Should I change product

[#1]

I'm currently on - Force9 Broadband Your Way Option 2 with included 15GB bandwidth (of which I used about 9Gb a month) . Paying £14.99 a month (less referral discounts). My line speed is 4.5Mbps. I work from home so use VPN a lot of the time and don't want to compromise any of that because it's sometimes slow enough as it is. I have a bundled VOIP Broadband Phone but to be honest whenever I've tried using it nobody can hear a word I'm saying so it's unusable apart from as voice mail number.
I have a D-LINK DSL-G604T which is pretty old and has started playing me up.
If I switch to - PlusNet Broadband Extra - do I loose anything I use? Can I keep my static IP address, can I keep my already allocated VOIP phone number? Will my linespeed drop to the 2.5Mbps predicted, or will it remain at the 4.5Mbps I already get or indeed increase with the ADSL2+. Can I ask for a new router compatible with 21CN which I see is to be rolled out on mass this year. Will BBC iPlayer and Spotify be restricted to the level they become unusable? I.E. will changing everything for the sake of £3.50 a month end up giving me a service I can't use, or am I paying that for the broadband phone that I don't use and the WebHosting which I also don't use?
Mum and Dad got a free router - no postage - but if I go to upgrade now the form wants to charge me £5 for it. I've been with PlusNet since 2004, and happy to lock in for another 12 months. I can't see why I shouldn't change but know that once you click these buttons you can never ever go back on it.

[#2]

Hi Mar7t1n,
To address your queries:

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If I switch to - PlusNet Broadband Extra: - do I loose anything I use? Can I keep my static IP address, can I keep my already allocated VOIP phone number?

Yes, and yes.

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Will my linespeed drop to the 2.5Mbps predicted, or will it remain at the 4.5Mbps I already get or indeed increase with the ADSL2+.

Nothing will change on the connection until the upgrade is put through, if you're already on 4.5Mb now you _should_ see an increase on ADSL2+ but the connection upgrade and the account upgrade won't necessarily happen at the same time.

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Can I ask for a new router compatible with 21CN which I see is to be rolled out on mass this year.

Yep - it's £4.99 for delivery and a deferred cost of £39.99 will be added to your account. This will only need paying if you leave within the next 12 months.

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Will BBC iPlayer and Spotify be restricted to the level they become unusable?

The management levels on Extra can be seen here: http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/download_speeds.shtml#extraSpeeds

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I.E. will changing everything for the sake of £3.50 a month end up giving me a service I can't use, or am I paying that for the broadband phone that I don't use and the WebHosting which I also don't use?

I hope the answers above have themselves answered that question... though as you still have the legacy hosting components now they can also be moved over to the Extra account should you choose to upgrade.

[#3]

If you have included minutes on the VOIP element of BBYW Option 2 ... these are not included in Extra. I have 120 minutes / month with my BBYW Option 2 and am also thinking of switching to Extra ... I've been told that nothing else changes. Since I don't use very much of the included minutes it seems I'm simply paying more than I need with BBYW Opt 2 ... unless anyone can think of a good reason to stay with BBYW Opt 2?

[#4]

Hi Colin1,
If the component is on your account when you upgrade then by default it's kept - that's the same for VOIP components as it is for hosting etc. so you should be able to keep the included minutes if you do choose to upgrade.

[#5]

Hi Matt,
Could you confirm re the inclusive minutes please ... I was given a different response to my ticket number 40660171 yesterday.
Cheers, Colin

[#6]

I'd expect this to be considered a downgrade because it's a cheaper product. I've tried the BB Phone but even on a 4Mbps line the other side tends to spend half of the call saying - sorry I can't hear you, what was that, your breaking up. So it's pointless even having. Improves on a fixed wire, but for the sake of 10p on a call it's not worth the aggro any more.
Save £3.50 and spend that on the odd phone call necessary or indeed spend that on an anytime upgrade to your phone package.
My concern is ADSL2+, my ADSL2 works and having given my router a jolly good thump and taking off Hidden SSID which the latest Microsoft patch seems to no longer like - it's all working fine and that's just the way I like it.

[#7]

Hi there,

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I'd expect this to be considered a downgrade because it's a cheaper product

There's no difference either way, downgrades and upgrades are both free of charge and the same rule of being scheduled for the next billing date applies to both.

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My concern is ADSL2+

Our advice here would be to try it, if it's not to your liking or your satisfaction we can put you back on 20CN within a week.

[#8]

That it - I've clicked the confirm button. Broadband is such an essential service, especially if you work from home and the alternative is a 105 mile round trip, just wanted to make sure I wasn't about to end up affecting my VPN traffic. It's not really about the money, but don't like to feel I'm paying for something that I'm not using. So am happy to say bye bye broadband phone that I never really use, and bye bye 250Mb of web-space which may have something stored on it but I also never actually use these days.
Have been with PlusNet since 2004, so you must be doing something right.

[#9]

Thanks, by the way if you did want to change account types and keep the web space I may be able to arrange that for you.