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Broadband - are you getting the service you signed up to?

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Have you ever checked?
I recently renewed my subscription for a year with a promise of achieving 12MB speed!
I had 4mb - now I'm achieving 5163 kps download and Upload is 463 kps - Some improvement huh?
I've been on to my service provider and stated the facts, this new service is not what was promised and I want to cancel, seemingly I'm tied in until Jan 2013! Then I mentioned the contract, your not providing me with the service I was guaranteed !
I should anticipate a call from Customer Services tomorrow - I was told.
I ran a speed test, the Irish Regulator use as a benchmark:

I'm not sure if it will work in the UK - but it's worth a try.
Paddy
we pay for 2 meg and get 10 meg download 2 meg upload
all good here
I'm with Virginmedia and get a little over the promised 30Mbps, as witnessed by
In fact, at the end of this year Mr Branson (aka Bolt) will be doubling that to 60Mbps! :smug:
Paying for an 8mb line. Very stable (which to me is just as important as speed) but is nominally 4mb, and on a lucky day goes upto 6mb.
What is most frustrating is that we live in a large city, however relatives who live in the 'middle of nowhere' are running 50mb with the same provider banghead
Quote by Cubes
I'm with Virginmedia and get a little over the promised 30Mbps, as witnessed by
In fact, at the end of this year Mr Branson (aka Bolt) will be doubling that to 60Mbps! :smug:

Ya lucky fecker, are you related to said person lol
Quote by paddy
I'm with Virginmedia and get a little over the promised 30Mbps, as witnessed by
In fact, at the end of this year Mr Branson (aka Bolt) will be doubling that to 60Mbps! :smug:

Ya lucky fecker, are you related to said person lol
I wish! :lol2:
The thing is, it doesn't really matter if you can achieve the headline speeds or not because there are very few Internet sites that can serve at that rate.
Quote by Ian
Paying for an 8mb line. Very stable (which to me is just as important as speed) but is nominally 4mb, and on a lucky day goes upto 6mb.
What is most frustrating is that we live in a large city, however relatives who live in the 'middle of nowhere' are running 50mb with the same provider banghead

i have not a clue what we running....but as long as the pc doe s what i want im happy.
now if hubby worked round the house, like the pc i be very very happy. lol
Quote by Cubes
I'm with Virginmedia and get a little over the promised 30Mbps, as witnessed by
In fact, at the end of this year Mr Branson (aka Bolt) will be doubling that to 60Mbps! :smug:

Same here, running at around 32Mbps even at this time of evening, but more importantly, I have found that Virginmedia is reliable, no matter what the weather and that is what really matters.
Download speed of
Upload speed of
Not bad :-)
I don't care, as long as it works.
Mind you, I was happy with dial up.

Thanks Mr B! :smug:
I had ( apparently ) 50 meg broadband speed with Virgin Media, which doubled to 100 meg in August ( apparently ). We struggled to get 20 meg when we was supposed to be getting closer to 50, and now struggle to get past 60 meg when we are supposed to have 100 meg speeds.
I have had Virgin Media down on numerous occasions, and every month since September my bills have been reduced, as they cannot seem to get my speeds up to what they should be. Now they are saying it could possibly be my internet security's firewall, or my actual computer itself. I spoke with Norton security who took control of my pc remotely and they found nothing wrong, and said that it would seem Virgin was looking at ways of blaming others. I have had my pc looked at quickly and they found nothing in particularly wrong with it.
The pc runs fine in the day but with 100 meg speeds I should be getting no buffeting at all but of an evening it is dreadful. Where I go from here I do not know. Virgin have admitted a fault in my area but seem incapable of fixing it, so the promised jump from 50 meg to 100 meg for 'free' is just yet another con it would seem to try and secure more business.
Star, are you using wireless or do you connect by ethernet cable direct to the hub? My wireless is stubbornly sticking at just below 30Mb/s because that's all it can seem to manage, but when I plug directly into the hub I get the 60Mb/s+ speeds.
That said, as I mentioned before, it's a bit moot if the server you're accessing can't send you those sort of speeds. ;)
Quote by Cubes
Star, are you using wireless or do you connect by ethernet cable direct to the hub? My wireless is stubbornly sticking at just below 30Mb/s because that's all it can seem to manage, but when I plug directly into the hub I get the 60Mb/s+ speeds.
That said, as I mentioned before, it's a bit moot if the server you're accessing can't send you those sort of speeds. ;)

Using a wired connection Cubes. Even the nice Virgin Media techys are having problems sorting it out. They are just told to tell the customers there is a ' problem in the area ' and then work from there.
The trouble is there is not another provider that offers speeds anywhere near Virgin.
Quote by Cubes

Thanks Mr B! :smug:

