The internet at night

TFleming

TFleming

TFleming

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Joined
6 Feb 2009
Posts
2,127
Location
Redcar, Cleveland
I'm on 100mb broadband (Virgin) which works flawlessly through the day. However, every night (past 6pm) it just goes to pot. I can't even stream iplayer, online games are impossible and its just generally hugely annoying.

I would understand if I was on a rubbish package, but when it's the top package they offer I don't expect this ****. So, before I rage at them, is there anything that it could be at my end? Most google results say it is probably the network provider struggling to deal with the large amount of traffic in peak times, but surely it can't be that bad to the extent where I can't even watch a live stream?

Thanks.

Edit: Speedtest at night shows between 20-30mb with 20-40ping, this is still easily enough to stream/play games though? My download speed is also consistent no matter what time of day, it's only streaming and gaming. :confused:
 
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Virgin have said they have been having an issue with a 3rd party that has caused problems streaming, it might have only been with YouTube though.
 
6pm is peak time. Still shouldn't be contention issues that bad on the top 100MB package. You sure someone else in the property isn't torrenting for example?
 
Could anybody please interpret this graph for me?

I know the latency spikes after 4pm but does this mean it's most definitely the ISP?

Have an engineer coming tomorrow at 9am but at that time the problem won't be present so I want to show him some evidence.


image hosting
 
Your latency is pretty much at unusable levels during peak hours, seems like it is the usual Virgin over-congestion problem.

FTTC is BT's fibre network which does a much better job with congestion, and competes against Virgin's cable broadband. Both are fibre, but the main difference is is that BT uses the phoneline from the cabinet to your home, while Virgin uses a coaxial cable which can support better speeds (although their equipment is usually over saturated from too many customers).
 
Yup, can't do any gaming past 3:30-4pm which is obviously when it's mostly used. I see, thanks. So does this mean there is little the engineer can do? Am I stuck with this unless I change service?
 
I had these issues for 18 months with VM, including packet loss. Relied on 3G to get most of my uni work done (less than helpful!). Eventually got £12 cheque from VM after complaining for all that time. More offensive than sending nothing IMO.

My advice - change provider.
 
TFleming said:
Yup, can't do any gaming past 3:30-4pm which is obviously when it's mostly used. I see, thanks. So does this mean there is little the engineer can do? Am I stuck with this unless I change service?
Click to expand...

Pretty much. Unless Virgin feels kind enough to upgrade the cabinet you're connected to. An ADSL connection will probably do better for gaming...
 
Easier said than done, I'm a student but live with my Mum and her bf. They are clueless about the internet and they don't see a problem if the page takes less than a minute to load. They don't download or anything, only use it for browsing (god knows why they went for a 100mb package).
 
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