Plusnet Discussion Thread

Soldato
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If not already done.

Perform a BT quite line test on 17070.

Isolate your internal phone wiring, test by plugging modem directly into VDSL socket with no other phones connected.

Check condition of the VDSL socket, the front pulls off, there can sometimes be dry contacts on it, use electrical contact cleaner - This sounds unlikely but I had this exact issue on mine once.
 
Soldato
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Right, signed up to Plusnet the other day after moving into a new house as one of the better reviewed service providers out there, and now being limited to FTTC.

Was quoted c. 63 down

When the router first turned up, I was getting about 63 via Ethernet (basically not complaining), and 5-20 depending on where in the house I was over WiFi (shock as yet another ISP provides a bad router). Additionally however I was getting kicked off the internet, and the connection itself seemed really shaky. It wasn't so much the speed, but it wasn't connecting well.

Immediate thought was this was probably a router problem. So grab the old trust ASUS AC88U that I had in my previous flat, stick it in AP mode, turn the wireless signal off of the one hub (or whatever it's called), and now I'm getting 63mb pretty reliably over WiFi around the whole house.

Except, the connection is still really shaky. It feels like the time to physically resolve the address is super slow, and this is definitely much worse at peak times.

The previous owners of our house were in their 70s, and tbh, I'm not sure they ever had internet, although they do have an open reach socket and I did find an old BT home hub router in the pile of crap they left us (has, perhaps unfortunately, now been thrown out).

Anyone have any inspired ideas for this? Got a Vigor 130 on its way to take the plusnet box out of the equation entirely and resolve the slightly questionable WiFi system, but I'm not sure/not convinced if that's actually the issue.
 
Man of Honour
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Try the master socket, also see what DNS servers are set on the PN hub, they might be PN's own so change them to 1.1.1.1 and see how it it.
 
Soldato
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King, you need to access line stats, your looking for SNR for upload and download.

When you say connection shaky, is the connection dropping, or just the speed sometimes dropping?
 
Soldato
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King, you need to access line stats, your looking for SNR for upload and download.

When you say connection shaky, is the connection dropping, or just the speed sometimes dropping?

Depends what you mean for connection dropping. Still on WiFi but, yes, feels like connection dropping.

Try the master socket, also see what DNS servers are set on the PN hub, they might be PN's own so change them to 1.1.1.1 and see how it it.

Looked into this - they do indeed use their own DNS server... now to go Google and track down how to change it on their limited function router...

edit: can't change the dns server on plusnet supplied hardware.... waiting until the vigor turns up it is...
 
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Soldato
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Have you tried the master socket tho as suggested..? Also you could you remove the master socket faceplate and connect to the test socket underneath - that should just remove all internal wiring and extensions and connect directly to the incoming line. Somewhat important to do that because if you escalate this the PN you need to make sure that there is nothing internal causing your issue. They are responsible external and up to the point of the master socket, afaik.

I have been with PN for many many years and have found their support, when needed, to be pretty decent. Their forums also do get responses and have been useful in the past.

I ditched their own router years ago, now using an Asus RT-AX88U with Merlin's firmware. You don't need anything as elaborate but using their own "hub" wasn't a good experience for me.

With yours being a new connection it might depend how full the cabinet is and, if this still is a factor, how much your line has to adjust in terms of max throughput and stability over time.

It used to be important to try and keep a connection and not faff about too much without talking to them. If that used to happen then a lower connection speed was adopted due to the line being noted as not being stable at a faster connection.
 
Man of Honour
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If the house was occupied they may have had phone extensions all over the house, it may be worth removing these from the back of the master socket and only having the two incoming wires attached.
 
Soldato
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@ChrisD. yup, that is why I mentioned to use the test socket. I wired all of our extensions to the front of the master socket, easier to unplug them, altho that is why you can remove the faceplate.

Also, just remembered, what helped me in the early days with PN and the FTTC connection was to change the modem, as it did not use the Huawei chipset. I bought a second had one from eBay, that made a very real difference with the stability of the connection.

The one I bought was a BT Openreach Huawei EchoLife HG612 3B FTTC VDSL Fibre Modem
 
Soldato
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If the house was occupied they may have had phone extensions all over the house, it may be worth removing these from the back of the master socket and only having the two incoming wires attached.

