should I leave plusnet?

pc10

Cheers for the replies.

At the moment I am on Broadband Premier but have asked to move to
Plusnet Unlimited from end of August so I would imagine I can stop this if I find somewhere better to go to before the contract starts. They told me it was the same as premier but a few pounds cheaper.

This is the usage from 29 July to date: (I see the table isn't being posted as I see it so if you can read is as the first fig is peak, then off peak followed by total)

Peak usage


Off-peak usage:


Total usage

Web

19.65GB


41.48GB


61.13GB

Email

1.68KB


1.89KB


3.57KB

Broadband phonecalls

9.44KB


34.92KB


44.35KB

Gaming

24.1MB


30.38MB


54.48MB

Streaming

887.16MB


353.9MB


1.24GB

PlusNet FTP

0KB


0KB


0KB

Peer-to-peer

631.13MB


5.45GB


6.08GB

Usenet

3.71KB


9.79KB


13.5KB

FTP (non PlusNet)

0KB


0.7KB


0.7KB

Other

26.94MB


34.35MB


61.29MB

Total usage so far

21.22GB


47.35GB


68.57GB

And this is previous usage:

Billing Period

Peak usage


Off-peak usage


Total usage

29 Apr - 28 May

9GB


15.93GB


24.93GB

29 May - 28 Jun

9.9GB


11.63GB


21.53GB

29 Jun - 28 Jul

10.93GB


10.85GB


21.78GB

pc10

And the network is secure yes.

JohalaReewi

Most of your usage is WEB usage which is a lot although off peak p2p adds a bit. You need to do some detective work to find out what your PCs are up to. Have you got traffic stats on your router? Also remember that plusnet usage is 2 way so if you are running a local web server on your PC (for example), traffic to this will show up as web usage.

pc10

Thanks for the reply JohalaReewi - forgive me for not really knowing what you describe though!

I don't think I am running a local web server.

I use bittorrent but have it scheduled to only run at off peak times.

Other than that, the internet is used for browsing sites such as this, emailing, some watching of movies eg south park, you tube etc.

I dont know if there are any stats on my router - its netgear if that matters!

Guidance would be helpful please and much appreciated.

macman

Bear in mind that Plusnet Unlimited is subject to fair use policy and peak hours traffic shaping. Given your extremely heavy usage, that may be a factor if your current tarriff does not practice traffic shaping.

Fatboyslim_2

Hi PC10, I like you have been on an Unlimited premier package with Plusnet (Force9) for many years with no problems, but like you have found that there are now real strict limits on the speed when I go over 14GB in a month. I average 30-40GB per month, I would not class this as Heavy usage in this day and age.

I was annoyed with Plusnet for these limits on my "unlimited" account and so shopped around for a better deal, only to find that all ISP's do it!!

It is very difficult to compare like for like "Unlimited" packages as these limts are generally not given, just a get out clause saying subject to FUP.
Plusnet's web site shows these limits in their Fair Usage Policy (FUP), but it is not shown on other ISP's as openly.

I was thinking of switching to O2, who apparently have no limits, but then Plusnet had no limits when I signed up to them!! Sorry for ranting, but there should be better regulation of the way that ISP's advertise what you are actually signing up for.

I am still searching for a way to compare the various allowable usage levels for Unlimited packages, but have no joy yet

macman

Fatboyslim wrote: »

Hi PC10, I like you have been on an Unlimited premier package with Plusnet (Force9) for many years with no problems, but like you have found that there are now real strict limits on the speed when I go over 14GB in a month. I average 30-40GB per month, I would not class this as Heavy usage in this day and age.

I was annoyed with Plusnet for these limits on my "unlimited" account and so shopped around for a better deal, only to find that all ISP's do it!!

It is very difficult to compare like for like "Unlimited" packages as these limts are generally not given, just a get out clause saying subject to FUP.
Plusnet's web site shows these limits in their Fair Usage Policy (FUP), but it is not shown on other ISP's as openly.

I was thinking of switching to O2, who apparently have no limits, but then Plusnet had no limits when I signed up to them!! Sorry for ranting, but there should be better regulation of the way that ISP's advertise what you are actually signing up for.

I am still searching for a way to compare the various allowable usage levels for Unlimited packages, but have no joy yet

O2 have the same FUP as everybody else who advertises the service as unlimited.

1carminestocky

Whilst I accept that the vast majority of ISPs have FUPs on their U/L, are you actually suggesting that the way it is implemented is exactly the same at every isp?

macman

1carminestocky wrote: »

Whilst I accept that the vast majority of ISPs have FUPs on their U/L, are you actually suggesting that the way it is implemented is exactly the same at every isp?

No, I didn't say that. Some will automatically throttle your speed at peak hours, some will give you a warning. I think O2 would come into the 2nd catgegory.
But no ISP is giving truly unlimited services, that was all I was trying to say.
It all depends what you think the definition of 'fair use' is. My average used to be 2GB a month. A couple of months (in the days when I was on a capped tarrif) I went up to 6GB and thought that was extremely high.
Now we have people on the boards who think 40-50GB is not high. Who's to say?

Fatboyslim_2

Hi Macman,

Good comments, I checked O2, by the way I am on a non LLU exchange, their FUP is:-
If you're using the service excessively e.g. by downloading lots of large files during peak times, O2 may warn you to lower your usage. Continued excessive usage may result in your account being terminated.

I would rather have a slower connection penalty rather than have the account terminated, so looks like I have to accept the Plusnet limits.

I'm paying £22.50 a month and would pay more for a truly un capped package, but the BB ISP market seems geared up curently, on non-LLU packages anyway, to offer a low cost inferior product.

Also has any one experience of the BT I-Plate? Apparently it can speed up your BB and help stabilise your connection, details here at the BT shop :- (New user so I am not allowed to post links, if you put www. in front of this, should get you there) shop.bt.com/products/bt-iplate---bt-broadband-accelerator-58LT.html