Recommendation for Gaming routers/bband please?

skyntmum

Hi,

New to this forum so please forgive me if I get it all wrong!

I am currently with Plus Net for phone and broadband. I get 10Gb download limit and free evening and weekend calls. My two biggest gripes are that firstly my bills have spiralled over the past 14 months - all to do with phone call costs, (for those calls not included in the package) and also that the router they supplied will not support gaming for my son. I have contacted their customer service team (joke: what a mis-named bunch) and they weren't helpful at all.

After signing up, they immediately changed the goal-posts with regard to when the free time started/finished so calls cost more. Then I bought X-box live for my son who was recouperating from an operation and it used up loads of Gb for him to attempt to use the X-box live system online, without success. I contacted Plus Net and they told me to use the forum to ask other Plus Net users how to load the x-box live and go online, not a word on how to do it from them nor if the router was up to it. I then got a friend in who is a whizz with this sort of thing (teenage boy) and he told me that the router won't support it as it was XXXXX! I contacted Plus Net and they weren't interested, re-directed me yet again to the forum.

By the way, the "unlimited downloads" between midnight and 6am are capped (at a very low rate), it's not actually unlimited.

I have trawled through all the broadband and calls packages and can't decide what to buy, especially after having heard horror stories about the bigger suppliers. I would like unlimited broadband and any time calls (so I know what my monthly bills will be) and a router that will support x-box live. I know from friends that BT and Sky will do all this but at a price. I have found the Post Office who will charge me £26.08/month for any time phone calls including mobiles, unlimited broadband and line rental included. BUT, I need to know if the router they will supply will support x-box live, as son due to have another op soon and will be at home recouperating and desperate to go online.

I have used the Post Office before for other things and found them very good compared to other companies, (such as varies types of insurance), but I need to be certain before I sign up for another contract. I don't want to ring them as I am certain that they will thell me that it will do everything I want coz they're not going to say otherwise, are they? So if anyone on here has had experience/knows anything about them, could they let me know please? Also any advice whatsoever regarding my phone/broadband requirements would be helpful. (as always, I need to save money!)

Just for info, I am not happy with Plus Net (you may have got that already), my bills have crept up each month, I now pay £42-£45/month (and it has been higher on occasion) for what I get from them, and this is because of their call tariffs, and as I am at work most of the day this is stupid. Even if I went with a BT/Sky package, I could get TV included for that price, again, spoke to Plus Net and they were not bothered at all, even when I told them I was leaving them asap. I also asked if I could use a system like 18185 and they were very evasive, neither yes nor no, but I suppose that was to be expected.

Sorry this is a long post, I needed to get all this off my chest about PLus Net as I am sick of their ad on the TV!

Thanks

Plusnet_company_representative

Hi there, I'm really sorry to hear about the experience you've had so far. I'll try and deal with this bit by bit but if you could post a ticket ID I'll be able to have a look at your account and give you a call to discuss this provided that's alright with you? I understand you're disillusioned but I promise I'll do all I can to resolve the problems you've been having.

skyntmum wrote: »

I am currently with Plus Net for phone and broadband. I get 10Gb download limit and free evening and weekend calls. My two biggest gripes are that firstly my bills have spiralled over the past 14 months - all to do with phone call costs

If you're willing to post a ticket ID I'll happily check this for you but we can move you onto the anytime package for an extra £3.50 a month or if the calls that are costing are international then we have an anytime account with extra international minutes (300 per month) for an extra £5.

skyntmum wrote: »

and also that the router they supplied will not support gaming for my son.

We've plenty of customers who game using these routers without issue, is the problem with connecting to Xbox live? If so I can explain how to add the xbox to a 'DMZ' which will allow all traffic through.

skyntmum wrote: »

After signing up, they immediately changed the goal-posts with regard to when the free time started/finished so calls cost more.

I suspect therefore you joined just before the start of this year, at the end of 2010? I'm afraid that was down to our suppliers moving the low cost call times from 6pm-6am to 7pm-7am and we were required to follow suit. The anytime or anytime international package should resolve that (unless the majority of calls you make from your landline are to mobile numbers).

skyntmum wrote: »

Then I bought X-box live for my son who was recouperating from an operation and it used up loads of Gb for him to attempt to use the X-box live system online, without success.

I suspect that was mostly system and game updates for the Xbox dashboard and games, though if usage is still an issue it might be worth investigating in the Extra package which offers 60GB of peak time usage per month as opposed to 10GB.

As I said above, I'd be more than happy to explain how to add the Xbox to a DMZ which would resolve the issues your son has been having there?

skyntmum wrote: »

I contacted Plus Net and they told me to use the forum to ask other Plus Net users how to load the x-box live and go online, not a word on how to do it from them nor if the router was up to it. I then got a friend in who is a whizz with this sort of thing (teenage boy) and he told me that the router won't support it as it was XXXXX! I contacted Plus Net and they weren't interested, re-directed me yet again to the forum.

I'm one of the agents who offers support via the forums and I can assure you there are posts on there detailing how to get Xbox live working, and a friendly knowledgeable community who are happy to help with any issue. I appreciate though that this did seem like a fob off from our support team and apologise for that.

skyntmum wrote: »

By the way, the "unlimited downloads" between midnight and 6am are capped (at a very low rate), it's not actually unlimited.

The only protocols on the value product that are limited overnight are gaming and VPN traffic, as can be seen here: http://usergroup.plus.net/prodcomp2.php

You can also use the above link to compare any of our packages whether currently on sale or not to see if any of the others would be more suitable.

