f9FAQ

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FAQ

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F9 FAQ

Q1) With all these new services known as F9 what is happening to Force9?
Q2) I have a Silver / Bronze Force9 account. How will the new accounts affect me?
Q3) Do I need to change anything?
Q4) What is this Portal I've been hearing about?
Q5) My Username and password are saved into my browser, but I forget what they are. What do I do now?
Q6) Why doesn't the Portal work very well with my browser?
Q7) I want to change to F9 Premier. How can I do this?
Q8) Can I Register a domain with F9?
Q9) I already have a domain registered, can I transfer the hosting to F9?
Q10) When can I use Frontpage extensions?
Q11) I want to use Fax-2-Email. Where Can I find out about this?
Q12) OK, I've upgraded to F9 Premier, Where's My Static IP?
Q13) Although I can have all those great new features as a Bronze / Silver customer, all I want is f9 Free. What do I do?
Q14) I updated my account to F9 Premier last week but the portal says I have the same account as before, which one is true?
Q15) How will the 0800 Internet access work?
Q16) I've given all my details in the 'Manage My Account' section but still cannot get 0800 Internet access. What Now?
Q17) I know all the details are correct for 0800 access but I still can not get through. Your support people mentioned a problem with my 'CLI'. What is that?
Q18) I was cut off 2 hours into a download on the 0800 number, how can I get around this problem?
Q19) Are paying customers service levels going to suffer as a result of the growth of F9 Free?
Q20) In the Past I've experienced modem connection problems with F9 / Force9
Q21) I'm a Force9 "cable" customer and previously accessed Force9 through a discounted rate number will this change?
Q22) As a "cable" customer, If I choose to upgrade my account to F9 Premier will I still be eligible for my 25% subscription discount?
Q23) Will there be any changes in the Future?
Q24) I've read all this now, What was the F9 Portal Address again?

Q1) With all these new services known as F9 what is
happening to Force9?
A) F9 is our next stage of evolution for Force9. We are
trying to provide a service to you and look after all of
our existing residential and prospective customers under
the new F9 brand. We believe that through our new
feature rich Portal and additional new services we are
providing you with the best benefits and services
available from any ISP in the UK today.

Q2)I have a Silver / Bronze Force9 account. How will
the new accounts affect me?
A) Your account has been automatically upgraded to the
equivalent of the F9 Premier service, but without the
0800 Internet access at the weekends, static IP
allocation. This means you get access to exciting new
facilities such as fax-2-e-mail service where you can
recieve faxes in your email via your own unique number.
Your subscription charges will also remain the same
with no increase.

Q3) Do I need to change anything?
A) If you wish to take advantage of the new services
and update your account accordingly, then you will need
to login to the Portal (http://portal.f9.net.uk) and
configure the relevant settings. You can use
alias@username.f9.co.uk as your email address for ease
of use if you wish, otherwise you don't need to change
anything. If you are unsure of any of the settings you
need to change, then please call our technical support
team (0870 705 8000).

Q4) What is this Portal I've been hearing about?
A) The Portal is your new window onto the Internet. Not
only can you configure what you see, but you can
manage your own F9 / Force9 account online as well as
read your webmail and review your accounting details.
The Portal is at http://portal.f9.net.uk. You will need
your normal Force9 / F9 username and password to gain
access to the main Portal area.

Q5) My Username and password are saved into my
browser, but I forget what they are. What do I do
now?
A) Simply call 0870 705 8000 (national rate call) and
one of our support staff will ask you a few security
questions before confirming your account information.
Due to the obvious security implications account
passwords cannot be viewed via the F9 portal.

Q6) Why doesn't the Portal work very well with my
browser?
A) In order to get the F9 portal working we had to
sacrifice some of the "ergonomic" development work
time. This should however be completed through this
week in order that the Portal can be properly used via
most browsers and with most settings. We recommend
that it is viewed at a resolution of 800 x 600 or better.
A 640 x 480 resolution will have some scrolling.

Q7) I want to change to F9 Premier. How can I do
this?
A) Upgrades to F9 Premier are currently restricted as we
are determined not to compromise the integrity of our
network by oversubscribing the service. If you do wish
to upgrade to F9 Premier keep checking the Portal for
availability. When you have logged into the F9 portal
click on 'Manage My Account' in the main Portal menu
and click 'Edit Account Details' you can then upgrade to
the F9 Premier service from there. When we do raise the
restrictions on F9 Premier signups this will be initially to
existing Force9 customers.

Q8) Can I Register a domain with F9?
We are just completing the automation of this facility
and will subsequently allow you to register domains via
the F9 Portal. An update will be broadcasted at the
appropriate time.

Q9) I already have a domain registered, can I
transfer the hosting to F9?
A) As with registrations, you will be able arrange
domain transfers via the F9 Portal shortly. An update
will be broadcast at the appropriate time.

Q10) When can I use Frontpage extensions?
A) Available now, Click on 'Manage My Account' in the
main Portal menu and click 'Activate FrontPage
Extensions'. When your Frontpage account is fully
created you will be e-mailed with all the relevant
details. For further help click here and check the support
section.

Q11) I want to use Fax-2-Email. Where Can I find
out about this?
A) To activate your Fax-2-Email facility click on the
'manage my account' link in the main Portal menu. The
link will be on the first screen. For further help click here
and check the support section. You must have an F9
Premier account to use this facility.

Q12) OK, I've upgraded to F9 Premier, Where's My
Static IP?
A) To activate your Static IP click on the 'manage my
account' link in the main Portal menu. The link will be on
the first screen. For further help click here and check the
support section. Please note that Static IP's are only
available to Quarterly or Annual payment account
holders.

