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http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/2007/05/05/virgin-media-introduce-speed-caps/ -
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Also imo they are just restricting the service WE pay to have, I upgraded to the 10mb (soon to be 20) so i could download at those speeds and now they say i wont be-able to or i get my service restricted for a few hours........ and considering i can easily get 3gb in a few hours i suspect i will be capped quite often lol,
I will not pay for a 20Mb line only to be restricted to 5Mb just because i am downloading at the speed they sell to me, it's unjust and unfair!
It most certainly is speed capping!
service since the very begining. As a mobile computer engineer iv
allways prided myself in confidentley saying that Blueyonder (Virgin
media now) Is the best service out there because they dont cap your
downloads, download speed, reliability is allways top notch its the
most transparant honest internet service around.
Virgin Media, what your takeing away is the very reason why probably
60% have chosen cable.
Look at improving your service instead of cutting our service down.
PS, if this is implimented, please consider Bulldog internet business
package.
http://www.bulldogbroadband.com/business/small/
* >>
* >>
* Wireless router**
* 3 PC Security Suite licences included
* 1 static IP address included
* 4 email accounts with anti-spam and
anti-virus protection
All for £45 a month.
(im just down the road from the exchange :)
Unlimited uploads at up to 1 Mbp/s
Up to 24 meg download speed
Upload speed up to 0.4 meg
4 gigs usage included
(additional 5 gigs for £5)
£14 monthly
£24 connection fee
24/7 support hotline
or
Up to 24 meg ultra-fast broadband
Up to 1.3 meg upload speeds
Unlimited usage
£24 monthly
£24 connection fee
24/7 support hotline
or
Up to 24 meg ultra-fast broadband
Up to 2.5 meg upload speeds
24/7 unlimited usage
24/7 prioritised member support
£24 connection fee
£40 monthly (incl. VAT)
1 Static IP free, up to 16 available
You will all agree this beats the pants off Virgin Media both in down/up stream & more importantly price BYE BYE ! Virgin....
Well said that man.
I'm being capped on my 'XL' connection as I type this!
When you add up all the individual bits going out AND coming in, the 3GB boundary is pretty easy to cross, just with a day of casual fiddling about and a few files here and there.
Putting up prices then capping users, whilst also losing TV channels and scores of customers spells bad times for Virgin Media, and for customers who are too lazy/apathetic to migrate elsewhere.
Be aware that the V.M. coffers are empty as a result of this stupid 'merger' (read: marketing exercise) so there will be no (desperately needed) investment in the tired cable infrastructure.
Cable in the UK is fully on course to become a pariah, until some kindly foreign investor steps in with a buyout offer....
I've certainly had enough.
It's gotten so bad that i'll be giving my future custom to British Telecom, who I hate!
watchdog@bbc.co.uk
Complaint Form to Virgin M£dia
http://help2.virginmedia.com/assets/html/custom...
WatchDog Complaint Form
http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio/watc...
Please please make your voice heard
Firstly I hear ppl moaning about losing TV channels. It's been great for me, I was paying for the basic package now it's free. Some channels have gone, but I don't really care because television isn't really my thing anyway. The only thing I do miss is the Simpson's on Sky1. You can't blame Virgin for that, that's Murdocks fault. My point in this paragraph is that some people are more than happy about the change. It all depends what type of customer you are right?
On the broadband issue. I'm really lost. How can you download 3 gigs in an evening? What are you using it for? P2p? If this is the case can't you just let it run in the night? Also how on earth do you get the time to watch, listen or play the stuff you're hoping to download at such speed anyway? I mean, a healthy person shouldn't be spending too much time on the computer anyway - you should be outside enjoying life right?
Well that's my point made, my views on why you need to have such speeds may be based on ignorance? I'd like to be 'put right' and enlightened.....
I was considering upgrading to 20 meg, but lets face it, the only reason someone is going to upgrade to that sort of speed is because they want to download a lot of data (say 10GB) in a short space of time (ie, within a few hours). If we get capped after the first 3GB then it's pretty pointless upgrading.
