View Full Version : 50M Pitifully slow newsgroup speeds during the evening
Retrovertigo
19-01-2012, 08:31
Had this issue for months now, where when shaping/management comes in, newsgroups downloads slow to around 200K
I went on the VM forums to see many people complaining of the same thing. A message was posted by one of the tech guys saying they had identified a problem and were working on a fix - which is supposedly now in place.
But that fix hasn't helped me at all. As soon as it hits (4pm is it?) bam - down to 200k. I was told by someone that 25% of bandwidth during that time is allocated to newsgroups/peer to peer. But to drop to 200k? Nah
That plus, with the students around here in Manchester all being home during the summer and Christmas (Christmas especially was like a ghost town here) I saw no improvement in speeds whatsoever.
On a normal evening when students are here, speed tests show around 10-15 meg (bad enough as it is for the money 50meg costs) but over Christmas, speeds were fine because the majority of homes here were empty. But that slow 200k remained - even after midnight.
Come the daytime - anytime after 7am (the earliest I ever try) and speeds are back up to normal and I get get appx 6Mb/s download.
I have just spoken to VM tech support on the phone again, and they just said there is high utilisation in my area. But as I say, when there is no one around here using the net during holidays, why am I still seeing such poor performance :/
Thanks for any help
Perhaps 25% of the pipe isn't a lot to spread round to all the students especially if you're in the main student areas of Rusholme, Withington, fallowfield..etc.. where there are a lot of users in each house so tend to have 50/100Mb with multiple people downloading.
It doesn't mean you'll get 12.5Mb but as you've already specified your area is over subscribed and as the over subscription will mainly be NNTP/P2P traffic it means that you'll all end up with minimal speed.
Programs like newsbin (and others) have schedulers built into them these days.. set your downloads to start at 2am..
General Maximus
19-01-2012, 08:56
I don't believe anything they told you dude. Where I live the utilisation is very very low and I have never had a problom achieving top speed. When you hit "peak time" and they do the traffic shaping it is supposed to flag p2p traffic as low priority meaning that if the bandwidth isn't being used, then it is all yours.
I am sure they put an actual cap on it for a max speed though because in the year and a bit I was only 50mbit I had exactly the same problem as you (pretty much 200k exactly) with newsgroups and torrents and it is too exact to be a coincidence. If it was low priority traffic you would expect your speed to fluctuate depending on utilisation and there would be times when it should go over 1mb/sec.
Retrovertigo
19-01-2012, 09:07
Perhaps 25% of the pipe isn't a lot to spread round to all the students especially if you're in the main student areas of Rusholme, Withington, fallowfield..etc.. where there are a lot of users in each house so tend to have 50/100Mb with multiple people downloading.
It doesn't mean you'll get 12.5Mb but as you've already specified your area is over subscribed and as the over subscription will mainly be NNTP/P2P traffic it means that you'll all end up with minimal speed.
Programs like newsbin (and others) have schedulers built into them these days.. set your downloads to start at 2am..
Yeah but as I stated, during Christmas I reckon 60-70% of the properties here were empty. My uncle is a landlord and has loads of flats here - every single one was empty, but I still only saw 200k. The utilisation during the holiday periods drops dramatically, and while I see regular net speeds increase during that period, the slow newsgroup speeds remain.
I know I can schedule downloads for the night time. But I'm not leaving my P.C switched on all night wasting money :/ There is clearly a problem - tech support on the VM forums even admitted I have an issue. But beyond that, no one can say what it is.
Totally agree General Maximus. The figure of 200k was happening for a lot of people with no fluctuation in it, which you would expect to change during the capped times and during holidays. But that 200k remains with no hint of increasing. Incredibly annoying.
keepitretro
19-01-2012, 11:07
Seems to be down to what provider, and what port you are using.
But for a while i did notice them throttling port 443 but it appears to have stopped now.
Some of the non ssl ports seem to be unaffected also.
Had this issue for months now, where when shaping/management comes in, newsgroups downloads slow to around 200K
I went on the VM forums to see many people complaining of the same thing. A message was posted by one of the tech guys saying they had identified a problem and were working on a fix - which is supposedly now in place.
But that fix hasn't helped me at all. As soon as it hits (4pm is it?) bam - down to 200k. I was told by someone that 25% of bandwidth during that time is allocated to newsgroups/peer to peer. But to drop to 200k? Nah
That plus, with the students around here in Manchester all being home during the summer and Christmas (Christmas especially was like a ghost town here) I saw no improvement in speeds whatsoever.
On a normal evening when students are here, speed tests show around 10-15 meg (bad enough as it is for the money 50meg costs) but over Christmas, speeds were fine because the majority of homes here were empty. But that slow 200k remained - even after midnight.
Come the daytime - anytime after 7am (the earliest I ever try) and speeds are back up to normal and I get get appx 6Mb/s download.
