CityFibre installed fibre in our area with a pavement hatch in the next
road but as we are at number 1 it's only about 10 m from our house. The >CityFibre postcode checker said we could get full fibre to the premises. >So I signed up with Zen Internet a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I got a >message from Zen saying that CityFibre now say that they cannot connect us >(no reason given).
On 19/09/2026 in message <118lmp4$21sa8$1@dont-email.me> Clive Page wrote:
CityFibre installed fibre in our area with a pavement hatch in the
next road but as we are at number 1 it's only about 10 m from our
house. The CityFibre postcode checker said we could get full fibre
to the premises. So I signed up with Zen Internet a couple of
weeks ago. Yesterday I got a message from Zen saying that CityFibre
now say that they cannot connect us (no reason given).
I have Giganet (now Cuckoo I think) and BT manholes adjacent to my
house, one 12" away the other adjoins my property. Neither can provide
fibre and neither will send an engineer out to look at it. I am one of
four properties served by a private driveway and I think from their
point of view that makes it a nuisance job.
On 19/09/2026 in message <118lmp4$21sa8$1@dont-email.me> Clive Page wrote:
CityFibre installed fibre in our area with a pavement hatch in the next >road but as we are at number 1 it's only about 10 m from our house. The >CityFibre postcode checker said we could get full fibre to the premises. >So I signed up with Zen Internet a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I got a >message from Zen saying that CityFibre now say that they cannot connect us >(no reason given).
I have Giganet (now Cuckoo I think) and BT manholes adjacent to my house, one 12" away the other adjoins my property. Neither can provide fibre and neither will send an engineer out to look at it. I am one of four
properties served by a private driveway and I think from their point of
view that makes it a nuisance job.
Is Giganet providing fibre? I am on the end of a private driveway, and >Openreach put the fibre through the same duct that the copper telephone
wire went through.
We've had part-fibre broadband from Plusnet for several years, but back
in June, several-a months before the contract was ending, they told us we had to make a choice: either to take out a new 24 month contract with Plusnet but without a phone or continue at the same price until October
by transferring to EE with a landline (via VOIP) included.-a We decided
to make the switch to EE.-a Not everything went smoothly and EE support
were pretty clueless so I really didn't want to continue with them after
the end of contract in October.-a But October is near so we had to make a choice.
CityFibre installed fibre in our area with a pavement hatch in the next
road but as we are at number 1 it's only about 10 m from our house.-a The CityFibre postcode checker said we could get full fibre to the premises.
-aSo I signed up with Zen Internet a couple of weeks ago.-a Yesterday I
got a message from Zen saying that CityFibre now say that they cannot connect us (no reason given).
I've retried their postcode checker and our address still shows full
fibre "already available" but other addresses in our small road show
full fibre not available, including one neighbour who is even nearer to their own duct then we are.-a This is bizarre.-a I can't sign up for being notified when CityFibre becomes available to our address because they
still falsely claim that we can already get connected.-a Catch 22.
I now find that the cheapest part-fibre connection with a reputable firm
is to go back to Plusnet (we no longer care about having a landline).
Since we are no longer a customer of them we qualify for a reasonable
deal, better then if we'd simply stayed with them back in June!
My payment to them has gone through, according to my credit card
provider, but I got no confirmation of payment and it doesn't show up on
the Plusnet site and it won't let me log in with my new username and password.-a So I'm currently on the phone to them to find out what's
going on.-a A mere 30 minutes wait to speak to an advisor.
I'm amazed how many hoops one has to jump through to, basically, stay in
the same place.-a And of course EE and Plusnet are just branches of BT. I wonder how those who are older or less technically competent cope with
all this.
We've had part-fibre broadband from Plusnet for several years, but back
in June, several months before the contract was ending, they told us we
had to make a choice: either to take out a new 24 month contract with Plusnet but without a phone or continue at the same price until October
by transferring to EE with a landline (via VOIP) included. We decided
to make the switch to EE. Not everything went smoothly and EE support
were pretty clueless so I really didn't want to continue with them after
the end of contract in October. But October is near so we had to make a choice.[]
I'm amazed how many hoops one has to jump through to, basically, stay in
the same place. And of course EE and Plusnet are just branches of BT.
I wonder how those who are older or less technically competent cope with
all this.
On 2026/9/19 11:5:17, Clive Page wrote:
What problems have you had with them? Forewarned is forearmed.
Couldn't agree more. I still think the big POTS closure has had far too little coverage; to be fair I'm not sure what more they could do, but I expect much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
On 19/09/2026 22:17, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2026/9/19 11:5:17, Clive Page wrote:
What problems have you had with them? Forewarned is forearmed.
