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Another migration story (long, sorry)

andyhewitt
Grafter
Posts: 26
Registered: ‎30-01-2009

Another migration story (long, sorry)

Hi.
I thought I'd add my own migration story too, being somewhat inspired by reading the thread by Destrike, as mine is a very similar one.
I too am/was with Virgin non-cable for broadband and phone calls. Likewise, I have been seeing a reduction in speeds with Virgin ADSL, and in many cases an unusable service. In my case I could never use BBC iPlayer, or Skype for video chat. Yet some services did work, the watch again player on ITV worked fine, as did many other video streaming services. I can also use AV chat using Google Talk without any trouble too. Even text only newsgroups have been stalling.
My modem connected at a steady 8meg for about the first year, but in the last six months it has fallen off a bit, and connects at 6-7meg. Some of my file downloads have been a steady 7-8meg at times, yet the services that are suffering only manage little more than dial-up speeds. I did get an iPlayer program to download at 9:00am a few days ago, but that's the first in a couple of months or more.
The final straw came when I went to help my Mum move house a couple of weeks ago, and she's on PlusNet Option 1 (suits her usage perfectly), and I took my MacBook with me. Immediately I could use all of the services I hadn't been able to before. Newsgroups just flashed along, and iPlayer worked without a single glitch. In fact they also work at my sister's house, whose on a terrible line (just about gets 2meg, and is lucky if the connection works for more than a couple of days).
I was also rather disgruntled at the non-inclusive call charges, they'd just put theirs up, then everyone else if getting cheaper (or even free with BT for 08x0), and generally they're almost double those listed by PlusNet.
Needless to say, when I got home after the move, and had been very impressed with PlusNet's handling of my Mum's move (since it took a few days to get a new number), and helped a lot with that, I immediately phoned Virgin for an MAC. That was a call I was dreading, as I was expecting a hard sell to keep me, and they did. Fair do's though, the staff were good, and helped as much as they could, although their suggestions for fixes weren't too helpful (faulty filters, and poor exchange congestion were some). They did say that my exchange was a busy one, but I checked this myself, and it is reported as having no capacity issues whatsoever.
It got really bad when they said that PlusNet wasn't a recognised ISP, and wouldn't be able to offer the support on the phone lines like they could, as they (Virgin that is) have much better links with BT. Erm, right  :-\.
It was then that they wanted to put me through to their technical support again, and I just asked him to stop, and just give my my MAC. Unbelievably it arrived an hour later, and I called PlusNet to place my order. I spoke to Kevin, and got wonderful service from the outset, and the account was set up in a few minutes, and it even saves me a few pounds a month (and my Mum too - I love the referral scheme :)).
My Mum's line is also now back on, a full three days early. Well done chaps, thanks.
And, finally, I am actually a returning customer to PlusNet. I first joined them a few years back, when I moved from a cabled area to a non-cabled one, and needed ADSL. Unfortunately it was back when they'd had some problems, and sadly it caused me to move on. However, I've been keeping an eye on progress, and I feel happy to come back again. PlusNet have in fact been my provider of choice for a couple of people I've set up Internet for recently, and so far no complaints.
Sorry that was a bit long, but I needed to get that off my chest.
All the best.
Andy.

18 REPLIES 18
scootie
Grafter
Posts: 4,799
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-11-2007

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

virgin better links with bt ;D.
plusnet was brought by bt retail awhile back.Nnow i know bt retail an BTw are diffrent companys but still i would go with the isp being owened by a bt company as having the best links with a BTw.
i joined plusnet soon after the bbyw products was launched so wasnt here to see the bad patch but since joing my thoughput speeds have allways bein the max my line can handle 3000kbps longish line.
not saying pn are perfect all time but they all ways let you know whats going on with the network.
welcome back and many happy hours of bbc iplayer an skype
andyhewitt
Grafter
Posts: 26
Registered: ‎30-01-2009

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Thanks for that. I let you know how it goes, the broadband switch-over is due tomorrow.
andyhewitt
Grafter
Posts: 26
Registered: ‎30-01-2009

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Perfect, got the Email this morning, reset the modem, and all working fine. I have a slightly higher connect speed, and already everything does feel a little 'snappier. iPlayer is working perfectly, and I even went straight to testing on a 'High Quality' programme, and it ran without a glitch. My maximum download speed is just under 6meg already (it was around 4meg with Virgin). It'll be interesting to see what it settles down to.
Thanks PlusNet.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Hi Andy,
I'm glad to hear that your migration has gone well.
Please feel free to shout up if you have any questions!
andyhewitt
Grafter
Posts: 26
Registered: ‎30-01-2009

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Don't worry James, I will  Wink
Thanks again.
StickyMick
Grafter
Posts: 325
Registered: ‎29-11-2008

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

The last I heard was that the Virgin v BT relationship was on a par the with Talk-Talk/AOL v BT relationship
scootie
Grafter
Posts: 4,799
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-11-2007

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

are you still watching eastenders in high quality with no problems?
andyhewitt
Grafter
Posts: 26
Registered: ‎30-01-2009

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Don't watch Eastenders myself, but I can confirm that every programme I have tried has worked perfectly. Of course the irony of it, is that I've not missed anything I needed to catch up on yet  Undecided
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Quote from: ASBO
are you still watching eastenders in high quality with no problems?

Isn't that an oxymoron?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
scootie
Grafter
Posts: 4,799
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-11-2007

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

i only seem to use iplayer for docs and comedy. i find that the comedy section hardly ever gets any new releses very often.
but by heck takes weeks to scan down the docs section.
its about time to that 4od streams feeds in the web browser and dont make you install the download program thing. i refuse to let that thing invade my pc. even with automated dos cmds to stop kservice ect
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Hi,
Is there a link to those commands as that is one reason I don't use 4OD as having to manually disable services is a right pain
scootie
Grafter
Posts: 4,799
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-11-2007

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

i will have a look  for them again oldjim there is also a wee program that does it all for you to. http://odmonitor.blogspot.com/.
i think i found the instrutions to set the dos commands up on the offical 4od forum
few tips here on how to edit the bat files and stop it from recreating the regiesty edit on restarthttp://community.channel4.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6450063686/m/8350031607
personaly since i found odmonitor i leave that installed and in the rare case of me wanting somthing of channel 4 i just reinstall/uninstall 4od download client. currently using now for shameless series but will be off my system as soon as iam done with it.
the only saving grace of 4od is iam able to play and gain the drm rights of channel 4 downloads on my pc and then stream them to my xbox media extender. i have tried this with iplayer but would not work but could stick them on to usb and play them on the standard vidoe player of the xbox. so dont know why media center has trouble with them being streamed.
any way best stop ranting about 4od in the op's kind review of PN
andyhewitt
Grafter
Posts: 26
Registered: ‎30-01-2009

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Yes, thank you.
Anyway, it's a week or so on now, and I'm still happy with my migration so far. It's quite clear at certain times of the day when traffic management is happening, but I knew that when I signed for Option 2. I would like to see iTunes store being fixed though, the downloads for that are far too slow.
My telephone goes over in a few days too, I've had the notices from BT and Virgin, so I hope that will go as smoothly.
All the best.
Andy.
James
Grafter
Posts: 21,036
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Another migration story (long, sorry)

Hi Andy,
Out of curiosity, what sort of speeds are you seeing for the iTunes downloads?
Are they slower than on this page?  It's the Download Servers section you're looking at.
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/quality_broadband/speed.shtml?link_bbyw_view1=speeds#Option2sp...