Well we have now completed our forced move from Plusnet to EE. It's
taken me all morning to set things up but all finally all devices except
one appear to be working. Even the phone and two extensions are operational, to my surprise.
The exception is a Lenovo Z51 laptop. It's quite old, still running
Win10 and not upgradeable, but we still use it from time to time for odd jobs, e.g. because it has a memory card reader and lots of USB ports.
It has been happily connecting via wifi to the old Plusnet router, but simply fails to see any wifi access point on the new EE hub - even using their compatibility mode. They both appear to speak WPA2-Personal but
the compatibility access point that I've set up simply does not appear
in the list of access points when the laptop scans for wifi points (only
a few low strength ones almost certainly from nearby houses)
I've spent an hour on the phone to EE tech support who eventually
admitted that there were other former Plusnet customers with very
similar problems. They were quite knowledgeable and as helpful as they could be without actually solving the problem at all. (You may well
think that, I couldn't possibly comment).
In principle I could rig an Ethernet cable from the EE hub to the area
where I most often use the old laptop, as it works fine that way, but
that's an awkward bit of domestic rewiring that I hadn't expected to
have to do. But if anyone has any other suggestions they would be gratefully accepted. I find the large number of different wifi
security protocols still something of a mystery.
Well we have now completed our forced move from Plusnet to EE.-a It'sSo it's definitely a case of "not seeing" the new SSID, rather than
taken me all morning to set things up but all finally all devices except
one appear to be working.-a Even the phone and two extensions are operational, to my surprise.
The exception is a Lenovo Z51 laptop.-a It's quite old, still running
Win10 and not upgradeable, but we still use it from time to time for odd jobs, e.g. because it has a memory card reader and lots of USB ports.
It has been happily connecting via wifi to the old Plusnet router, but simply fails to see any wifi access point on the new EE hub - even using their compatibility mode.-a They both appear to speak WPA2-Personal but
the compatibility access point that I've set up simply does not appear
in the list of access points when the laptop scans for wifi points (only
a few low strength ones almost certainly from nearby houses)
I've spent an hour on the phone to EE tech support who eventually
admitted that there were other former Plusnet customers with very
similar problems.-a They were quite knowledgeable and as helpful as they could be without actually solving the problem at all.-a (You may well
think that, I couldn't possibly comment).
In principle I could rig an Ethernet cable from the EE hub to the area
where I most often use the old laptop, as it works fine that way, but
that's an awkward bit of domestic rewiring that I hadn't expected to
have to do.-a But if anyone has any other suggestions they would be gratefully accepted.-a-a I find the large number of different wifi
security protocols still something of a mystery.
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:
Well we have now completed our forced move from Plusnet to EE. It'sWhat about trying a usb WiFi dongle such as this
taken me all morning to set things up but all finally all devices except
one appear to be working. Even the phone and two extensions are
operational, to my surprise.
The exception is a Lenovo Z51 laptop. It's quite old, still running
Win10 and not upgradeable, but we still use it from time to time for odd
jobs, e.g. because it has a memory card reader and lots of USB ports.
It has been happily connecting via wifi to the old Plusnet router, but
simply fails to see any wifi access point on the new EE hub - even using
their compatibility mode. They both appear to speak WPA2-Personal but
the compatibility access point that I've set up simply does not appear
in the list of access points when the laptop scans for wifi points (only
a few low strength ones almost certainly from nearby houses)
I've spent an hour on the phone to EE tech support who eventually
admitted that there were other former Plusnet customers with very
similar problems. They were quite knowledgeable and as helpful as they
could be without actually solving the problem at all. (You may well
think that, I couldn't possibly comment).
In principle I could rig an Ethernet cable from the EE hub to the area
where I most often use the old laptop, as it works fine that way, but
that's an awkward bit of domestic rewiring that I hadn't expected to
have to do. But if anyone has any other suggestions they would be
gratefully accepted. I find the large number of different wifi
security protocols still something of a mystery.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/600Mbps-Adapter-Extended-Desktop-Powerful/dp/B0CPJQWNYD/ref=sr_1_13
ThererCOs umpteen similar and they donrCOt cost very much.
