The Official PlusNet UserGroup

Plusnet unveil residential product refresh

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:17:07 +0000

~ unlimited broadband - from myth to reality ~

We report this morning in the wake of what could be Plusnet's most talked about product refresh ever, as "Unlimited" sees a return to the residential sales pages.

Three products are key to the new line-up - replacing the nearly-2 year old 'Broadband Your Way' product range. Plusnet also become the first non-LLU ISP to introduce geographical pricing. This means keener prices are available to customers connected to the busier telephone exchanges - resulting in stiffer competition with LLU. In quite a change to the 'norm' for Plusnet, the launch also sees the introduction of 18 month and 12 month commitments - and the removal of monthly contracts altogether.

Here's a quick run-down of the new offering :-

Plusnet Value - 10Gb included usage - "The UK's cheapest broadband"
£5.99 (price for first 3 months)
£5.99 per month thereafter (market 3 exchanges) - £11.99 per month thereafter (remaining exchanges)
Bandwidth intensive protocols rate limited (24/7 in some cases)
18 month minimum-term commitment
25p referral value

Plusnet Unlimited - Unlimited usage
£11.99 (price for first 3 months)
£15.99 per month thereafter (market 3 exchanges) - £19.99 per month thereafter (remaining exchanges)
Bandwidth intensive protocols rate limited during busy parts of the day - 24/7 2Mbps Rate Limit on VPN / SSH
18 month minimum-term commitment
50p referral value

Plusnet Pro - 15Gb included usage
£19.99 per month
(no market 3 pricing or initial 3 month offer)
All traffic prioritised as per current Pro product
12 month minimum-term commitment
50p referral value

Additional usage can be added to Value and Pro, but only in 2Gb blocks which cost £2 each. All additional usage is post-paid, there is no pre-pay option on these new products.

The inclusion of an "Unlimited" product will likely come as a shock to some, as it did to us, because Plusnet have in the past been quite vocal on their thoughts regarding unsustainable "Unlimited" broadband being a 'myth'. There is no "Fair Usage Policy" with Plusnet Unlimited but Plusnet do insist they can offer this sustainably. With the management of bandwidth intensive activities such as P2P or Binary USENET, combined with the prospects of 21CN access in late 2009 / 2010, Plusnet are confident the product will perform well. Only time will tell as to how the network will cope but Plusnet seem sure that the product will "do what it says on the tin" - with the 18 month tie-in - we certainly hope so!

More about market 3
The prices charged by BT Wholesale to Broadband Providers in the UK have historically been fixed by the regulator, Ofcom. However, in some areas, Ofcom deem that there is now sufficient enough competition from other operators (those with their own equipment in the telephone exchange) to 'de-regulate' the pricing - meaning that BT Wholesale are free to negotiate their own pricing on an individual basis with each ISP (or rather - the other way round!). These exchanges are known as "Market 3" exchanges. You can find out if your exchange is a Market 3 exchange by using: Kitz's Line Checker at http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php; www.samknows.com; or by using the updated line checker on the Plusnet website. Because in these areas Plusnet have been able to negotiate reduced prices with BT Wholesale, they can pass additional savings on to customers connected to these exchanges. You can read more about this over on Kitz's website.

Product movements
Unlike the current Broadband Your Way Products which are based on monthly contracts and allow you to switch every 30 days, the new products carry commitments which may be restarted or carried forward depending on the change you wish to make.

Product downgrades will involve the restart of the 18 month commitment whilst product upgrades will retain your existing agreement (and it won't restart). So if you upgrade from Value to Unlimited or Unlimited to Pro, you will remain on your initial 18 month contract. If you downgrade from Pro to Unlimited, or Unlimited to Value, however, a new 18 month commitment will start from the day of the downgrade. Existing users who wish to switch to one of the new options will, unfortunately, be required to enter into the minimum-term commitment just as new users do.

It should be noted, though, that Plusnet will cover the cost of one free house-move under these commitments.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts over on the forums!

See also :-

BT Wholesale teams up with Plusnet

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:11:12 +0000

Good news! a major success for Plusnet in the Business Services market.

BT Wholesale have announced teaming up with Plusnet to deliver a new way of managing Business Users.

This is the Plusnet Partner development recently trialled and now about to fully launch into the market, ( See Grab your partner ). It represents recognition from a major player that the solution has the right attributes for a wider market.

As a 'reverse delivery' to BT, this success serves to enhance the status of Plusnet and encourage investment from their BT Retail owners with benefit to business and residential users alike.

Congratulations to the Business Development team on a splendid achievement.

More on the BT Wholesale announcement here

Welcome Madasfish Users

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:05:27 +0000

The Plusnet UserGroup (PUG) is pleased to welcome Madasafish users to the site. Please feel free to browse the site and join in any of the Forums.

The UserGroup works closely with both Plusnet and the Community site to represent a general user view for all Plusnet VISP's, its products and any problems / issues that we feel need some attention. We are an unpaid group of Users who take an interest in helping other users and Plusnet as a company to maintain its reputation as a good ISP.

We have a formal Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Plusnet which affords us a preview and input to many of the products being developed and frequently gives us access to Beta versions of the Code and documentation. So, much of what we do is behind the scenes, but we do try to get user input into the process as soon as we are able to under the terms of the NDA.

So now that you've found your way over what should you look at?

The About Us pages which set out our Rules and Charter and lists the members of the Group

The Forums to check out what's happening
A visit to PUGIT our Issue tracker system to record / progress things with Plusnet. Linked with PUGIT is a set topics in the forum Pugit Comments which is where Users give their input for each item.

