Broadband

Broadband Products

1. What broadband products are available?

There are two 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 Extra - a good option for gaming, regular large file and movie downloads, or if you've got a large family or work from home a lot.

Our products offer ADSL2+ speeds where available. You can also upgrade to Plusnet Fibre (if fibre optic broadband is available in your area and your street cabinet). Find out more about our products on our homepage.

Note: Plusnet services are only available to customers with an an active BT or Plusnet telephone line, we can't provide services to the 01482 area/HU postcode area (Hull). This area is only served by KCom (Kingston Communications.)

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Broadband Account Features

2. 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.

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

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

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

Find out more about IP addresses with broadband products.

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4. 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 or Plusnet Extra you won't lose the webspace and hosting services you've already got.

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5. Is VoIP available?

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

With Plusnet Value & Extra you get a pay as you go Broadband Phone service.

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

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Broadband Usage

6. What's the monthly usage allowance?

Product	Standard allowance	Fibre allowance
Plusnet Value	10GB	40GB
Plusnet Extra	60GB	120GB

• Overnight usage (between Midnight and 8am) does not count towards your monthly usage allowance.
• Any unused allowance isn't carried over to the next month. On each billing date your allowance will reset to the level shown above.

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7. How can I track my usage?

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

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

For the majority of customers an extra 5GB will be added to your allowance for the month. This costs £5 which will be added to your next bill. (Customers on some older products will be charged £2 per 2GB block).

To control how much you spend per month, use the Manage My Usage tool (found in My Account > Connection Settings).

You can use this to set a maximum monthly amount to spend on usage (ontop of your monthly subscription price). What happens when you hit the usage limit that you've set varies, depending on the type of product you have. Also, some products have more options for adding usage.

For the majority of broadband customers:

1. Go to the Manage My Usage tool and enter the maximum amount you're willing to pay each month on usage (ontop of your subscription price).
2. E.g. let's say that you pay £6.99 for your broadband subscription each month. You've got the option of:
   

• Not spending any more than £6.99 each month. So you'd enter a limit of £0
• Setting a limit on what you're willing to spend on extra usage each month. Do this by entering an amount in multiples of £5 - e.g. £5, £10, £15, £20 etc. (Or if you're on an older product you should enter this in multiples of £2 - e.g. £2, £4, £6, £8 etc.). This will add extra usage at a cost of £5 per 5GB or £2 per 2GB. The maximum extra monthly spend you've set will be shown.

3. If you decide that you need to change your maximum extra monthly spend from month to month, it's not a problem. If this happens you'd simply need to increase or decrease the amount you're willing to spend.
4. If you do hit the usage limit you've set your speed will be rate limited to 256kb/s until your next billing date. You can change this by increasing your maximum extra monthly spend or removing your Manage My Usage limit.

For Broadband Your Way customers:

As well being able to set a Manage My Usage limit, Broadband Your Way customers also have the option of paying for Fixed cost or Pay As You Go usage. (This option was available when the account was created. Usage allowance preferences can be changed at Control Your Broadband found in My Account > Connection Settings).

Fixed cost:

If you reach your usage limit:

• Access to Peer-to-Peer/USENET etc is blocked
• Your speed will be rate limited to 256kb/s until your next billing day

PAYG:

If you reach your usage limit:

• Extra usage is added to your account which you pay for on your next billing day
• Your speed will stay the same

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9. 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.

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This page last updated 15^th March 2012