Clive Page wrote:
Well we have now completed our forced move from Plusnet to EE.-a It'sSo it's definitely a case of "not seeing" the new SSID, rather than
taken me all morning to set things up but all finally all devices
except one appear to be working.-a Even the phone and two extensions
are operational, to my surprise.
The exception is a Lenovo Z51 laptop.-a It's quite old, still running
Win10 and not upgradeable, but we still use it from time to time for
odd jobs, e.g. because it has a memory card reader and lots of USB ports.
It has been happily connecting via wifi to the old Plusnet router, but
simply fails to see any wifi access point on the new EE hub - even
using their compatibility mode.-a They both appear to speak WPA2-
Personal but the compatibility access point that I've set up simply
does not appear in the list of access points when the laptop scans for
wifi points (only a few low strength ones almost certainly from nearby
houses)
I've spent an hour on the phone to EE tech support who eventually
admitted that there were other former Plusnet customers with very
similar problems.-a They were quite knowledgeable and as helpful as
they could be without actually solving the problem at all.-a (You may
well think that, I couldn't possibly comment).
In principle I could rig an Ethernet cable from the EE hub to the area
where I most often use the old laptop, as it works fine that way, but
that's an awkward bit of domestic rewiring that I hadn't expected to
have to do.-a But if anyone has any other suggestions they would be
gratefully accepted.-a-a I find the large number of different wifi
security protocols still something of a mystery.
seeing it, but being unable to connect?
Has it picked a high channel number on 2.4GHz that the laptop might not support (e.g. some devices can't see ch13 unless you assure them it's in
a part of the world where its allowed)
if it's WPA2, I assume using PSK?
any choices between tkip/aes?
if the EE router has a WPS button, does pressing it help (gives you a
short period of connecting without entering credentials)
Does it have anyway to force it between 802.11b, g, n modes or
combinations of them?
if you can find the MAC addr of the laptop (ipconfig /all) does the AP
show any sign of having seen the laptop, even if not connected?
Clive Page wrote:
Well we have now completed our forced move from Plusnet to EE.-a It'sSo it's definitely a case of "not seeing" the new SSID, rather than
taken me all morning to set things up but all finally all devices
except one appear to be working.-a Even the phone and two extensions
are operational, to my surprise.
The exception is a Lenovo Z51 laptop.-a It's quite old, still running
Win10 and not upgradeable, but we still use it from time to time for
odd jobs, e.g. because it has a memory card reader and lots of USB ports.
It has been happily connecting via wifi to the old Plusnet router, but
simply fails to see any wifi access point on the new EE hub - even
using their compatibility mode.-a They both appear to speak
WPA2-Personal but the compatibility access point that I've set up
simply does not appear in the list of access points when the laptop
scans for wifi points (only a few low strength ones almost certainly
from nearby houses)
I've spent an hour on the phone to EE tech support who eventually
admitted that there were other former Plusnet customers with very
similar problems.-a They were quite knowledgeable and as helpful as
they could be without actually solving the problem at all.-a (You may
well think that, I couldn't possibly comment).
In principle I could rig an Ethernet cable from the EE hub to the area
where I most often use the old laptop, as it works fine that way, but
that's an awkward bit of domestic rewiring that I hadn't expected to
have to do.-a But if anyone has any other suggestions they would be
gratefully accepted.-a-a I find the large number of different wifi
security protocols still something of a mystery.
seeing it, but being unable to connect?
Has it picked a high channel number on 2.4GHz that the laptop might not support (e.g. some devices can't see ch13 unless you assure them it's in
a part of the world where its allowed)
if it's WPA2, I assume using PSK?
any choices between tkip/aes?
if the EE router has a WPS button, does pressing it help (gives you a
short period of connecting without entering credentials)
Does it have anyway to force it between 802.11b, g, n modes or
combinations of them?
if you can find the MAC addr of the laptop (ipconfig /all) does the AP
show any sign of having seen the laptop, even if not connected?
Thanks for those suggestions - router doesn't have any useful options of that kind but I can see that it's broadcasting on 2.4 as well as 5 GHz.
It does have a WPS button but that doesn't help.
I think I'll follow up the suggestion made earlier of getting a wifi6 dongle. There have been some reports that this solves the problem and
the cost is pretty small.
