We changed our fixed line from BT to Plusnet about two years ago, no complaints so far.

When away from home I use my mobile as a Personal Hotspot on my 4/5G sim only contract.

Edited By V8Eng on 11/03/2022 15:26:27

Did you change the line of just the company that bill you? PlusNet is in fact owned by BT and they almost certainly use an "unbundled" service using BT's copper, or fibre.

We live in Eastern Europe, and when we first came here (about 12 years ago, the service provide by the (state) ISP was lousy – very very slow, and prone to fail frequently – Friday evening was always a good time, then it would come back on Monday morning when the local engineer(?) came back on duty.

Eventually we got a mobile phone, but at that time, it could not be used as a hotspot, although later it was possible. About 5 years ago, by chance, we became friendly with the girl in the local mobile providers shop – she spoke good English, which helped. She mentioned that they could provide up to 50 GBytes/month of broadband data connection free using a fixed router using the SIM fitted in the mobile phones, but many of her customers had complained that it didn't work, and had returned their routers – she had a big pile of them. I asked if I could try one, so she gave me half-a dozen to test after she talked to her manager.

I took them home, plugged in my SIM, and sure enough, it didn't work – then after a bit of checking, I found out that the SIM was retained in its socket by a metal strap – you had to slide the SIM under the strap – but it was so very easy to slide it in so it went over the strap (and very difficult to actually see) – so no connection. All the routers I had been loaned worked when I made sure that the SIM was correctly installed, and eventually I found about 3 truly dud routers from around 50. I got a free SIM for a year as a result as a thankyou from the manager.

Three months ago, the mobile provider (it also provides service in Western Europe and the UK), bought out the state Telecom concern, and now operates that as well – and its service is vastly better than it used to be.

I have no idea what the moral of this story is (was), but it worked for me.

Might be you're distant from the exchange and the line is shared by a large number of neighbours. My basic Broadband used to sag when the kids got home from school! Upgrading to fibre (still copper to the house) fixed it: the technology is faster and less likely to overload.

Or there might be a fault. Worth running a BT speed check at various times of day and complaining if it's not good. (The router may also have a speed-checker.) A poorly made terminal box under the eaves allowed water in causing slowly worsening telephony and internet problems. BT replaced the bad box, telephone worked, but the web was still slow. A BT Customer Service line test said all was apparently well, even though it wasn't. Eventually BT second-line support ran a test showing my router and the exchange had automatically reduced line-speed to compensate for the bad, and the exchange had to be told to reset the speed.

Other possibilities:

• the wiring used to connect other phones around the house can cause serious speed loss, as can a faulty phone; try disconnecting everything other than the master phone and the router.
• Your ADSL filter may be faulty or too basic; try a different one.
• Check the socket for corrosion, including the BT master socket immediately behind the consumer plate where the line enters the house. On the customer side occasional plugging and unplugging helps to keep the contacts clean, but the hidden master socket may not have been moved for years. If either is grubby, clean or replace.
• Router or cable is faulty. Check the router logs for repeats or other problems.
• If the link from router to computer is WiFi, it may be suffering external interference; try a direct cable connection

Otherwise a 4G/5G dongle is sensible provided the phone coverage is good and you keep an eye on the charges! Thanks for sharing – I know someone who might find this useful.

Dave

So did you actually subscribe for fibre? Just putting up on the poles doesn't help in itself, they need to actualy connect a bit of the stuff to your house.

Been with Virgin media 200Mbps Broadband and 2 mobile phones a couple of years now with no problems. Cable comes straight into the house. Still cheaper than BT 50Mbps b/b & home phone was when we changed supplier.

Had the cable in the road broken by the gas board 6 months ago and Virgin came out and fixed in 4 hours. 200Mbps connection showing 223/24 at this moment.

Phone is VOIP so BT line to pay.

regards

I have full fibre with BT and find the service excellent.

Have been with them for 20 years and have no complaints.

Well if you had 2 adults working from home plus 3 teenagers using the net and watching different video sources then it could be handy. If you don't want 900 you can get several packages at lower cost and lower speeds. Fibre isn't just higher speed it's also more reliable and lower cost than copper.