Virgin Media 'Speed Capping'

Swordfish · 31 Jan 2008 at 13:54

Just wondering if anyone out there knows the actaul status for the 'capping' that VM do at the mo. I'm on the 20 meg speed and usually get capped about 5ish til 11 ish, yet I've been capped since 1 o'clock today.

TheDean · 31 Jan 2008 at 13:59

Swordfish said:
Just wondering if anyone out there knows the actaul status for the 'capping' that VM do at the mo. I'm on the 20 meg speed and usually get capped about 5ish til 11 ish, yet I've been capped since 1 o'clock today.

They shouldn't be doing that - give them a ring

Jonnygrunge · 31 Jan 2008 at 14:09

Yeah its true acording to them high users or bandwidth hogs will be capped see below

:

Quote from Link http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=285318&forumid=2

"Peak hours count as 4pm to midnight, and Virgin claim that only the top 5% of downloaders on each tier will be affected.

Those on tier M who download over 350MB during peak hours will have their downstream speed restricted to 1Mbps, and upstream to 128Kbps, for four hours.

Those on tier L who download over 750MB during peak hours will have their downstream speed restricted to 2Mbps, and upstream to 192Kbps, for four hours.

The top rung service, XL, will see users downloading over 3GB in peak hours having their downstream speed restricted to 5Mbps, and 256Kbps upstream."

It is digusting I am thinking of changing provider, good bye on-line gaming!

Swordfish · 31 Jan 2008 at 14:45

Been on phone for last 20 minutes, on hold now for level two experts (their words not mine).

So far they have blamed

a) my router

b) a virus

c) spyware

d) and they have also suggested that i am usaing p2p software.

All of whihc is garbage!!!

I dont mind getting capped but only in the times they specify. And how do I know if I am in the top 3% of users. I have a feeling they cap everyone.

Snakedoctor · 31 Jan 2008 at 14:47

Do you download torrents or use p2p, if so, you are on the list!

Swordfish · 31 Jan 2008 at 14:55

I do not use p2p or torrents at all, Never have and never will.

After 46 minutes of conversation I have been told that VM are changing the capping times to 1 pm onwards and not 4pm. They have made no mention of this on their website and apparently I am getting capped for the next 3 days solid. They will however give me a portion off my bill if I complain to Customer Service. What the hell is going on with this shower ????

Follow up 1 - apparently I'm getting capped and so is everyone else that shares my UBR for the next 3 days due to maintenance.

Follow up 2 - Just checked speeds and guess what FULL SPEED - VM are at it !!!! Sneeky capping and removal if you complain.

Xtremeforce · 31 Jan 2008 at 15:19

Hi all,

Just a quick note mines been capped at all times but today like yesterday i downloaded a film from a website that was 1065mb my cap on the 'L' service is ment to be 750mb, like you've just said there capping from 1pm onwards i think in the manchester area thats bin the norm for quite some months now however it let me download that fine 460kb all the way to completion - utorrent i can't even have it on for an hour before it crashes both the application and the connection which i then have to restart the system.

Just thought id add abit of my experiences

Xtremeforce

Swordfish · 31 Jan 2008 at 15:26

Cheers for the comment, but it does clearly state on their website that the traffice management applies for 4pm to 9pm. Like I said I dont mind getting capped and am capped regularly between 5 ish and 11 ish (where does the 9pm come form then?) But for them to say they are doing it from 1pm and NOT telling their customer is underhand and I would hazard a guess a breach of contract.

Trixxy · 31 Jan 2008 at 16:45

I was under the impression your speed gets capped for 5 hours from whenever you are capped, and doesn't jump back to normal at 9pm.

Like if you get capped at 8pm for instance, you will stay capped until 1am (8pm + 5 hours).

I wish they'd bump up the download limit to 5GB, just in case you want to download a 4.5GB "linux distro" or something, and not get capped 3 quarters of the way through the download and have to wait ages for the rest of it.

Robert · 31 Jan 2008 at 16:58

A lot of misconceptions in this thread.

If you're on 20meg you CAN be managed between 4:00pm and 9:00pm. To be capped you have to download 3gb or UPLOAD 1.2gb.

If you hit the limit between 4-9 you will be managed for 5 hours.

You're most likely experiencing contention issues/problems with the network.

Swordfish said:
I do not use p2p or torrents at all, Never have and never will.

After 46 minutes of conversation I have been told that VM are changing the capping times to 1 pm onwards and not 4pm. They have made no mention of this on their website and apparently I am getting capped for the next 3 days solid. They will however give me a portion off my bill if I complain to Customer Service. What the hell is going on with this shower ????

Follow up 1 - apparently I'm getting capped and so is everyone else that shares my UBR for the next 3 days due to maintenance.

Follow up 2 - Just checked speeds and guess what FULL SPEED - VM are at it !!!! Sneeky capping and removal if you complain.

I'm sorry but they aren't going to cap you from 1:00pm and why the heck would this influence your on-line gaming? Gaming uses tiny amounts of bandwidth.

something_totally_different · 31 Jan 2008 at 17:02

Robert said:
why the heck would this influence your on-line gaming? Gaming uses tiny amounts of bandwidth.

try playing supreme commander when capped on virgin, its bloody terrible!!! unfortunately supcoms multiplayer connection systems based on peer to peer technology and so the data gets a lower priority, 1600ms pings = unplayable.

