Chris Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 Broadband speeds in the UK are much slower than advertised by internet service providers, a study by Computeractive magazine has found. Some 3,000 readers took part in speed tests and 62% found they routinely got less than half of the top speed advertised by their provider. It is the latest in a series of questions over the way net firms advertise broadband services. Regulator Ofcom said it was aware of the issue and was "investigating".More | Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 They should get Virgin BB. The result below is what I achieve all the time with a 4MB connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarthy © ® ™ Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 ...Rip Off Britain (ROB) yet again me thinks !?! ;) They should bring back public hanging for the offenders ! We (the consumers) are continuously being s*** on all the time by the "untouchable corporate monsters" and their "inhuman ways". The "FREE world" is everything but FREE ! <---Who is this person ??? ...Oh it's the person paying £18 a month for this ! ! ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 What's your ISP, Speed your paying for, Distance to exchange, Router/Modem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarthy © ® ™ Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 With VirginMedia (was Telewest BlueYonder) - 2Mbps ('M' package) - On Cable Service ! And NO downloads this evening !Did the test again and got 352kbps download and 30kbps upload which a bit better ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 You phoned them, they might 'investiagte'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarthy © ® ™ Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 Our line does not allow premium rate numbers and they recently replaced our modem denying any "traffic shaping" on their services and blaming our modem instead ! All you get is "no were not managing our services" or "the 'M' package is NOT included in the restrictions" and then the cheek to ask you to ring a premium rate number (call center in India I think) the next time you are having the problems ! You see it everywhere online and it stinks really. Richard Branson you should be ashamed !They sell their services with captions like "download a film in 'x' minutes - download an mp3 in 'x' seconds" etc. etc. But they don't tell you that 1/3 of the day (8 hours between 4pm and midnight) at the times you are most likely to use their service, you will be "managed" and have your service speeds halved for 4 hour periods if you download 350MB+ (on the 'M' package)! Infact they totally deny doing this even though the information is available on their site telling you so ! > > > LOOK HERE < < < Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayno Posted September 24, 2007 Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 I have used the very reliable Pipex broadband ISP service for a long time and am about to upgrade from 1mbps to 8mbps (and include a 24/7 free phone calls deal). Pipex openly invite you to check your line's ability beforehand, and give you a facility to do so - mine is capable of 4.5mbps, so the package is worth it. Having used them for a small charity I used to run, I like Plusnet as a 'straight' ISP with good customer focus too, but I can't recall whether they offer a line test facility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted September 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2007 Our line does not allow premium rate numbers and they recently replaced our modem denying any "traffic shaping" on their services and blaming our modem instead ! All you get is "no were not managing our services" or "the 'M' package is NOT included in the restrictions" and then the cheek to ask you to ring a premium rate number (call center in India I think) the next time you are having the problems ! You see it everywhere online and it stinks really. Richard Branson you should be ashamed !They sell their services with captions like "download a film in 'x' minutes - download an mp3 in 'x' seconds" etc. etc. But they don't tell you that 1/3 of the day (8 hours between 4pm and midnight) at the times you are most likely to use their service, you will be "managed" and have your service speeds halved for 4 hour periods if you download 350MB+ (on the 'M' package)! Infact they totally deny doing this even though the information is available on their site telling you so ! > > > LOOK HERE If the problem is 'theirs' they will refund the cost of the call.If you don't like it then why don't you find someone else unless you've got some month to go on the contract? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Our line does not allow premium rate numbers and they recently replaced our modem denying any "traffic shaping" on their services and blaming our modem instead ! All you get is "no were not managing our services" or "the 'M' package is NOT included in the restrictions" and then the cheek to ask you to ring a premium rate number (call center in India I think) the next time you are having the problems ! You see it everywhere online and it stinks really. Richard Branson you should be ashamed !They sell their services with captions like "download a film in 'x' minutes - download an mp3 in 'x' seconds" etc. etc. But they don't tell you that 1/3 of the day (8 hours between 4pm and midnight) at the times you are most likely to use their service, you will be "managed" and have your service speeds halved for 4 hour periods if you download 350MB+ (on the 'M' package)! Infact they totally deny doing this even though the information is available on their site telling you so ! > > > LOOK HERE Funny that things are so bad in your are, and so good where I live. I don't understand it. I would certainly contact