Here you can find answers to some of the most common questions asked about John Lewis Broadband and our services.
John Lewis Broadband is a trading name of John Lewis plc, but the services are provided by Plusnet plc and the contract for these services is between you and Plusnet.
In these FAQs, "we", "our" and "Plusnet" means Plusnet Plc.
Find out what this means for you in our FAQs
Your line speed, also known as your sync speed, is the maximum speed at which your router can connect to the Internet.
Line speed can change over time and you may find that it can change each time you re-boot your router. The distance from your home to the exchange or cabinet will affect it, and temporary factors like severe weather can degrade the quality of the line.
Your line speed will always be higher than your actual ('throughput') broadband speed, because it's far less liable to signal interference than the wireless connection within your home. This is why if you run a speed test over Wi-Fi you'll find that the speed test results will always be less than your line speed.
Whereas your line speed is a measure of how well your line can carry data to your router, the actual speed you see when you're online depends on many other factors. Most speed checkers will show the speed at which data is downloaded to your PC, laptop, tablet or phone - this is known as your throughput speed.
Throughput will always be slower than your line speed. It can be affected by different things, like the website you're on, your Wi-Fi connection, if you're online at a busy time (things tend to get busier on the network at peak periods 8pm - 10pm), how many people are sharing your connection, and the quality of your line.
You can run a throughout speed test at BT Wholesale.
If the results are slower than the estimate we gave you when you first signed up, have a look at our problem-solving tips.
Wi-Fi in particular can really affect the speeds you get. Try putting your Hub or router in a central location in your home and make sure you're using the fastest Wi-Fi capability of your devices. Household appliances such as baby monitors and microwave ovens can often cause interference and slow your speed down.
Your broadband speed can be affected by many factors, and will also vary to help give you a stable connection. Your actual speeds can be affected by the quality of your telephone line, location and weather conditions, network congestion at your local exchange or the strength of your Wi-Fi signal. There's more information on our Speed Guide.
If we can't provide a speed equal to or better than the Minimum Guaranteed Speed we promised you, you should contact our support team and we'll work with you to try and get the matter resolved. You can see Ofcom's Voluntary Speed Code of Practice for more information on what this means.
If we're not able to resolve your fault within a minimum period of 30 days, you have the right to leave without paying any early termination charges. If you want to do this you should speak to our Customer Options Team.
We may provide offers, but these don't impact your right to leave your contract if your speed is consistently less than your Minimum Guaranteed Speed.
Our broadband service is provided over our own and our suppliers' networks. Our total bandwidth (the amount of data that can be transmitted on any one connection) is shared between everybody who's connected to the network.
We're constantly investing in our network, and so as customer numbers and usage grows, we increase the capacity of our network to make sure there's more than enough bandwidth for all our customers.
In exceptional circumstances the network could become much busier than expected. This could be due to a major news event leading to a huge amount of online traffic, or in the rare case of network failure for example. In these situations, we would prioritise traffic on our network to help ensure that you get a great service no matter how busy it is.
When you start your broadband service with us, change products or move house, we provide you with a download speed estimate in the form of a range of values in Megabits per second (Mbps). Under normal circumstances your speed should fall within this range.
Under Ofcom's Voluntary Speed Code of Practice we aim to make sure you're aware of the estimated broadband speed you should receive and have the opportunity to end your contract without paying an early termination charge, if you don't receive your Minimum Guaranteed Speed.
If your speed consistently falls below the Minimum Guaranteed Speed you should contact us. We'll try to fix the issue and aim to get your speed above the minimum and, if possible, within your original speed estimate range.
If we can't get this resolved within a minimum period of 30 days you can discuss the issue with us. You'll be given the opportunity to leave your contract without paying an early termination charge.
If you signed up, changed products or moved home before 31st May 2017 then you wouldn't have been given a Minimum Guaranteed Speed, however we will always do our best to make sure your broadband speed falls within the estimated speed range for your line.
When you check availability using our website we'll provide an estimate of the broadband speeds your telephone line will support and give you a Minimum Guaranteed Speed.
If a customer has an existing Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) service and uses their telephone number to check broadband availability, their actual (observed) speed will be used.
We apply a series of calculations to account for peak-time conditions and throughput overhead. Under normal circumstances the broadband speed you get should fall within the speed range we give you.
For customers with standard broadband, if you use a postcode to check broadband speed, or who are currently without a broadband service, we will continue to use estimates from Openreach. These estimates are based on the performance of similar broadband connections across the country.
More information is available from Ofcom's website.