On Tue 02/06/2026 16:26, Andy Burns wrote:
Clive Page wrote:Even sillier point: if the old machine uses 2.4GHz have you checked that
Well we have now completed our forced move from Plusnet to EE.-a It'sSo it's definitely a case of "not seeing" the new SSID, rather than
taken me all morning to set things up but all finally all devices
except one appear to be working.-a Even the phone and two extensions
are operational, to my surprise.
The exception is a Lenovo Z51 laptop.-a It's quite old, still running
Win10 and not upgradeable, but we still use it from time to time for
odd jobs, e.g. because it has a memory card reader and lots of USB
ports.
It has been happily connecting via wifi to the old Plusnet router,
but simply fails to see any wifi access point on the new EE hub -
even using their compatibility mode.-a They both appear to speak WPA2-
Personal but the compatibility access point that I've set up simply
does not appear in the list of access points when the laptop scans
for wifi points (only a few low strength ones almost certainly from
nearby houses)
I've spent an hour on the phone to EE tech support who eventually
admitted that there were other former Plusnet customers with very
similar problems.-a They were quite knowledgeable and as helpful as
they could be without actually solving the problem at all.-a (You may
well think that, I couldn't possibly comment).
In principle I could rig an Ethernet cable from the EE hub to the
area where I most often use the old laptop, as it works fine that
way, but that's an awkward bit of domestic rewiring that I hadn't
expected to have to do.-a But if anyone has any other suggestions they
would be gratefully accepted.-a-a I find the large number of different
wifi security protocols still something of a mystery.
seeing it, but being unable to connect?
Has it picked a high channel number on 2.4GHz that the laptop might
not support (e.g. some devices can't see ch13 unless you assure them
it's in a part of the world where its allowed)
if it's WPA2, I assume using PSK?
any choices between tkip/aes?
if the EE router has a WPS button, does pressing it help (gives you a
short period of connecting without entering credentials)
Does it have anyway to force it between 802.11b, g, n modes or
combinations of them?
if you can find the MAC addr of the laptop (ipconfig /all) does the AP
show any sign of having seen the laptop, even if not connected?
the router is radiating 2.4GHz or has it been left as only 5GHz
operating? Its spec suggests it can handle 1Gb network speed but it says nothing about whether 5GHz is on board.
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:
Thanks for those suggestions - router doesn't have any useful options of
that kind but I can see that it's broadcasting on 2.4 as well as 5 GHz.
It does have a WPS button but that doesn't help.
I think I'll follow up the suggestion made earlier of getting a wifi6
dongle. There have been some reports that this solves the problem and
the cost is pretty small.
According to: https://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/lenovo_z41-70_z51-70_ideapad_500_14_15_hmm_201507.pdf
it takes an M.2 wifi card internally. The installed wifi card (if the picture is to be believed) looks like an A+E key.
You can swap this out for a new wifi card - this is neater and will likely get better reception than a dongle as it uses the laptop's own antennas in the screen.
I recommend Intel as they're typically more stable than Broadcom or
Qualcomm. You should avoid CNVIO devices as I don't think your motherboard supports them. But something like an Intel AX200 or AX210 is a good bet for wifi 6. The BE200 supports wifi 7 but I hear it doesn't work on AMD systems (the Z51 seemingly comes in AMD and Intel versions and not sure what you have).
Replacement is typically just unscrewing the bottom of the laptop, pulling out the battery connector, removing one screw and two antenna cables from
the old card, replacing the card with the new one, screwing it down, reattaching the antenna cables, replugging the battery and screwing the bottom back on. The PDF above page 53 gives instructions.
AX210s can be picked up on ebay for about -u20 and AX200s from -u10 (I'd avoid
the 'from China' sellers, and avoid AX201s as they're CNVIO).
Theo
On 2026/6/3 14:25:52, Theo wrote:
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:
Thanks for those suggestions - router doesn't have any useful options of >>> that kind but I can see that it's broadcasting on 2.4 as well as 5 GHz.
It does have a WPS button but that doesn't help.
I think I'll follow up the suggestion made earlier of getting a wifi6
dongle. There have been some reports that this solves the problem and
the cost is pretty small.
