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Crapping !

Pavillion they have always had this capping in place not sure how it works on ADSL but if I max out my cable connection for 25min after 4pm then I am capped at 300k for 4 hours. I am on 2mb 4mb have more and it goes up like that.
 
supposedly if you use more than a gig of transfer at peak time you are put in the FUP group, altho from what l do know is that they supposedly skim the top 5% of downloaders at peak times however they do it on a weekly basis as far as l have heard.

on a completely unrelated note, l was a bit weirded out by the topic title, lm sure you meant capping but somehow it ended up as crapping.... you can see the amusement and worry l had when thinking "should l open this topic"
 
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Does anyone know if the capping is universal across the virgin on cable network or does it just apply to heavy use area's say in the middle of a major town or city. The only reason why i ask is i live in a relatively small town and on many occasion's I've exceeded the pre capping limit and I've not noticed much change in speed.
 
They have different terms for ADSL:

Fair Usage Policy: Whilst there are no specific monthly usage allowance on the Broadband Service, your Broadband Service remains subject to our Acceptable Use Policy set out in section F. Further information about our Acceptable Use Policy can also be found in the FAQs and our Traffic Management document on our website. View these at the following addresses: http://www.virgin.net/helpme/broadband/faq/. http://www.virgin.net/allyours/faqs/traffic_faqs.html. Virgin Media reserves the right to modify the FAQs and Traffic Management document at any time without prior notice and solely at our own discretion. Any changes will take effect when posted on the Site.

It does in fact look like they will be introducing some form of management/throttling for ADSL customers:

From Autumn 2007 we will be introducing some new network management tools to offer the best possible experience to the majority of customers.

Will my download speed be affected?
At present, your speed won't be moderated unless you're in the top 5% of downloaders.

How can I tell if I'm being traffic-managed?

The vast majority of users (circa 95%) should not notice a change in their broadband service. For those that do get 'traffic-managed' you can check your speed using a trust worthy speed checker on the internet. The speed restriction is a temporary measure and each week we review the accounts of those being 'traffic-managed'.

http://www.virgin.net/allyours/faqs/traffic_faqs.html#affect_speed

It looks disturbingly similar to what AOL did last February. :crap:. Though at least AOL gave its users the option to leave...
 
cable is something completely different since it doesnt go through the BT network at exchange level, id assume that the general setup and congestion measures are done differently since cable is somewhat closer to fibre when you consider the cable has to laid rather than using an existing copper based system.

as far as l had heard (from my friend on cable) is that there was a daily limit of 20GB before you would hear anything from VM, now altho he is a heavier user than l ever was or am he does pass maybe 10GIG a day (altho in this case its somewhat work related when concerning a very large website, and no its not warez altho it does host allot of home made films.. hes basically a student using his work to partly finance himself at the moment while at UNI)
 
Well I just joined up to Cable at Virgin and already, after only four days, the 2mb I'm paying for is now 1mb. I'm keeping records with the speedtest and plan to take court action if they keep this up, because as far as I'm concerned it's outright fraudulent to advertise 2mb and then give the customer half that without refunding half the money.

On another point, Virgin have consistently failed to provide me with a username since I joined. I've called them five times at my own expense to get the damn thing so I can set up an email account and still they're unable to provide it. It's ridiculous.

I used to be with MYnow.co.uk, a UK wireless broadband company with a customer service that puts Virgin to shame. MYNOW UK Broadband is a company with integrity, and I'm still lamenting the fact that they had to reduce coverage in my area.

So far Virginmedia has done little to inspire confidence. And if the 2mb I'm paying for doesn't materialise over the next few days I'm going to think seriously about cancelling, desposit or not, and taking them to court for breach of contract and false advertising. I don't see why they should get away with it.
 
