Plusnet question

Hi,

I'm a little confused by Plusnet at the moment. I understand that my
service may be upgraded at some point in the not too distant future to
2MB. The Plusnet press release:


http://www.plus.net/press/press_rele...4c325bff35bb0c

leads me to assume that I shall not have to pay an upgrade fee,
although the ADSL guide article at

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2219

suggests that I am going to have to pay a regrade fee of £14.99.

Can anyone please suggest exactly what is going to happen to my
service, when it's likely to happen and what, if anything, it's going
to cost me?


--
Cheers

Peter

"Peter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> I'm a little confused by Plusnet at the moment. I understand that my
> service may be upgraded at some point in the not too distant future to
> 2MB. The Plusnet press release:
>
>
> http://www.plus.net/press/press_rele...4c325bff35bb0c
>
> leads me to assume that I shall not have to pay an upgrade fee,
> although the ADSL guide article at
>
> http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2219
>
> suggests that I am going to have to pay a regrade fee of £14.99.
>
> Can anyone please suggest exactly what is going to happen to my
> service, when it's likely to happen and what, if anything, it's going
> to cost me?
>
>

Hi Peter

I am equally confused, so can't help. Today i selected Upgrade to 2Mb on my
current account, then ot a Ticket saying i had requested a downgrade, with a
£20+ fee of upgrading it at a later date to whatever is available from my
area ..

--

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On Mon, 2 May 2005 15:34:42 UTC, Peter <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

> I'm a little confused by Plusnet at the moment. I understand that my
> service may be upgraded at some point in the not too distant future to
> 2MB. The Plusnet press release:

I think PlusNet have been floundering for a few weeks now. The FUP never
got off the ground. before that there was uncertainty re
changing/cancelling of contracts. Their product line changes too quickly
to keep up.

I still recommend them...for the moment...but it's just becoming far too
confusing.
--
[ 7'ism - a condition by which the sufferer experiences an inability
to give concise answers, express reasoned argument or opinion.
Usually accompanied by silly noises and gestures - incurable, early
euthanasia recommended. ]

On Mon, 2 May 2005 16:38:37 +0100, "TSSNHosting.com"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:


>Hi Peter
>
>I am equally confused, so can't help. Today i selected Upgrade to 2Mb on my
>current account, then ot a Ticket saying i had requested a downgrade, with a
>£20+ fee of upgrading it at a later date to whatever is available from my
>area ..

Ditto, but managed to cancel the order when I spotted the charge -
would love to know what is happening.
I live in hope of someone from plusnet support reading this thread and
coming up with a definitive answer :-(


--
Cheers

Peter

On 2 May 2005 15:45:38 GMT, "Bob Eager" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:


>I think PlusNet have been floundering for a few weeks now. The FUP never
>got off the ground. before that there was uncertainty re
>changing/cancelling of contracts. Their product line changes too quickly
>to keep up.
>
>I still recommend them...for the moment...but it's just becoming far too
>confusing.

I'm reasonably happy with the service to date (other than one or two
minor issues), but am finding it very difficult to make sense of the
current upgrade position. An explanation in plain English wouldn't be
out of place at the moment.


--
Cheers

Peter

On 02 May 2005 16:34, Peter <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2219
>
>suggests that I am going to have to pay a regrade fee of £14.99.

The only bit in that which mentions 14.99 (it may have been helpful to quote,
so here goes):

"Users who remain on the higher price points should be automatically regraded
onto higher speed services as they appear, whereas those who are on the
£21.99 price point will need to pay a regrade fee (believed to be £14.99)."

The regrade to 2000 kbps is free for people, but (following trials) regrade
for higher speeds (4000 or 8000) seems to be the one where a charge may be
made - but it contradicts the announcement of 15/02 at 17:35, which is
in the plusnet.service.announce newsgroup. Here's an extract

"Free speed upgrades to all PlusNet customers.

Following BT’s recent announcement to increase Broadband speeds up to
8Mb across their local exchange network, PlusNet is delighted to offer
free speed upgrades and a brand new product range.

From April, all PlusNet customers will be able to take advantage of the
increased speeds as they become available. Existing PlusNet customers
will be able to upgrade free of charge to the maximum available DSL
speed. BT is working hard to ensure that as many people as possible are
able to receive the maximum available speeds. Further, BT Wholesale’s
changes enable the ISP to determine its customers’ actual speed setting,
instead of this being set at BT's local exchange.

Upgrades to all fixed cost broadband product speeds

Premier customers will be able to choose the speed they wish to operate
their connection at, from 512kb right up to 8Mb where available."

[goes on to explain what a Premier account offers, then PAYG and Plus]

>Can anyone please suggest exactly what is going to happen to my
>service, when it's likely to happen and what, if anything, it's
>going to cost me?

<http://usertools.plus.net/status/archive/1113248097.htm> has info.
If your exchange is listed more than once in the PDF, there's no way to
know which date applies for your line. Also, depends on your line, too :-)

You have the option of having a line regrade for 14.99 now, or waiting for
a free regrade when your exchange is done. You will later have options to
get higher speeds (assuming your line can go initially to 2000 kbps and it
is suitable for 4000 or 8000 should you want higher speeds). Whether they
will charge a fee (contrary to the February product announcement) is quite
another question... They may be unwilling to do that for free. Peter M.