1. Watch for the billing - both Plusnet and EE tried to bill me for a
day or two, though the handover was supposed to be seamless and instant.
And the email supposed to tell me that the new service was live didn't appear for hours after it should have done.
2. The EE router (or hub or whatever they called it) only works with
devices that supported Wifi6. One of our old laptops didn't, it turned
out. The hub had a "compatibility mode" supposed to take care of older devices, but it didn't. It was easy to find quite a number of postings
on the Plusnet and EE forums from people with exactly the same problem,
but EE support people didn't seem to realise it was a fairly common
problem and certainly had no idea how to fix it. I had eventually to
buy a USB wifi dongle which solved the problem.
3. If you want to keep your phone number and have more than one
extension on your landline, they will send you one or two adaptors which plug into any nearby mains socket. But only if you ask.
Couldn't agree more. I still think the big POTS closure has had far too
little coverage; to be fair I'm not sure what more they could do, but I
expect much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
I am also very surprised how little reaction there has been. I guess
young people gave up using landlines some years ago, but for people in
the older age group, it's by no means easy to find out what all the
options are and their pros and cons.
On 2026/9/19 23:2:3, Clive Page wrote:
2. The EE router (or hub or whatever they called it) only works with devices that supported Wifi6. One of our old laptops didn't, it turned out. The hub had a "compatibility mode" supposed to take care of older devices, but it didn't. It was easy to find quite a number of postings
on the Plusnet and EE forums from people with exactly the same problem, but EE support people didn't seem to realise it was a fairly common problem and certainly had no idea how to fix it. I had eventually to
buy a USB wifi dongle which solved the problem.
Oh. That will be a pain! This laptop has both 2.4 and 5 GHz, but I've no
idea whether it has Wifi6; it has 802.11, and is currently connected by 802.11ac, but that's presumably the PN router. I can see mention of
"AES-CCMP algorithm" and "802.11i RSNA algorithm that uses PSK" if those
mean anything to anyone.>
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:[]
Oh. That will be a pain! This laptop has both 2.4 and 5 GHz, but I've no
idea whether it has Wifi6; it has 802.11, and is currently connected by
802.11ac, but that's presumably the PN router. I can see mention of
"AES-CCMP algorithm" and "802.11i RSNA algorithm that uses PSK" if those
mean anything to anyone.>
Clive's problem was to do with a bug in an old Intel wifi card, which is no
longer supported by Intel. It is not accurate to say their router doesn't work with pre-wifi 6 devices - it's only those with buggy Intel wifi cards which are affected. Most older devices are fine.[]
has a list of affected Intel wireless cards. You should be able to check in Device Manager what you have. Notably Intel above say:
It is possible to swap the internal wifi card for a newer one, or use a -u5 USB dongle.
Theo--
On 2026/9/20 12:25:11, Theo wrote:
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:[]
Oh. That will be a pain! This laptop has both 2.4 and 5 GHz, but I've no >>> idea whether it has Wifi6; it has 802.11, and is currently connected by
802.11ac, but that's presumably the PN router. I can see mention of
"AES-CCMP algorithm" and "802.11i RSNA algorithm that uses PSK" if those >>> mean anything to anyone.>
Clive's problem was to do with a bug in an old Intel wifi card, which is no
Ah yes, I remember now.
longer supported by Intel. It is not accurate to say their router doesn't >> work with pre-wifi 6 devices - it's only those with buggy Intel wifi cards >> which are affected. Most older devices are fine.[]
has a list of affected Intel wireless cards. You should be able to check in >> Device Manager what you have. Notably Intel above say:
Device manager shows "Realtek 8821AE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC".
So I presume it isn't Intel.
It is possible to swap the internal wifi card for a newer one, or use a -u5 >> USB dongle.
I guess that's 5 pounds from ebay, or 25 to 50 from PC World, assuming
they even have them. Touch wood I won't need.
Theo
On 20/09/2026 20:59, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2026/9/20 12:25:11, Theo wrote:
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:[]
Ah yes, I remember now.Oh. That will be a pain! This laptop has both 2.4 and 5 GHz, but I've no >>>> idea whether it has Wifi6; it has 802.11, and is currently connected by >>>> 802.11ac, but that's presumably the PN router. I can see mention of
"AES-CCMP algorithm" and "802.11i RSNA algorithm that uses PSK" if those >>>> mean anything to anyone.>
Clive's problem was to do with a bug in an old Intel wifi card, which is no >>
longer supported by Intel. It is not accurate to say their router doesn't >>> work with pre-wifi 6 devices - it's only those with buggy Intel wifi cards >>> which are affected. Most older devices are fine.[]
has a list of affected Intel wireless cards. You should be able to check in >>> Device Manager what you have. Notably Intel above say:
Device manager shows "Realtek 8821AE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC".