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before you do that, what times are you testing speed? if its at peak times there is obviously going to be some strain on the network because just about everyone has just jumped on to youtube and other things.

and if Virgin is anything like BT they prolly have a limit that would be considered "crap" for ADSL max you have to at least be getting dialup speeds before they consider it a problem... in any case l will PM a link l was given that maybe helpful in your quest for an answer even tho l think l might have hit the nail on the head in the assumption of traffic managment.
 
I ran the tests over the last couple of days on Speedtest.net and others. And you can clearly see that it's being capped (or throttled or whatever you call it) because the dial stutters under 1mb and won't go above it, so I get a reading of about 950-970kbs for downloads, sometimes even lower, about 850, and I'm paying for 2MB!

It's impossible that I've gone over a limit already, since I've only had the bloody cable for four days or so. It's just fraudulent. I'm really hacked off about it, since I had to pay a hefty deposit. The 28 days right to cancel is still an option, and it looks like I'll be taking advantage of it if this keeps up.

As for the times, I was running the checks between 8pm and 1am. But as I say, you can clearly see the dial on the speedtests stuttering under 1mb.

Thanks for the link. Cheers.
 
np... and just to add, between 4pm and 12am is peak time so regardless of the fact of throttling many users will get home and jump onto the internet.

cable being somewhat different still has the ability to bottleneck somewhat, in an area with many connections its a given that there will be slowdown your is somewhat more slowdown than l would expect but l dont know how populated your area is. however if the speed is err "crap" between those times only then the likely culprit is congestion on a busy network which is something you will have to live with, since its exactly the same kind of thing youll experience on ADSL (lm currently on Virgin ADSL it it gets somewhat worse at peak times but lm thankful l have a connection that works and doesnt disconnect allot after my previous experiences with my last ISP)
 
Ah, but I'm of the opinion that if there is a bottleneck at these times and Virgin are aware of it, then they have to either reduce the fee they're charging, or do something about the problem. Otherwise, what the hell are we paying for?

Also, I don't think it's simply a case that it's traffic causing the problem, because it's pretty obvious from the tests I've been running since I got this thing connected that the speed drops to just under 1mb at exactly the same time every day and that it stutters under 1mb at almost exactly the same point. It's being prevented from rising above 1mb deliberately. If Virgin have measures in place to restrict, like diverting traffic to single lanes at peak times, then they should have advertised that fact, instead of making it appear that 2mb is 2mb when it isn't. They should be advertising that you're paying for 1mb broadband with a bit of 2mb thrown in if you're lucky.
 
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l think they do advertise the fact as an FUP in the small print so you will have to take a good look at it to double check...

from what it sounds like you are being hit with the FUP because like you said it kicks in the same time each day so that suggests whenever it kicks in there is allot of usage in your area.. that being said, ISPs are known for putting way too many users on too little network.. they dont tend to give a crap about users because they are more worried about making the money for the shareholders, thats why they cherge us for crapy support they can pay peanuts for over in india.

in fact what we should be doing is doing those indians and ourselves a favour by making some sort of petition that that forbids things like ISPs moving their call centres over to india based on the fact they can pay them a few quid a week.. then at least put something in place that says that they are entitled to the exact same wages as permissible by UK law in this perspective minimum wage say £5 an hour and make it less profitable to profit off us and move call centres... l think thats the thing we should be doing then hit them where it hurts if they are going to give us bad support.
 
I don't see how that's going to help. I'm a new customer, almost a week now, and I expected better treatment than this ... I mean, for crying out loud, they still can't get their act together enough to reply to one of the six emails I've sent from their site about my username and password, which they still haven't provided after all this time. And that's despite calling them umpteen times. It's getting so frustrating.

And it's not just capping at peak times. Today I checked the speed at various times to make sure, and I'm getting under 1mb outside the times they say they're throttling. I don't care about their little excuses in the FUP. I believe that you should get what you pay for. I'm paying for 2mb, and I should be getting it no matter what they say. If they can't give me that (for whatever reason) then don't charge me for it. It's simple.

