From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

I've been contacted by BT, who supply my land line and by Plusnet who
supply my broadband to say that the present arrangement will be
discontinued. I contacted BT to discuss the situation and got the
expected sales pitch; even if their prices had been reasonable, the fact
that some of their statements were untrue put me off them.

I looks as though Zen are reasonably priced and other people who use
them say they give good service. My main concerns were that I would have
to lose my 'phone number or my Plusnet e-mail address, which is used as
a last resort in case of security problems Plusnet have already given
up on e-mail and sold that part of their business to Greenby who, very strangely, say that I can keep my Plusnet e-mail even if I move to
another broadband supplier.

Since Greenby took over, my e-mail has been taking longer and longer to 'collect' and there have been days at a time when e-mails I sent weren't arriving. Unfortunately I might be jumping out of the frying pan and
into the fire if I change to another e-mail provider.

Any thoughts on the matter and does it really seem feasible that I could
have a Plusnet e-mail address with Greenby once I have no further
connection with Plusnet?
--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 13/07/2026 12:41, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Unfortunately I might be jumping out of the frying pan and
into the fire if I change to another e-mail provider.

Any thoughts on the matter and does it really seem feasible that I could
have a Plusnet e-mail address with Greenby once I have no further
connection with Plusnet?

Just a comment re. email.

I have legacy accounts with VM - these are ntlworld.com ones. VM will
likely phase these out soon and I have long since only used them for the unimportant stuff. I have a few Gmail accounts that are my "regulars"
I actually got them within the first hour that Gmail opened up and have
never had any issues in all those years.

I also use the free GMX.com mail - it has 65GB of storage with a 50kb attachment limit - which is plenty enough for me and it it is pretty
fast too.

All these of course sync on Apple Mail on all of my devices.

I guess what I am saying is that I am very pleased to have moved away
from relying on a BB supplier's email service - and the change over was surprisingly hassle free.

Just my two-pennyworth :-)

JohnB

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I've been contacted by BT, who supply my land line and by Plusnet who
supply my broadband to say that the present arrangement will be
discontinued.

[snip]

I think you should plan now to move everything away from Plusnet.

Zen will tell you whether you can get FTTP, which of course usually
relies on the Openreach infrastructure. Your location may be an
exception, in which case Zen will tell you who they use. Beware if it's Trooli, although the only person I know with that now has it working,
after many weeks without any service at all!

Others here will recommend IDNet and A&A.

The basis for these recommendations is good technical support They are
not the cheapest.

Whatever you go with, get it in place and working before you ditch
Plusnet. You should also buy a VoIP service - I use <https://www.voipfone.co.uk/> - and you should have a mobile for backup.

As to email, you should buy the service from somebody knowledgeable and trustworthy. I am aware you already have an arrangement for <https://www.poppyrecords.co.uk/> and that supplier has been less than
helpful given your need to use very old Apple Macs.

I will email you separately with my recommendation. I don't want to
name this supplier here because the last thing I need is for him to be overwhelmed with new business. He is knowledgeable and diligent, and understands Macs. Ordinarily a domain name and email service would cost
you under -u100 annually but given your Mac situation he may need to set
up something extra which is specific to your needs.
--
Graham J
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:

I will email you separately with my recommendation. I don't want to
name this supplier here because the last thing I need is for him to be overwhelmed with new business. He is knowledgeable and diligent, and understands Macs. Ordinarily a domain name and email service would cost
you under -u100 annually but given your Mac situation he may need to set
up something extra which is specific to your needs.

Another supplier familiar with supporting older operating systems might be: https://www.orpheusinternet.co.uk/

They were set up as Argonet back in the 90s for RISC OS users, who have
similar issues with elderly software not supporting the latest and greatest. The service has passed through various ownership and iterations down the
years - I believe the original Argonet email addresses still work!

They say they support Macs, and they also provide a email/web hosting, VoIP
and a (paid) newsgroup service.

They aren't the cheapest but you are really paying for the personal support. I've not used them myself but people who do seem happy.