Robert · 31 Jan 2008 at 17:23

XanderThal said:
try playing supreme commander when capped on virgin, its bloody terrible!!! unfortunately supcoms multiplayer connection systems based on peer to peer technology and so the data gets a lower priority, 1600ms pings = unplayable.

I don't understand why...should be plenty of bandwidth, unless there's a problem with your connection.

something_totally_different · 31 Jan 2008 at 17:31

Robert said:
I don't understand why...should be plenty of bandwidth, unless there's a problem with your connection.

as i said, theres no problem with my connection, COD4, wow, BF2142, under capping they all run perfect, but try to play supreme commander under an NTL cap and i get 1600ms ping times. Im told its to do with how they prioritize the packet data. basically they are assuming supcoms data is just generic P2P stuff and isnt important.

Robert · 31 Jan 2008 at 17:34

XanderThal said:
as i said, theres no problem with my connection, COD4, wow, BF2142, under capping they all run perfect, but try to play supreme commander under an NTL cap and i get 1600ms ping times. Im told its to do with how they prioritize the packet data. basically they are assuming supcoms data is just generic P2P stuff and isnt important.

That sounds like Traffic Shaping, which they don't do.

:confused:

Dist · 31 Jan 2008 at 17:38

how about playing supreme commander when you are not capped then? do any large transfer after you finish playing so that VM wont kick you down to a slower speed during important times, ie, gaming. Personaly ive never had a problem with supreme commander online, unless i download something big beforehand that would cause my 4mb to get reduced to 2mb.

something_totally_different · 31 Jan 2008 at 17:40

Robert said:
That sounds like Traffic Shaping, which they don't do.

i know, i worked for them for a long time. but ive got no answers for you other than im all configured properly and everything works great apart from supcom which uses a P2P based connection system and it only has high pings when capped.

Swordfish · 1 Feb 2008 at 21:54

Robert said:
A lot of misconceptions in this thread.

If you're on 20meg you CAN be managed between 4:00pm and 9:00pm. To be capped you have to download 3gb or UPLOAD 1.2gb.

If you hit the limit between 4-9 you will be managed for 5 hours.

You're most likely experiencing contention issues/problems with the network.

I'm sorry but they aren't going to cap you from 1:00pm and why the heck would this influence your on-line gaming? Gaming uses tiny amounts of bandwidth.

This post has nothing to do with online gaming at all. I never mentioned it.

What I said was that I suddenly got capped at 1pm, when the cappong is supposed to be between 4pm and 9pm. Virgin Media agreed I was capped, but then turned it around to say they were working on my UBR and everyone was going to be capped to 5 MEG for 3 days. After I came off the phone, my speed returned to full and I have now just been capped after full speeds since yesterday.

What I'm trying to say is that I belive VM can and will cap outwith their represented times of 4pm to 9pm if they wish, knowing full well that the majority of people who use the net will not notice a difference when browsing the web.

Robert · 1 Feb 2008 at 22:10

Swordfish said:
This post has nothing to do with online gaming at all. I never mentioned it.

What I said was that I suddenly got capped at 1pm, when the cappong is supposed to be between 4pm and 9pm. Virgin Media agreed I was capped, but then turned it around to say they were working on my UBR and everyone was going to be capped to 5 MEG for 3 days. After I came off the phone, my speed returned to full and I have now just been capped after full speeds since yesterday.

What I'm trying to say is that I belive VM can and will cap outwith their represented times of 4pm to 9pm if they wish, knowing full well that the majority of people who use the net will not notice a difference when browsing the web.

I bet you're just getting low speeds due to issues with the UBR, unless you can find written proof that they have limited everyone on that UBR to 5mb, I won't believe you - not that it's an issue

something_totally_different · 2 Feb 2008 at 13:41

how about playing supreme commander when you are not capped then? do any large transfer after you finish playing so that VM wont kick you down to a slower speed during important times, ie, gaming.

i transfere several dozen gig a day. it cant be done over night as the pc is in my bedroom and keeps me awake. the point is i shouldnt have to make any special arrangements, supcom doesnt use that much bandwidth, its just that the type of data it uses recieves a lower priority by virgins servers when your capped as virgin servers see it as P2P file sharing data and choke it.

if it was azureus it wouldnt matter as you wouldnt notice if you had high pings, indeed it wouldnt matter. but supcom needs low pings to play.

Dist said:
Personaly ive never had a problem with supreme commander online, unless i download something big beforehand that would cause my 4mb to get reduced to 2mb.

id call that a problem.

Daegan · 2 Feb 2008 at 14:14

XanderThal said:
i transfere several dozen gig a day. it cant be done over night as the pc is in my bedroom and keeps me awake. the point is i shouldnt have to make any special arrangements, supcom doesnt use that much bandwidth, its just that the type of data it uses recieves a lower priority by virgins servers when your capped as virgin servers see it as P2P file sharing data and choke it.

Don't get capped then. If you're happily transferring several dozen gigs a day, even for £37pm, you're getting exceptional value for money.