Left frustrated after engineer visit.
Please know that Plusnet have been absolutely great and the engineer was lovely also so do kindly know this while you read and thank you 
Basically for some strange reason lately I started getting a lot of connection drops, I think it started around Christmas and the really baffling thing was it was always mailny around 1 am (about those times) every time it would drop apart from two bad days, both which were a Sunday where the internet would be constantly dropping and really bad, I'd have a solid 11 days or so of connection and then I'd get this happening which really baffled me.
The engineer came out today after all this as it was obvious we needed to determine things which he tested the line and refreshed this also, the line dropped to 11 mbs but he refreshed it back to 40 mbs and said how the line is perfectly fine (when FTTP is installed this will be much better). He also tested the wire from the socket that connects to my router and said this also was very good and then the last part was to test the router which he did say was over heating a little and then mentioned how he could see how it could be to do with a TP link Ethernet Switch I had plugged in which I needed because I need more ethernet ports to hard wire things as the Wi-Fi is so terribly bad that using things on Wi-Fi was just a no go really.
Before these issues occured Plusnet did work with me to try and better the Wi-Fi signal which after a lot of back and forth they did manage to find a fix where they turned off the 5hz and it started working much better and getting a stronger signal, honestly even in the same room it was barely connecting at one point and struggling so bad it was just so problematic hence why I say it got to a point where I had to hard wire as much as I could (bare in mind my router is also in a good place).
Because the guy today advised me to not use the TP link ethernet switch I've now got the problem again of not enough Ethernet ports so I'm having to use Wi-Fi as much as I can with things and I'm hoping this can sustain and not be so frustrating as it eventually got to before, however one of the Ethernet ports I have to use for the Wi-Fi extender because my mum in the other room can't even use her TV due to such a bad weak signal (we'd get one bar at best when not in the same room) so I've now only got three ports which I need to use while I convert things to Wi-Fi as much as I can, so it's quite frustrating when Wi-Fi is so up in the air and not really too reliable.
I understand also Plusnet are a budget provider so I don't expect you to give us top notch equipment (of course) but I do know the routers are very basic and aren't very good, specially with Wi-Fi which has been the thing I've heard the most but as we are advancing there's a lot of things where you have no choice but to use an ethernet connection (I know Roku boxes don't do Wi-Fi anymore and many things don't use them either) so it's just really frustrating because the Wi-Fi just isn't good.
Now this is what I mean about how Plusnet are abslolutely fantastic (I do get frustrated at times when having internet problems as we all do) as the lady on the phone did try help me with the Wi-Fi as much as she could but she suggested about possibly getting a third party router and she also (completely unexpected to me) kindly credited me £20 due to all this which I've now used to upgrade my desktop to a wireless connection because I need this (I do a lot of my work through this so it's important) so this is what I mean about how fantastic Plusnet really are and how much I love and appreciate you guys so much, this is what I feel Plusnet deserve a lot of love for because you do 10000% look after your customers so much hence why I wrote the forum post a bit back prasing you guys and also the trustpilot reviews as I know people tend to go on to complain and I do feel Plusnet are one of the best, specially for customer service!!
But I just feel stuck now because I've been advised not to use the TP link ethernet switch anymore, I don't really want to buy a third party router because I'm not comfortable with that (which I'm sure you can understand) and I know when it comes to technical help Plusnet are there for me with their routers too which I want. I just feel more comfortable using the equipment you kindly supply but as the Wi-Fi is so bad on the router I have no choice to use the extension as my mum is only in the room opposite and soon as we're outside the door where the router is it drops to a one bar strength signal where as with the extender we get 4 or 5 signal strength (it's completely unusable without this).
So what do you guys suggest? Please take into consideration how I'm not comfortable with a third party router (I'm also not clued up about these and they can be quite expensive) and I can't use a TP link ethernet switch no more cause it over powers the router (the engineer did a lot of work today and was great!) but I just feel that as we're advancing with technology too we're going to need better things to support this but I feel Plusnet isn't going to be able to keep up with things at the moment and I don't want to leave Plusnet because you really are one of the best with customer service which means a lot to me and I am happy with Plusnet, I just know the routers are not really great as the downfall which the engineer mentioned and I've seen all over on review websites where Plusnet are very highly praised but this is the only con that often gets mentioned (again I realise Plusnet are a budget provider so I understand).
