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Little suggestion here - who thinks it would be useful to have an 'official' Virgin Media broadband speed test?
One only usable by their own customers, that stores the results of the tests and gives you a test reference number so that when you call support you can say 'my speeds are pants, speed test reference xxxxxxxx'
Surely this would help make support calls quicker and leave less 'ambiguity' on speed results as it's all on VM's network and not hosted on free ISP webspace as the one on this site is, so no guarantee of performance.
That sound like a useful tool both to VM and VM subscribers?
DocDutch
03-03-2007, 10:05
good call there Carl :)
but speedtest.net is reliable as well.
Exorcist74
03-03-2007, 10:38
AND if they did.... do you think they care about the speed test results, They already know the results........:mad:
:Yikes: just a thought.... is this speed test for our benifit or for theres
How would they already know the results? They may be able to see signal levels etc for our connection but they are unable to see your speed as the test can only be run from the host computer.
It's a good idea, but aren't speed test results also affected by factors this side of the cable modem? I mean, suppose another computer connected to my router happens to have a burst of activity during the speed test. Wouldn't this result in an artificially slow result?
I think it would be more useful if on the VM support area there was a tool that could trigger a speed test but also create a snapshot of your current signal levels so that they are there ready to be looked at when you get through to support. Often these faults come and go but if you take your snapshot when the problem is occuring then all relevant data from that time is available.
Exorcist74
03-03-2007, 10:59
Hi Paul (http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/members/123.html), and If they check there complaints department they will find !!!!!! yes
speed issues problems,loads and loads, the data is all there for them, and they now there is a problem.... why not everyone send in a e-mail complaint form with there speed test on it.... maybe, just maybe they will do something.... could ntl/vm ping our IP address, they have everyone's and get a result of that???? just a thought. :shocked: Mmmmm your may be right, they cant get a true result from that, because everyone use there computer for uploading/downloading, so I think the ping value will be all over the place...
but if you ask NTL/VM at the time of the complaint to ping your system and to take action on the result, then maybe????
:disturbd:
Erm just cos they can see other results it does not mean they can see your speed results at the time you call which would be the relevant data they need to be able to look at your issue. Any provider can look to historic data but the historic data doesn't always assist in doing anything other than show that there is a problem in a certain area causing a certain issue.
If they try to ping everyones IP addresses then they would very quickly saturate the network and could even cause issues with their own transmissions of updates to the STBs on the network.
I think that would be quite a good idea. :tu:
Kate Bygrave
03-03-2007, 11:30
I think it's a good idea, but i doubt they would do it as it would expose the idequecies of the system. At the moment, they can just palm off other speed tests as inaccurate, but their own would be more difficult to refute.
Exorcist74
03-03-2007, 11:32
Paul, i thought that when you call CS they can put a trace on your line(cable) to see if there is a fault there, so they must be able to keep the record of the result, then if put into a database they can see if a pattern is emerging of a bad fault in a certain area...
but i still like the idea of a small plug-in for snapshot of our speed by VM own test center/website:tu:
Trouble with keeping records of tests like that is the sheer amount of space and computing power it will need to keep it running correctly. Test data is only relevant at the time the test is run, after that there is no better substitution for decent notes being made on peoples records to show issues found, causes and resolutions. If a company keeps proper relevant info on file where it can be readily accessed when needed then a database of test results becomes un-necessary.
Haggis36
03-03-2007, 11:50
"Seeing is believing" - although whether they act on the results is another matter!
Trouble with keeping records of tests like that is the sheer amount of space and computing power it will need to keep it running correctly.
It's already done ;)
Exorcist74
04-03-2007, 12:31
It's already done ;)
SO what is causing this erratic fluctuation on the internet side of there systems, and its mind boggling that there going to bring 20/50mb or whatever on-line when they know they cant maintain the 2/4/8/10mb connection they have now :disturbd:.
brundles
04-03-2007, 12:50
It's a good idea, but aren't speed test results also affected by factors this side of the cable modem? I mean, suppose another computer connected to my router happens to have a burst of activity during the speed test. Wouldn't this result in an artificially slow result?
Very good point. Routers with QoS for example often work by limiting the bandwidth to pre-defined limits to allow for bursts of bandwidth to priority nodes/applications. (The DD-WRT firmware is an example of this.)
Not to mention some VOIP friendly routers that work by permanently ring-fencing a portion of the bandwidth and never letting the rest of the network use it.
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