all talk and no action

The responses to the Carphone Warehouse free broadband offer are rolling in, and PlusNet has opted for option three (or option eight, depending how you want to look at it) of the previously posted free internet access (again) list.

I'm not singling out PlusNet for any reason other than that its press release just dropped into my in-box. Here's an extract:

Before you rush in to a 'free' or cheap broadband deal, consider the preferred choice of the Internet savvy. Do you want an entry level product with limitations? Or a reliable Internet experience with award-winning customer support?

Neil Armstrong, PlusNet Marketing Director said "There are some seemingly great deals around. But there are big differences between the broadband offers available. Customers need to look at the whole picture and read the small print before they enter into a long contract."

Armstrong continued, "Up to 8Mbit/s is now standard, but it’s not just about speed. Savvy customers look for reliability, good customer service and generous usage allowances."

PlusNet Broadband Plus, by the way, offers speeds of up to 8Mb for £14.99 per month with no fixed download limits.

Do NOT use PlusNet. They totally messed up my connection when I needed to change address, refused to speak to me when I tried to tackle it and said they were slapping over £100 charge on top for the priveledge.

DO NOT TOUCH THESE CROOKS WITH A BARGEPOLE!

Plus Net Customer Service is none existent. My broadband has been out of service for nearly two weeks due to there so called upto 8Meg upgrade. They say check for updates on the Web site. Hello I can’t get to the site have no connection!!
Ringing them is a waste of time, one you can’t get through and two if you do, they provide no information. I have decided to switch my supplier but can’t get any info out of them.

Plus Net Customer Service is none existent. My broadband has been out of service for nearly two weeks due to there so called upto 8Meg upgrade. They say check for updates on the Web site. Hello I can’t get to the site have no connection!!
Ringing them is a waste of time, one you can’t get through and two if you do, they provide no information. I have decided to switch my supplier but can’t get any info out of them.

I've been with PlusNet for about 3.5 years, and they have definitely had their ups and downs.

They had popularity problems with their userbase when they started throttling high-bandwidth users (using Ellacoya). I considered moving away, but the throttling doesn't adversely affect me any more as I'm able to schedule most downloads outside the peak time of 4pm to midnight.

I looked at alternatives, but they didn't look so attractive once I took a look at the small print. If I was recommending an ISP now (July 2006), I'd STILL recommend PlusNet, though I'd also tell people to look at Zen (pricier) and Pipex (very similar, according to ADSLGuide.org.uk). I have friends with all three who are very happy.

PlusNet's management have annoyed me at times. I think that the Ellacoya (throttling) business was deliberately designed to annoy a certain group of customers and offload them to other ISP's. If so, it worked. The people downloading 100GB a month (or more) walked to Zen (amongst others).

A month later, Zen changed their plans and introduced download limits, with plans now ranging from £17.99 (for a 256Kb connection ) to £34.99 a month (for up to 50GB of downloads at up to 8Mmb) for home users, with extra GB available at £1 per GB:

http://www.zenbroadband.com/athome.aspx

Compare this to PlusNet charging £14.99 a month for an up to 8Mbit connection. I'm on a £21.99 a month plan (with a 2Mbps download speed) to enjoy more downloads (I usually download between 20GB and 60GB a month) without painfully ridiculous speed throttling (a £14.99 plan would be impossible in that respect), but only pay £18.49 due to past referrals, none of whom have been disatisfied with the service. They're all still with PlusNet, and happy. And so am I. The low-usage people are on £14.99 plans, the high-usage folk are on £21.99 plans.

The ADSLGuide comparison charts are very useful and fair. Zen come out streets ahead of anyone else (as far as I can see, anyway), but they do charge a higher price in order to be able to provide that superior service.

PlusNet are not crooks, by any means, even if they are driven by law to attempt to maximise returns for shareholders (for which we should blame UK lawmakers). This meant they had to stop people on relatively low-priced plans downloading 100GB a month. Such users were just too expensive to carry, even though (or precisely because) they did feel entitled to 'unlimited' downloads.

There has been some discussion recently as to the true meaning of 'unlimited' as used by UK ISPs. For some of them (and PlusNet now carefully refrains from saying 'unlimited' for anything that isn't, and so is much more open and honest than many) it seems that the word has no real meaning at all, but is somehow required in all their ads in order to make them look attractive, often along with a wee asterisk leading you to a footnote that says 'subject to fair-use policy' or similar, i.e. it's anything but unlimited. Watch out for that one. Read around before you sign up. PlusNet's plans are not unlimited, but they don't pretend they are. The limits are clearly stated (though not fixed in stone - they have been changed a few times over the past couple of years), and as a PlusNet user you can monitor your own peak and off-peak usage very easily via your own control panel on their website.