Q13) Although I can have all those great new
features as a Bronze / Silver customer, all I want is
f9 Free. What do I do?
A) You need to contact our Technical Support Team
(0870 705 8000) and go through our Downgrade Process.
Once you have gone through this process no further
repeat charges will be made in relation to your
subscription account. Unfortunately as per company
policy we can not issue any refunds as all revenues have
already been set against major investments which are in
place and extend over the next few years.

Q14) I updated my account to F9 Premier last week
but the portal says I have the same account as
before, which one is true?
A) Through the last week we have been experiencing a
few teething troubles integrating the Database and
portal functions. These problems have been ironed out
and you will be able to change your account details in
the very near future. Regrettably some people who
thought they had upgraded were caught up in this and
will need to re-upgrade. Apologies for the
inconvenience.

Q15) How will the 0800 Internet access work?
A) For all F9 Premier Customers 0800 Internet access is
available from Midnight Friday to Midnight Sunday. You
need to have a valid username and password and also
provide us with the telephone number you intend to dial
up on via the Data telephone box on the F9 Portal in
your account details. Click here and check the support
section for further information.

Q16) I've given all my details in the 'Manage My
Account' section but still cannot get 0800 Internet
access. What Now?
A) If you try the normal 0845 and can get in it is
probable that you have not entered your dial up number
properly. Go to the Portal and in the 'manage my
account' section specify your telephone number in the
data telephone box as one long number, ie 01xxx
xxxxxxshould be entered as 01xxxxxxxxx.

Q17) I know all the details are correct for 0800
access but I still can not get through. Your support
people mentioned a problem with my 'CLI'. What is
that?
A) Caller Line Identification (CLI), Ie if you withhold
your phone number when making phone calls you are
not sending out your 'CLI'. To remedy this put '1470'
before the 0800 number in your dial up settings. This
number may vary depending on your Telecoms Provider
in which case you will need to check with them what
number to prefix the dialing code with. In some cases
(ie if you are on an older phone exchange or using an
internal phone system in your office) it may actually be
the case that your Telecoms provider or the Telecoms
provider between them and F9 are not passing your 'CLI'
and unfortunately you will not be able to use the 0800
free phone service. In these circumstances you need to
speak to your Telecom provider for further assistance.

Q18) I was cut off 2 hours into a download on the
0800 number, how can I get around this problem?
A) There are programs available which allow you to
continue broken downloads. For instance, if you have
3mb of a 5mb game demo and you are disconnected,
they allow you to get the last 2mb without starting all
over again. Check in our software downloads section
here.

Q19) Are paying customers service levels going to
suffer as a result of the growth of F9 Free?
A) PlusNet has for quite a few months now been
providing service to well over 100,000 users, 75% of
which are not Force9 / F9 users, in fact the vast majority
are users of our Virtual ISP subscription free services.
We have over the previous six months learned how to
support a large number of diverse types of users with
different requirements / usage habits. The bottom line
is that we are able to project network requirements and
because of this, and perhaps more importantly, we know
at what level we need to restrict growth through
preventing new signups.

As part of our plans to grow and improve the service we
have agreed a contract to purchase a minimum of
£750,000 worth of Cisco modem equipment. This is
separate to the ongoing linear investments needed to
continue support the planned growth. As part of this
Cisco deal we have enhanced availability and delivery
terms.

We are also able to upgrade our bandwidth in a matter
of minutes, with plans already in place for our long term
requirements. Going forward, we aim to continue to
provide the service level you are receiving now, if not
better, and we are confident that we can continue to do
so whilst accommodating a diverse set of users.

Q20) In the Past I've experienced modem
connection problems with F9 / Force9
A) As Part of the new purchasing deal with Cisco we are
upgrading all of our older USR Total Control dial-in
chassis. This leaves us with a twin modem platform
consisting of 3Com Hiper and Cisco AS5300 RACs. The
3Com Hiper currently represents 75% of our modem
capacity and support 0845 1422000 (0800 and cable to
cable variants) number. The Cisco AS5300 equipment
currently represents 25% of our modem capacity and
support the 0845 142 4000 (0800 and Cable to Cable
variants) number.

You may or may not be aware that the majority of cheap
modems available in the UK market place have a bug
which means they do not support the authentic V90
code. Unfortunately this bug was not catered for by
3Com but was by Cisco. Therefore if you find you have
difficulties connecting on the 2000 number please try
the 4000 number.

Taking into consideration that the Cisco AS5300
equipment we request that you only use the 4000
number if you are having problems with the 3com / 2000
number. If you are unsure how to make the changes
please contact our Technical Support Call Center who
will be able to take you through the changes.

Q21) I'm a Force9 "cable" customer and previously
accessed Force9 through a discounted rate number
will this change?
A) Plusnet have no plans to remove this service from
Force9 or F9.

Q22) As a "cable" customer, If I choose to upgrade
my account to F9 Premier will I still be eligible for my
25% subscription discount?
A) Regrettably we are unable to extend this discount
scheme to the F9 Premier service due to the high value
facilities offered within F9 Premier.

Q23) Will there be any changes in the Future?
A) We are continuing to strive to improve the services
we offer to you and make the pledge that any new
facilities or services will be broadcasted and made
available to existing customers in the first instance
going forward from here.

Q24) I've read all this now, What was the F9 Portal
Address again?
A) It is http://portal.f9.net.uk

F9 Contact:
Support
portal
Other useful links: cgi FAQ Sheamus' User Support page

Mail : richard