Yeah, I'm conscious of this, although, there don't appear to be any sockets elsewhere in the house, and because we have brick walls, and solid floors it'd be a real pain to wire it elsewhere (know this as I'm trying to wire ethernet through the house soon).

@ChrisD. yup, that is why I mentioned to use the test socket. I wired all of our extensions to the front of the master socket, easier to unplug them, altho that is why you can remove the faceplate.

Also, just remembered, what helped me in the early days with PN and the FTTC connection was to change the modem, as it did not use the Huawei chipset. I bought a second had one from eBay, that made a very real difference with the stability of the connection.

The one I bought was a BT Openreach Huawei EchoLife HG612 3B FTTC VDSL Fibre Modem

Yeah, I'm looking at the test socket. That's my next steps. I've got a new modem now, so am going to try that for a few days to see if that solves the issue and if it doesn't I'll have to look at the master socket.
 

nam

nam

Soldato
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does anyone know if Plusnet are due to launch there FTTP products this Autumn ? I am currently just over 1 year into a new 2 yr deal been with Plusnet for many years now, was hoping there would be a FTTP offering which i could upgrade too as my local area now has community fibre with some very good deals

This was my Plusnet deal in July 2020

line rental paid annually which is now £209.88 used to be £197

Unlimited Fibre Extra broadband service: £7.00 per month for 24 months then £20.99 per month
Line rental: £209.88 annually expires on 19/08/2021
Anytime Call plan: £8.00 per month
Total £15.00 per month for 24 months on a new 24 month contract
 
Soldato
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does anyone know if Plusnet are due to launch there FTTP products this Autumn ? I am currently just over 1 year into a new 2 yr deal been with Plusnet for many years now, was hoping there would be a FTTP offering which i could upgrade too as my local area now has community fibre with some very good deals

This was my Plusnet deal in July 2020

line rental paid annually which is now £209.88 used to be £197

Unlimited Fibre Extra broadband service: £7.00 per month for 24 months then £20.99 per month
Line rental: £209.88 annually expires on 19/08/2021
Anytime Call plan: £8.00 per month
Total £15.00 per month for 24 months on a new 24 month contract

There's been no mention of it that I know of. It's always been BT's budget brand and they've stopped selling their TV package now so who knows.
 

nam

nam

Soldato
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Only discussions i see from Plusnet Forum. pity :( also the Line Saver rental paid upfront for year has now also gone so 17.49 to 21. Will be stuck with Plusnet for another year :(
There's been no mention of it that I know of. It's always been BT's budget brand and they've stopped selling their TV package now so who knows.
 
Caporegime
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Are you saving that much with line rental saver? Your effective monthly price with Plusnet is £24.49 if we ignore the calling plan - that's not a spectacular deal for an FTTC service.

I used to use line rental saver but then I stopped because I wanted the broadband and the line rental to have the same contract, and I ran the sums and it wasn't worth doing.
 
Associate
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Mine has dropped below minimum speed of 36Mb so opened a ticket.....

I went to see if there was any deals as mine runs out in January and saw that there was...

£4.28 a month for 18 months (with a minimum speed of 30.9MB, funny they drop this every time, I want faster not bloody slower)
That is without line rental which I do the saver option.
Evening + weekend calls £5.23 (up from £5)

Get to the end before completing order....

You understand that the price for broadband, line rental, call plans, call charges and add-ons will be increased on or after 1st March every year from March 2022 by the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation published in January of that year plus 3.9%.

WTH is that all about, I've not had a price increase in the current 18month contract but looks like they can since March? Although I have only been paying £11 a month so still cheaper at £9.51 if I take the new offer (may go up if they feel like it!)
 
Soldato
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I will be voting with my feet come December when my contract runs out. Been with them since 2015 and don't rate their CS or the fact they arsed up my reverse DNS after it had been set quite happily for a couple of years, then took nearly two weeks to fix it IIRC after failing to respond to my ticket which forced me to make a complaint. Not the first or only time they've buggered things up either, which is why I'm leaving. Will be moving to Zen and using the link one of this forum's members sent me via trust (which hopefully still works).
 
Soldato
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Been with Plusnet nearly 18 months now, my contract expires next month. Wont be renewing with them, although that's purely due to moving house and getting FTTP. I have no complaints at all with them though, service has been great and my connection has been rock solid. Hopefully we get a moving date soon though as the out of contract pricing is pretty steep.
 
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