I have just spoken to VM tech support on the phone again, and they just said there is high utilisation in my area. But as I say, when there is no one around here using the net during holidays, why am I still seeing such poor performance :/
Thanks for any help
I am in Didsbury and my entire service in this last few weeks has become useless almost, if it gets any worse i will be tethering off my iphone, cancelling and ordering ADSL. I have the 50mb package and i also subscribe to giganews for decent retention and ssl which had kept the speeds hones during peak times up until recently.
The best speeds i have managed in the last 7 days have barely peaked at 1 Mbps :mad:
Retrovertigo
20-01-2012, 21:10
The best part of this farce, is tech support saying there is very high utilisation in the area, but mail shots being posted through the door twice this week trying to get customers to sign up. VM sticking two fingers up to people in the area.
Had this issue for months now, where when shaping/management comes in, newsgroups downloads slow to around 200K Thanks for any help
How much news do you really need in one day anyway? Just browse the Guardian website, that's pretty good.
The 15MBit is pretty slow and you definitely want to complain about that, but coming on here complaining you can't get a good speed on illegal downloads is really taking the ____. Pay for your films/games/software and then complain to VM about slow speeds on your legitimate usage.
narco220
21-01-2012, 00:47
How much news do you really need in one day anyway? Just browse the Guardian website, that's pretty good.
The 15MBit is pretty slow and you definitely want to complain about that, but coming on here complaining you can't get a good speed on illegal downloads is really taking the ____. Pay for your films/games/software and then complain to VM about slow speeds on your legitimate usage.
What other way do we truely know we are getting what we pay for (50mb)?
Newsgroups use to be the only way to max out your connection and to see if we really can hit the download speedS they tell us we are paying for!
so called online speed tests are bull all giving different readings!
Now with this traffic management going on 24/7 I'm lucky if i can hit 10mb so why bother paying for 50mb?
General Maximus
21-01-2012, 08:50
Now with this traffic management going on 24/7 I'm lucky if i can hit 10mb so why bother paying for 50mb?
traffic management and/or shaping isn't 24/7
Chrysalis
21-01-2012, 14:29
are you guys downloading from european servers?
for a few days now (maybe since that major outage) I have been seeing packet loss on many eu servers and am having to reroute all my traffic over a uk proxy I own to bypass it all. All the other isp's are blaming VM saying a de-cix link is down for ntl which I am going to pester VM about on monday.
narco220
21-01-2012, 16:36
traffic management and/or shaping isn't 24/7
Yes it is for newsgroups.
After you have downloaded around 5gb per month from usenet virgin throttle your connection with your usenet provider so you will never get over 10mbps even at off peak times and less than half that during peak hours, (Thats on a 50Mb service not sure about others)
Yes it is for newsgroups.
After you have downloaded around 5gb per month from usenet virgin throttle your connection with your usenet provider so you will never get over 10mbps even at off peak times and less than half that during peak hours, (Thats on a 50Mb service not sure about others)
Who exactly told you that?
narco220
21-01-2012, 18:46
Who exactly told you that?
Its the conclusion I've reached with my serivice after trying 3 different newsgroup providers,
And also being told by 2 of them that there aware of virgin throttling there servers.
greeninferno
21-01-2012, 18:57
Its the conclusion I've reached after doing my Own testing with 3 different newsgroup providers,
And also being told by 2 of them that there aware of virgin throttling there servers.
that is nonsense mate.
bam - down to 200k.
I often see sub-30k speeds just downloading headers from VM's newsgroups... and even that is stop/start.
I just have to find a time of day when newsgroup use drops, then I get the full 50M I pay for.
Unlimited? My a55...
General Maximus
21-01-2012, 20:02
lol, i love that emoticon, it is ace
---------- Post added at 20:02 ---------- Previous post was at 19:59 ----------
After you have downloaded around 5gb per month from usenet virgin throttle your connection with your usenet provider so you will never get over 10mbps even at off peak times and less than half that during peak hours, (Thats on a 50Mb service not sure about others)
that is a load of twoddle dude because I use newsgroups once a week and download about 100gb in one go. I do it in the morning when shaping isn't in effect, I get my max speed and I have never had any probs with VM moaning at me or anything.
narco220
21-01-2012, 20:13
lol, i love that emoticon, it is ace
---------- Post added at 20:02 ---------- Previous post was at 19:59 ----------
that is a load of twoddle dude because I use newsgroups once a week and download about 100gb in one go. I do it in the morning when shaping isn't in effect, I get my max speed and I have never had any probs with VM moaning at me or anything.
I admit my theory is questionable but seems to be what im experiencing :(
can i ask What usenet provider (NNTP) your using?
General Maximus
21-01-2012, 20:22
sure, despite my previous comment I don't consider myself as a frequent or heavy newsgroup user so I have always been quite happy using the VM server
that is nonsense mate.
i get good speed from Giganews and the amount i can download is never throttled or limited. I always use ssl and have used VPN's before now. I have had 2 terabyte in a month once and never get below 98meg download speed at anytime of the day if i download a file.
but coming on here complaining you can't get a good speed on illegal downloads is really taking the ____. Pay for your films/games/software and then complain to VM about slow speeds on your legitimate usage.