PlusNet do seem to see the worth of providing customer satisfaction, and I have found some of their support people to have gone the extra mile in sorting issues and explaining things on public forums, often with very little thanks and sometimes in the face of abuse. I get the feeling that some of these people genuinely care, so I'll stick with them for that. They can even say 'sorry, we made a mistake' which, I think, is a breath of fresh air these days.

If PlusNet were not nearly always reliable, however, I'd leave. Their recent reliability issues have been laid at the door of BT in the case of the MaxDSL fiasco, and Tiscali in the case of the LLU rollout. Neither of these has affected me, but some customers were indeed affected and obviously they were none too happy. Blaming BT and Tiscali isn't likely to make those customers any happier with PlusNet, though anyone who has followed UK broadband closely will tell you that it would be no surprise to find out that Tiscali and BT were indeed to blame. I haven't been affected, so I'm happy, and I'm staying.

I know that sounds selfish, and it probably is, but I'd be daft not to go by my own experience and that of people I know. Remember that you will always find ranters and complainers on public forums (and if I'd had the same problems, I'd no doubt want to rant a bit, too, or even a lot) but they are not necessarily representative of the majority of users.

Plus, a lot of PlusNet users have traditionally been a bit savvier and possibly more demanding than many when things are not quite as hunky dory as they are used to. I have a feeling that there may well be AOL, BT, Tiscali, Wanadoo, etc. users who do not bother to complain quite as much in public either because their situation has just always been that way and they don't know what they're missing, or possibly because they feel that complaining makes no difference anyway. PlusNet do, it seems to me, listen and when they hear what we say they try to do what's right. I wish we could say the same for Tony Blair and his ilk.

Bottom line? PlusNet are more than OK, and are better than most. Their customer support is actually among the best (possibly a bit better than Pipex on that front, judging from ADSLGuide charts) but if you have the dosh, you'd be daft not to go for Zen at £24.99 or £34.99. They'll give you great download speeds.



£14.99 plans from PlusNet (or, very likely, anyone else) are NOT suitable for users who want to download lots. Be prepared to pay more. You could save a lot of money (compared with Zen's £24.99 and £34.99 plans) by going for PlusNet's £21.99 a month deal (Broadband Premier) if you plan to download/upload a fair bit most months.

All in all, PlusNet's a good deal. IMHO they are (for the UK, at any rate) very good value for the mix of speed, allowances, reliability and customer service they provide. If you're feeling flush, however, then Zen is the one to go for. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm not, and do not plan to be, a PlusNet (or Zen or Pipex) employee or shareholder.

Hope this helps.

Who are you kidding?!?!?

You're just a PlusNet employee, probably the marketing director, trying to make out you're some happy customer.

Dude, let me tell you something. PlusNet are absolute trash. And they're extremely expensive to boot.

I am a director of quite a few companies and I had four paying accounts with PikeyNet, one for each company.

First account switched to 1 and 1 (1&1). Next 3 will be transfered as soon as my techie guys have the extra time.

Glad to get rid of PikeyNet. Absolute dog muck, all of them!!

So I don't know who you're trying to fool with your fantasy story dude, but i KNOW as a business customer, you're either a miracle exception or you're talking out of your back side mate (and probably a PikeyNet employee to boot).

Do Not use Plus NET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For anyone thinking of using plus net, DON'T. They are expensive compared to others and not only that, their guarenteed 8M link when I initially subscribed is now operating at less than 400k on some occasions and now I want to leave after 15months they are trying to charge me £37 for the privlidge. I will pay this just to keep them off of my back, but they kept threatening debt collection on the phone. Utterley ridiculous and am extremely annoyed by it all.

Pikenet .... a perfect description.

Switched to 8 meg recently and the whole thing turned turtle.... 1 week later, two visits by BT (who are equally exasperated)and no resolution other than "it's not our fault"!!

I too have a business slowly going bust whilst they refuse to take ownership of the problem.

Service is absolutely SH*T, staff are blase and don't get back to you. Use them if you want, but just pray that nothing goes wrong.

Oh Yes PikeyNet, Very appropiate naming. Absolute f**k about. I'm no expert on ISP's but I know bullshit when I smell it. My line has been down for 4 days now, "Network issue beyond our control" Standard responce for the gang of pickeys. My partner worked for these people for almost a year and a half, common practice for these help desk teams to listen in on each others calls taking bets on who will most likely attempt to cancel there accounts first. By all accounts a very unproffestional organisation that run rings around there management. Don't touch them. I'd rather buy a a choclate fire guard from a pikey.