I just feel a bit stuck simply because I don't want to use things Plusnet don't supply and I can't use an ethernet switch to add more ethernet ports I need because it causes a problem with the router but yet switching to Wi-Fi it's not very good so I'm kinda stuck.
Thanks for being so kind to read through and understand, I really do appreciate it and thank you!!
Hi there, thank you for that, yeah I just wanted to kindly go through everything so people can get a good idea as it has been quite a long road.
Internet has been fine since though before the engineer came out I would have 11 days or so of solid connection then all of a sudden get a bad day where it was constantly dropping, I had two really bad days (both Sunday's haha) and any other inconsistent drops were always around 1 am however the engineer did refresh the line and saw that it had been dropped to 11 mb which is now back to 40 mb after he refreshed this.
I no longer have the TP Ethernet switch plugged in because I was advised against it. He did mention the router was heating up, tested everything including my wire from the socket to my hub which was perfect and it came down to the router or things plugged into it. He did another test on the router and said how that seems alright too and then I can't remember all the technical terms but he also said how usually he see's it as the router having the 4 ethernet ports for a reason (I was only using a total of 6 with the TP link anyway) but now that I've unplugged this it has been perfect however as I say it baffled me cause I'd have 11 days of solid internet and then I'd get bad days randomly all of a sudden which started to become a little more regular.
When I was getting the drops everything was going, the router would flash orange, the b would light on and off and go through a whole cycle for about 5 mins until it went blue again.
All I want is just a solid decent internet connection, I'm not overly fussed if the speeds I'm getting aren't quite what I should be as long as the connections there and things work. I don't want to plug the TP link back in again in case it does end up messing up my internet connection again.
It's just always back and forth for me being told different things and I really shouldn't have to go through all this all the time not really having a clue if you get what I mean.
Thank you for the kind reply
That's what I always prefer to do @dvorak however using 6 with the TP link is what he said was looking to be congesting (I forget his exact words as it was some technical term about the different interference things) so was advised to not use this.
I've now bought a Wi-Fi dongle for my desktop so I can use this wireless due to all this and I currently no longer have the Xbox or Playstation wired, I've basically got 3 out of the 4 ethernet ports in use now one being the extender that I absolutely need due to the Wi-Fi being poor on the router (I cannot work things without the Netgear WI-Fi extender).
I should be able to use all these wired without problems to be honest, it's the day and age we live in now and we need equipment and internet to support this but it seems to be a contant struggle. I just don't really know what to do to be honest, I'm a bit burnt out with it all.
Thank you so much for the kind reply also
Hi Robbie, apologies for the delayed staff response and I'm sorry to see you're experiencing connection problems.
I've firstly tested your line tonight and the tests are showing everything seems to be OK with the broadband signal going into your router and there's been no drops for the past 3 days, which is promising.
I'd personally say using a switch should be fine, I use one at my own house including a set of powerline adapters to extend the wireless signal around, although I imagine it's possible if the switch has developed a fault which may be what the engineer's referring to as they may have believed the switch to be faulty potentially.
If everything's working fine now and if you're wanting to use your switch again for more ethernet ports, as a test you could plug it back in and see how things go.
Let us know how you get on. I'm about to leave the office now (I officially finished at 9pm) and I won't be around this weekend but I'll be back here next week if you need any further help or guidance.
Thanks @Gandalf I really appreciate that and don't worry about the delayed response, it's absolutely fine
Yeah it's been solid since, I'm really dubious about using it now because he had to reset the line to clear it again to get it back to 40 mb, it's never been quite reaching that but as long as my internet is solid and enough to run what I need for now then I don't mind. It's having a solid connection what matters to me the most as long as the speed is sufficient if you get what I mean
I'm just so cautious about using it though after it all cause I don't want to go through it all again, feels like I've wasted money with it to be honest but I don't really want to use anything that could make it happen again
Thank you so much for your kind help, I really appreciate it and this is what makes Plusnet great for me personally so thank you!!
@markhawkin you have 100% nailed it!!!