All other protocols will come through as fast as is possible on the line, if they're slowed down it's likely to be the case that other users are downloading at the time and as those finish the speeds will improve.

skyntmum wrote: »

I would like unlimited broadband and any time calls (so I know what my monthly bills will be) and a router that will support x-box live.

If you're willing I'd be happy to look into this and see what we can offer you? We'll certainly be able to arrange something that will significantly reduce your monthly costs.

skyntmum wrote: »

I also asked if I could use a system like 18185 and they were very evasive, neither yes nor no, but I suppose that was to be expected.

I'm sorry that you received an answer like that. I assure you that carrier pre-select services such as 18185 work fine with our service.

I understand you're upset with us and am very sorry that this has happened, I hope you're willing to give us a chance to sort things out for you.

Regards,

Matt Taylor
Plusnet Customer Support

skyntmum

I have no idea what a ticket number is so I can't provide that. And by the way, I DID ask for the £3.50 option for calls months and months ago and it never happened. As you may have gathered, I am not into gaming and would need a really simple explaination to help me get my son onto xbox, following the thread on a forum with the people who know how to do it is not an option for me, coz my mind just switches off. PLUS I also work and as a single mum have limited time as well as money...just trying to get along, same as all the others on here. And one final poke.....if the customer support I rang up had been half as helpful I wouldn't be looking at moving.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Not trying to wind you up, but it isn't Plusnet's job to tell you how to get X-Box working on your service.

That's a bit like buying a washing machine, lumping everything into it together, and then compaining to Hotpoint when you pull the clothes out to find lots of them have shrunk and the colours have all run together.

Or, buying a BMW and then compaining to them that the sales staff did not include lessons on how to drive the car.

That said, despite your previous experiences, and I can see why you're unhappy, Plusnet have indeed pointed you to the correct information on their forum and Matt has provided a detailed reply in an attempt to rectify matters and is willing to assist you to get this working. That part is arguably above and beyond the call of duty (no pun intended - see what I did there?!).

I work in IT and have no experience with the X-Box, so even I wouldn't know how to get it working (though I would look online at their forum) but many routers come in a "locked down" preconfigured state so that access from "the outside" by other people is restricted. That's to protect you and your computers from unathorised access from malicious users. It may well be that getting the X-Box working is a process of lifting one of those restrictions (DMZ = Demilitarised zone). This practice is more than sensible and does not mean the router is poor.

Kids are normally quite good at these sorts of things, being far more into them, while adults struggle sometimes

No, I don't work for Plusnet. It may or not help your frustration and I haven't addressed any of your other points, I know, but I thought it might be helpful to balance the perspective here.

Looking forward not back - you do have someone friendly and knowledgeable on the case now who can help you, and it sounds like you've had a horrid time, hope your son gets beter - if you were to change supplier and router, there's a fair chance that you'll need to carry out the same configuration change on that (and another ISP may be more, or less helpful, for the reasons above), so if Matt can help you to do sort it, and at the same time resolve your other issues, I'd suggest this might be the quickest outcome and it doesn't preclude you from changing later on if you still wanted to.

skyntmum

OK, thanks for this, (and yes, it did wind me up) - In my defence, I know how to use a washing machine but my very elderly, recently widowed, neighbour doesn't and asked me for help, ditto cooker, microwave, hoover, iron etc which I willingly gave. There are things I can work and things I can't, and if I went into Curry's to buy a washing machine and asked where do i put the washing in, I'm sure one of the nice people there would smile nicely and show me, whilst pocketing the commission they earn for selling me a machine. It's called customer service and while I'm a customer, I expect it and it's funny, but no one seemed bothered from PlusNet until I put a moan on here.......

skyntmum

Are you sure you don't work for PlusNet? I have read a lot of PlusNet posts on here recently (as I have a vested interest in them), and I have noticed that you have blogged in their defense a number of times. It may be that you have an affinity with them as you also work in IT, but I have got the impression that you are probably an employee or are friends with someone who is.

I hold my hands up and say that I am not computer savvy and as my son has a serious heart condition (and is still waiting for the NHS to fix his heart), I would like to get him online and gaming to take his mind off everything. He was off school again today with bad chest pains and could only lie on his bed gaming, but not online, because despite the great reply I got on here, nothing has changed.

I was not aware (until I read it on here) that they are owned by BT, that explains everything! As you point out, I may not get a better result elsewhere, so what is the choice? Of course, I also live in the back of beyond and only get slow speeds, and I can't get Virgin at all. Ideally, I need someone who has got an Xbox, gone live and is with PlusNet to talk me through it step by baby step so that even I can get it. My brain works in a different way to the one needed for computers, routers etc and I dislike new technology, my mobile phone is not a touch-screen and doesn't have internet or Aps - and that's the way I like it.

BTW, I'm also a Mystery Shopper and I have to go into stores and ask silly questions like, where do you put the washing in? to find out how helpful the staff really are....

Mark_In_Hampshire

I'll admit I can only do cottons in the washing machine and if stuff comes from the bathroom then it all goes in at the same time at 60 degrees. That's the extent of my knowledge. And that's why I have some ruined clothes.

Anyway... enough of clothes. No, I don't work for Plusnet, nor any ISP, in any capacity nor do I find myself defending ISPs very often, but I do try to address the balance sometimes. I seem to remember a thread about Plusnet and £12.98 recently which went the other way...

That said, I suspect the ball is in your court to pursue "Matt" to help you. Why not call them tomorrow and ask to speak to him directly referencing this thread (reckon that might get you past the front line people!)... I'm sure he can get it running in minutes. Whatever process you go through: most routers are similar in their configuration pages, so then you'll know how to do the same in future.