We get a download speed anywhere between 15 and 45 mb, but our upload speed is 15mb.
Recently installed bt infinity (finally)
Hi all, I feel like the very poor relation!!!!
For quite a while now the speed that my computer will operate at has been a sore point. There may be some issues with the speed of my computer which is being looked into by a local computer shop.
However after reading the above it seems that my download speeds are absolute crap compared to some. I've just done a 'Speedtest' and the results are taken at on Tuesday 4th December; Download mb/s and upload
I have done a test with Talktalk and they tell me that the line is capable of handling approx They say that 70% of that capacity is satisfactory. Apparently I am about 4km from the nearest exchange and that is part of the slow speed. Frequently all I seem to be doing is waiting for the computer to do something, not to mention trying to change a page or going to another site and being told "this page cannot be displayed". Click immediately again and no problem.
I have been offered a fibre upgrade at a cost of £50 and I think it was an extra £10 a month after.
So the final question is whether I should put up with it or go to another provider if they can guarantee a faster speed? I'm not looking for a whizz bang speed but it would be wonderful not to sit here twiddling my thumbs for anywhere up to a minute while it sorts itself out.
What would be an average speed? All opinions will be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Smooth1, Bridgend, South Wales
Quote by starlightcouple
Star, are you using wireless or do you connect by ethernet cable direct to the hub? My wireless is stubbornly sticking at just below 30Mb/s because that's all it can seem to manage, but when I plug directly into the hub I get the 60Mb/s+ speeds.
That said, as I mentioned before, it's a bit moot if the server you're accessing can't send you those sort of speeds. ;)

Using a wired connection Cubes. Even the nice Virgin Media techys are having problems sorting it out. They are just told to tell the customers there is a ' problem in the area ' and then work from there.
The trouble is there is not another provider that offers speeds anywhere near Virgin.
Star & others,
Virgin are undertaking 'traffic shaping' (also known as "packet shaping").
The updated policy was brought into place earlier this year (April) and will throttle both download and upload speeds if users go beyond a usage allowance. If the cap is broken then a speed reduction will take place for five hours.
Usage will be monitored daily between 10am and 3pm, then 4pm to 9pm. However, customers will have to have to use between and 20GB of data, depending on their package, during these times to trigger the throttle. This is the first time subscribers to 50Mb and 100Mb have had traffic management.
Virgin Media say "The policy has been designed to reduce the impact of the top 5% of heaviest users on a daily basis, reducing the detrimental affect of these customers’ extreme usage on network performance and the service other customers receive."
For example, subscribers to Virgin Media's 30Mb package will see a five hour speed reduction of 50 percent if they exceed 7GB of usage between 10am and 3pm. The usage cap is reduced to between 4pm and 9pm.
Upload speeds will also see a hit of either 65 percent or 75 percent depending on the broadband package. Once again, the duration of the throttle is five hours and will occur if users go over caps starting at 3GB.
As your with Virgin, they have a readily available Statement
Techie - Traffic shaping provides a means to control the volume of traffic being sent into a network in a specified period (bandwidth throttling), or the maximum rate at which the traffic is sent (rate limiting), or more complex criteria. This control can be accomplished in many ways and for many reasons; however traffic shaping is always achieved by delaying packets. Traffic shaping is commonly applied at the network edges to control traffic entering the network, but can also be applied by the traffic source (for example, computer or network card) or by an element in the network. Traffic policing is the distinct but related practice of packet dropping and packet marking.
Read more:
Not singling Virgin out, just that's the one that most have mentioned. Other ISPs usually have their own Policies and versions, just check their terms & conditions.
As for your 'local' speed, then a wired connection will usually out perform a WIFI connection.
Currently the fastest usually available WIFI most will have is aka 'N', which ideally/theoretically runs at a maximum net data rate from 54 Mbit/s to 600 Mbit/s, but in the real world usually a lot slower.
Whereas a wired connection usually means Cat 5 or Cat 6 'ethernet cable', which usually means up to 100Mb limit or up to 1,000Mb (aka Gigabit) if you have the correct network cards and otherhardware installed.
By comparison for those using a 'dongle' then, generally Vodafone offers a range with speeds of up to , Three’s speeds of up to 21Mb, T-Mobile's USB dongles offer speeds of up to , Orange's dongle speeds of up to , and O2 dongles get you online at speeds of up to .
The industry-recognised average of for most dongles
As for "The trouble is there is not another provider that offers speeds anywhere near Virgin", possibly true, but happy with our average 57Mb with another provider.
Forgot to memtion that I do have a cable connection from the router.
Smooth1
I'm also a Virgin lol
Quote by Paddy
I'm also a Virgin lol