them on your circumstances and tell them to forget it, and then go elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 I've been with BT since Methuselah was a boy. My complaints to them have been very few and none in connection with my Internet provision.I had broadband earlier than most as the then chairman of BT, Ian Vallance, lived near here are they were keen to get him kitted out with the latest technology so I was in on the fallout from that.I am currently on BT "up to" 8Mb service. I get a reasonably consistent 6Mb which I am happy with, especially as I'm not exactly close to the local telephone exchange. My service is not capped and it doesn't suffer from throttling at certain times of day - and I do download quite a lot.BT is not the cheapest ISP by any means but it provides me with a consistent service and I can't see any reason to flit about from one to another with the possibility, indeed likelihood from what people here and elsewhere have said, of suffering poor, or loss of, service (in every aspect) and potential apoplexy - which at my age I can well do without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarthy © ® ™ Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Prob because we get torrents and download quite a lot ! It seems to be the P2P market they are hitting with the restrictions and competing with Sky (if they do it then we can!) in my opinion. The reason we went with Telewest was it was an "always on" service with "no restrictions" and at a good price and a lot of people were liking what they were getting from the service. Since the Virgin takeover it has now got "restrictions"! It is a new company running things differently to what we 'signed up for initially' so the least they could do really is let us end our old contracts and take out a new (12 months @ £4.50 (M package) contract and :-1.Get what we signed up for in our new contract.2.Get the savings that all new members get.I am considering a new ISP and also considering sacking it all really. There are days when I think "£18 a month to goto 10 sites?" 6000+ bookmarks and only use around 10 of them!?!? It's all a bit crazy. I remember when the internet was new and exciting and now I am finding it dull and mundane! It's one of those things you can really live without but seldom do! I am hooked on a virtual world that only exists to me while my comp is running and I can afford it! cR@zY ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Scarthy - call Virgin customer services (150 isn't it?) and tell them you want to disconnect... then they will give you what you want... probably upgrade your package for you. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 I had an interesting experience this morning. I rang Onetel to ask them to let me have a MAC. Sanjeev's sister was very polite, as far as I could understand her, and said, I think, that she would get it emailed to me within three days. She then said,"Just one moment please" or words to that effect, and then after a few seconds said that she had seen that I had been having "issues" with their service, and would that be the reason I wanted the MAC. When I confirmed that was precisely why I was going to move she said she could offer me a reduced rate of £12, ?? a month with no alteration to the contract (we currently pay £19.??)I told her that even her offer was too dear for the service were were getting.They are not managing the company properly let alone "managing the service"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Scarthy - call Virgin customer services (150 isn't it?) and tell them you want to disconnect... then they will give you what you want... probably upgrade your package for you. ;)Before doing that it would pay you to contact BT, and see if there would be any delay in reconnecting a BT land line, just to be on the safe side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarthy © ® ™ Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Before doing that it would pay you to contact BT, and see if there would be any delay in reconnecting a BT land line, just to be on the safe side.We only have the broadband package. We have a BT landline anyway that has previously been activated for ADSL. If we did get in touch with them and instead of 'helping us out or updating our package' they just said "goodbye then", would our ADSL activation still be present on our line? Or would we have to pay £60 again for activation? Does anyone know how long it lasts on a line?The other thing I was thinking of was to get the 2 for £20 offer as it's only £2 more for another service (TV/Phone/Mobile) - if it's still going? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 they just said "goodbye then"It's all about customer retention... there's no way they'll let you go that easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 They should get Virgin BB. The result below is what I achieve all the time with a 4MB connection.This is only applicable if you happen to live in a cable area.As I live a long way from the exchange, I can only get speeds of 3 Mb but this may change in the future as BT are thinking about rolling out it's next generation broadband service http://www.ispreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/news/vi...pyFyEppjVJnihAQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 They should get Virgin BB. The result below is what I achieve all the time with a 4MB connection.This is only applicable if you happen to live in a cable area.As I live a long way from the exchange, I can only get speeds of 3 Mb but this may change in the future as BT are thinking about rolling out it's next generation broadband service http://www.ispreview.co.uk/cgi-bin/news/vi...pyFyEppjVJnihAQNaturally. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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