You will need to Register for the PUG Forums separately from your Community login and if you want to use PUGIT, you will need to set up your Username / Visp in the 'Prefs' option.

If there are any questions please 'shout up' and we'll do our best to get you an answer.

MauriceB
Chairman (PUG)

Praise for Plusnet and PUG

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:26:52 +0000

PUG gets an honourable mention in this article about Plusnet in Information Age.

Nice to see the Journals picking up on the contributions made by PUG and the Community

PUG welcomes three new members

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 20:17:12 +0000

Following last months request for potential new PUG members to step forward, it is with some pleasure that we announce two new members of PUG and one lost sheep returning after a sabbatical.

One is a familiar face with a long standing pedigree of posts both in PUG and in Community - xpcomputers (Mike).

The second is a much more recent Plusnet member - Mal08 (here) or mal0z (on Community^*) (Malcolm). Though new to Plusnet, Malcolm has over 25 years experience with PC's and has been using the Internet since 1995, with a variety of ISP's. Given his short period with Plusnet Malcolm has already made a significant number of helpful contributions to Community.

And finally, we are happy to see RogerLoxton (AKA Chemical Brother) return to PUG. Roger should also be a 'familiar face' having been a long time Moderator on Community.

It is particularly pleasing to have both recent Plusnet user Malcolm and long standing F9 user Mike joining the team with the returning Roger as this will help PUG present a more balanced user response to Plusnet challenges. We hope that you will welcome all three new PUGers to the team and help them find their feet in their new role.

* Malcolm also accesses Community as Mal08 but that connection belongs to a charity.

Maurice

PUG recruiting 2008

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:49:27 +0100

It is now nine months since PUG began its revival by reviewing and updating its Rules of Association and recruiting a number of new members. Much has gone on behind the scenes in getting people up to speed and building bridges with the Community mods but, as with all good intentions, things never move as fast as we would like.

One area that has not had the attention it deserves is our News page (this one) where the flow of new articles has, sadly, been limited. Could you help us in this area? The requirement is more for someone with the ability to source and write the articles - raw technical skills will be an asset, but not a necessity! We are not expecting anyone to commit vast amounts of time, but preferably a reasonably regular slot to help us keep the News page up to date and fresh.

Interested or want more details, or even better, want to volunteer? Don't have journalistic skills but feel you could help in other areas (not necessarily technical) - don't be put off. In either case please visit this topic "New members wanted" in The PUG Place forum or send a PM (Private Message) to MauriceB with some details of what you can offer PUG and we'll be in touch.

Maurice (PUG Chairperson)

PUG sites get a new coat of paint

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 12:27:34 +0100

Back in June PUG members were invited to a preview of the changes Plusnet were planning to their 'branding' and 'tone of voice'. We were taken on a quick journey explaining the What's and Why's behind the changes and then into a more detailed view of the final options before being asked the $64000 question - "Which one?"

Of course the question was rhetorical in that the Plusnet team had already arrived at their answer, but the relief when the PUG team came up with same one, and for broadly the same reasons, was obvious. Was it an easy choice? Well ultimately it was as more of the 'bits' and options were put into context using mock-ups of potential communication, publicity and sales material.

So, to follow the lead of Plusnet in giving their Main site and Community forums a makeover - PUG is pleased to have produced its own take on the new colour schemes on the UserGroup site, the Forums and UserTools.

There may still be a few 'inconsistencies' to be ironed out. Help us identify them by posting in The PUG Place forum.

New Coordination Team Appointed

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:20:31 +0000

Using the more agile procedures in the new Rules of Association approved on Monday evening the Full Members have completed appointment of the first Coordination Team. This consists of the following 7 members:

biondani
bud
dhookham
Liam
MauriceB (Chairperson)
pjmarsh
spraxyt

What Happens next?

The primary objective of the Coordination Team is to provide effective organisation of UserGroup activities. With freshly charged batteries the first challenge for the newly appointed team is to focus on the way ahead.

Suggestions from all UserGroup members are welcome at any time. Please post these in The PUG Place forum. Note that Contact Us is currently disabled since spammers have targeted this in furtherance of their activities.

PUG adopts new Rules of Association

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:35:42 +0000

At an Extraordinary General Meeting held on 17/03/2008 (minutes) PUG unanimously adopted new Rules of Association (link) to replace its previous Constitution which was good in parts but inappropriately bureaucratic and unworkable in others. The structure of the UserGroup was also unclear, particularly to new members.

The new Rules (as a draft) were made available for comment here at the end of last month and the draft modified as a result of the feedback received - PUG are grateful for that feedback. An updated FAQ (here) accompanies the new Rules.

The next stage

The process to appoint the first Coordination Team under the new Rules is underway. The new Rules allow a more pragmatic and flexible means of accomplishing things and the appointment process is expected to be completed by next weekend.

For information - an up-to-date list of PUG members can be found here. This link, as well as those to the Rules and FAQ can be found under 'About Us' on the left hand Navigation menu.

PlusNet Triumph at the uSwitch Awards

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:30:23 +0000

The glue is scarcely dry on the last bit of shelving, but it looks like PlusNet will need an entire cupboard for the latest set of awards.

uSwitch, the comparison site announce the winners of their latest broadband awards today, and of the 11 awards up for grabs, PlusNet have won an impressive total of 9.

The categories were:

Best overall customer satisfaction
Most likely to be recommended
Best customer service
Best technical support
Best quality of connection
Best for speed satisfaction
Best for ease of use
Best for setup support
Best value for money (joint with Sky)

This is the third set of awards in as many months in which PlusNet have triumphed and signals a return to the standards for which they were once renowned.

Gaining all these awards is not without problems though - the cabinet is now full!