UKonline? Whats the catch

HighlandeR · 30 Jul 2006 at 22:48

I got 2 m8s on it and there heavy surfers/downloaders... Im talking 300-400gig sometimes in a month.. but as some have said theres no such thing as a £25 per month ISP with 8meg ADSL and no usage/fup/restrictions in place?

Any other UKonline customers can vouch there good and keep to there word?

Seriously considering migrating atm....

Phemo · 30 Jul 2006 at 23:09

I'm guessing they're on the LLU service in which case it's no problem. It's only ISPs that use BT's IPstream that will have serious restrictions in place.

Topgun · 30 Jul 2006 at 23:46

400gb probably costs them about £4 as it's a llu service. I think that it costs nearly £1/GB using BT centrals which explains why the other ISPs have to impose usage restrictions.

HighlandeR · 31 Jul 2006 at 10:24

hmm interesting stuff.... perhaps its true so why is it everyones looking and joining isps which are like £1 per gig and on BT central servers....

Why doesnt everyone jump on these other type of isps then ?

fini · 31 Jul 2006 at 10:27

HighlandeR said:
Why doesnt everyone jump on these other type of isps then ?

For one, because LLU's aren't in every exchange - so they're not available to all.

fini

tolien · 31 Jul 2006 at 10:27

Availability for one. Bulldog at last count had 20% of total exchanges enabled.

I'd imagine the costs aren't as vastly different as you might imagine - for one, LLU has a huge initial investment (which usually takes years to pay off), and a good number of LLU exchanges are fed by BT leased lines. Leased lines just happen to (generally) be cheaper the nearer the PoP you get, which ties in with the cities the LLUers target.

The LLUers need the takeup (versus a small minority of extremely heavy users) to prop up their operations too. Easynet ran at an operating loss of £7.8M in 6 months ending 30th June 2005.

mysteryman · 31 Jul 2006 at 10:35

I don't know if this is 100% completely true but i think ukonline is on a fair usage policy where you get a slower download speed at certain times of the day when there is a lot of traffic mainly in the evening i know a lot of isp's do this like pipex for example.

Don't take my word for it but take a search. I was thinking of migrating to them as well.

[EDIT] I just e-mailed ukonline about this and hopefully i'll get a reply which i can post soon.

HighlandeR · 31 Jul 2006 at 21:51

mysteryman said:
I don't know if this is 100% completely true but i think ukonline is on a fair usage policy where you get a slower download speed at certain times of the day when there is a lot of traffic mainly in the evening i know a lot of isp's do this like pipex for example.

Don't take my word for it but take a search. I was thinking of migrating to them as well.

[EDIT] I just e-mailed ukonline about this and hopefully i'll get a reply which i can post soon.

Cheers if u can please update that, cos I dunno they do my exchange and said they can offer up to 8meg speeds im in london, for 25 quid and unlimited... still fantastic even if they do slow down the connection during the day thats fine...with 8meg will have truely enough bandwith for when needed

shine · 1 Aug 2006 at 08:58

mysteryman said:
I don't know if this is 100% completely true but i think ukonline is on a fair usage policy where you get a slower download speed at certain times of the day when there is a lot of traffic mainly in the evening i know a lot of isp's do this like pipex for example.

I'm on UKOnline and never seen my speeds slow at anytime of the day nor does the fair use policy mention anything about it.

What it does say is if you are a heavy downloader and are found to have an adverse affect on other users consistently after been warned they will implement measures to ensure you do not affect other users speeds.

I'm on the upto 22Mb product. I get around 16/17 MB and couldn't be happier. Just don't buy the netgear modem from them as its rubbish. I had nothing but problems with my connection until I bought a Billion router. Never looked back since.

Gavin · 1 Aug 2006 at 10:58

They have indeed introduced a FUP but as with most its very unclear, originally there cap was 500 gig a month up and down. I was nearly always clear of that by around 100 gig a month.

