ScoobyDoo555

Just been looking at their site, great price for 2Meg Broadband (£14.99 p/m), plus with the recent thread about being about to have even faster speeds, I seriously thinking about migrating.

I'm currently only on a 512 Line with Pipex. Whilst they've been 100% A1 for the last 14 months, they're by no means the cheapest @ £24 p/m (unlimited download)


Is there a catch with PlusNet I'm missing, or is there something I can say to Pipex to get a better rate?

Are there any others worth looking out there (I need at least 512Meg unlimited download + 50Meg webspace)

I would appreciate YOUR comments, not "go to ADSL.org/etc blah"

Thanks in advance,

Dan

Nimbus

You'r in the same situation as me, except I've only been with Pipex for approx 9 months, so will wait until my 12 month time is up before I concider moving now. However, my line may not stretch to even 1mb so will have to wait and see...



512Meg???? Blimey, your a heavy user.... I'm sure you mean 512kb

angrynorth

My recent experience is here:

http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthrea...40#post4336140

Crap.

Markus

Signed up with PlusNet a fair few years ago when I got mum and dad a PC. OK so it's only dialup but that's all they need and they are happy with it. Never (touch wood) had any real problems, and even when I did the tech support was first rate.

dharbige

I switched to PlusNet from Pipex a year or so ago. Hadn't really had any problems with Pipex, it was just that PlusNet were cheaper, and a colleague at work recommended them.

I've never had any problems up to a couple of weeks ago when there was the big ADSL outage in Manchester, which was (allegedly) a BT problem affecting lots if not all BT-supplied ISPs. PlusNet's online service status (which I accessed via the backup dialup service) explained the problems, and was kept up to date. The service was down the best part of a day.

I've contacted customer services via the online help system several times to get things done like enable hosting of domains, even though my domain records are held elsewhere. (This is one of the few things you can't do via the excellent self-management tools). Each time I asked for something, it was done within a day or so, and I've not been charged extra for any of the services.


I don't think so, but you do need to make sure you know what you need.

The £14.99 per month account is a light user account, with only 1Gb of downloads per month included. This is the account I'm on, and 1Gb is fine if you only use the net for browsing, e-mail, VPN to work etc.
The "uncapped" accounts start at £21.99 for a 512K connection, although the speed restriction should disappear when the upgrades happen, starting in April. So £21.99 would get you an "uncapped" account with up to 8Mb connection speed (depending on your line capability). If you definately want an "uncapped" account rather than a "lite" account, you should familiarise yourself with the Fair Usage Policy.

I am VERY happy with PlusNet, and recommend them to everyone!

jfrf

i recently read that for 15 quid all pipex users can upgrade from 512 to 1mb

Also Im sure that plusnet is not unlimited
they have some fair use policy

dharbige

Yes, they do. As will all ISPs in the near future. The difference with PlusNet is that they tell you exactly what their fair usage policy is, and it's very fair (IMHO).

john_s

iTrader: (1)

Been with Plusnet nearly 18 months, and have no complaints at all. Would recommend them to anyone.

John.

Echo

They're ok Dan, been with them for 18 months. I don't do any P2P stuff so only use about 3/4 gigs a month so have the 'lite' package with 5 gigs = 20.95 a month at 2meg, if your exchange can handle it, in April you'll be able to get up to 8meg.

If you want a lot of bandwith, say 30gig or above their premiere package is worth a look.



Mike

ex-webby

No problems here and have been with them for over 2 years...... efficient and effective service.

Some thing you may want to consider and not be aware of.....

From April they will be bringing in the 30GB download cap for premier users (this is of course increasibly at extra cost).... BUT as apart of the same scheme they will allow you to have the FASTEST connection speed that your line will take as a FREE upgrade service, so instead of charging for speed they will be charging for your required bandwidth instead. TBH this makes sense as a charging method, and with BT's latest upgrades could see home owners having 8mb links for next to nothing!

