Plusnet Mobile: Too good to be true in Northern Ireland

[#1]

I'm starting to conclude that being "on" the EE network is not the same as getting service direct from EE

Of course it's not, Plusnet are the value arm of the EE family. I would have thought that was a given tbh, there has to be a reason to pay 3(?) times the price.

No shortcode support - Possibly change in the future at some point as it's not a value added point for EE really.

No 800Mhz support - Trickier to predict as I don't know if they can disable VoLTE while still utilising the frequency band, if they can then I can't see why it won't be added.

No VoLTE  support - Definitely not IMO.

No WiFi calling - Probably not I'd guess as that's definitely a value add.

As for the original post I don't know why they can't get a signal but I doubt it's down to lack of support for 800Mhz, it was added when analog TV was turned off and EE would have been upgrading the masts to support it so any existing masts would already support band 3 anyway. How many masts do actually support the 800Mhz band?

Edit: I forgot the 2 super fast 4G EE speeds but you can forget about getting them on PN for sure.

2nd Edit (whoops): I forgot signal boosters too (thanks Sean) although I doubt that'll happen either.

[#2]

Hi Townman!

Thanks for getting in touch today! 

The coverage checker that we use is only an estimation of the signal that you'll receive, based on the EE network.

I can confirm that even though we use the EE network, we're an entirely seperate business from EE. This means that, unfortunately, we don't have all of the features that EE may offer on their network. 

Here at Plusnet mobile, we don't currently support Wifi calling, signal boosters, VOLTE or short codes. However, we value all feedback, and i'll make sure that this is passed on to the relevant department to look into bringing to the Plusnet network in the future! -Sean 

[#3]

The coverage checker that we use is only an estimation of the signal that you'll receive, based on the EE network

@SeanCorri we realise that, but I think @Townman 's real point, which you did not answer,  is:-

Is the coverage map a true estimate for Plusnet mobile ( i.e excluding the 800Mhz band ) or is it for EE ( i.e including the 800Mhz band ) ?

.

[#4]

Hi sohagan857! Thanks for the reply today!

I'm sorry for the confusion, however, I was outlining the coverage check process. I completely understand your frustrations in regards to the coverage checker showing as differently to what you actually receive, and I'll be passing this on to the relevant department to look into for you. However, I must advise that the coverage checker is only an estimate, and we cannot guarantee that you'll receive the exact signal strength as you were quoted. This can be down to many factors, so i'm unable to advise on the exact reason in this case. I'd be more than happy to take a look for you, so please don't hesitate to drop me a PM with your postcode today!

You're right! Sometimes a handset reboot won't solve the issue, but we'll always be sure to advise you on some further troubleshooting, to help you get this sorted!

Unfortunately, i'm unable to give you proof that we do send all feedback to the relevant department, however, I can assure you that if I say that i'll send it off, i'll send it off for you! In most cases, i'm as intrigued as you are to know the answer myself!

I'm not aware that you can buy or upgrade a SIM through our Live Chat facility, but you certainly can migrate on to another tariff! 

I'll make sure that your feedback is passed on to the relevant department, as we're always looking to improve our customer experience! As we're a seperate entity from EE, we don't currently offer these facilties, however, there's always scope for us to look into offering this to our customers in the future! 

I hope that you find my reply to @Townman's post helpful in understanding why there's a difference between EE and ourselves.

Please don't hesitate to drop me a PM with any further questions! -Sean 

[#5]

If the Plusnet service is different to that offered by EE even though claimed to be the same network then please spell out the differences AND the consequential difference in service experience. If PN is using a "subset" of the EE network functionality then looking at an EE map of expectations is not an honest projection if Plusnet coverage.

Back to my original question - how is the PN offering different to the native EE offering? If I moved from EE with my iPhone 6 to Plusnet what detriment in service will I see? There's no point in benefiting from something cheaper when I cannot discern the actual differences.

I suspect that the majority of people somewhat expect a service delivered over the EE network to be no different to the service from EE. Though generally tech savvy, I have no understanding of the subtle detail of mobile service offering. I have seen other tech savvy members around here find that the service does not have the same coverage.as experienced when with EE. There needs to be more clarity here please.

@LouisaMartin - can you influence the discussion here please?

[#6]

Just to add my 2p on the EE predicted coverage maps.  In my post code I KNOW that they are extremely optimistic, predictions for 2 miles around my post code suggest that all services including 4G are available - in reality Voice is sporadic as is 2G, the rest is in someones imagination.   As an EE MVNO plusnet need to feedback to get the predictive coverage maps improved?

[#7]

Predictive coverage maps for all carriers are exactly that, predictive. There's no way they can be anything but. The best advice is always to get a free sim on your chosen carrier and try it in your usual haunts.

[#8]

Thank you @Colin_Maybe  I do understand the technology and the constraints of predictive coverage maps.  Merely pointing out that in many cases they are over optimistic in their predictions (presumably driven by marketing requirements).  Some calibration by monitoring actual signal levels is needed post mast installation to modify the initial predictions AND update the algorithms.

NOTE:  This true for all carriers not just EE / Plusnet. 

[#9]

Hi Townman!

EE provide functions that include the likes of short codes, double 4G, and WiFi calling - however, Plusnet mobile are a separate entity entirely to EE. Although we do use the EE mast system and network, we are a separate company and therefore, do not support all the services that EE have to offer. However, except for those EE services which we do not provide, our coverage checker will be as accurate as the EE coverage checker.

