I'm changing broadband.

 

Have been with Plusnet for about 5yr, they made a monumental **** of moving my service when I moved house which left me without broadband or telephone for 6 weeks totally caused by miscommunication between PN and Openreach. However PN refused to even acknowledge I'd made a complaint or offer the promised refund for weeks of no service.

 

Sooo I had to wait 24 months to kick them in the nads.

 

Anyway... I've started the switch to SSE. which will save me about £18 a month and double my speeds over PN.

 

But I'm wondering who long does the actual switch take?

 

If I search the question I get 15-20days which I assume is from me hitting the 'go' button and that's not what I'm after.

What I'm wondering is how long between one service going down and the other starting?

 

GF needs wifi for her work. And if things are going to go down for days and days I'll need to have a backup plan to keep her working.

It's normally done within a few hours so you shouldn't be getting in her bad books.

2 hours ago, Aspman said:

And if things are going to go down for days and days I'll need to have a backup plan to keep her working.

I've had a backup plan for many years (needed it regularly when we were with Virgin as the internet stopped EVERY time it rained, since moving to BT only needed it when we moved house as it took BT 7 days to connect us).

 

The backup plan is a TP-Link Archer MR200.

When we moved into our new build, BT supplied the phone line then it took us 3 weeks to convince BT we had a phone line which they installed so we could have BT broadband.

2 minutes ago, Auric Goldfinger said:

When we moved into our new build, BT supplied the phone line then it took us 3 weeks to convince BT we had a phone line which they installed so we could have BT broadband.

Ah but remember that it would be BT openreach that installed it and BT retail that went looking for it - why the hell do you think the two parts of the business would want to communicate???

4 hours ago, kilted said:

why the hell do you think the two parts of the business would want to communicate???

by phone even???

It's not as if they are a telecommunication company. 

 

Thanks AG Falco

Plan B at the mo will be a Hauwai 4G dongle and a 25Gb 30day PAYG Sim.

 

hopefully won't be needed.

If your line is run by openreach then usually the switch over is within a hour, maybe minutes. Of course you'll need to change router or if using your own, user/password when instructed by sms/email/pigeon, thats where delays can occur.

 

Hope you got SSE through topcashback or quidco to get your £150 cashback!

 

18 minutes ago, xman said:

Hope you got SSE through topcashback or quidco to get your £150 cashback!

 

 

£55 tracked

 

We're not taking any phone options or the top fibre so can't claim £150.

I don't use the landline at all and we're coping on ADSL so no need for 70Mb bb for the moment.

When I moved out of the house in to rented, sky swapped me over within an hour on the go live date. 

Update...

 

Plusnet -> Plusnet = 6 weeks of downtime.

Plusnet -> SSE = 60 minutes of downtime.

 

Genuinely shocked. I'd been banking on quite a lot of disruption going on past experience.

SSE have always been good for me. I even had a little trouble with the speed being irratic (dropping from 15mb down to around 6mb) for a month on and off. So they've given me a free month as a sorry for the slow down even though it was still useable. Recently went up to their "basic" fibre package, £25 inc line rental and 32+MB down the line. Very happy with them and their tech support and all calls for that matter seem to be with people who can understand what you're on about if you have technical faults. 10/10 from me so far.

Changing broadband over on the day is usually an Openreach controlled exercise.

 

I've changed a number of times, all done seemlessly within an hour or so on the nominated day.

 

Recent change from BT to plusnet the same.

 

90% of lines are BT owned lines maintained by Openreach. The only differences in broadband providers is usually the price paid, the speed profile you paid for and the router you use.

 

I suspect a majority of speed issues are caused by wiring issues in the consumers home. VDSL2 is very sensitive to extension wiring and use of phones on the extensions which provoke drop outs which in turn results in DLM (dynamic line management) to reduce speeds , so physically remove all extension wiring if possible and use modern DECT wireless phones with the base station at the master socket.

 

DLM is an automatic system located in the cabinet, neither the providers nor Openreach can reset it, only if there's been a repair. If line quality improves then eventually DLM will increase speeds but it can take days to weeks depending on the line monitoring data it has recorded.

 

Tip if on fibre. If you want to reboot or turn off your router, turn it off for at least 30 mins before switching back on. DLM monitors in 15 minute slots and a ”retrains" in one slot will be interpreted as drop outs. On the other hand if it sees no sync over 15 mins it knows the router is just switched off and is ignored. 

 

Rebooting frequently will result in DLM lowering sync speed. And you'll usually need 9 days of stable operation before DLM attempts to increase it back again.

 

 

 

 

Edited 25 September, 20186 yr by xman

1 hour ago, xman said:

so physically remove all extension wiring if possible and use modern DECT wireless phones with the base station at the master socket.

If you only have a DECT then you won't have a working landline phone in the event of a power cut, so it's advisable to also have a non-powered phone somewhere (even if you keep it in a cupboard and only plug it in if/when you have a power cut).

Most people have a mobile nowadays.

I'm considering not even plugging the land line in. I've no deal on the calls so every call cost money unlike my mobile.