According to:
https://download.lenovo.com/consumer/mobiles_pub/lenovo_z41-70_z51-70_ideapad_500_14_15_hmm_201507.pdf
it takes an M.2 wifi card internally. The installed wifi card (if the
picture is to be believed) looks like an A+E key.
You can swap this out for a new wifi card - this is neater and will likely >> get better reception than a dongle as it uses the laptop's own antennas in >> the screen.
I recommend Intel as they're typically more stable than Broadcom or
Qualcomm. You should avoid CNVIO devices as I don't think your motherboard >> supports them. But something like an Intel AX200 or AX210 is a good bet for >> wifi 6. The BE200 supports wifi 7 but I hear it doesn't work on AMD systems >> (the Z51 seemingly comes in AMD and Intel versions and not sure what you
have).
Replacement is typically just unscrewing the bottom of the laptop, pulling >> out the battery connector, removing one screw and two antenna cables from
the old card, replacing the card with the new one, screwing it down,
reattaching the antenna cables, replugging the battery and screwing the
bottom back on. The PDF above page 53 gives instructions.
AX210s can be picked up on ebay for about -u20 and AX200s from -u10 (I'd avoid
the 'from China' sellers, and avoid AX201s as they're CNVIO).
That hardware replacement sounds easy enough, and I've seen such cards (though never tried changing ones - are the aerial connections just push-on?); but aren't you likely to need a new (or at least different)
driver (which may not be available for the OS in question, or at least
the very devil to get working)?
That hardware replacement sounds easy enough, and I've seen such cards (though never tried changing ones - are the aerial connections just push-on?);
but aren't you likely to need a new (or at least different)
driver (which may not be available for the OS in question, or at least
the very devil to get working)?
I tried this some years ago with a mobile card in a Dell Precision
M4300, and never got the card to work. A replacement WiFi card probably will be somewhat different and hopefully easier, nevertheless the OP may care to note what I wrote at the time about attempting to install a
mobile card:
First, was the laptop built for the UK, the US, or elsewhere, and are
you still in the same country? Don't buy a card built for a laptop from another country - IME, just doesn't work.
Second, ensure you can get Dell drivers for it, that is genuine Dell
from the Dell site. Even though they are buying in external hardware
from OEM chip firms such as Sierra, Dell and some other manufacturers implement their own hardware IDs, and other drivers, even from the OEM manufacturer, may not work as expected.
Third, ensure that the PCB connector fitting is the same. The laptop
PCB probably expects a Mini PCI-E Express, while some modern cards have
M2 fittings - confusingly described as M.2 PCIe but this is not the
same, worse there are several variants in the M2 standard with the
number and positions of the gaps in the connectors being different. Get
it wrong, and you'll end up having to buy an adaptor cradle.
Fourth, ensure that the aerial connections are the same. This is an
equally confusing area, as the fittings are very small, and those that I would call male and female respectively, based on their actual shape,
are often referred to by the opposite terms in much, perhaps most, of
the product technical literature. Even worse, there are at least two different sizes in use, and the difference between them is not obvious unless and until you see them side by side under a magnifying glass,
it's impossible just from photos, and the actual fitting size may not
even be included in technical product data.
The connections are so small that even if you are certain that you have
the right ones, I would advise wearing watchmaker-style magnifying
glasses to make the connections, otherwise you could end up damaging one
or other or both.
Even if you get all this right, it still may not work.
A minefield, stay clear.
Clive Page wrote:
Well we have now completed our forced move from Plusnet to EE.-a It'sSo it's definitely a case of "not seeing" the new SSID, rather than
taken me all morning to set things up but all finally all devices
except one appear to be working.-a Even the phone and two extensions
are operational, to my surprise.
The exception is a Lenovo Z51 laptop.-a It's quite old, still running
Win10 and not upgradeable, but we still use it from time to time for
odd jobs, e.g. because it has a memory card reader and lots of USB ports.
It has been happily connecting via wifi to the old Plusnet router, but
simply fails to see any wifi access point on the new EE hub - even
using their compatibility mode.-a They both appear to speak WPA2-
Personal but the compatibility access point that I've set up simply
does not appear in the list of access points when the laptop scans for
wifi points (only a few low strength ones almost certainly from nearby
houses)
I've spent an hour on the phone to EE tech support who eventually
admitted that there were other former Plusnet customers with very
similar problems.-a They were quite knowledgeable and as helpful as
they could be without actually solving the problem at all.-a (You may
well think that, I couldn't possibly comment).