Theo
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Liz Tuddenham <liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> wrote:

I've been contacted by BT, who supply my land line and by Plusnet who
supply my broadband to say that the present arrangement will be
discontinued. I contacted BT to discuss the situation and got the
expected sales pitch; even if their prices had been reasonable, the fact
that some of their statements were untrue put me off them.

I looks as though Zen are reasonably priced and other people who use
them say they give good service. My main concerns were that I would have
to lose my 'phone number or my Plusnet e-mail address, which is used as
a last resort in case of security problems Plusnet have already given
up on e-mail and sold that part of their business to Greenby who, very strangely, say that I can keep my Plusnet e-mail even if I move to
another broadband supplier.

Since Greenby took over, my e-mail has been taking longer and longer to 'collect' and there have been days at a time when e-mails I sent weren't arriving. Unfortunately I might be jumping out of the frying pan and
into the fire if I change to another e-mail provider.

Any thoughts on the matter and does it really seem feasible that I could
have a Plusnet e-mail address with Greenby once I have no further
connection with Plusnet?

I recently moved from Plusnet myself. I had come to end of contract, and
have a cease order on our local copper feed next January, so have to go
full fibre.

FWIW, I believe all the old BT stuff is being rebranded to EE now, so could
be worth looking at that if you were happy enough with BT.

I went with Sky, and so far no problems.

Cheers.
--
Andy H
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 13/07/2026 19:19, Andy H wrote:

Liz Tuddenham <liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> wrote:

I've been contacted by BT, who supply my land line and by Plusnet who
supply my broadband to say that the present arrangement will be
discontinued. I contacted BT to discuss the situation and got the
expected sales pitch; even if their prices had been reasonable, the fact
that some of their statements were untrue put me off them.

I looks as though Zen are reasonably priced and other people who use
them say they give good service. My main concerns were that I would have
to lose my 'phone number or my Plusnet e-mail address, which is used as
a last resort in case of security problems Plusnet have already given
up on e-mail and sold that part of their business to Greenby who, very
strangely, say that I can keep my Plusnet e-mail even if I move to
another broadband supplier.

Since Greenby took over, my e-mail has been taking longer and longer to
'collect' and there have been days at a time when e-mails I sent weren't
arriving. Unfortunately I might be jumping out of the frying pan and
into the fire if I change to another e-mail provider.

Any thoughts on the matter and does it really seem feasible that I could
have a Plusnet e-mail address with Greenby once I have no further
connection with Plusnet?

I recently moved from Plusnet myself. I had come to end of contract, and
have a cease order on our local copper feed next January, so have to go
full fibre.

FWIW, I believe all the old BT stuff is being rebranded to EE now, so could be worth looking at that if you were happy enough with BT.

I went with Sky, and so far no problems.

I've just switched to EE, at Plusnet's recommendation! Still on FTTC so
we will see how it goes. Not got a date for full fibre, suspect it will
be a long time coming.
--
Graeme Wall
This account not read.


--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Not a recommendatio or even a comment on what's been said so far but ...

what's been said so far has made me start thinking: when BT took over Plusnet
a year or two ago: was this a bad thing? Are people leaving a sinking ship?

I ask, because Plus net was out first ISP back in god knows shen. In fact: I tella lie - a flash of memory reminds me hat our first ISP was Force9 - which was taken over by Plusnet.

I've had no copanints at all about Pn in all that time, except that recentlly out Internet connection keeps dropping for a few seonds and I get the ol' "You are not connected to the Intenert". Try again and it's there . I am putting this down to a temporary problem with teh infrastructure somehwre, and/or to the etreme heat. (I'm going to reboot our router shortly, just as a placebo.)

Thanks for any comments on that, as well as the interesting discussion of
Liz's specific problem.

Another John
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

[...]

FWIW, I believe all the old BT stuff is being rebranded to EE now, so could be worth looking at that if you were happy enough with BT.

I was not particularly happy with BT but I definitely won't have
anything to do with EE, their lousy mobile phone service cost me a
wasted day and several hundred wasted miles. Only about 1 in 10 text
messages went through, the rest were accepted but then followed by a
'could not deliver' message. Typing the same text time after time in
the hope that it will eventually get through is no fun, expecially when
the message is urgent.
--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

Not a recommendatio or even a comment on what's been said so far but ...

what's been said so far has made me start thinking: when BT took over Plusnet a year or two ago: was this a bad thing? Are people leaving a sinking ship?