TBH in the 2yr I've had the current number 95% (at least) of the calls have been bogus PPI/Accident claims types.

 

I took the 34Mb FTTC option. The SSE deal meant it was £15 a month cheaper than what Plusnet were offering to keep me. It's also a one month rolling contract where as PN wanted 18month sign up. I'm an SSE energy customer as well so I got a more off with that and the price fixed for 3yr.

30 minutes ago, xman said:

Most people have a mobile nowadays.

But mobile coverage is not 100% even in some towns - e.g. my brother lives in Trowbridge (Wiltshire) but in his house only EE provides usable coverage so when I visit him (I'm on Vodafone) my phone switches to WiFi Calling (which is fine so long as he doesn't have a power cut...).

 

Sometimes only a landline phone works...

If you get any mobile signal you will have access to making emergency 999 or 112 calls irregardless of carrier.

 

Or do you really need to talk to your nan or order pizza during a power cut? 

Edited 25 September, 20186 yr by xman

44 minutes ago, xman said:

Or do you really need to talk to your nan or order pizza during a power cut? 

Order pizza? Yes, as you need to eat something and if you cook by electric then you need a take away 

 

44 minutes ago, xman said:

If you get any mobile signal you will have access to making emergency 999 or 112 calls irregardless of carrier.

But calling the electricity distribution network operator (who can tell you if they know about the power cut and when power will be restored) isn't a 999 or 112 call?

 

Here's the Ofcom advice Landlines & Power Cuts

2 hours ago, PetrolDave said:

Order pizza? Yes, as you need to eat something and if you cook by electric then you need a take away 

 

But calling the electricity distribution network operator (who can tell you if they know about the power cut and when power will be restored) isn't a 999 or 112 call?

 

Here's the Ofcom advice Landlines & Power Cuts

Electricity is 105

Planning on 2 location retirement as soon as we can arrange it.

 

Do any UK broadband suppliers let you "hibernate" your service for 6 months, then restart it for the next 6? 

 

I have seen that option here in Spain - it's not free but your contract rate is heavily discounted during the hibernated months.

6 hours ago, xman said:

 

I suspect a majority of speed issues are caused by wiring issues in the consumers home. VDSL2 is very sensitive to extension wiring and use of phones on the extensions which provoke drop outs which in turn results in DLM (dynamic line management) to reduce speeds , so physically remove all extension wiring if possible and use modern DECT wireless phones with the base station at the master socket.

 

 

Or in my case, miles of aluminium cable in between me and the fibre cabinet 

13 hours ago, camelspyyder said:

Planning on 2 location retirement as soon as we can arrange it.

 

Do any UK broadband suppliers let you "hibernate" your service for 6 months, then restart it for the next 6? 

 

I have seen that option here in Spain - it's not free but your contract rate is heavily discounted during the hibernated months.

 

Yout might be better to look into switching to 4G based internet access then you could potentially just pick up your router and take it to SPain with you., Swap the sim if needed or maybe have a deal that allows roaming.

 

You could use PAYG services then so you'd only use what you pay for.

13 hours ago, camelspyyder said:

Planning on 2 location retirement as soon as we can arrange it.

 

Do any UK broadband suppliers let you "hibernate" your service for 6 months, then restart it for the next 6? 

 

I have seen that option here in Spain - it's not free but your contract rate is heavily discounted during the hibernated months.

 

Many providers do a monthly contract such as NOW TV (sky)

 

https://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/broadband/no-contract

 

Long story, Happy Fish Friday.

My SKY Broadband is pathetic and always has been.

I was paying £38 a month and getting nothing like the speed i should have.

 

In January it went up to £43.  This had me looking to switch, or get cheaper & each time i tried accepting Renewals cheaper the application failed.

When i did get to speak to someone at SKY i got an upgrade to Full Fibre and a low price.

This was on 10th January. 

Change over 14th February, new router here by the 31st January.

 

Before the 31st Router Arrived. 

BT Outreach guy knocked the door saying was putting the cable to the back of house ready for 4th.

 

On the 1st BT Outreach message me appointment back to 14th March.

This week the pavements are dug up for Fiber Broadband and pipes run to edge of gardens.

Weeks away or months from that FIBRE BROADBAND.

 

So i am paying £43 still and crap speed and just the lower price would be fine.

.......................................................

I GOT THROUGH TO SKY today.

I got the perfect call handler unlike the one 2 weeks ago.  ' Computer says just wait'.

 

£20 Credited to my Account today.

Compensation is £6 a day for every day late from the original 4th February. 

£42 a week to be paid to my account until the Fibre Broadband is on in my house.

 

It can take for ever as far as i am concerned.   LARRY. Happy as.

 

PS.

She told me today the Cable going into the house at the rear  is Pole Work, but requires scaffolding to the rear of house to be connected.

Even if so and it is the 14th March that is about 38 days at £6. £228  plus the £20 gesture today. 

 

EDIT PPS.

As i found out today,

The pavements are dug up and new repaired poorly for VIRGIN Full Fibre Broadband. 

Edited 15 February15 Feb by Ootohere