In principle I could rig an Ethernet cable from the EE hub to the area
where I most often use the old laptop, as it works fine that way, but
that's an awkward bit of domestic rewiring that I hadn't expected to
have to do.-a But if anyone has any other suggestions they would be
gratefully accepted.-a-a I find the large number of different wifi
security protocols still something of a mystery.
seeing it, but being unable to connect?
Has it picked a high channel number on 2.4GHz that the laptop might not support (e.g. some devices can't see ch13 unless you assure them it's in
a part of the world where its allowed)
if it's WPA2, I assume using PSK?
any choices between tkip/aes?
if the EE router has a WPS button, does pressing it help (gives you a
short period of connecting without entering credentials)
Does it have anyway to force it between 802.11b, g, n modes or
combinations of them?
if you can find the MAC addr of the laptop (ipconfig /all) does the AP
show any sign of having seen the laptop, even if not connected?
I've seen this before with some older WiFi NIC's, typically Realtek
ones, where they outright fail to detect SSIDs broadcasting using
AX/WiFi 6.
That's a problem with the newer EE kit because, despite having
compatibility modes that use 'lesser' encryption mechanisms, it still
uses WiFi 6.
The replacement card/dongle route is a sensible approach.
On 08/06/2026 08:24, Bob Pullen wrote:
[snip]
My wifi6 dongle arrived yesterday and I'm pleased to report that it can
I've seen this before with some older WiFi NIC's, typically Realtek
ones, where they outright fail to detect SSIDs broadcasting using
AX/WiFi 6.
That's a problem with the newer EE kit because, despite having
compatibility modes that use 'lesser' encryption mechanisms, it still
uses WiFi 6.
The replacement card/dongle route is a sensible approach.
see the new EE home hub. The speed is rather poor, about 10 Mb/s up and down but that's almost certainly the limit of the USB port.
I have seen numerous complaints in both Plusnet and EE forums of older equipment not connecting to these new-fangled EE home hubs, so it is surprising that EE's helpdesk staff are so clueless. A least a couple
of us report spending an hour or more on the phone to them without
getting any practical suggestions for resolving the issue. They seem to
be pleasant helpful people on the helpdesk, just not capable of giving sensible advice in this situation.
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:
On 08/06/2026 08:24, Bob Pullen wrote:
[snip]
My wifi6 dongle arrived yesterday and I'm pleased to report that it can
I've seen this before with some older WiFi NIC's, typically Realtek
ones, where they outright fail to detect SSIDs broadcasting using
AX/WiFi 6.
That's a problem with the newer EE kit because, despite having
compatibility modes that use 'lesser' encryption mechanisms, it still
uses WiFi 6.
The replacement card/dongle route is a sensible approach.
see the new EE home hub. The speed is rather poor, about 10 Mb/s up and
down but that's almost certainly the limit of the USB port.
I have seen numerous complaints in both Plusnet and EE forums of older
equipment not connecting to these new-fangled EE home hubs, so it is
surprising that EE's helpdesk staff are so clueless. A least a couple
of us report spending an hour or more on the phone to them without
getting any practical suggestions for resolving the issue. They seem to
be pleasant helpful people on the helpdesk, just not capable of giving
sensible advice in this situation.
The curse of the low cost helpdesk. People who understand technical issues are a) expensive and b) donrCOt want a job on a helpdesk talking to the great British public.
On 13/06/2026 10:34, Tweed wrote:
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:Yes, I realise that. But these helpdesk people have lots of scripts
On 08/06/2026 08:24, Bob Pullen wrote:
[snip]
My wifi6 dongle arrived yesterday and I'm pleased to report that it can
I've seen this before with some older WiFi NIC's, typically Realtek
ones, where they outright fail to detect SSIDs broadcasting using
AX/WiFi 6.
That's a problem with the newer EE kit because, despite having
compatibility modes that use 'lesser' encryption mechanisms, it still
uses WiFi 6.
