TalkTalk Prices going up - So PlusNet for me

ruth56_2

Me too Darren, which is why I was dismayed when the first operator did not offer anything...shows it pays to try again! Have just paid the line rental as it goes up 30th Nov. Runs out 22/12 and will renew contract from then. I have also emailed them to confirm the terms they offered...previous experience, they get "forgetful".

DS_BB

ruth56 wrote: »

Me too Darren, which is why I was dismayed when the first operator did not offer anything...shows it pays to try again! Have just paid the line rental as it goes up 30th Nov. Runs out 22/12 and will renew contract from then. I have also emailed them to confirm the terms they offered...previous experience, they get "forgetful".

I had trouble understanding the woman on the end of the phone when I rang. Spend too long getting nowhere, the offer was very poor.

So how much are you paying Ruth?

Here is my PlusNet cost for the next year.
£193.75 for the year including the £70 back £193.75 / 12 = £16.15 / month for UL BB and anytime phone calls. This is an effective monthly rate for the year, I have paid up front to achieve the discounts.

I really don't think I could Talk Talk them down to an effective £16.15 / month from £28.45 / month, last time I rang it was hopeless.

DS_BB

Good so far... with the transfer.

The transfer of my phone and broadband from TalkTalk to PlusNet happen today. Phone went live without us even noticing, although the phone did ping a bit in the morning. I think it was around lunch time we switched. No txt received on the mobile to confirm this.
The Broadband went dead around the same time the phone was transferred, no surprise there.

I looked at my (own) netgear router around 2 PM and it was reporting no connection although green light as if it had one. I entered the PlusNet details and rebooted it. Green light but no connection. It was due to go live by the 9th Dec 2014 ie tomorrow so not worried that much. It actually went live around 6 PM today 8th Dec 2014, or just over 6hrs after the phone was transferred. Got a Txt message on the mobile to confirm that, good news. I looked at the router and the broadband was up and working.

I know that the router will take around 10 days to bed in, but I thought I would run some speed tests anyway on day 1. So the early day 1 results are:-

TalkTalk (just before disconnecting {day -1 actually})
Download Speed: 9069 kbps (1133.6 KB/sec )
Upload Speed: 850 kbps (106.3 KB/sec )

PlusNet
Download Speed: 7526 kbps (940.8 KB/sec )
Upload Speed: 900 kbps (112.5 KB/sec )

So PlusNet download speeds areabout -15% on the TalkTalk speeds, on day 1... I expect these PlusNet rates to improve as the router beds in to the line.
Reasonably happy with the speed as long as the line is stable.

So happy so far with PlusNet switch over.

I checked the TalkTalk account today and it said I had no services. I will report on whether TalkTalk are an issue with the disconnection later.

I will report on any PlusNet stability issues if I have them.
So good so far....:T

molerat

Went live on 3rd Dec, speed has increased a couple of times so now just below TT speed - but they did take a couple of months to get there. I have noticed the phone line is a lot clearer than with TT.

TT bill on19th which was a refund of £11.25 for charges back to 3/12 and that was in my bank today

£70 cheque from PlusNet arrived in the post this morning

DS_BB

molerat wrote: »

Went live on 3rd Dec, speed has increased a couple of times so now just below TT speed - but they did take a couple of months to get there. I have noticed the phone line is a lot clearer than with TT.

TT bill on19th which was a refund of £11.25 for charges back to 3/12 and that was in my bank today

£70 cheque from PlusNet arrived in the post this morning

molerat, thanks for your update. Here is mine.

The Good :-

• TalkTalk last bill came in and shows I am no longer with them they owe me money.
• £70 Cheque came in from PlusNet. It took around 20 days from click on the link in the Email.
• Line stable on PlusNet, but much slower
• PlusNet are much cheaper.

The Bad:-

• Waiting TalkTalk to pay me back, it's early days so we will see.
• PlusNet are about 30-40% slower on down load speed than TalkTalk for me. The exchange reduces the speed after a few days. I was getting about 9Mb/s now its 5.7Mb/s with PlusNet. The PlusNet exchange equipment is less tolerant of noise from what I can see. PlusNet use BT equipment.
• The PlusNet exchange is quick to reduce the speed and very very slow to increase it, apparently days, so slow I have never seen it happen on my line.
• Turning the router off and back on does not increase the speed like it did with TalkTalk. So reduced speeds is the only way to go.

The Summary: if you have a noisy line, in your house (or outside) and down load speed is important, then stick with TalkTalk.

If costs are important and you don't need the speed then may be a move to PlusNet would save you money.

I am currently trying to track down things that would cause noise and changing things, like the wiring, to see if the line will improve. It is sooooo time consuming.

If I can't track the cause of the noise down or totally change my house wiring to improve it, then I will probably live with it for 11 months and switch back to TalkTalk.

At the moment I am getting around 1/2 the speed PlusNet said I would. And they even send you an Email to say you have been stitched up on the speed. Bless them.

molerat

Have you actually requested a refund, they won't do one unless you ask by clicking the link.

DS_BB

molerat wrote: »

Have you actually requested a refund, they won't do one unless you ask by clicking the link.

Big thanks for that just been and checked the TalkTalk account and clicked the link. Cheers :beer:

Just want to repeat this as peeps should know.
PlusNet are about 30-40% slower on download speed than TalkTalk for me. The exchange reduces the speed after a few days. I was getting about 9Mb/s now its 5.7Mb/s with PlusNet.

I will report back if the PlusNet speeds increase or not as the case may be. A bit upset about with it, you seem to have to wait ages for the line to get better.:( Yawn...

jem16

DS_BB wrote: »

I will report back if the PlusNet speeds increase or not as the case may be. A bit upset about with it, you seem to have to wait ages for the line to get better.:( Yawn...

Your speed will have decreased because your SNRM has increased due to the noise on the line and DLM kicking in to stabilise your connection.

If you can remove the cause of the noise, then you could ask for an SNRM reset which will increase the speed.

DS_BB

jem16 wrote: »

Your speed will have decreased because your SNRM has increased due to the noise on the line and DLM kicking in to stabilise your connection.

If you can remove the cause of the noise, then you could ask for an SNRM reset which will increase the speed.

Yes I know! I have removed a noisy item which had little effect on the TalkTalk exchange. I found using RF REIN testing and re-tested to the line. I have plenty of Noise Margin, which BTW indicates there is more speed available and very few errors, which indicates it's clean. BUT the DLM (BT in the background) is so slow at recovering the line. With TalkTalk it was a quick to recover when up-set by things.

I have been told PlusNet (and BT which PlusNet and others use) it can take days if not weeks to recover. Yawn...

My experience (and others) is TalkTalk handle noise better than PlusNet do. Hence faster download speeds. .. You have been warned. :mad:

jem16

DS_BB wrote: »

I have plenty of Noise Margin, which BTW indicates there is more speed available and very few errors, which indicates it's clean. BUT the DLM (BT in the background) is so slow at recovering the line. With TalkTalk it was a quick to recover when up-set by things.

If you're sure it's clean then why not ask PlusNet to reset the SNR? They are usually willing to do this if they see a stable line.

Have you used the likes of RouterStats to monitor what is happening?

I have been told PlusNet (and BT which PlusNet and others use) it can take days if not weeks to recover. Yawn...

Their CRT via their community forums are a bit more proactive than DLM as far as putting things right.

My experience (and others) is TalkTalk handle noise better than PlusNet do. Hence faster download speeds. .. You have been warned. :mad:

I agree that they seem to handle it differently although it seems that they ignore noise rather than handle it as such. BT equipment users seems to get a more aggressive touch.