I am. For years I had no complaints about Plusnet but about 18 months
ago I started having to re-boot the router a couple of times a week.
The Plusnet helpdesk were useless and said they could not do anything as
mine was not a Plusnet router - so I bought a secondhand Plusnet router
so as to force them to do something.

They were just as useless with the Plusnet router but gradually the
problem subsided, only to be followed by another: Various e-mail
addresses started returning 'not known' for several days at a time; then
they would start working again as though nothing had happened. This
usually began on a Friday afternoon and cleared up on a Sunday evening.
on a couple of occasions it even extended to websites.

Unknown to me, this was probably at the time Plusnet handed over their
e-mail system to Greenby. The reason it was unknown was that the
explanatory e-mails came from a suspicious address, so I binned them. Subsequent e-mails were in HTML, so I couldn't read them.

I have to retain my Plusnet address for a while because it is the
security 'fall-back' address, but I hope to change that as soon as I can establish a reliable e-mail system elsewhere.
--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

In message <1ry6r22.izisch1q67a68N%liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid>
liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid (Liz Tuddenham) wrote:

I looks as though Zen are reasonably priced and other people who use
them say they give good service. My main concerns were that I would have
to lose my 'phone number or my Plusnet e-mail address, which is used as
a last resort in case of security problems

When I joined Zen, setting up, my contact was with someone technically knowledgeable. They even emailed me configuration details for my Billion
BiPac router (Zen supply Fritz!Box). They might not support but don't
disallow use of your own equipment. The one time I had a problem the first contact couldn't resolve, a technician called me back. Since then I
haven't had any opportunity to test them.

Switching to VOIP, you should be able to keep your phone number whoever
you go with.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 13/07/2026 20:10, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

[...]

FWIW, I believe all the old BT stuff is being rebranded to EE now, so could >> be worth looking at that if you were happy enough with BT.

I was not particularly happy with BT but I definitely won't have
anything to do with EE, their lousy mobile phone service cost me a
wasted day and several hundred wasted miles. Only about 1 in 10 text messages went through, the rest were accepted but then followed by a
'could not deliver' message. Typing the same text time after time in
the hope that it will eventually get through is no fun, expecially when
the message is urgent.

For sure. I've stuck with GiffGaff for years now, simply because it's
been reasonably reliable, and their support is extremely good. Although
the O2 coverage isn't always the best - I can find very poor signal in
some places, even major towns.

However, EE bought BT, and the broadband/telephony parts are just a BT re-branding.

As far as I can see, most of the ISPs that use the OpenReach service are perhaps very similar in terms of the speed and reliability you'll get,
as they're using the same cables to get it to your house. Of course
their own servers and such like might make some difference.

You can mitigate some of it using your own DNS preferences, for example.
I use NextDNS here.

If telephone is important then that's a consideration too. EE and Sky
offer it on Full Fibre for sure. I know PlusNet do not. Which might be a consideration when your hand is forced there. There also aren't many
offering old landline/broadband deals anyway, as the old system is being
shut down.

I must admit, I was close to choosing Zen myself, but didn't feel the
extra cost was worth it to me. I already have Sky TV services, so it was relatively easy to just go with that.

There's also the price increase elephant in the room too. Nearly all now
add -u3-4 on every April. A few of the more expensive ones might not. Sky
does theirs more randomly, and usually a lower increase, but they do
have a get-out clause in the contract, so you can switch if you don't
like the price increase at any time.

Ones I would say definitely avoid are TalkTalk and Virgin, both known to
have poor reliability and poor customer service.

The rest are mostly down to YMMV.
--
Andy H

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac



On 13/07/2026 20:02, Another John wrote:

Not a recommendatio or even a comment on what's been said so far but ...

what's been said so far has made me start thinking: when BT took over Plusnet a year or two ago: was this a bad thing? Are people leaving a sinking ship?