Bollox :giggle:
Download Speed: 28815 kbps (3601.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 8321 kbps (1040.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
so is that any good.....I am with BT the fibre optic infinity thing
We are in a similar position Smooth in wild woolly north wales. 8 meg max we get about 4-7 depending on demand. Add insult to injury by charging us a £10 a month "rural exchange" surcharge. No cable option of course.
That said until I nagged and nagged and nagged we were getting less than 2. I usd the BT speed checker to find out what BT could promise so I had summat to argue about.
Good luck.
Quote by Ste-n-Kez
Hi all, I feel like the very poor relation!!!!
For quite a while now the speed that my computer will operate at has been a sore point. There may be some issues with the speed of my computer which is being looked into by a local computer shop.
However after reading the above it seems that my download speeds are absolute crap compared to some. I've just done a 'Speedtest' and the results are taken at on Tuesday 4th December; Download mb/s and upload
I have done a test with Talktalk and they tell me that the line is capable of handling approx They say that 70% of that capacity is satisfactory. Apparently I am about 4km from the nearest exchange and that is part of the slow speed. Frequently all I seem to be doing is waiting for the computer to do something, not to mention trying to change a page or going to another site and being told "this page cannot be displayed". Click immediately again and no problem.
I have been offered a fibre upgrade at a cost of £50 and I think it was an extra £10 a month after.
So the final question is whether I should put up with it or go to another provider if they can guarantee a faster speed? I'm not looking for a whizz bang speed but it would be wonderful not to sit here twiddling my thumbs for anywhere up to a minute while it sorts itself out.
What would be an average speed? All opinions will be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Smooth1, Bridgend, South Wales

Hi Smooth,
In answer to your question "should put up with it or go to another provider" The answer is no, it won't make any difference to your speed because the service will still be via your 4km phone line. Your options ate to upgrade to fibre upgrade or consider a dongle. I would go for the fibre tbh.
Quote by Ste-n-Kez
Your options ate to upgrade to fibre upgrade or consider a dongle. I would go for the fibre tbh.

Wanting fibre and being able to choose fibre are at different ends of the park.....
For several years I've wanted to improve my 'less than 3mb' adsl. No matter how much I stamped my feet, I had no possibility of faster connection.
In October, I was given the option of BT infinity, and I placed my order within the hour.
What frustrates me the most is that I live in one of the largest cities in England. However we seem to have been ignored on the 4G mobile service too. Apparantly towns on the south coast full of students and sailors have been given priority.
Yet we still have the TV adverts and billboards trying to sell us something we can't have.
Quote by Cubes

Thanks Mr B! :smug:


I think my dial up was quicker lol
If you're on ADSL and would like to know what speeds your lines can actually get you can visit . It's a connection to the BT wholesale database. This is where you'll find out if you can actually reach those promised numbers or not.
My connection should be able to handle a whopping but this is what I actually get instead;

Count yourselves lucky!
In all fairness I know there is a problem local to the area (in between my property and the cabinet). It's possibly a REIN issue. The biggest beef I have is that I have to pay full price for over 2 months of this speed with really poor support from now three ISPs.
well we're with virgin and it's crap!
I'm with Virgin Cable
I pay for 50 and get 50. But how each website deals with that and the bandwidth available to that website well thats something completely different, overall though I am quite happy with the speed. Looking forward to next year when we double up to 100Mb/sec
Talk Talk, only two faster is b BT and Plussnet, buy only marginally

Rural Dorset
Quote by Bluefish2009
Talk Talk, only two faster is b BT and Plussnet, buy only marginally

Rural Dorset

Blue,
So BT and Plusnet, wonders if there is a reason for this (rhetorical)
Plusnet is an internet service provider (ISP) based in Sheffieldand was floated on the Alternative Investment Market in July 2004, making them a public limited company (Plusnet plc).
It has been owned since 30 January 2007 by BT Group, but operates as a separate business.
Plusnet also operates the Metronet brand in the UK.
Though to be honest any of the other ISPs could improve their service to you if they wished to take advantage of LLB and install their kit in the local Exchange, but guessing they can't see any profit in it and as using basically same BT provided infrastructure it wouldn't be much if faster, if at all.
Quote by HnS
Talk Talk, only two faster is b BT and Plussnet, buy only marginally

Rural Dorset

Blue,
So BT and Plusnet, wonders if there is a reason for this (rhetorical)
Plusnet is an internet service provider (ISP) based in Sheffieldand was floated on the Alternative Investment Market in July 2004, making them a public limited company (Plusnet plc).
It has been owned since 30 January 2007 by BT Group, but operates as a separate business.
Plusnet also operates the Metronet brand in the UK.
Though to be honest any of the other ISPs could improve their service to you if they wished to take advantage of LLB and install their kit in the local Exchange, but guessing they can't see any profit in it and as using basically same BT provided infrastructure it wouldn't be much if faster, if at all.
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