20Mb VM upgrade!

Trox

Trox

Trox

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,249
Location
Fife, Scotland
I just got this set up today, started off really great, reaching a near 2.0MB/s on newsgroups!
So i started downloading a file around 4gb in size to find that my connection is actually slower than it was at 10mb! Due to these new caps being imposed a 4gb file can take an hour to 2 hours longer to get!

Virgin media suck, i don't consider myself a heavy user i rarely even download, i go weeks without downloading anything major. I just expect my connection to be there when i need it.

Ive been with Blueyonder since the very start (cableinet), and now i wouldn't recommend them to anyone due to this.

Surly i cant be the only one that is considering ditching VM.
 
I always loved NTL and was gutted when I moved house I couldnt get it :mad:

What have Virgin done the my long lost NTL service :(
 
My 20Mb service seems fine so far (only had it a couple of days). Getting around 17Mbs off usenet with 20 connections, obviously you'll need multiple connections when downloading anything to get near to full speed but I can't explain why downloading the same thing should take longer than it did before the upgrade :confused:

Problem as I see it is that they're still better than the alternatives, i.e. ADSL2+. As ADSL is so dependent on line length and quality and many providers seem to be complete muppets I'd never go near it. There's also the fact that I've been on cable for nearly six years and have never had ADSL in this house so I've no idea how good or bad my BT phone line is. I could go through all the pain of switching to BT and getting ADSL in only to find it sucks and I'm then rather stuck.
 
You should count yourself lucky tbh, far too many moaners with vm some of us can only get 4 meg max on adsl or less, i would happily pay £7 more for 20 meg and reduced too 5 meg in peak hrs.
 
I'm on 2MB cable now (shows up as Telewest, interestingly). Cheap, and the ping is better than ADSL. Sure, its not perfect but can't expect the earth for £10 a month.
 
Oh believe me I do count myself lucky - nearly six years with cable and frankly it's been nigh-on perfect. I see countless people having problems with both cable and ADSL services so I appreciate what I have.

Granted £37 is a bit steep for 20Mb in this day and age but if you have multiple services you can usually haggle a fair bit. I get a decent TV package, Internet & phone line with free weekend calls for £43 which ain't half bad and way cheaper than I could get with Sky & ADSL.
 
Vertigo1 said:
My 20Mb service seems fine so far (only had it a couple of days). Getting around 17Mbs off usenet with 20 connections, obviously you'll need multiple connections when downloading anything to get near to full speed but I can't explain why downloading the same thing should take longer than it did before the upgrade :confused:
Click to expand...

I know that...

Its slower due to the fact you get capped as soon as your over 3Gb, the speed slows from 2MB/s to 600KB/sec. Thats why its slower...

The way it is with these imposed caps you only get 20Mb/s for 20 to 30 mins of constant downloading after that you will hit your 3GB download mark and then your screwed
 
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Trox said:
I know that...

Its slower due to the fact you get capped as soon as your over 3Gb, the speed slows from 2MB/s to 600KB/sec. Thats why its slower...

The way it is with these imposed caps you only get 20Mb/s for 20 to 30 mins of constant downloading after that you will hit you 3GB download mark and then your screwed
Click to expand...

Just don't download big stuff during peak hours, and you'll be fine. The 3GB thing is for the 8 hours on weekdays between 4-12pm. Gets reset each day and you're only throttled for a maximum of 4 hours, or so they say...
 
Its totally annoyed me, i pay more and get less?

I don't want to have to leave my PC on over night to download something i wanted to check out yesterday, and have to pay the more on my electricity bill for the sake of it.

Id rather download while im surfing/gaming.

LewisStuart said:
What UBR are you on Trox?

glen2 here with no issues.
Click to expand...
ubr02.glen.

I don't get it, why increase the speed to 20Mb and have restrictions every 3GB, it would be far better with 10Mb and uncapped than this garbage

I've been a fan boy of cable since they came to my area late 90s, VM have totally screwed it up.
 
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Trox said:
I know that...

Its slower due to the fact you get capped as soon as your over 3Gb, the speed slows from 2MB/s to 600KB/sec. Thats why its slower...

The way it is with these imposed caps you only get 20Mb/s for 20 to 30 mins of constant downloading after that you will hit your 3GB download mark and then your screwed
Click to expand...
Ah right, I'm with you.

If you mean that, when you should be getting 20Mb, you're getting 2Mb and when you should be getting 600Kb then I feel for you.

If, OTOH, you're getting the full advertised speeds at all times (including the 5Mb limit when you stray over 3GB during the peak period) then I have little sympathy. The limits have been imposed to make heavy downloaders defer their activity until off-peak times, which I fully support. If you have shedloads of stuff to download, do it at night when you're asleep or during the day when you're at work.

I should point out that I'm a very heavy downloader at times and, although I will have to change my habits somewhat, I still support what they're doing as I've felt the effects of network over-utilisation on latency when playing online games.

Basically, if you need to download stuff, do it off-peak for the good of the network. Frankly, it's those that haven't been considerate enough to do this that have forced VM to bring in these limits and thus only have themselves to blame. I reckon that, even with the caps in place, you can theoretically still download 158GB per day on the 20Mb service - is that not enough!?
 
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But what is 20MB if not a service for big-time downloaders? There's no need to be considerate - you don't pay out the extra money for a laugh.
 
wush said:
But what is 20MB if not a service for big-time downloaders? There's no need to be considerate - you don't pay out the extra money for a laugh.
Click to expand...

Chances are though, that there are a lot more people on 2\4mb than 10\20.
 
I dont see the point in them upping the bandwidth to 20Mb/s and adding this cap.

3GB download is nothing, i dont class myself as a heavy downloader as ive said above.

Think about it... 20Mb connection, within 15 mins of downloading your capped to around 5Mb ? Awesome.

Pay more get less!
 
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Trox said:
I dont see the point in them upping the bandwidth to 20Mb/s and adding this cap.

3GB download is nothing, i dont class myself as a heavy downloader as ive said above.

Think about it... 20Mb connection, within 15 mins of downloading your capped to around 5Mb ? Awesome.

Pay more get less!
Click to expand...

Until contention ratios drop to single digits, you're still going to hit this problem. You could spin it the other way and consider that 10MB users got a free upgrade to 20MB...
 
sr4470 said:
Until contention ratios drop to single digits, you're still going to hit this problem. You could spin it the other way and consider that 10MB users got a free upgrade to 20MB...
Click to expand...

no they pay £2 extra for it!
 
sr4470 said:
Didn't VM just drop all their prices for a limited time? Perhaps its only for new customers, in which case my bad...
Click to expand...

£29pm for new customers, IIRC it was £35pm for 10mb which went to £37 for existing customers.

I'm on the 2mb connection now, and I download about 40gb pm mainly off usenet and after 350mb in peak times I get capped lol.

Gonna have to call them up and threaten to leave or something.

sid
 
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