Plusnet? More like Plus-naught: Mobile data on the fritz for days for some unlucky punters

Updated Plusnet Mobile subscribers say their smartphones have been unable to reach the internet via the cellular network for several days.

Affected punters tell us they just can't get their mobile handsets to connect to the web via the Plusnet cellular network. Plusnet Mobile, launched in November, piggybacks on BT's EE network.

"A lot of users including myself are unable to get any data on their network," Plusnet Mobile customer Tony told El Reg, adding: "Whilst voice works, data does not."

"Plusnet either quiet on the issue or say there's a network issue 'just wait' - been like it for days," added Reg reader Paul, who experienced knackered connectivity after fitting a new SIM.

And Reg follower Keith quipped last night: "I recently made the switch to the newly announced Plusnet Mobile: unlimited calls and 4GB of 4G data for £10 a month. As I said to my wife, 'I'll never be able to use that much data in a month.' I was right.

"Plusnet are aware of the problem but show no sign of being able to fix it, despite some people apparently having waited more than a month."

The Plusnet support forums are swamped with questions and complaints from subscribers who have been knocked offline by the ongoing technical gremlins.

The complaints note a number of similarities; many of the customers have run into the data blackout after receiving new SIM cards.

"I got my first SIM on Friday: no data. Spoke to them on live chat and Plusnet said they'd refer to their technical department which would take five working days and there was no need for a replacement SIM," wrote user w401.

"Called them on Saturday they said a new SIM should sort it and they'd send one. Number finished porting Monday: still no data. New SIM arrived today, Tuesday, spoke on the live chat to activate it, waited two hours as instructed, restarted my phone and still no data."

Other folks report similar problems, in most cases after porting over their numbers from other carriers and receiving new SIMs. The users report that while voice service works, mobile data service fails and replacing the new SIMs does not always remedy the problem.

The Register asked Plusnet for comment on the matter, but at the time of writing, the network was keeping mum.

Word of the outage comes just weeks after a report from UK watchdog Ofcom named Plusnet alongside BT as the most complained-about carriers in the UK between July and September of last year, amassing an average of 300 complaints with the regulator daily. ®

Updated to add

Plusnet spokesperson Rebeka Preston has said: "We’re aware a small number of customers who received Plusnet Mobile SIMs within the last week have been affected by a configuration issue, which means they can’t access data services. Our supplier’s working hard to restore this for all affected customers as quickly as possible.

"We’re really sorry for the inconvenience that this has caused and we'll be updating our Community service status page as often as possible."