The replacement card/dongle route is a sensible approach.
see the new EE home hub. The speed is rather poor, about 10 Mb/s up and >>> down but that's almost certainly the limit of the USB port.
I have seen numerous complaints in both Plusnet and EE forums of older
equipment not connecting to these new-fangled EE home hubs, so it is
surprising that EE's helpdesk staff are so clueless. A least a couple
of us report spending an hour or more on the phone to them without
getting any practical suggestions for resolving the issue. They seem to >>> be pleasant helpful people on the helpdesk, just not capable of giving
sensible advice in this situation.
The curse of the low cost helpdesk. People who understand technical issues >> are a) expensive and b) donrCOt want a job on a helpdesk talking to the great
British public.
written for them, supposedly covering just about all the
questions/problems (sorry "issues") that their customers have. These scripts can be written by the genuine experts even the ones who have no intention of doing helpdesk work.
I *know* that lots of the customers like me who have recently been
forced to switch from Plusnet to EE are having these problems - so what
I'm really asking is why does no suitable script exist.
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:
On 13/06/2026 10:34, Tweed wrote:
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:Yes, I realise that. But these helpdesk people have lots of scripts
On 08/06/2026 08:24, Bob Pullen wrote:
[snip]
My wifi6 dongle arrived yesterday and I'm pleased to report that it can >>>> see the new EE home hub. The speed is rather poor, about 10 Mb/s up and >>>> down but that's almost certainly the limit of the USB port.
I've seen this before with some older WiFi NIC's, typically Realtek
ones, where they outright fail to detect SSIDs broadcasting using
AX/WiFi 6.
That's a problem with the newer EE kit because, despite having
compatibility modes that use 'lesser' encryption mechanisms, it still >>>>> uses WiFi 6.
The replacement card/dongle route is a sensible approach.
I have seen numerous complaints in both Plusnet and EE forums of older >>>> equipment not connecting to these new-fangled EE home hubs, so it is
surprising that EE's helpdesk staff are so clueless. A least a couple >>>> of us report spending an hour or more on the phone to them without
getting any practical suggestions for resolving the issue. They seem to >>>> be pleasant helpful people on the helpdesk, just not capable of giving >>>> sensible advice in this situation.
The curse of the low cost helpdesk. People who understand technical issues >>> are a) expensive and b) donrCOt want a job on a helpdesk talking to the great
British public.
written for them, supposedly covering just about all the
questions/problems (sorry "issues") that their customers have. These
scripts can be written by the genuine experts even the ones who have no
intention of doing helpdesk work.
I *know* that lots of the customers like me who have recently been
forced to switch from Plusnet to EE are having these problems - so what
I'm really asking is why does no suitable script exist.
I suppose they donrCOt really want to admit that the new router they more or less forced upon their customers isnrCOt up to the job. Might leave them open for complaints. Easier to leave their mainly non technical customers in a
sea of confusion.
On 14/06/2026 11:50, Tweed wrote:
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:Yes, that is possible. But it must be costing them a lot. I have no
On 13/06/2026 10:34, Tweed wrote:
Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> wrote:Yes, I realise that. But these helpdesk people have lots of scripts
On 08/06/2026 08:24, Bob Pullen wrote:
[snip]
My wifi6 dongle arrived yesterday and I'm pleased to report that it can >>>>> see the new EE home hub. The speed is rather poor, about 10 Mb/s up and >>>>> down but that's almost certainly the limit of the USB port.
I've seen this before with some older WiFi NIC's, typically Realtek >>>>>> ones, where they outright fail to detect SSIDs broadcasting using
AX/WiFi 6.
That's a problem with the newer EE kit because, despite having
compatibility modes that use 'lesser' encryption mechanisms, it still >>>>>> uses WiFi 6.
The replacement card/dongle route is a sensible approach.
I have seen numerous complaints in both Plusnet and EE forums of older >>>>> equipment not connecting to these new-fangled EE home hubs, so it is >>>>> surprising that EE's helpdesk staff are so clueless. A least a couple >>>>> of us report spending an hour or more on the phone to them without
getting any practical suggestions for resolving the issue. They seem to >>>>> be pleasant helpful people on the helpdesk, just not capable of giving >>>>> sensible advice in this situation.