Virgin is such an ironic name as its so screwed..
I hear your pain, but I don't reckon much to your chances of getting Virgin to listen to you as their service is for residential use only, and they if you tell them about your work use, they will say you really should be using their business product!
oh and BTW - VirginMedia have in trial 50Meg and also 100Meg - these have been in trial since it was BlueYonder
And the fact your service has got "worse" since march has nothing to do with Virgin taking over. All they have done is replace the logo on the bill etc to a virgin one. quite literally only the name has changed, not the porducts/service
as for capping download limits, i agree it is a bit harsh, that has always been one of the best features having unlimited access
true, ADSL has it's faults but if you are lucky in the postcode lottery you can get a fast speed
As to VM's 50Mbps and 100Mbps we won't be seeing those speeds for a very long time as the technologies that they rely on (DOCSIS3) require both significant network upgrades and also cable modems to be replaced, which isn't cheap.
Plus, I don't think VM are really in a good enough shape at the moment to focus on rolling theses speeds out what with all the PE activity and poor results.
How will using a proxy help? Aren't they just looking at the raw transfer, regardless of where it's going or how?
V Media 4.0gig broadband only £25 PM + £10 to download from usenet groups that Virgin Media blocked
Tiscali (example) 8.0gig £18 PM no blocking of usenet groups
Going by what Virgin (Robbing) Media charges, i would be paying £50 for 8.0gig + £10 usenet server per month = £60 PER MONTH against TISCALI £18 PER MONTH
NOW THAT IS A VIRGIN MEDIA RIPOFF BY ANYONE`S STANDARDS
This 1Mb restriction is a joke I have run 10 speed tests with Virgins own speed test & others and the Highest result was 22Kbs. Dialup is 56.6Kbs, I pay for 2Mb.
When I signed up it was for a Garanteed 2Mb - Unlimited service.
Virgin started these limits when they launched their 20Mb service obviously they are selling bandwith thay just don't have!
If i was in a taxi and the driver tried to explain that becuase we took over an hour, hes going to drive at 1 mph for the next 10 miles, id jump out there and then without paying.
basicly they are saying you payed for this service but we dont want to give it to you, therefore we will be cutting you off (or close enough) BUT still charging you for this.
I havnt been capped yet. but i intend to download HUGE ammounts tonight just to experiment and if they cap me ill have them on the phone ALL day monday.
this is what I got from them:
"...
User (17:12): WHAT IS MY WEEKLY DOWNLOAD LIMIT?!
Craig (17:13): It's only during peak. You will find that late at night or early hours of the morning the connection will be fine
User (17:13): How may GB I can download per one week and not have my connection caped?
Craig (17:14): It's hard to say. It really depends on how much other people are downloading. You are only capped if you are in the top 5%
User (17:15): I do not care about others - give me a figure.
User (17:16): You can say that 2GB is to much.
Craig (17:16): One moment please
Craig (17:22): Ok, I have just spoken to manager and he pretty much says what I have said. There isn't a figure, it's done as a percentage. You should find that once we hit the massive downloaders then your download limit should increase and your speed should improve
User (17:23): I do not get it, percentage of what?
Craig (17:24): The top 5% of downloaders
User (17:25): 5% of downloaders of how may gigs?
..."
They can ALWAYS say that you in this 5% of heavy downloaders. There is no any limit ("unlimited" - ###!), there is no any figure, there is only 5% of traffic. This means that depends on overall usage of their servers you can be qualified for capping for downloading 100mb, 1gb, 5gb ... you will never know. My case: one week 6.45GB and for that next two weeks my 8mb broadband speed is something 0.3MB, yes! 300kbs! Not only during peak, It is always less then one meg, less then half meg. Tested many times in the middle of the night with thinkbroadband and speedtest. Only about 4:30AM to 6:30AM I have 1.5-1.8mb and it`s been like that for nearly two weeks. Recently they don`t even reply for my emails. Requested my MAC last Sunday, no response so far. I`ve experienced many cons in this country but this is one of the biggest.
