Am I the only one getting shafted by VM in the evenings?

Whappers · 6 Feb 2008 at 19:22

Evening all,

I have been getting completely abismal download and upload speeds of late. I ran two speed checks last night and it turns out that I am getting 1MB speeds. Fine if I was on 1MB, however, I am supposed to be on 4MB! I pay half price cable and have downloaded a few things a bit of late. The speeds are fine during the day and my connection seems to only be affected in the evenings. My question is: Why am I getting apalling speeds in the evenings?

Is it because:
1. I have downloaded a lot recently?
2. Is it because I pay half price 4MB, so I am therefore almost expected to be pee'd on with poor speeds when demand for the service gets a bit higher in the evenings?
edit: or 3. Because VM are poor for service?
Thanks.

Whappers.

username · 6 Feb 2008 at 19:48

Generally speaking unless you are on a very crowded box in you street VM speeds are much more likely to be correct compared to adsl. I suggest you dial 150 from you virginmedia phone. then select option 4 then option 2. This is the department to disconnect your service. If you complain they will do all they can to keep you including putting you through to the broadband support service for free. They will check all your settings to make sure ti isnt something simple. I would ask them to speak to the swansea technical support centre with regards to planned engineering works in your area. I pay for 20mb but get 1mb at the minute as my local node is completley overwhelmed. However engineering works are scheduled for 19th march. I have been promised a full refund for all my broadband service since January this year as that is when the problem started.

Whappers · 6 Feb 2008 at 19:57

username said:
snip

Thanks for that username. I did call up before and threatened to leave. That is how I got the half price 4MB. I'm not on Virgin Media phone by the way, nor am I with their TV service. It's just the cable modem. If this continuation of poor speeds lasts much longer I may well have to give them a ring and sort this out because it is not on at all. 4MB and only getting speeds of 1MB :mad:

. Useless. Grrr.

Abitar · 6 Feb 2008 at 20:03

Its what they call traffic shaping http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/traffic.html

If you download more than your allowance at peak times you get capped.

Whappers · 6 Feb 2008 at 20:54

Abitar said:
Its what they call traffic shaping http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/traffic.html

If you download more than your allowance at peak times you get capped.

Thank you very much. This is exactly what is happening. I cannot say that I am happy about it though. 4MB is 4MB and the line is unlimited downloads. I notice they don't seem to make this traffic shaping wide-spread and well known. I wonder why... :rolleyes:

I have to say that I cannot really complain though. I mean, I am getting 4MB for £12.50/per month. However, I am slightly annoyed at this new cap that has been applied across the network, mainly because I wasn't made aware of it. Oh well, thanks Abitar.

Whappers.

Skeeter · 6 Feb 2008 at 21:03

Im on VM 4Mbit, Im curretly downloading at 10kbs, and this page just took about 30 seconds to load.....

So no, you are not the only one!

username · 6 Feb 2008 at 21:10

If you hammer it torrenting you will get traffic shaped. It lasts for 5 hours from the time you pass the threshold. You still get to use the internet but it just slows right down. If you can set your torrent client not to work from 4pm - 9pm each day and it will not be a problem. That said i just tested my speed and i got a good 13mb connection. If only England would play football every day i would get a decent speed.

mattyg · 6 Feb 2008 at 21:42

Whappers said:
4MB is 4MB and the line is unlimited downloads.
Whappers.

your still getting unlimited downloads its just a lot slower.(which to be honest is still limiting it.)
It annoys the crap out of me i just stop downloading between 4-9pm and its all fine

Skeeter · 6 Feb 2008 at 21:48

If I got the shaped figure of 2Mbs down my supposed 4Mbit line id be over the moon!

Over the last 4 months I have about 25 speed tests recorded, of which only 2 are above 1000Kbs. Both are in the high 3000's, 2 mins apart, at 1am!

Im in the midst of an email argument with VM whereby they blame my PC, and I blame there internet due to there being a 'red light' next to Broadband in my area on their Service Status page, yet refuse to tell me what the problem actually is (their documentation defines a red light as serious error or no connection!)!