The curse of the low cost helpdesk. People who understand technical issues >>>> are a) expensive and b) donrCOt want a job on a helpdesk talking to the great
British public.
written for them, supposedly covering just about all the
questions/problems (sorry "issues") that their customers have. These
scripts can be written by the genuine experts even the ones who have no
intention of doing helpdesk work.
I *know* that lots of the customers like me who have recently been
forced to switch from Plusnet to EE are having these problems - so what
I'm really asking is why does no suitable script exist.
I suppose they donrCOt really want to admit that the new router they more or >> less forced upon their customers isnrCOt up to the job. Might leave them open
for complaints. Easier to leave their mainly non technical customers in a
sea of confusion.
idea how much it costs a company like EE which has UK staffed helpdesks,
but I can guess that each hour must be costing them the equivalent of a month or twos broadband rental to people like me. They could have given
me sensible advice in a minute or two and even bought me a Wifi6 dongle
as well much more cheaply. Perhaps their management doesn't know that?
In that context, I have to say that my experience was that the whole
Plusnet to EE migration could have been handled much more smoothly. I
got lots of unnecessary messages, most of them containing false or out-of-date information. So I'm happy to conclude that their management isn't really all that good.
up the chain I got them to agree a refund.
Plusnet say that they can't do this by cancelling the direct-debit (not
due for several more days) or by making a bank transfer, but only by
sending me through the post a cheque for -u0-99. You couldn't make it up.
Annoyed by this I then contacted EE to claim for the cost of getting a
Wifi6 dongle for the elderly laptop which wouldn't work with their new router (or home hub as they persist in calling it) because it didn't
support Wifi6. Eventually I got them to agree to refund me the cost of
the dongle, a whole -u3-69. I was expecting to get another cheque, but
EE claim they can do this by applying a credit to my next bill.
I guess that's progress and perhaps why cheque-based Plusnet are
gradually being abandoned as a brand by BT.
On 2026/6/23 12:11:23, Clive Page wrote:
[]
up the chain I got them to agree a refund.
Plusnet say that they can't do this by cancelling the direct-debit (not
due for several more days) or by making a bank transfer, but only by
sending me through the post a cheque for -u0-99. You couldn't make it up.
:-)
I haven't got as far as that yet (presumably they can't reverse-DD if
you're no longer with them), but: I generally have a billing dispute
with them about once a year, and it is usually resolved in my favour -
but, they won't reduce the pending DD (even if it's many days before
it's due), they insist on taking the excessive amount, then refunding
it. So far I haven't insisted.
Annoyed by this I then contacted EE to claim for the cost of getting a
Wifi6 dongle for the elderly laptop which wouldn't work with their new
router (or home hub as they persist in calling it) because it didn't
support Wifi6. Eventually I got them to agree to refund me the cost of
Well done!
the dongle, a whole -u3-69. I was expecting to get another cheque, butI'm sure I've still seen TV ad.s for it in the last week or so.
EE claim they can do this by applying a credit to my next bill.
I guess that's progress and perhaps why cheque-based Plusnet are
gradually being abandoned as a brand by BT.
I assume you've gone EE as you wanted to keep a landline (via VoIP) -
how's that going?
I wasn't all that certain that we wanted to keep a landline but the alternative, staying with Plusnet, was only slightly cheaper given their automatic price rises.-a So I though that moving to EE might be the least hassle.-a In the end I'm not sure.
The main phone plugged into the home hub works fine, and so do two extensions plugged into powerline adaptors that EE sent us free.-a We are getting just as many junk calls as before, EfOU.-a And EE broadband is
about 50% faster than Plusnet was, though we hardly needed the
additional bandwidth.
I still think I'll get full fibre via City Fibre installed before the EE contract runs out.-a Our physical connections to the nearest cabinet, a couple of streets away, have been unreliable in the past and could
easily go wrong again.
Just to report, in case it amuses anyone else.
Plusnet say that they can't do this by cancelling the direct-debit (not
due for several more days) or by making a bank transfer, but only by
sending me through the post a cheque for -u0-99.-a-a You couldn't make it up.
| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 70 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 01:44:45 |
| Calls: | 949 |
| Calls today: | 1 |
| Files: | 1,325 |
| Messages: | 280,998 |