Switching to Now Broadband from Plusnet

[Muzza141]

Hi All,

My broadband / phone contract with Plusnet expires on 6th Feb, and I'm looking to switch to Now Broadband to save a few ££.

At what point should I sign up to Now to ensure a smooth transition? How long does the switch take?

If anyone can advise it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Christian

[schnapps]

Hi @Muzza141 

if it's a straight forward switchover it will normally take 14 days from placing an order.

From my understanding you can't specify an exact preferred date of your choice and are governed on the date offered by BT Openreach / NOW.

You could send NOW an email if you wish for an official answer to your question.

[Anonymous User]

I would think you could start the transfer anytime during the last month of the contract.

However I suggest you contact PlusNet and tell them you are thinking of leaving (do not actually cancel) and they may well offer to match the price.

[redchiz1]

@Muzza141 Bear in mind that if you leave before your contract has expired then Plusnet will charge you an early termination fee.

I suggest you wait until 14 days before your Plusnet deal expires and order then. Make sure that you opt to keep your existing phone number. That way NOW will contact Plusnet directly and the switch will be as smooth as can be, subject of course to the vagaries of Openreach. 

[greyeyes · Accepted solution]

I did this with my mother, plusnet to nowtv broandband, as they bill a month in advance, once you make your final payment of your contract, you can then leave within those 4 weeks... as you've paid up your contract. She left 10 days before it expired, she was fully paid up (for the 20 days out of the final 30 days of service)

[Muzza141]

Many thanks for answering my query.

Have you been happy with Now broadband since switching?

Thanks

Christian

[greyeyes]

my mother got the same speeds, no complaints from her in the several months since.

did you switch as we discussed?

[chilli2]

I'm in the early stages of switching - ie trying to get a deal from Plusnet, but so far without much luck , this is how things are going so far ...

I've Been with plusnet since 2004, and up until now have managed to get a decent, and competitive deal upon renewal

So I phoned Plusnet up to see if they would offer anything, mentioned I was about to sign upto Now (tv) broadband

My plusnet offer via the renewal page is £24.99/month for the 80/20 fttc/vdsl product for 18 months plus anytime calls at £8.37 a month which works out at £33.36a month, or over the first 12 months £400.32

Now Broadband are offering the 80/20 with inclusive calls for £20/month ( plus £5 router delivery) which costs £240 over 12 months , which is a saving of just over £160 .

The call to plus net retention's was short , pretty much closing the call off as soon as possible - mentioned i was about to sign with now TV , and just said they ( now) will send a new router and it will just be a case of unplugging the old plusnet one and plugging in the Now Tv one, and it will take 14 days ( notice period) at which point the retention agent ended the call - didnt even ask for customer details such as username etc.

Made another call a few days later to plusnet and actually managed to get a bit of a conversation but no budging on the price, as the call rep stated plusnet will not price match, instead loads of waffle about UK based call centres and if i need to call technical support then i will be stuck with a non UK call centre if a call centre exists, and as an extension Now TV support isnt upto much

I've been using my own router for some time, my current model is an Archer Vr2800 which i understand is compatible with sky MER log ins

Mentioned that i havent called Tech support much as most issues have been self fixable , and then got more waffle about uk based call centres, and a flat out refusal to budge on pricing

[Anonymous User]

I shall be in a similar position come May, when my 2 year contract with Vodafone expires. I'm thinking of changing to Now (which is why I'm spending time on this forum) because I like to have inclusive calls, and Vodafone charge £8.00 a month. I'm hoping Vodafone will do a deal to price match, just to save the hassle of swapping over.

[greyeyes]

same here a few days ago, i got an offer of £23.00/mon for 24 months for my 73/19, but it will be going up by 3.9% + CPI (9.3%) in March, my contract is up this month (feb), so i'd get 1 month at £23, then price increase next month for 12 month, then for the remaining 11 months i'd see the next increase on top compounded.it's better and cheaper to leave at £20/mon, then go back as a new customer next year (they often offer new customers between £50 to £75 rewards card, check via uSwitch for these deals).  reading that nowtv will email you up to 40 days before your contract ends and offer a deal, worth exploring that.no word on price increase with sky / nowtv (sky), they don't do annual increase, but have written in that they can increase at anytime, you have the right to give 30 days in writing to leave without penalty unlike the others that have it written in that it's an annual increase to all, can't leave.
i switched my mum from plusnet to Now broadband due to price and calls like you.  like for like speed, no issues in the 6 months she's been with them.she watches a lot of on-demand / streaming.the now router is the sky q hub re-badged, only 2 rj45 ports, 5 port tplink switch is around £10/12, under £20 for 8 ports.  no issues connecting my laptop via WiFi when at hers and good range.   if you use your own, you probably won't notice any difference.the ip address shows as sky broadband.

