Residential Broadband Products FAQ

Signing up for broadband

1. How can I find out if broadband is available where I live?

Around 99% of UK telephone exchanges are broadband enabled. To find out about your exchange, go to our homepage and click Check Availability on the product you're interested in. There won't be any pressure to buy anything, you'll just be asked to enter your telephone number and postcode to start off with. When you do this we can then tell you:

• Your local exchange
• An estimated broadband download speed
• What products you can choose from and how much they'll cost

You can then decide if you want to continue and signup to Plusnet.

2. What broadband products are available?

There are three different products available. What's best for you depends on how you want to use broadband and how much you want to use it.

You can choose from:

• Plusnet Value - an ideal broadband package if you want to browse the web, stream videos online, play games over broadband and download occasional large emails, music files and movies.
• Plusnet Premium - the perfect option for gaming, regular large file and movie downloads, or if you've got a large family or work from home a lot.
• Plusnet Pro - our broadband account dedicated to online gaming, (but also great for downloads and music). Gaming and VoIP traffic is prioritised at all times, plus it gives low latency and pings for a fast gaming experience.

Find out more about our products on our homepage.

3. Why can the area I live in affect the price I pay for Plusnet Value & Plusnet Premium?

Under Ofcom regulations introduced in May 2008 we benefit from reduced supply costs at certain exchanges (known as Market 3 exchanges). We'll pass these savings on where they are available. See our guide to low cost areas for full details.

4. Can I switch to Plusnet from my existing broadband provider?

Yes. You'll need to get in touch with your current provider and ask for your unique reference number, known as a 'MAC Key'.

Switching is free although there can be costs if your service is with a provider other than BT. If you're not sure about this, give our sales team a call on 0845 140 0200 and we'll check for you.

Find out more about switching to Plusnet.

5. What contract and setup options are there?

You can either:

• Take a 12 month contract and you'll only be charged for your setup and router if you leave within 12 months of signing up.
• Pay a one-off setup fee and have the freedom to leave when you choose (with 10 days' notice) with no penalties. If you need a router, you can get one from us for as little as £20.

Read our Contracts Policy and our Terms and Conditions.

6. What hardware is available?

Currently we offer 1-port wired routers and a 4-port wireless routers.

A postage and packaging charge of £6.99 is due when ordering hardware from us.

7. I've already got hardware, can I use it with your service?

This shouldn't be a problem, although if you got it from another provider, make sure it's not locked to their service. If you're after higher (up to 20Mb) speeds you'll also want to make sure that your hardware is ADSL2+ compatible.

Broadband Account Features

8. Where can I find out more about Traffic Management?

Our Traffic Management Guide explains how we prioritise traffic and what speeds you can expect at different times of the day.

9. Do I get a Dynamic IP or Static IP?

All our accounts connect with a Dynamic IP address as standard.

Plusnet Premium & Pro customers can request a Static IP if needed.

Find out more about IP addresses with broadband products.

10. Are webspace & hosting services available?

No, if you need these you might want to take a look at Pay As You Host & Just The Name.

If you're already a Plusnet customer and switch your account to Plusnet Value, Premium or Pro you won't lose the webspace and hosting services you've already got.

11. Is VoIP available?

Yes. You can add Broadband Phone through the Member Centre after signing up.

With Plusnet Value & Premium you get a pay as you go Broadband Phone service, with Plusnet Pro you get 240 included Broadband Phone minutes per month.

To find out more, read About Broadband Phone and how to get it.

Broadband Usage

12. What's the monthly usage allowance?

• Overnight use (between Midnight and 8am) does not count towards your monthly usage allowance.
• Unused GB are not carried over to the next month, on each billing date your allowance will reset to the level shown above.

13. How can I track my usage?

You can use the View My Broadband Usage tool at the Member Centre.

14. What happens if I go over my monthly usage allowance?

An extra 2GB will be added to your allowance for the month. This costs £2 which will be added to your next bill.

To control how much you spend per month, use the Data Transfer Watch tool to set the maximum amount you want to spend each month.

Note: If you hit the limit set in the Data Transfer Watch tool, your connection will be restricted at all times. These restrictions are removed on your next billing date or if you increase your transfer limit.

15. What happens if something else uses my connection (e.g. if my computer is infected with a virus that sends out information without my knowledge)?

Keeping your computer & network secure remains your responsibility. To help keep you secure, we scan all email sent to Plusnet addresses for viruses and filter out spam. Our accounts also have a firewall feature. In addition to this, we recommend that you install your own firewall and anti-virus software on your computer. Find out more in the Security section.

Changing Products

16. Does it cost me anything to change products?

There's no charge to change onto Plusnet Value, Premium or Pro from an existing residential broadband product.

For more details about changing products read Changing your Plusnet broadband product.

17. If I move house, how do I move my broadband?

Please see our moving guide.

This page last updated 7th January 2010