As an MVNO that use the 800MHZ 4G frequency provided by EE, we cannot always provide the full services/ signal strength that is provided on a higher frequency band. We use the EE coverage checker, as this covers the 800MHZ in which we provide, in order to access our services.

The coverage checker provided by EE, is an estimated area checker and cannot guarantee full signal accessibility to the service; due to many factors such as the density of building materials, tree cover, weather conditions and how many other people are using the network.

I completely understand the clarity you seek with this Townman, however, if you would like information that would allow EE to provide a coverage checker which provides 100% accuracy on a location, then this is a question/ suggestion that needs to be raised with EE directly.

If you have any further questions Townman, don’t hesitate to ask away and we’ll do our best! -Sean

[#10]

@Colin_Maybe

Inaccuracies in predictions and being completely wrong are two separate issues.

Let’s make an analogy from your statement:

You’ve been looking to go on a sun holiday for the last 6 months, a last minute deal pops up for the next 7 days leaving tomorrow. You’re instantly hooked. You check the forecast to ensure the sun is out – It is – it states sun for 5 days, possibly cloudy sat and Sunday. You understand it’s only a forecast but it can’t be that wrong can it? It might possibly have got the latter parts of the week wrong, but for most of the week you are guaranteed sun. You arrive - its wet, stormy, dark, miserable – wasn’t worth you buying or going. You’d want answers as to why it was so wrong, why you were lied to wouldn’t you?

That’s the situation we are in in regards to buying PN.

As a matter of fact – I thought of something. Given the government is pushing all carriers to close off black spots, I wonder if EE’s publicly available coverage map is what they actually provide the government when providing statistics about coverage to them? I am going to say no as it is blatantly incorrect. I assume PN's map just hooks into EE’s so PN’s coverage map is also wrong, not just EE's.

Either way – this is false advertisement, I personally bought PN because it stated good signal. Good signal meaning I was the 3rd level above from having 0 signal. 

@SeanCorri –

We understand EE provides the EE coverage map, but PN also provide their own website with their own coverage map. We bought PN, not EE, and are asking you[PN] to fix *your* coverage map. I personally don’t know if EE’s is actually wrong, I might just buy an EE sim and check my home address to see. I’ve an assumption that PN’s coverage map is just hooking into the EE one and looking at the source I think it must as it uses https://maps.ee.co.uk/mvno/coveragechecker.html?enable4g=1. So maybe EE is at fault here. But do you really think a random customer from PN complaining to EE is even going to be listened to or heeded? They won’t even give me an EE boostbox because I’m not a EE customer, so they definitely wont listen to me complain. You guys at PN need to escalate and contact EE if they are at fault, not us.

Lastly, I also noticed this in the source –

“We cover 99% of the UK population, Proud to be part of the EE network”: Either 2G, 3G or 4G coverage of 99.63% of the UK population as at 30 September 2016. Based on EE data”

That was 11 months ago – and correct me if I am wrong but haven’t they added a heck lot more masts throughout 2017? I couldn’t help but laugh at this considering the stats from about 5 people on this thread alone.

Regards,

Sean

[#11]

@SeanCorri,

Thank you for trying to explain things, however I still feel some clarity is missing or confusion abounds.  I am aware that a long standing very respected member of this community terminated their PN mobile contract because they could not get satisfactory 4G data coverage with a PN SIM.

The post here - https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/G4-enabled-and-available-but-can-t-get-data-connection/m-p/1462... - suggests that EE only permits EE purchased phones and iPhones to access some functionality on the 800Mhz band and certainly not resellers.  Put simply are the facts in @RichardB's posts ones which you recognise?

Your reply makes specific reference to low frequency band, does that mean that PM SIMs do not have access to the 1800Mhz band?  If "No" what difference does that make to the coverage information provided by the EE network map, which surely reports the joint coverage of both 800Mhz and 1800Mhz?

The "elephant in the room" is that PN claim the benefits of using the EE network, but are not being clear about the scope of the limits on the use of that network.  If coverage (within the understood limitations on precision) is EXACTLY THE SAME for PN users and native EE users then just say coverage is the same ... for both voice and data ... on 2G, 3G and 4G.  If there are differences, please explain in what circumstances PN users will not see the full benefit of the great EE network.

Whilst (as retailers) EE and PN are different companies the "transportation" network is being presented as being identical ... well is it?  You imply that the signals for PN users are not as strong as those for EE users.  Having a scant background in telecommunications (decades out of date) that seems somewhere between odd and unlikely!

Surely its like the rail network - the rails, signals and controls are the same, what is different from TOC to TOC (Train Operating Company) is as much as anything else a matter of the quality of the rolling stock ... all carried over the same shared network ... but offering different levels of comfort, some with first class, some of whom feed you a meal as well.

[#12]

@SeanCorri

There does seem some confusion around the Band 3 (1800Mhz) and Band 20 (800Mhz) availability. Using the LTE Discovery app I have never seen anything but Band 3 (1800 Mhz) used, at least in my location. Are you saying that we do have access to Band 20 (800 Mhz) or have you managed to confuse yourself as well as the rest of us

[#13]

I think this article accurately describes the situation re EE MVNOs & access to 800 MHz...

http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/news/industry/44030/exclusive-ee-mvnos-miss-out-on-800mhz-switch-on.asp...

Richard

[#14]

Good find, so Sean is incorrect as I thought. I didn't know it was that recently that it was activated but reading between the lines there I'd hazard a guess that we're not getting access even if you've got a compatible phone.