The speed estimates provided by Openreach are known as sync speeds. To more accurately represent what you would see by running a speed test on your line, we apply an overhead value to the sync speed estimate. To calculate this value we use the high level testing principles set out in Annex 5 of the Voluntary Code of Practice.
Wireless networking (also known as Wi-Fi) works in the same way as your cordless phone. It uses radio signals to transmit data from the different devices on your network.
To create a wireless network you need to have a wireless router. If you use the router we provide with your John Lewis Broadband service, you can create a wireless network in your home.
We offer a wireless router with both our broadband and fibre services.
We will provide you with a new wireless router, with 4 ethernet ports for wired connections.
You need to make sure you're protected from any malicious attacks on your computer. The majority of viruses are transmitted by email, so we employ state-of-the-art anti-virus technology to protect your emails. Any email sent to your John Lewis Broadband inbox containing a known virus is automatically deleted, and we'll then let you know who the contaminated email was from.
Webmail comes as part of the John Lewis Broadband package. It lets you send and receive emails from any internet connection, wherever you are in the world. Webmail also gives you access to useful features, such as an address book and a free spam filter. You can log into Webmail directly
A modern network of fibre optic glass cabling runs from the local telephone exchange sending data at the speed of light to a green cabinet located much nearer your home. A short copper cable then runs from your nearest green cabinet into your home. This shortens the distance the signal travels along the copper wire increasing the possible speeds.
Once you've transferred your service to John Lewis Broadband, you will continue to use the same email address as before to access your email. You can also use webmail to access your email.
Yes, if you're moving from a Greenbee or Waitrose broadband account, you'll keep your Greenbee or Waitrose email address rather than getting a John Lewis Broadband email address. It is not possible to retain this email address though if you choose to move to another provider at some stage in the future.
Yes.
No. As part of our ongoing commitment to minimising our impact on the environment we've introduced paperless billing. John Lewis Invoices are available in My account and can be downloaded and printed out, if you wish to retain a paper copy.
No. You'll keep your existing Greenbee or Waitrose email address.
Some of our offers include a John Lewis e-gift card, or a device, which will be sent to you once your service has activated. You will normally receive your reward, whether this be an e-gift card or a device, within 60 days from activation. That means you don't need to 'claim' or redeem them. If there is a redemption process, we'll make it clear in our terms and conditions when you sign up.
If you sign up via a cashback site (for example Topcashback) the cashback will be subject to their own terms and conditions, however, the John Lewis reward itself will be issued via John Lewis Broadband automatically.
You can only claim a reward if you've completed an order that includes taking a John Lewis e-gift card or an incentive as part of the offer. Changing to a different product or deal during sign up may mean you're no longer eligible for the reward, or you're eligible for a different reward. There may be different eligibility criteria, e.g. a requirement to sign up online, but we'll tell you about these when we offer each reward.
Sometimes, different rewards are available through different channels (e.g. whether you sign up directly via our website, or via one of our partner's sites).
If you try to sign up for multiple rewards you'll only be entitled to one (normally the last one you've chosen). We reserve the right to refuse to provide any rewards if we think you're deliberately trying to claim for multiple rewards.
John Lewis e-gift cards will be sent to the email address entered during signup within 60 days of the activation of your broadband.
Any devices will be sent via post to the address on your account within 60 days of the activation of your broadband.
If you need the reward sending to a different address to the one we have on the account, please contact us to let us know before activation of your broadband service.
You will need to download your e-gift card when you receive the email. Your four digit pin will also be revealed once you select 'Collect your e-gift card' in the email.
The gift card will expire 24 months from purchase or last use. Making a purchase or a balance enquiry refreshes the 24-month expiry period.
The funds on the card are available to you for 24 months from purchase or last use. If your card expires, any remaining funds on the card will no longer be available.
If you have not received your e-gift card within 60 days after activation of your broadband, please check your junk / spam email folder.
If this time has passed and you are unable to locate the reward, please contact our support team: https://www.johnlewisbroadband.com/contact-us/.
If your e-gift card has been activated, you've retrieved your PIN but it still doesn't work, please contact our support team: https://www.johnlewisbroadband.com/contact-us/.
If you have not received your device within 60 days after activation of your broadband, please contact our support team: https://www.johnlewisbroadband.com/contact-us/.
Depending on the device, you will need to contact one of the below:
For support with any Google products, please visit https://support.google.com/
For anything else please contact John Lewis directly on https://www.johnlewis.com/customer-services/contact-us
John Lewis Broadband is provided by Plusnet plc.