It was way further back than that. Plusnet is OK, I only switched as I
was out of contract, and got a better price with Sky. As well as the
fact that they're router is now pretty old (it's a very old BT Hub). The
Sky one is a little better, and reaches into my garden. I wasn't
prepared to spend out on a third party router.

I ask, because Plus net was out first ISP back in god knows shen. In fact: I tella lie - a flash of memory reminds me hat our first ISP was Force9 - which was taken over by Plusnet.

Yeah, I first used them around that time, about 2004 I think I first
went with them. I have switched a few times since, but usually ended up
back with them.

I've had no copanints at all about Pn in all that time, except that recentlly out Internet connection keeps dropping for a few seonds and I get the ol' "You
are not connected to the Intenert". Try again and it's there . I am putting this down to a temporary problem with teh infrastructure somehwre, and/or to the etreme heat. (I'm going to reboot our router shortly, just as a placebo.)

Hmm, I was getting a similar issue with that too. It would drop
connection at a similar time in the evening, not every day, but quite frequently. It seemed to go through a short reboot - the lights went
orange, and back to blue after a few seconds, but not long enough to
have been a full reboot.

They never got to the bottom of that, even a new router didn't help.
--
Andy H

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 13/07/2026 20:31, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

[..]

I have to retain my Plusnet address for a while because it is the
security 'fall-back' address, but I hope to change that as soon as I can establish a reliable e-mail system elsewhere.

I stopped using ISP provided email addresses years ago, mainly because
it was a real PITA when you switched (going back to when you got the
dial-up CDs from stores).

I got an Apple '@.mac' address as soon as they became available (was it
around 2006-ish). They did get a bit annoying with changing the
branding, first to '@.me', then to '@icloud', but they all work if you
use any of them anyway.

I have use the Apple account since, along with a couple of aliases, and
now extensively use the 'Hide My' feature. It works great, and I only
get an occasional spam message now.

I still have a Gmail account, although I long ago deleted the original,
and started afresh. I use that just for logging into YouTube to have a
few users I subscribe to, and keep some of my viewing history.

Of course there are others, but if there's a chance you might switch
ISPs going forward, I found it much easier to stick with a separate
Email provider.
--
Andy H

--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 13 Jul 2026 at 19:19:38 BST, "Andy H" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

Liz Tuddenham <liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid> wrote:

I've been contacted by BT, who supply my land line and by Plusnet who
supply my broadband to say that the present arrangement will be
discontinued. I contacted BT to discuss the situation and got the
expected sales pitch; even if their prices had been reasonable, the fact
that some of their statements were untrue put me off them.

I looks as though Zen are reasonably priced and other people who use
them say they give good service. My main concerns were that I would have
to lose my 'phone number or my Plusnet e-mail address, which is used as
a last resort in case of security problems Plusnet have already given
up on e-mail and sold that part of their business to Greenby who, very
strangely, say that I can keep my Plusnet e-mail even if I move to
another broadband supplier.

Since Greenby took over, my e-mail has been taking longer and longer to
'collect' and there have been days at a time when e-mails I sent weren't
arriving. Unfortunately I might be jumping out of the frying pan and
into the fire if I change to another e-mail provider.

Any thoughts on the matter and does it really seem feasible that I could
have a Plusnet e-mail address with Greenby once I have no further
connection with Plusnet?

I recently moved from Plusnet myself. I had come to end of contract, and
have a cease order on our local copper feed next January, so have to go
full fibre.

FWIW, I believe all the old BT stuff is being rebranded to EE now, so could be worth looking at that if you were happy enough with BT.

I went with Sky, and so far no problems.

Cheers.

I arrived with EE via Freeserve and Wanadoo. I recently was switched from copper landline to digital telephony, albeit over the current FTTC infrastructure. The switch has been painless.
I have three Outlook email addresses. The way Microsoft handle these is a bit strange IMHO but I'm getting used to it.
I haven't had an email address linked to an ISP for about fifteen years. Best kept separate.
One of the Outlook addresses is sponsored by the Institute of Physics, but I
am migrating away from it because of changes they have made. It no longer behaves as a normal email address.
--
An infinitely complex system can fail in an infinite number of ways.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 14 Jul 2026 at 06:12:11 BST, "Andy Hewitt" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

On 13/07/2026 20:31, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

[..]

