Activation Dates

[#1]

Hello,

I signed up to PlusNet on the 23rd May for Fibre Unlimited Extra. Before ordering I spoke to someone on Live Chat, who said this would take 10-12 days max for me to be on PlusNet.

It says in my account that my Fibre will be ready to use on the 8th June. 

Is there any way this date can be brought forward? Or is this something set by my current provider? They had notice of me cancelling service on the 25th. 

I have my router, I don't need an engineer visit - What is taking so long?

Thanks,

[#2]

Hi Steve, 

Sorry about the information you've been given, the standard lead time for a takeover from another provider is 10 working days(14 standard days), this is mandated by Ofcom and something all providers must follow when taking over a service.

As notice was given to your previous provider on the 23rd, the earliest we could takeover would be the 7th which is the current takeover date, our system confirms the 8th as it can be up until midnight for the orders to be fully closed.

An engineer is required for the Fibre work but this is only external and hasn't caused the delay, the wait is the normal notice we must give, everything is going ahead as it should however so I don't forsee any issues going ahead

[#3]

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I do apologise if you were given a incorrect expectations for the lead time on these orders over chat. Although there is a minimum lead time of 5 working days, there isn't really an upper limit, it's down to engineer availability. Having said this, it's generally been around 1-2 weeks recently from the ones I've seen. (EDIT: on stand alone fibre orders. As Darkfire has said, the minimum is 10 working days on migration orders)

@stevemac555 wrote:
I have my router, I don't need an engineer visit - What is taking so long?

---

Unfortunately despite there being no need for an engineer to access your property (At least there shouldn't be if all goes according to plan) the lead times on fibre orders are affected by engineer availability to carry out external work.

I'm sorry to say we wouldn't be able to bring the date forward, however it's actually committed for the 7th so you should be online with us a day earlier than you initially expected.

[#4]

Thanks, I suppose it's just waiting then. It seemed like there were no apparent reason for the 2 weeks - But that would explain it.

Will I receive confirmation on the day when it's ready? Or is it a case of unplugging my current router and plugging in the PlusNet one and seeing if it's activated?

Sorry for another question, but how accurate are the speed estimates? I was estimated 44-60mb - I am roughly 0.3km from the cabinet that serves my property, after a bit of searching around I found this: http://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/2013/chart-bt-fttc-vdsl2-speed-against-distance - Would that be accurate?

Thanks.

[#5 · Accepted solution]

You'll get a text and email when the phones comes over, and again when the broadband is activated, it's not uncommon for the fibre work to be done before the phone so both come over together.

There will be a small bit of downtime if the fibre work happens after the phone but shouldn't be too long, if there are any issues just give us a call and we can sort those out on the day for you.

In regards to speeds, it can honestly vary, line quality also comes into the length factor, the only way to truly know is to test it once it's installed unfortunately, but will be somewhere between the estimates, hopefully on the higher side

[#6]

Hi there,

I've had an email around 2.40pm saying the Phone has switched over, Internet has been off since around 1.30pm (3 hours)- Does it normally take this long?

I am not getting any data rates or connection info in the router.

Thanks,

[#7]

Hi Steve, 

Sorry about the delay with this, looking at things your phone has indeed come over but there are no notes with Openreach on the Fibre work, seems like a slightly delayed engineer but as it's an all day slot we can't chase it with them just yet.

I'll keep a close eye on this one and give them a call if not signed off by 6PM,  but shouldn't be too long in all honesty

[#8]

Thanks - Much appreciated! 

[#9]

It's just become active.. I've currently got the following:

6. Data rate:	15288 / 56294
7. Maximum data rate:	15288 / 56848

Is this likely to fluctuate? Or would that be the maximum speed for my line?

[#10]

Brilliant, still no engineer notes and the order is open but that's expected for a short while, I've activated you our side to allow you to login correctly to our network.

I'd expect that to be the top end given how close it is to estimates, but I'd try it over a few days to get an average of what you actually see on your side

[#11]

Thanks for that, seems to be connected OK. 

Although BT Wholesale and Speedtest.net say around 52mbps, it seems downloading files is limited to 3.9mb/s - It wont go over that no matter what I download. e.g. any test files from http://www.thinkbroadband.com/download/ or any other site.

[#12]

Is it possible that the file is downloading at 3.9 Megabytes per second as this would be around 31.2 Megabits per second which, although still lower than your estimates, would seem more reasonable.

[#13]

Sorry yes, the file is downloading at 3.9 megabytes per second. I am connected at 15288 / 56294 data rate and speed tests are telling me around 50-52Mbps.

Surley 3.9 is much lower than I should be getting if I am connected at 15288 / 56294?

[#14]

As per my previous post, 3.9 Megabyes would be 31.2 Megabits.

I do agree it's a still lower than the 56 Megabits that you're expecting though. Once the order completes, it may be worth looking in to it as a fault.

[#15]

Thanks Harry,

It has increased and I was downloading from Steam at 6.1 megabytes per second late last night. So that appears to have been resolved! Anywhere near that speed I am more than happy with..

Just one last thing (I promise) - Is it normal for my Maximum date rate to keep dropping?

6. Data rate: 14829 / 60138
7. Maximum data rate: 11081 / 55982

The 55982 was showing 62xxx from around 8pm last night. It's either changed in the night or early this morning. The data rate download seems to be still in the 60138 though? The connection has been very stable and hasn't been dropping out at all..

Thanks,