[redchiz1]

@chilli2 Assuming you are at or near the end date of your current contract then simply initiate a switch order via the NOW website, making sure that you confirm the option to keep your existing landline phone number. That way NOW will contact your current provider directly and it may provoke them into begging you to stay. If not, then go ahead. And the switch should be seamless. Personally, for FTTC broadband and inclusive calls I cannot find any other provider which comes close in price. 

[greyeyes]

often too late by then, beg all they want, they've had their chance & you've paid for the router delivery (worth having, even if you have your own as they won't support 3rd party routers and helps problem identification and resolution, otherwise the router gets the blame and handy as a backup too).even if they did match it, i'd still get a price increase next month billing cycle.... they've admitted they can't offset or do anything about it.i'm saving £5/month just switching and not locked in for 2 years, that's before the free anytime calls for 12 month option.

[Anonymous User]

I left Sky to go to Vodafone, phoned Sky first before I left, but they couldn't offer me anything. As soon as I kicked off the switch the emails and letters started coming in offering me everything they said they couldn't before I left. Too late!

[greyeyes]

When i left virgin, you have to call to cancel the broadband and it's
their on own network, they make a small offer, you say cancel, then
within 7 days their loyalty team calls and offers you the same package
cheaper than new customer prices.  It took 4 years to escape, the final
time they wouldn't offer me a good deal.  You don't call to cancel when
in-situ (openreach), so you don't have the actual leaving conversation
with your exiting provider.

[Anonymous User]

I was with Sky, paying full price, for years. I don't have the option of Virgin or FTTP, so from now on, as soon as the contract is coming to an end I will find the best deal available and if the current ISP will not match it, I'm off. I don't like doing it as I believe they should reward loyalty.

[Muzza141]

Just a quick update on my situation following my original post.

In the end I ended up sticking with Plusnet as they agreed to match Now's price - I signed up to a 24 mth contract for £22 per month for which I receive Unlimited Fibre Extra broadband + inclusive Anytime calls.

I'd made the decision to cancel my previous Plusnet contract, which was increasing to over £30 a month, and switch to Now to save some money.

When speaking to the Plusnet rep I said that I would only consider staying with them if they offered me free inclusive calls, which they agreed to do. They also upgraded my broadband to their fastest product which was a nice bonus.

Hope this helps!

Thanks
Christian

[greyeyes]

@Muzza141 When you get billed in March, as an existing customer even renewing a contract they'll add 9.3% (3.9%+CPI) = £2.05 to your bill from that point as it applies to all customers, did you ask them that question? I did and they even said it would be applied as it applies to all.   Your march bill will be £24.05/mon. You'll still save yourself £48/yr in the first year by taking the same like for like NowTV deal at £20/mon, 2nd year, the price increase will compound as you are in contract.

[greyeyes]

Just had an email offer of £23.99 for 18 months from plusnet:

Price changes apply (including the price for broadband, line rental, call plans, call charges and any BT Sport services being increased by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate of inflation published in January 2022 plus 3.9% on the 31st March 2022 if you take this offer before 31st March 2022).

There in writing, any deal you agree today, when billed before 31st March will be subject to a price increase.

I'm off... cheaper to leave and go back as a new customer in 12 months, rather than stuck in a 2 year contract with 2 March price rises (2022 & 2023).

[chilli2]

Still getting a nope, wont match not budging.

A few questions: Although I'm mostly migrated away from ISP email I assume that my plusnet address(s) will go dead at switch over - as will the webspace ( plusnet legacy product)

My current router is a TP link Archer vr2800 compatible with Sky MER log ins, i assume this will work with the now service, i intend to keep the now box as a back up ( ie if theres a fault to plug it in and then contact support if required)  as i do with the noisy plusnet router.

If the Now Router needs to be used, then can it be used as a modem?

[redchiz1]

1.  You will need to check with Plusnet. I left behind ISP based email services many years ago, along with the issues that entails.

2.  If it works with Sky then it may work with NOW, you can but try.

3. No, there is no WAN output available to connect a separate router. 

[Anonymous User]

@chilli2 

It sounds like it is possible to convert your PlusNet email to a free account if you ask them before leaving.

Take a look at these forum posts:

Re: email only account - Page 2 - Plusnet Community

Re: Need Help - to retain email - Plusnet Community

I haven't done it myself, they are just the results of a google search.