I have to retain my Plusnet address for a while because it is the
security 'fall-back' address, but I hope to change that as soon as I can
establish a reliable e-mail system elsewhere.

I stopped using ISP provided email addresses years ago, mainly because
it was a real PITA when you switched (going back to when you got the
dial-up CDs from stores).

I got an Apple '@.mac' address as soon as they became available (was it around 2006-ish). They did get a bit annoying with changing the
branding, first to '@.me', then to '@icloud', but they all work if you
use any of them anyway.

I have use the Apple account since, along with a couple of aliases, and
now extensively use the 'Hide My' feature. It works great, and I only
get an occasional spam message now.

I still have a Gmail account, although I long ago deleted the original,
and started afresh. I use that just for logging into YouTube to have a
few users I subscribe to, and keep some of my viewing history.

Of course there are others, but if there's a chance you might switch
ISPs going forward, I found it much easier to stick with a separate
Email provider.

I agree. I have not had an email address linked to an ISP for many years now. --
God made the integers. All else is the work of man.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 13 Jul 2026 at 20:10:02 BST, "Liz Tuddenham" <Liz Tuddenham> wrote:

Andy H <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

[...]

FWIW, I believe all the old BT stuff is being rebranded to EE now, so could >> be worth looking at that if you were happy enough with BT.

I was not particularly happy with BT but I definitely won't have
anything to do with EE, their lousy mobile phone service cost me a
wasted day and several hundred wasted miles. Only about 1 in 10 text messages went through, the rest were accepted but then followed by a
'could not deliver' message. Typing the same text time after time in
the hope that it will eventually get through is no fun, expecially when
the message is urgent.

Again, I use EE for broadband but not for mobile phone.
--
God made the integers. All else is the work of man.
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Old John <watcombeman@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

On 14 Jul 2026 at 06:12:11 BST, "Andy Hewitt" <thewildrover@icloud.com> wrote:

On 13/07/2026 20:31, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

[..]

I have to retain my Plusnet address for a while because it is the
security 'fall-back' address, but I hope to change that as soon as I can >> establish a reliable e-mail system elsewhere.

I stopped using ISP provided email addresses years ago, mainly because
it was a real PITA when you switched (going back to when you got the dial-up CDs from stores).

I got an Apple '@.mac' address as soon as they became available (was it around 2006-ish). They did get a bit annoying with changing the
branding, first to '@.me', then to '@icloud', but they all work if you
use any of them anyway.

I have use the Apple account since, along with a couple of aliases, and
now extensively use the 'Hide My' feature. It works great, and I only
get an occasional spam message now.

I still have a Gmail account, although I long ago deleted the original,
and started afresh. I use that just for logging into YouTube to have a
few users I subscribe to, and keep some of my viewing history.

Of course there are others, but if there's a chance you might switch
ISPs going forward, I found it much easier to stick with a separate
Email provider.

I agree. I have not had an email address linked to an ISP for many years now.

I do have a separate e-mail address but I currently still need my old
Plusnet address as a security fall-back and as a redirection facility.
--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 13/07/2026 12:41, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Any thoughts on the matter and does it really seem feasible that I could
have a Plusnet e-mail address with Greenby once I have no further
connection with Plusnet?

PlusNet have sold their email customer business to Greenby.

You get two years "free" [1] and then Greenby will start billing you -u15
per year.

So, yes, it is feasible that you can have a PlusNet email address with Greenby.

If you decide to pay then it will continue indefinitely.[2]

As others have suggested, if you already have a second email provider
and are happy with their likely longevity then you could slowly move
those accounts and logins etc that currently have your PlusNet address
over to the other.


[1] From December 2025 as best as I can tell
[2] i.e. until the next change forced on you, whenever that might be.
--
Bruce Horrocks
Hampshire, England
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Bruce <07.013@scorecrow.com> wrote:

On 13/07/2026 12:41, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Any thoughts on the matter and does it really seem feasible that I could have a Plusnet e-mail address with Greenby once I have no further connection with Plusnet?