That's exactly what he mentioned about it all and affecting broadband performance, he did say something along the lines of "They usually have 4 ports in the back for a reason" in other words saying if we overload them with more by extensions etc.. it's not really good for them, he did mention how my router also felt quite warm as while he was doing the tests before he tested the router itself he did say it's either the router on it's way out or the extender going into it which he then did some test on the router and said it's ok and that he was pretty sure it was the extender overloading it. He didn't say it in a bad way or anything but he did mention how the Plusnet routers aren't good so he seemed to put it down to this and he did spend some time doing everything to see.
He also mentioned about the old copper wires as you mentioned too and that's when I was saying to him how I've been stressing so much about how bad we want the FTTP as opposed to these old copper wiring which he said BT Openreach should have this started in the next year or so for us (even though when I put my postcode in the FTTP checker it says no plans he said they actually do) and he also mentioned how these copper wires are what cause the problems 99% of the time simply because they are old, have been there since we pretty much launched the internet in the UK and also why so many countries are ahead of us now with broadband having much more solid connection, faster speeds are normal for them and it's all because they built their infastructure way after we did and we never upgraded in the UK to keep up with it, it's a big problem and it's a probem also for the ISP's as it's not their fault either that these are more times than not the cause of the faults. Soon as we have FTTP he was saying how it'll bo so much better and eliminated almost all of the problems as well as give us a more consistent, faster broadband too as opposed to having to pay for higher packages to get what is normal in other countries.
If you're interested in this, there's a report that came out recently "Britain ranks 81st when it comes to home broadband as it lags behind Europe".
Some quotes as I'm not sure I can link articles here.
"A global study of more than 3,000 fixed-line monthly bundles found the UK lagging “far behind” much of Europe, mainly due to reliance on ageing copper cabling rather than high-speed fibre optic. It was ranked 71st cheapest overall of 206 countries worldwide according to comparison site Cable, and the fifth cheapest of 29 countries looked at in western Europe."
"Dan Howdle, consumer telecoms analyst for Cable, said: “The UK is still heavily reliant on part-copper networks, coming rather late to the party when it comes to pure fibre.”
He added: Speeds available to UK households have not significantly changed for the majority of the UK population in the last five to six years. Prices, meanwhile, have risen steadily."
"Speed tests found Britain lags behind 33 countries, including Andorra and San Marino. Average download speeds were found to be about 22MBPS, compared with 85MBPS in Taiwan. It takes British users about 30 minutes to download a 5GB HD film, compared with eight minutes in Taiwan."
There's more but that's pretty much the gist of it, the sooner we get upgraded and these copper wires replaced the better, it seems to be ignored a lot or dismissed but it's actually a problem which quite a few engineers and broabdand related people have told me, we're playing catch up.
However thank you also for the kind reply, you really did nail it in that post along with what the engineer was saying
Thanks for getting back to us @robbieglover2k
No problem at all, I'm glad to see your service is working fine now albiet without the switch.
Let me know if there's anything else you'd need help with.
I am getting really fed up with this and I'm really torn because you guys give such great customer service but the actual internet is very problematic lately and I'm not sure how much longer I can do with this.
I'm really looking forward to a big UFC event tonight where I watch my prelims on my Fight Pass too, these events are usually at night due to coming from the US and I need an internet that's going to be more solid and reliable.
The engineer last week said the line was fine, the connections to the box he tested separately also and said they were very good and of course as mentioned above about the TP link which I've still not plugged in.
It was really weird tonight too because my internet became painfully slow when downloading a file, I thought initially it was the wireless being not very good again however I hard wired the PC and the same thing where the download of files was painfully slow.
It really confused me because speed tests were bringing good results and my Fight Pass was playing perfectly fine, it only struggles when downloading a file (which I tried from different sources to make sure it wasn't the server where I was downloading from and it was still really slow) and it also seemed to struggle a little with YouTube at times too which again was strange that only downloading files and YouTube were effected by this.
I really want this to stop please, I just want a good solid internet connection and I can't be having more engineers coming out again, it's clearly not a problem with the line but the router by the sounds of it or at Plusnet's side as it's been so random.
I really hope this doesn't all start again, it was only last week or so they came out and I've had a lot of trouble lately for some reason, I hope this doesn't ruin my UFC tonight as I will be really upset (I'll update if so).
Thanks