed the same path as you (one of my neighbours did!!!).

Couple of things to note. As it's a "trial" the FTTP product is not integrated with PlusNet back office systems so generally speaking phone and live chat staff know little about FTTP. This forum is the best place for support. In a similar vein few staff are trained on FTTP matters so you sometimes have a wait a couple of days for an answer but hopefully one will make themselves known on this thread.

You should be able to sign up for the trial as soon as your PlusNet account is active (which may be before your service goes live. As soon as you can, login to the PlusNet Members centre. Once you're in you can submit a trial request at

https://portal.plus.net/wizard/?wizard_id=20

Brian

[#4]

Thanks Brian,

I'm actually a little ahead of you, as I already found the link for the trial and have requested to join - noting that I may be jumping the gun somewhat! 

I'll keep this thread open - just to track progress, and maybe someone will find it useful in the future when following the same path.

Cheers,

Phil

[#5]

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@The_Dreamer wrote:

... i.e. Come over to ADSL, and then stuck on it for the rest of their contract.

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@The_Dreamer

I don't know if you noticed when signing up that you don't need to be on a contract to start with (other than a monthly rolling contract) as PN offer options to sign up without the usual 12 or 18 month contracts. 

[#6]

I hadn’t spotted that!

I suppose then, I could have joined up, having left BT, to then ‘join’ BT again after just a month or so, and get their ‘new joiner’ offers. But frankly, that’s not who I am - as long as I’m allowed to join the trial, PN will have my business. BT, in their eagerness to extract as much money out of me as possible, has lost a customer.

Basically, play fair with me, and I’ll play fair with you - that applies to companies and individuals. 

[#7]

Fair enough, but one advantage of not already being 'in contract' with PN when joining the FTTP trial is the fact that you also won't have a phone contract.  As PN will let you ditch your landline whilst on the FTTP trial, thereby saving the cost of line rental, you wouldn't be penalised for early termination of the phone part of the contract.

Therefore if you don't require a landline you would just pay the cost of the FTTP (FTTC equivalent price) plus a £2.50 surcharge for not having a PN phone service. 

That's how things are ATM, but if/when PN decide to end the long-running trial and offer FTTP as a service, the T&Cs could well take account of that.

[#8]

Thanks Rob,

the PN deal is good enough to attract me over - line rental and all. We do need a fixed line; as with many rural areas around here, we get very poor, to non-existent, mobile coverage.

Cheers,

Phil

[#9]

You could always port the landline number to VoIP as many others have done, then you won't suffer from the problems of a long rural copper line. 

[#10]

I have been told that if I move to the trial and have no landline I will lose the 7 months line rental that I have paid in advance as I have moved to an area where they cannot provide a landline.  That's if they accept me on the trial - the application was made 10 days ago and still no response If I can't go on the trial I will have to move to BT

[#11]

You could always port the landline number to VoIP as many others have done, then you won't suffer from the problems of a long rural copper line. 

Thanks Rob,

I'll need to do some homework on that, to see if it's workable for us - I used VOIP years ago (in the days of ISDN), and the equipment was pretty flakey - I'd like to think it's gotten a little better over the years, so may be an option.

I'll get the FTTP sorted first and make sure it's totally reliable before doing anything else - baby steps maybe, but at least heading in the right direction!

[#12]

@sudworth

Probably best to start your own thread on here and tag in one of the PN 'FTTP knowledgeable' staff members whose name appears in some of these threads.     (e.g. @Gandalf )

Unfortunately loss of your prepaid line rental will probably be collateral damage, BICBW.

[#13]

@The_Dreamer

If you've already joined under a 12 or 18 month contract it's not too late to cancel under the 14-day cooling-off period and restart your order using the 'monthly' option. 

EDIT:

@The_Dreamer

I forgot to respond to a couple of points you made;

1.  IME, VoIP and definitely some consumer VoIP equipment  is pretty reliable these days.  I run two systems - a DrayTek Vigor2920Vn VoIP router and a Gigaset N300-IP DECT system and both are very reliable, using several VoIP providers.  The Gigaset has become my main system, but I still use the DrayTek for some types of call.

2.  Reliability-wise you can't get much better than FTTP, and you'd have to be very unlucky to suffer problems.

[#14]

@Gandalf

@OllieC

@MatthewWheeler

Hi chaps,

apologies for 'calling' all of you, but just wanted to progress this as quickly as possible.

I have an open ticket - #177971480, that I've responded to, but just yesterday was notified that the question was on hold until 23rd July (not sure what this means, other than it won't be re-visited until then)?

So I'm hoping that one of you could take a look and see if there's anything else I need to do to get the FTTP order up and running from my end. And of course, if PN has all the required information, maybe set the ball rolling?

Very keen to get this sorted and underway before the trial closes to new entrants.

Many thanks all,

Phil

[#15]

Hi @The_Dreamer. Thanks for getting in touch. I can see you have responded to the FTTP trial ticket with the relevant answers required. We will now get your FTTP order in place and send some confirmation via your account shortly.

Let us know if you need any further assistance. -Alice