PlusNet have sold their email customer business to Greenby.

You get two years "free" [1] and then Greenby will start billing you -u15
per year.

Thank you, that has answered a question which has been nagging at me:

I could not understand how Greenby's business model would allow them to continue providing my e-mail service once I had ceased to be a Plusnet customer. I could imagine they were getting some sort of financial
support from Plusnet while they were still dealing with Plusnet's
customers but couln't see how they would avoid making a loss once that
ended.

I hadn't come across that time limit but, no doubt, it is the small
print somewhere.
--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

Not a recommendatio or even a comment on what's been said so far but ...

what's been said so far has made me start thinking: when BT took over
Plusnet a year or two ago: was this a bad thing? Are people leaving a sinking ship?

BT bought Plusnet in 2007 - almost 20 years ago! They left them alone to
get on with it for a good while. They also bought EE in 2016, which left
them with three brands for broadband/landline/mobile, with similar offerings.

The (new?) CEO strategy seemed to be to split BT group retail offerings into something along the lines of:

BT = Waitrose, reassuringly expensive
EE = Tesco, mid market value
Plusnet = Aldi, no frills discount

Then at one point they were going to make BT business-only and retire it as
a retail brand. Then I think they reversed that strategy. Now I'm not sure what they're doing.

In parallel with this has been the Openreach-driven move from copper to internet-based landlines. For a lot of people landline phone isn't a
'frill' it was something they needed, and PN decided they wouldn't offer
that service. Moving those customers to BT or EE seems to have been far
from painless.

Technically speaking, there's not much difference between the BT/EE/PN offerings - but pricing and billing may vary. While PN might have had its
own identity (Yorkshire!) I think it's more or less just another brand of
the BT group now.

I've had no copanints at all about Pn in all that time, except that recentlly out Internet connection keeps dropping for a few seonds and I get the ol' "You
are not connected to the Intenert". Try again and it's there . I am putting this down to a temporary problem with teh infrastructure somehwre, and/or to the etreme heat. (I'm going to reboot our router shortly, just as a placebo.)

If you're not on FTTP then I suspect the copper network falling over. It
seems to do so increasingly often, and BT have shifted most of the
technicians to work on fibre. If it keeps happening I would pester them to
fix it, but if full fibre is an option I wouldn't hesitate to switch to it.

Theo
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 14/07/2026 15:02, Theo wrote:

Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com> wrote:

Not a recommendatio or even a comment on what's been said so far but ...

what's been said so far has made me start thinking: when BT took over
Plusnet a year or two ago: was this a bad thing? Are people leaving a
sinking ship?

BT bought Plusnet in 2007 - almost 20 years ago! They left them alone to
get on with it for a good while. They also bought EE in 2016, which left them with three brands for broadband/landline/mobile, with similar offerings.

The (new?) CEO strategy seemed to be to split BT group retail offerings into something along the lines of:

BT = Waitrose, reassuringly expensive
EE = Tesco, mid market value
Plusnet = Aldi, no frills discount

Then at one point they were going to make BT business-only and retire it as
a retail brand. Then I think they reversed that strategy. Now I'm not sure what they're doing.

In parallel with this has been the Openreach-driven move from copper to internet-based landlines. For a lot of people landline phone isn't a
'frill' it was something they needed, and PN decided they wouldn't offer
that service. Moving those customers to BT or EE seems to have been far
from painless.

Technically speaking, there's not much difference between the BT/EE/PN offerings - but pricing and billing may vary. While PN might have had its own identity (Yorkshire!) I think it's more or less just another brand of
the BT group now.

I've had no copanints at all about Pn in all that time, except that recentlly
out Internet connection keeps dropping for a few seonds and I get the ol' "You
are not connected to the Intenert". Try again and it's there . I am putting >> this down to a temporary problem with teh infrastructure somehwre, and/or to >> the etreme heat. (I'm going to reboot our router shortly, just as a placebo.)

If you're not on FTTP then I suspect the copper network falling over. It seems to do so increasingly often, and BT have shifted most of the technicians to work on fibre. If it keeps happening I would pester them to fix it, but if full fibre is an option I wouldn't hesitate to switch to it.

