The PlusNet family moves to one website - FAQ

1. What has happened to the Force9, Free-Online and Plus.net.uk websites?
2. When is this change happening?
3. Why have you closed the websites?
4. What services will I lose?
5. Will my account emails now be sent from PlusNet?
6. Is this the end of Force9, Free-Online, and Plus.net.uk?
7. Can I still sign up for a new Force9, Free-Online or Plus.net.uk accounts?
8. When will the Force9, Free-Online and Plus.net.uk websites be closed down?
9. Will I need to change any settings?
10. Will my Webmail service change?
11. I have made posts to the Customer Forums, will these be lost?
12. Will I need to ring a different telephone number for support?
13. I have referral banners pointing to Force9/Free-Online, do I have to change these?
14. If I refer customers do I send them to PlusNet instead of Force/Free-Online etc?
15. Will the Wireless Broadband service be made available for Force9, Free-Online or Plus.net.uk customers?
16. I used the Auto Login feature on the Force9/Free-Online website, do I need to reset it?
17. Where can I see my Force9 or Free-Online Terms and Conditions?

1. What has happened to the Force9, Free-Online and Plus.net.uk websites?
PlusNet provides Internet services through a number of different branded websites, PlusNet, Plus.net.uk Force9, Free-Online and Metronet.
On 4th September 2007 we started the process of bringing these different brands together, so that they live on the same website - http://www.plus.net. We hope this FAQ will answer any questions you might have about this change.

The Metronet service offers different types of products from the rest of the PlusNet family. This service will move to the Plusnet website later in the year.
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2. When is this change happening?
The change started on 4th September 2007, when we gave Force9, Free-Online and plus.net.uk customers the option of accessing their sevices through the PlusNet website, or keep using their normal website. However, from the 26th September 2007 the Force9, Free-Online and plus.net.uk websites have been closed down. Customers of these brands are now directed to the PlusNet website, to access their services.
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3. Why have you closed the websites?
The move to a single website will simplify future development of our services. We'll be able to make faster improvements, and make them available to all customers, not just PlusNet customers.
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4. What services will I lose?
Force9 and Free-Online customers -You'll continue to get all the same services as before, except that you will now go to the PlusNet website when you want to contact us, get help, or make changes to your service.
Plus.net.uk customers - There is a change to your webmail - see Question 10. Will my Webmail service change?
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5. Will my account emails now be sent from PlusNet?
No, billing and general account emails, (regarding faults, usage allowances etc) will still be addressed from your provider. However you may receive newsletters and marketing emails from PlusNet, or other one-off emails as and when the need arises.
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6. Is this the end of Force9, Free-Online, and Plus.net.uk?
No. If you are a Force9 or Free-Online customer, you will remain so. All your settings and things like email and web addresses will stay the same. The only major change is that you will use the PlusNet website instead to interact with your service.
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7. Can I still sign up for a new Force9, Free-Online or Plus.net.uk accounts?
No, though exactly the same products will be available on the PlusNet website.
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8. When will the Force9, Free-Online and Plus.net.uk websites be closed down?
These websites were closed on 26th September 2007. As of now customers of Force9, Free-Online and Plus.net.uk should use the PlusNet website instead.
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9. Will I need to change any settings?
No server addresses will be changing, so you won't need to update any of your software or hardware. If you have favourite links to the Force9, Free-Online or Plus.net.uk websites, you should update these to go to the PlusNet website instead. The good news is that the links are the same, except for the site address. For example:
portal.f9.net.uk/support/email/setup/webmail.shtml will change to:
portal.plus.net/support/email/setup/webmail.shtml
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10. Will my Webmail service change?
Force9 and Free-Online customers - Nothing has changed. When you log in to Webmail from the PlusNet website you will be redirected to the same Webmail service.

Plus.net.uk customers - The webmail service on Plus.net.uk will be retired. If you are a Plus.net.uk customer you will need to login to the webmail service on portal.plus.net as a Force9 customer. Although you will lose some personal settings, you will benefit from a better webmail platform, based on SquirrelMail. You can learn about the new Webmail in our Support Section.
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11. I have made posts to the Customer Forums, will these be lost?
No. We recently merged old posts from the portal forums into the new Community Site forums. This means you'll still have access to older posts you've made from all the forums. Visit the Community Site at http://community.plus.net
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12. Will I need to ring a different telephone number for support?
No, all support numbers will continue to work. The numbers for your provider should at the bottom of each page on the PlusNet website, (providing you have selected your service on the provider drop-down and clicked on the 'Change' button.
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13. I have referral banners pointing to Force9/Free-Online, do I have to change these?
No, these will automatically update. They will say PlusNet, and customers sent to Force9 or Free-Online signup will be redirected to PlusNet signup instead.
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14. If I refer customers do I send them to PlusNet instead of Force9/Free-Online etc?
Yes! It is important that they know your account username AND the provider (such as Force9) you signed up with. Unless your provider is given, your referral might be credited to a user with the same username, on one of the other services.
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15. Will the Wireless Broadband service be made available for Force9, Free-Online or Plus.net.uk customers?
Wireless Broadband is an optional service that allows customers to access broadband from public WiFi 'hotspots' operated by BT Openzone. At present this service is only available to PlusNet customers. However, we are hoping to make Wireless Broadband available to all customers in the near future.

Note - Wireless Broadband should not be confused with ‘WiFi’ - the technology used for accessing your broadband service using wireless hardware. This is available to all customers on all broadband services.
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16. I used the Auto Login feature on the Force9/Free-Online website, do I need to reset it?

Yes. The Auto Login uses a cookie file which is stored on your computer. This file is linked to the old website, so you need to set up Auto Login on the PlusNet website to continue to use the feature.
Read more about Auto Login - Setup Auto Login for this website.
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17. Where can I see my Force9 or Free-Online Terms and Conditions?
The Terms and Conditions for all PlusNet providers are exactly the same, so the Terms and Conditions given on the PlusNet website are the same ones that appeared on the Force9 and Free-Online websites.
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Help and Support Changes

The Help & Support section of the PlusNet website has been updated to include support for Force9, Free-Online and Plus.net.uk customers. Any pages which contain provider-specific information (e.g. connection settings) now have a drop-down list at the top of the article. This will allow you to choose your provider and see the information which is relevant to you.

Select your provider:

Once you’ve chosen your provider from the list, click the ‘Change’ button. Your selection will be remembered and stored on your computer (using a cookie). This means that you will always see the correct support page information for your provider by default. If you need to change to another provider, just reselect and click Change again.

Watch our guide to Using The PlusNet Website.
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