My bill should be for half the broadband fee, because I'm only getting half the bandwidth, excuse or no excuse. They should NOT be advertising 2mb broadband at that price if they can't deliver it. It's like me charging you for a trip around the world and then dumping you out half way and blaming the traffic. It's a poor excuse.

:mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
stop moaning!! you pay for 2mb and also you agree to the T&C so no point in moaning!!, i have got 20mb cable, and it has worked brilliantly!! no capping wot so ever mind you i have got 3 gb limit during peak hours, i was capped for one day then i emailed them provin i havnt downloaded more then 3 gb so now no more cappin!! i use a software called DU Meter to monitor my bandwidth!! download speed is usually between 2.0 mb - 2.3 mb!!!
 
stop moaning!! you pay for 2mb and also you agree to the T&C so no point in moaning!!, i have got 20mb cable, and it has worked brilliantly!! no capping wot so ever mind you i have got 3 gb limit during peak hours, i was capped for one day then i emailed them provin i havnt downloaded more then 3 gb so now no more cappin!! i use a software called DU Meter to monitor my bandwidth!! download speed is usually between 2.0 mb - 2.3 mb!!!

Did you have a point to make or did you just want to brag about your speed?

:shrug:
 
I think he is trying to say he pays for 20meg but only gets 2 and is happy with that.

If so I have a bag full of used Pentel's with documentary proof they were used by Shakespeare, yours for £5k.
 
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True, but if so I still have these Pentels for sale.
 
stop moaning!! you pay for 2mb and also you agree to the T&C so no point in moaning!!, i have got 20mb cable, and it has worked brilliantly!! no capping wot so ever mind you i have got 3 gb limit during peak hours, i was capped for one day then i emailed them provin i havnt downloaded more then 3 gb so now no more cappin!! i use a software called DU Meter to monitor my bandwidth!! download speed is usually between 2.0 mb - 2.3 mb!!!

So you like being short changed then? Well that's your problem if you're so weak that you let companies steal from you. You're saying you pay for 20mb and you only get 2mb. Wow, what a great deal. Remind me to sell you some AIR; I've got a great deal for you, you'll just lap it up. :laugh:

But you talk about capping. I stressed I'm a new customer, and there is no way I could have gone over their limit ... furthermore, they claim they're UNLIMITED. So add false advertising to fraud and you've got a really worthy company.

I'll tell you something, yesterday my old ISP MYNOW UK broadband put fifty quid in my account as a goodwill payment, and not only that, but they've kept my email accounts open for me, and all because they had to reduce coverage and I lost my account with them through no fault of my own. I am flabbergasted at the integrity of MYNOW. They are the benchmark for all ISPs, but sadly this kind of generosity and customer service is too rare.

It is definitely lacking in Virginmedia's case.

Oh, and I don't believe that you got a reply from your email to Virgin. Not in a million years.

And according to your profile, you're not with Virgin, you're with FAST4...
 
looks like you were very lucky with your previous ISP then until they cut back on coverage, in retrospect to myself lve NEVER found a perfect ISP, lve had great service in perspective on a whole but problems have always happened when l least expected it and then lve ended up without a leg to stand on.

with respects to the word "unlimited" there is no such thing, even approaching ofcom will get you nowhere, because THEY ok'd their wording, in fact you will get some BS that they dont mean unlimited in the sence of data they will tell you that it means time online or some other bull..

also lm sure there is one other thing you havent considered.. "do you expected to get your full 2Meg at all times?" because your sorely mistaken on that point, lm sure you already know that the internet is a network, thats a given however as such the network also has constraints on how much bandwidth it can maintain so say the server your accessing has a 100meg pipe and you get 100 users downloading at 1meg you will only get 1meg speed if you are one of those downloaders, then again you may not because bandwidth is first come first serve unless there is a system to distribute it evenly, in short the faster ones connection is the less likely you will be able to make full use of it, that is unless cupacity on both server and ISPs are made to handle such things... in cables perspective it very much depends on the area you live in l have found.
 
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