Regards,
Shaun.

dharbige

Also, from what I have gleaned from reading the forums, PlusNet have also upgraded their central pipes to reduce, or even eliminate, the effects of contention at the local exchanges. This means that your connection to the internet should always be the fastest possible, and should not be affected by what other users local to you are doing. On their Premier and Lite accounts, they are not doing any traffic shaping (i.e. automatic reduction in QoS for large downloads), so the ONLY limit is that as described in detail in the Fair Usage Policy.

ex-webby

Just to add to what dharbige has stated, the fair use policy is in fact could be based on a 30gb threshold (this is dependant on your subscription) and would be used as a baseline across a period of months. Obviously continued exceeding of this baseline (or what ever baseline your subscription is set at) will see you either having to increase subscription or taking a hit on your service, but one month up and the next month down on your bandwidth may not incur any issues.

Just to add that this gets even more complicated as your are allowed (under the fair use policy) 2 baseline bandwidth figures one for example set at 30gb for peak time allowance, followed by a second off-peak (1am - 8am) allowance (which is not subject to any fair use policy) based on a 2mb line of another 230gb.... which in this example would give a total possible bandwidth baseline of 260gb a month. More than enough for most I would presume! Obviously all these change dependant on the subscription type that you have to begin with.

Regards,
Shaun.

jowl

Been with plusnet for broadband for a couple fo years now.

they're not the cheapest (although still VERY good) but they are very reliable with good support.

As others have said, read carefully the new 'Fair Use Policy' - which is basically a Cap. However, you can still download as much as you like between 1am and 8am - that remains unlimited.

mike1210

been with them for a year or so. 1 meg fixed IP, awesome service connection hasnt dropped once i dont think. 10/10 from me. Havent had to "deal with them" as such over the phone so cant comment on that aspect. They activated the line even before even before it was supposed to be activated

Fuzz

apart from deleting some of my cgi script pages last week, they have been faultless on service and customer care.
Always letting you know what they are up to, a very clear way of contacting them via thier portal.
Connected originally with them when my local exchange became enabled @ 2Mb, since downgraded to 1Mb (premier/unlimited) all gone smoothly.

Thumbs up

One thing to take note of is their back bone / infrastructure
go to ADSL-Guide and look at thier Central pipelines compared to other companies !!!!


Andy

Echo

Oh yes, forgot to add, I put in a request to upgrade from the 1meg line to a 2meg at 9pm and was on the 2meg by lunchtime the next day. Superb.

ScoobyDoo555

It sounds really good. I've just put in a request to talk to somebody at Pipex CUstomer Service - just to see whether or not they can do anything.

I'm not too keen on changing all my ISP stuff etc (Email addys)

Will let you know how I get on.

Dan

john_s

iTrader: (1)

It doesn't cost much now to register your own domain; with that you'll be able to take your email addys with you if you swap ISP's in the future

John.

GE90

Been with Plusnet for over 2 years, and have friends that have been with them for even longer. No problems at all, would definately recommend.

GaryK

never heard of em.

Fuzz

whaaaaat, where have you been man.










Andy

Daryl

Just changed from Pipex to Plusnet. Never had any problems with Pipex, but Plusnet are cheaper and faster - 2MB for £15 a month, 1GB download limit.

Changeover was a piece of cake and I've kept my old e-mail address

Milamber

iTrader: (2)

Yeah but try to change the package 1/2 way through or worse still cancel at the end. They still take the direct debit payments and ask you a bundle of questions to try to change your mind.

Good speeds but customer service let them down for me.

Fuzz

I downgraded from 2MB to 1MB (both still the premier), no questions asked.
had to wait until billing date so I'd get full use of the 2MB connection I'd already paid for before changing but didn't have any hickups, only noticed when my connection said 1.1 instead of 2.2Mb
It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be.
I was just being greedy with 2MB
Now they are changing to a "fastest speed my line will take" "with a fair usage policy" I'm chuffed to bits.

The way forward I think.

Did get charged £29.99 ontop of the £29.99 a month to change though!

Andy