--
Plus.Net <http://tinyurl.com/5jpa4>
I recommend them and save some cash.

With a guarantee allowing new users to migrate if they're unhappy!

On Mon, 02 May 2005 16:34:42 +0100, Peter <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I'm a little confused by Plusnet at the moment. I understand that my
>service may be upgraded at some point in the not too distant future to
>2MB. The Plusnet press release:
>
>http://www.plus.net/press/press_rele...4c325bff35bb0c
>
>leads me to assume that I shall not have to pay an upgrade fee,
>although the ADSL guide article at
>
>http://www.adslguide.org.uk/newsarchive.asp?item=2219
>
>suggests that I am going to have to pay a regrade fee of £14.99.
>
>Can anyone please suggest exactly what is going to happen to my
>service, when it's likely to happen and what, if anything, it's going
>to cost me?

This should explain whether PlusNet consider it an upgrade (free) or
downgrade (£14.99 regrade cost),
http://www.plus.net/support/adsl/res...upgrades.shtml

Essentially, someone on a DSL 500 package at the mo can either stay put
until BT carry out the bulk regrades, then move onto BB Premier for free
(up to 2Mb), or pay £14.99 to regrade now to BB Premier (up to 2Mb).

I think one of the PlusNet support guys confused the issue by posting
that 'If you are currently on ADSL Home, then you will be able to
upgrade to the new Premier account free of charge' without making it
clear that this is after BT have bulk regraded the connection at the
exchange, otherwise you pay the regrade fee because BT will charge
PlusNet even if they know it will be regraded as part of the bulk
regrades.

For those on DSL 1000 or DSL 2000 packages, PlusNet are offering free
downgrades to BB Premier (up to 2Mb) or they can stay put and pay a
higher monthly charge but be first in line for regrades to 4mb and 8Mb
(£29.99 and £39.99 respectively) when those speeds become available. As
such speeds might not be available until September or later it would
make more sense to downgrade now and then upgrade (for £14.99, it's not
considered a normal upgrade) to 4/8Mb when it's available.

--
Alfie
<http://www.delphia.co.uk/>
Should crematoriums give discounts for burn victims ?

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Alfie [UK]
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>>Can anyone please suggest exactly what is going to happen to my
>>service, when it's likely to happen and what, if anything, it's going
>>to cost me?
>
>This should explain whether PlusNet consider it an upgrade (free) or
>downgrade (£14.99 regrade cost),
>http://www.plus.net/support/adsl/res...upgrades.shtml

AIUI this depends on the fee paid. Any change to an account at the same
or higher price is free. If you are reducing your monthly payments they
will charge a fee.
--
Thoss

"Peter M" <us-(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) s.net...
> The regrade to 2000 kbps is free for people, but (following trials)
> regrade
> for higher speeds (4000 or 8000) seems to be the one where a charge may be
> made - but it contradicts the announcement of 15/02 at 17:35, which is
> in the plusnet.service.announce newsgroup. Here's an extract
>
> "Free speed upgrades to all PlusNet customers.
>
> Following BT's recent announcement to increase Broadband speeds up to
> 8Mb across their local exchange network, PlusNet is delighted to offer
> free speed upgrades and a brand new product range.

Am I the only one who thinks its very misleading (if not plain dumb) for
Plusnet to give the impression that BT's have announced that they will be
increasing ADSL speeds up to 8MB ?

While BT may do so - all BT have actually announced so far is a trial and
assuming that leads to "wholesale products" as expected - there is no
assurance that these will be available on their entire local exchange
network (rather than just a selection of exchanges) or any timescale as the
solution BT are trialing does require some new equipment at exchanges.

In fact, I'm slightly suprised that Plusnet haven't introduced a new
£49.99/month option - free upgrade to ADSL2+ speeds when available..!

Certainly, if I had been recommending Plusnet - I woudn't be at the moment..
charging some customers more for the same product with the vague promise
that you will be upgraded "for free" to faster speeds which are actually not
available yet.

All of Plusnet's customers, on more expensive tariffs, would actually be
better off "downgrading" to the cheapest 2MB option and then paying the £15
fee to upgrade if/when the faster services are available - it would
certainly be a lot cheaper for them.

Sadly Plusnet seem to have lost their way over the last couple of months,
with announcements and retractions all over the place + their product range
changing all the time - which leads to their current confusing range which I
doubt all their staff understand, let alone their customers..

Regards
Sunil

On Mon, 2 May 2005 18:48:00 +0100, "Sunil Sood" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Am I the only one who thinks its very misleading (if not plain dumb) for
>Plusnet to give the impression that BT's have announced that they will be
>increasing ADSL speeds up to 8MB ?

No, it is likely anyone would consider it misleading. However this was a
Press Release from the head of Marketing, so it is quite understandable a
series of comments unrelated to reality (and I don't mean to single out PN
because many people in Sales will suggest unworkable solutions until some
technically minded engineer gets involved and puts them right!)


>All of Plusnet's customers, on more expensive tariffs, would actually be
>better off "downgrading" to the cheapest 2MB option and then paying the £15
>fee to upgrade if/when the faster services are available - it would
>certainly be a lot cheaper for them.

That's not entirely 'news' plenty of discussion has already taken place and
staff from Plus.Net have put forward that suggestion, so they're not all bad!