Info is here

http://www.ukonline.net/footerpages/fupinc.php?sso_auth=0

Basically all the heavy downloaders will be moved on to the same pipe and have to contend with each other.

Gavin · 1 Aug 2006 at 10:58

shine said:
I'm on UKOnline and never seen my speeds slow at anytime of the day nor does the fair use policy mention anything about it.

What it does say is if you are a heavy downloader and are found to have an adverse affect on other users consistently after been warned they will implement measures to ensure you do not affect other users speeds.

I'm on the upto 22Mb product. I get around 16/17 MB and couldn't be happier. Just don't buy the netgear modem from them as its rubbish. I had nothing but problems with my connection until I bought a Billion router. Never looked back since.

You have to buy the netgear router im afraid, on a side note can u read my post re billion routers please as id value you input

shine · 1 Aug 2006 at 11:02

Gavin said:
You have to buy the netgear router im afraid, on a side note can u read my post re billion routers please as id value you input

If you sign up online you do but if you ring up and say you have a modem already and don't want to spend more money for something you don't need then they will relent. You just need to stick to your guns and be prepared to say no if they won't budge. You can always go back and sign up online afterwards.

Gavin · 1 Aug 2006 at 11:16

First ive ever ever heard of that as its part of the contract, but ok...............

HighlandeR · 1 Aug 2006 at 23:19

Had a feeling they would adjust the FUP, so is there an actual border line figure like 500gig per month cap?

Or they just silent on that subject and ready to strike at there discretion ?

mysteryman · 2 Aug 2006 at 00:08

I sent ukonline an e-mail over 24 hours ago and have not had a reply. I sent Be an e-mail and they replied within 4 hours

. Be looks quite good as well theyhave a fair usage policy but its only if your abusing the service i.e. downloading very excessively.

Gavin · 2 Aug 2006 at 06:51

HighlandeR said:
Had a feeling they would adjust the FUP, so is there an actual border line figure like 500gig per month cap?

Or they just silent on that subject and ready to strike at there discretion ?

The cap was 500gig but it seems there isnt a cap any more, its just more of a downloading 24/7 thing i think. I normally just q up what i need and leave it over night then, leave it for the day time apart from any thing thats important.

I think as long as u dont cane it 24/7 then your fine. The problem is that the people who are syching at 22mb are obviously in a better position than someone who only gets 10mb....me...........As they can download in half the time so surely ukonline must have a clause about that as well as otherwise its well unfair.

But on another note, they seem absolutely excellent on CS, they seem to know what they are actually talking about and go out of there way, plus CS is on a freefone! and tech is open 24/7

Oh yeah and they are English speakers!

Even though i was promised 18.5mn and ended up with 10, im happy as i was on 2mb paying £30 im not on 10mb paying the same price but far larger caps as such

HighlandeR · 2 Aug 2006 at 19:56

Cheers Gavin sounds good stuff

Im on 35 quid 2meg line with Zen, not that im complaining for me its fine and no restrictions at all....

bigredshark · 2 Aug 2006 at 20:21

Topgun said:
400gb probably costs them about £4 as it's a llu service. I think that it costs nearly £1/GB using BT centrals which explains why the other ISPs have to impose usage restrictions.

BT Centrals aren't that much, I'd have to speak to our accounts guy for a definite figure but i think half to two thirds of that figure is more accurate at the very top end (for a small ISP)

NuTTiE · 2 Aug 2006 at 20:33

i signed up with uk online once and they i got a letter from them saying i was using far too much bw and they were going to cap me, its supposed to be unlimited.

They said if i wasnt happy i could change isp and get out of my contract which i did iam now with pipex and really happy

Gavin · 2 Aug 2006 at 20:53

NuTTiE said:
i signed up with uk online once and they i got a letter from them saying i was using far too much bw and they were going to cap me, its supposed to be unlimited.

They said if i wasnt happy i could change isp and get out of my contract which i did iam now with pipex and really happy

How much was downloading and uploading for them to say that though?