Theo

And, if you do decide to stay with PN then there is always the option of a third party to keep your existing landline number.
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On Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:02:18 GMT, Another John <lalaw44@hotmail.com>
wrote:

Not a recommendatio or even a comment on what's been said so far but ...

what's been said so far has made me start thinking: when BT took over Plusnet >a year or two ago: was this a bad thing? Are people leaving a sinking ship?

I ask, because Plus net was out first ISP back in god knows shen. In fact: I >tella lie - a flash of memory reminds me hat our first ISP was Force9 - which >was taken over by Plusnet.

I've had no copanints at all about Pn in all that time, except that recentlly >out Internet connection keeps dropping for a few seonds and I get the ol' "You >are not connected to the Intenert". Try again and it's there . I am putting >this down to a temporary problem with teh infrastructure somehwre, and/or to >the etreme heat. (I'm going to reboot our router shortly, just as a placebo.)

You might want to move the router out of direct, and indirect,
sunlight and to a rather high place where it has ventilation. They
don't produce a lot of heat themselves but young Sol does and she can
cook electronics quite efficiently.

If your router is close to a front door with glass windows, you might
want to think of hanging a loose curtain over those, even if the door
faces north. Or putting sticky silvered plastic over them.

Because of he materials they are made from, cooling the router in the
'fridge is possibly not recommended. Remember, 'fridges can block the
effects of nuclear blasts so wi-fi won't get out much.

Thanks for any comments on that, as well as the interesting discussion of >Liz's specific problem.

On Liz's issue: I have had an old AOL email since they sent out CD's
with "hours of fun" free trials. No one has bothered me about it. I
also have a couple of "supanet.com" email addys for commercial and
medical mails. I haven't paid them since the first time they got
bought by someone bigger. The emails still work. They promised me that
I could keep them forever and, so far, they have kept to their word
which is not only gracious of them it is probably totally unique.

For my "broadband", I bought a hotspot. u20 per month for what they
allege is 150GB but I've once or twice overstepped the limit without
them whining about it. Mostly Operating System updates. It technically
has its own mobile telephone number but it is not voice-call enabled.
It does come with "messaging" but I don't think that connects to
"real" email.

The advantages of a hotspot are two: I no longer need a telephone
number, landline nor mobile and if I ever decide to go anywhere, I can
take it along. The *dis*-advantages are obvious. :)

Okay, disadvantages: I no longer have a telephone number so no one
can call me and, if I take it to Luton (though the gods alone know why
I would do such a thing) the computer in the house is disconnected.

Actually, not having people and robots call me is not *really* a
disadvantage.

One other good point about a hotspot, if I decide that I hate the
merger of Three and Vodaphone, and if it was with them, I could simply
buy another one with some other teleco.

I could even use the same SSID on the new one so I wouldn't need to
change anything on the home box.

I'm not suggesting this as a solution, just mentioning it as a
possible option to think about.

Hope you all stay warm, I hope it's a good game and I hope England
score many, many tries, punts, seven-yard-lines, east-and-ups and
waves or whatever it is. :)

J.

Another John

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David Kennedy <davidkennedygm@gmail.com> wrote:

And, if you do decide to stay with PN then there is always the option of a third party to keep your existing landline number.

Yes, although the transition needs to be carefully managed. Once PN 'turn
off' the landline phone, the transfer has to be completed in 30 days or you lose the number. It is better to port it from one live service to another,
but if you do that while the number is still being used for your copper
line that will also cease the broadband. If you were able to convert
the number to Digital Voice then you could port it out without ceasing the broadband, but PN don't offer a DV service so you can't do that without switching ISPs. Which brings us back to the 30 day timeout, where if anybody makes a mistake you're up against the clock.

Theo
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On 15/07/2026 15:54, Theo wrote:

David Kennedy <davidkennedygm@gmail.com> wrote:

And, if you do decide to stay with PN then there is always the option of a >> third party to keep your existing landline number.