i'm on a 8meg connection and hit speeds of 850k off deamonews (usenet)
I download arround 250+gig a month and have not (as yet) been capped
I moved from pipex to virgin as pipex basically sent me the Letter of change or F*+& Off so i did F*+£ Off
virgin media So Far So good
Just any old proxy?
they have capped me to 512k 1/2 a meg now i know this can't be right and we should do as a few people have said and contact watchdog this has goto be against the law has to be
lookin into yet another broadband provider
THEY HAVE CAPPED MY 8MEG LINE TO 512
THATS HALF A DAM MEG WTF IS GOIN ON THIS IS THE WORST CAPPIN I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED
CONTACTIN WATCHDOG AS SOON AS I FINISH THIS MESSAGE
Ps if you reconnect and connect a fair few times cappin is removed For some time yes it does come back but hey it takes a few hours for it to do it so if u need somethink then your be fine
The cap is also supposed to only last 4 hours yet i was once capped between 8pm and 8:30pm and by 3am i was still capped. So i phoned virgin media.
When i contacted virgin media's customer suport i then paid 25pence a minute to speak to a guy i could barely understand from india.
After speaking to his manager the guy said we can cap you when we want where we want and he wouldn't give a time my cap would be removed. within 2 minute's the cap had been removed.
I would also just like to say with this cap applied you will also see a massive increase in your ping which even though your cap maybe 5meg once it's applied you will find brouseing/gameing ect like being on 56k.
In my area there is very little xdsl and the few providers there are would be just as bad as virgin media in there own ways. ( over the years i have subscribbed to them as a second line but none have lasted more then there minimum contract.
I see virgin media's cap as a sneaky way to limit trafic on there network so they make/loose less money.
when i ask virgin techy who did mention i can be can be capped between 4pm and midnight he also states my speed is up to 20mb.
my speed test on the down speed before midight was 1.01kbps after midnight was to 628.96kbps
does anyone know what speeds i should get?
my old modem was surfboard sb3100
can any one tell me how long this has been none compatible?
Bring back Telewest - richard make the trains go slower in rush hour & see what happens
I used to get this......
http://www.speedtest.net/result/184535862.png
Now i get this garbage crap! somebody save me!
http://www.speedtest.net/result/79490687.png
Let me give you an example now if you start say watching streaming video via the web and you actually do some legitimate downloading and say uploading you can hit that 3gb limit in next to no time typically say 2 to 3 hours. So in theory you are actually paying for a 5mb connection at the price of a 20mb connection for a majority of the time.
If you have a 20mb connection and you never hit this limit I'm afraid to say you don't need the connection as you simply are not making sufficient use of it to warrent such high connection speeds and should opt for the the lower tier and save some money.
Virgin media should stop advertising their speeds as unlimited and clearly state on their advertising that speeds are capped and state what they are capped to; if they did that their services would no where near look as attractive.
To use the excuse that it is to stop those who abuse the service is laughable because Virgin media has actually lost more customers then it has gained since the merger and therefore cannot use the excuse they have to put these caps in place as the network is under no extra strain then it was before the merger took place. The caps are simply there so they save money while raking your cash in as bandwidth costs them.
Telewest was a better company before the merger and alot better then NTL interms of quality of service and customer service that has seriously gone down the pan.
I've been with ntl and telewest for 10 years and believe me there are ADSL providers out there who's services are alot better.
in his words i could not give to f%*&ks if he gets sacked his totally fed up with all the crap the team leaders are tell them to say to us when we ring to complain about this problem .
Right now i've been capped to arround 92kbps = about 11.5k in real money( Speedtest done on the site that they tell you to go onto )
He also said its a way to make us so called heavy users leave without them kicking us off.