So I presume it isn't Intel.
It is possible to swap the internal wifi card for a newer one, or use a -u5 >>> USB dongle.
I guess that's 5 pounds from ebay, or 25 to 50 from PC World, assuming
they even have them. Touch wood I won't need.
PC World no longer exists. They are now branded Curry's who has them for around -u10, Argos -u13.00, Scan Computers for under -u5.00.
I thought they branded themselves as "Currys/PC World". but those prices sound reassuring, thanks - assuming I end up having to get one. Which I
hope I don't - not for the money, but it will use up a USB port.
[]
(Can anyone say if my "Realtek" "card" above will be OK?)
On 2026/9/20 22:45:6, David Wade wrote:
On 20/09/2026 20:59, J. P. Gilliver wrote:I thought they branded themselves as "Currys/PC World".
On 2026/9/20 12:25:11, Theo wrote:
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:[]
Oh. That will be a pain! This laptop has both 2.4 and 5 GHz, but I've no >>>>> idea whether it has Wifi6; it has 802.11, and is currently connected by >>>>> 802.11ac, but that's presumably the PN router. I can see mention of
"AES-CCMP algorithm" and "802.11i RSNA algorithm that uses PSK" if those >>>>> mean anything to anyone.>
Clive's problem was to do with a bug in an old Intel wifi card, which is no
Ah yes, I remember now.
longer supported by Intel. It is not accurate to say their router doesn't >>>> work with pre-wifi 6 devices - it's only those with buggy Intel wifi cards >>>> which are affected. Most older devices are fine.[]
has a list of affected Intel wireless cards. You should be able to check in
Device Manager what you have. Notably Intel above say:
Device manager shows "Realtek 8821AE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC".
So I presume it isn't Intel.
It is possible to swap the internal wifi card for a newer one, or use a -u5
USB dongle.
I guess that's 5 pounds from ebay, or 25 to 50 from PC World, assuming
they even have them. Touch wood I won't need.
PC World no longer exists. They are now branded Curry's who has them for
around -u10, Argos -u13.00, Scan Computers for under -u5.00.
sound reassuring, thanks - assuming I end up having to get one. Which I
hope I don't - not for the money, but it will use up a USB port.
[]
(Can anyone say if my "Realtek" "card" above will be OK?)
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
I thought they branded themselves as "Currys/PC World". but those prices
sound reassuring, thanks - assuming I end up having to get one. Which I
hope I don't - not for the money, but it will use up a USB port.
[]
(Can anyone say if my "Realtek" "card" above will be OK?)
Realtek is not Intel, so is not affected by the specific problem. I think chances are you'll be ok.
Theo
On 21/09/2026 00:34, J. P. Gilliver wrote:[]
On 2026/9/20 22:45:6, David Wade wrote:
PC World no longer exists. They are now branded Curry's who has them for >>> around -u10, Argos -u13.00, Scan Computers for under -u5.00.I thought they branded themselves as "Currys/PC World".
According to Wikipedia that went in 2021 so about 5 years ago. Looking
Personally, I find their business practices as odious as Amazon. As
Dixons their staff knowledge was appalling, and of course after buying Currys they quickly ditched that brand except at airports and one token store. They then proudly boasted that everything at the airport was
cheaper than their high street stores, which of course if you only have
one, that doesn't mean much.
For a long while they relied heavily on selling product insurance to
make a profit, when for many items, under the sale of goods act these offered little extra support.
The still try and sell premium anti-virus solutions, which for most
users add little extra protection.
So basically I will go anywhere except Currys that was PCWorld and Dixons.
but those prices
sound reassuring, thanks - assuming I end up having to get one. Which I
hope I don't - not for the money, but it will use up a USB port.
If you do have issues it may be possible to swap the internal card.
[]
(Can anyone say if my "Realtek" "card" above will be OK?)
The only issues I can find relate to bad drivers..
Dave
So basically I will go anywhere except Currys that was PCWorld and Dixons.
On Mon, 21 Sep 2026 11:37:46 +0100, David Wade <g4ugm@dave.invalid>
wrote:
So basically I will go anywhere except Currys that was PCWorld and Dixons.
A couple of years ago I wanted an iron so rather than go online I
decided to go and look in Currys, where they had about 30 on show but
only ten in stock. Investigating when I got home, they didn't have any
in the warehouse either.
So I went to Amazon.
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