Yes, although the transition needs to be carefully managed. Once PN 'turn off' the landline phone, the transfer has to be completed in 30 days or you lose the number. It is better to port it from one live service to another, but if you do that while the number is still being used for your copper
line that will also cease the broadband. If you were able to convert
the number to Digital Voice then you could port it out without ceasing the broadband, but PN don't offer a DV service so you can't do that without switching ISPs. Which brings us back to the 30 day timeout, where if anybody makes a mistake you're up against the clock.

Theo

When I was going to leave PN they did offer me a better deal to stay...
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David Kennedy <davidkennedygm@gmail.com> wrote:

On 15/07/2026 15:54, Theo wrote:

David Kennedy <davidkennedygm@gmail.com> wrote:

And, if you do decide to stay with PN then there is always the option of a >> third party to keep your existing landline number.

Yes, although the transition needs to be carefully managed. Once PN 'turn off' the landline phone, the transfer has to be completed in 30 days or you lose the number. It is better to port it from one live service to another, but if you do that while the number is still being used for your copper line that will also cease the broadband. If you were able to convert
the number to Digital Voice then you could port it out without ceasing the broadband, but PN don't offer a DV service so you can't do that without switching ISPs. Which brings us back to the 30 day timeout, where if anybody
makes a mistake you're up against the clock.

Theo

When I was going to leave PN they did offer me a better deal to stay...

But not with landline, presumably?

Theo
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On 15/07/2026 17:57, Theo wrote:

David Kennedy <davidkennedygm@gmail.com> wrote:

On 15/07/2026 15:54, Theo wrote:

David Kennedy <davidkennedygm@gmail.com> wrote:

And, if you do decide to stay with PN then there is always the option of a >>>> third party to keep your existing landline number.

Yes, although the transition needs to be carefully managed. Once PN 'turn >>> off' the landline phone, the transfer has to be completed in 30 days or you >>> lose the number. It is better to port it from one live service to another, >>> but if you do that while the number is still being used for your copper
line that will also cease the broadband. If you were able to convert
the number to Digital Voice then you could port it out without ceasing the >>> broadband, but PN don't offer a DV service so you can't do that without
switching ISPs. Which brings us back to the 30 day timeout, where if anybody
makes a mistake you're up against the clock.

Theo

When I was going to leave PN they did offer me a better deal to stay...

But not with landline, presumably?

Theo

No, not at all. But, for most these days a landline is a bit like a third leg. --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.sys.mac

On 14/07/2026 08:23, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I do have a separate e-mail address but I currently still need my old
Plusnet address as a security fall-back and as a redirection facility.

I think you should definitely get rid of the plusnet address as a
"security fall-back". An unreliable and possibly "going away" address
for security... not a great idea.

But how bad would it be if you got rid of the plusnet address
completely? Change your website to use the new working address, and
hopefully anyone trying to get in touch will check the website.
Sometimes you just need to rip off the plaster :-(
--
Chris
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Chris Ridd <chrisridd@mac.com> wrote:

On 14/07/2026 08:23, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

I do have a separate e-mail address but I currently still need my old Plusnet address as a security fall-back and as a redirection facility.

I think you should definitely get rid of the plusnet address as a
"security fall-back". An unreliable and possibly "going away" address
for security... not a great idea.

But how bad would it be if you got rid of the plusnet address
completely? Change your website to use the new working address, and hopefully anyone trying to get in touch will check the website.
Sometimes you just need to rip off the plaster :-(

I intend to eventually change my security address to the address on the
domain I own, so that it is not dependent on which supplier I am with.
This may take some time as I need to make a list of all the services
which currently use this address - I'm bound to miss a few and some of
these only come to my attention once a year.

The problem with my domain-name e-mail address is that it is on the same
system as my website (which I get with a very favourable discount from a long-standing friend). Unfortunately he 'upgraded' his system a while
ago and now I can no longer log into it with Claris Emailer to fetch my incoming e-mails. He put in a work-around whereby my incoming
domain-name e-mails are redirected to my Plusnet address and I collect
them from there.

By a quirk of fate this has shown that my own domain-name e-mail address
has actually proved more liable to disruption than the Plusnet one.
--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
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