He strongly advised me to write a letter to head office tell them about whats goin on and also send the same letter to ofcom also to print off my screen when i go on there speedtest site. So thats what i'm goin to do i'll kepp you all posted
FIGHT THE POWER
June 6th, 2007 01:40 GMT
there are many ppl from many walks of life. i myself am disabled so my life is the computer, talking to ppl on the internet is my connection to the outside world....also my son has agoraphobia which means he cannot leave the house and he plays games all day and most of the nite its his life his way of connecting to the outside world, we're being capped and his games wont run, i watch movies over the internet and suddenly wham they freeze up and become unwatchable.....so yes we do have a right to complain.....just because you have a normal life with normal health doesnt mean the rest of the world is the same, wake up and accept thier are more ppl out there than yourself.
Dale (11:49): Hi
User (11:49): hi dale i was wonderin if u could tell me if i'm on this list
User (11:50): cause my speeds yesterday where real crap
Dale (11:50): Ok i will check now....
User (11:50): thanks
User (11:51): also while your checkin that could u tell me what amount i have downloaded to get on the list ( if i'm on it )
Dale (11:51): Yes you are on the cap list for nearly 19 gig in one week.
User (11:52): ??????
User (11:52): what are the peak times then cause i've stopped downloadin in the peak times
Dale (11:53): Doesnt matter as it takes into account the whole days there fore we cap durring peak to stop the network being clogged by high users.
User (11:54): it does'nt matter ??? well i think it does i was told from 4pm till 12 pm is peak times if this is not tru then i have been told a lie
Dale (11:55): That is when you will be capped but it depends on the amount you download 24/7.
User (11:55): the rules virgin are puttin down are as clear as mud i try to stay inside the line but i can't if i dont know what the rules are
User (11:56): but if its unlimited then surly in the offpeak times u should not me taken that into account surly
User (11:57): so what your sayin tome then is that 24/7 people are being monitered
Dale (12:00): The unlimted download policy is susspended at the moment( which is explain in the terms and condition on the web site) unfortunately yes it is monitored 24/7 and runs sunday to sunday.
User (12:01): so if its susspended then what am i payin 18 pound for??
User (12:01): how do i go about gettin my mac code
Dale (12:01): Youcan get a mac code from 0845 045 0709 option 4
User (12:02): ok thanks i think its best for me to move to another company one that gives clear details of what you get for your money
Dale (12:03): Ok thank you for using online support. Have a good day.
User (12:04): i well thanks bye
pipex buisness line here i come for 19quid u get unlimited and NO FAIR USE POLICY woooohooooooooo about time some company did this u watch everyone else follow
A single HD 30 minute video is 350mb. I can download 1 episode of 1 TV series and be capped to 20kb/s for four hours? Virgin just lost a customer.
It seems that if you download alot you are punished and have your speed reduced. Yet people who use there computers for internet shopping and dont download and to be honest would not notice a drop in speed are rewarded.
Is this speed capping a new thing Virgin have introduced as i have been a member since they were ntl under the 2MB contract. I recently upgraded to the 10MB (formally the 4MB service) and during my time on the 2MB did not notice any drop in connection speed. I have been a member to ntl for 6 years orginally under 4Mb i then downgraded to 2MB for 6 months (cash shortage) but have not returned to the 10MB. Yet if at peak times when i want to download i am getting 2MBs what is the point. I will either be at sixthfrom or working and go on my computer in the evening to recive a 2Mb service.
If this is not sorted i will be sure to chane ISP.
cant wait going on o2 next
so basically the will still charge us full price but only give you half what you are paying for no matter if you download or not.
trying to download anything which is ment to be done in a day or 2 takes a week at a time. they are fukin perfetic if u ask me, if we didnt download anything they wouldnt even get any money from there larger packages. because there wouldnt be any use for them
Im on a 10 megabit connection which i get around 1.2 megabytes per second out my connection, even with my speed i can limit my self for 15 minutes during the evening. I limit my self every single night and this may be just from watching damn youtube videos!! im pig sick of these limitations.
Any one like me will know the troubles we go through... Furthermore im a gameing fanatic and i even limit my self playing my humble xbox online!.
Finally Virgin media have even started stopping me from going on the websites i download tv shows from so i have to proxy the web address (they only block for a day at max).