Really ?
Do tell us, on what evidence exactly do you base this accusation ? Do you know this person, and exactly what they download ?
Yes it is for newsgroups.
After you have downloaded around 5gb per month from usenet virgin throttle your connection with your usenet provider so you will never get over 10mbps even at off peak times and less than half that during peak hours, (Thats on a 50Mb service not sure about others)I seem to be getting the same treatment as you!:(are you guys downloading from european servers?.Yes, usually, but VM seem to be targeting US servers too.
that is nonsense mate.No, its not.
At this time of night I should be getting full speed from Astraweb, I'm getting practically nothing. Is Astraweb the problem? No, it's not! My neighbour, at least about an hour ago, was downloading full speed from Astraweb. They use BT....
So perhaps VM is congested in my area? Nope, not that either. I went to Microsoft's US web site and downloaded several things at full speed.
So, I tried some of my backup usenet providers, I have one or two....Downloading great speeds from them, in fact full speed from Block News.
So, VM is targeting at least one usenet provider, Astraweb.
Nonsense, it ain't!
keepitretro
22-01-2012, 06:32
Well it's 06:15 and th 6 items i downloaded are all missing 100's of blocks and never got speeds above 500k, tried all different ports and servers same issue.
But speedtest.net gets me 105mb so what's going on there????
---------- Post added at 06:32 ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 ----------
Hmmm just downloaded an item at full speed on astraweb that had just been posted MAXED OUT, then downloaded a item that was 200 days old 500k.
What the ????
alferret
22-01-2012, 08:06
So, VM is targeting at least one usenet provider, Astraweb.
Nonsense, it ain't!
VM do not single out Astraweb. I have been a long time user of usenet and various providers & have for the last 4 years been on Astraweb & I see no evidence of this, would like to see your proof that VM are activley targeting Astraweb. Its nice to blame VM as a catch all for every little issue someone has, its easier than looking a bit closer to home & your system which no matter how great one thinks it is could quite well be the root of the issue.
I have had what were at the time unexplained issues with speed but through the process of elimination have found out what the issues were & rectified.
If using SSL try port 563 instead of 443. Also try disabling your AV as some programs can have a detrimental effect on your DL speed (shouldnt but can)
Even when using an AV that was having no effect, when the said programs have had an update issues have started. AVAST, Kaspersky & AVG free have all had problems on my 3 systems.
Really ?
Do tell us, on what evidence exactly do you base this accusation ? Do you know this person, and exactly what they download ?
:rofl:
General Maximus
22-01-2012, 18:18
interestingly, I am downloading a file from torrents now and it is downloading at just over 1mb/sec and I am uploading at 700k (something else). I don't know whether VM have done something for 100mbit users or changed something as a result of the capacity upgrades they are doing but considering they are supposed to shape p2p traffic in weekend evenings I am well chuffed with the speed I am getting.
greeninferno
22-01-2012, 18:27
I seem to be getting the same treatment as you!:(Yes, usually, but VM seem to be targeting US servers too.
No, its not.
At this time of night I should be getting full speed from Astraweb, I'm getting practically nothing. Is Astraweb the problem? No, it's not! My neighbour, at least about an hour ago, was downloading full speed from Astraweb. They use BT....
So perhaps VM is congested in my area? Nope, not that either. I went to Microsoft's US web site and downloaded several things at full speed.
So, I tried some of my backup usenet providers, I have one or two....Downloading great speeds from them, in fact full speed from Block News.
So, VM is targeting at least one usenet provider, Astraweb.
Nonsense, it ain't!
just out of interest, is this on files of ANY age i.e. recent uploads and older etc. via Astraweb as they had discs fall over a few months back and there appears to be a "hole" where those files should be.
...New, old, it matters not. The problem is not Astraweb.
greeninferno
22-01-2012, 21:44
...New, old, it matters not. The problem is not Astraweb.
there way well be routing issue then between yourself and Astraweb but its not a blanket restriction as you think.
I get [Mod Edit - do not use words that invoke the site swear filter] speeds during the evening as well and I didn't before... some of the files are downloaded incomplete but I don't have this problem when I download early mornings...
I get [Mod Edit - do not use words that invoke the site swear filter] speeds during the evening as well and I didn't before... some of the files are downloaded incomplete but I don't have this problem when I download early mornings...
I noticed my US bit rate drops to the following
pstream Channels
Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Max Raw Bit Rate Frequency Power
Locked ATDMA 1 10240 Kbits/sec 35800000 Hz 37.5 dBmV
And in the mornings it's 20480
Currently I am getting 2mbps speeds even on http downloads
General Maximus
23-01-2012, 21:22
i did some more downloading this evening which i wouldnt normally have done and was surprised to get just over 4mb from torrents which I thought was amazing. Gives me some renewed confidence in VM making the traffic low priority; it must have been quiet enough that there was enough juice left for me to use.
Things seem to have improved for me too. Lets hope it was just a blip.
narco220
23-01-2012, 23:10
Things seem to have improved for me too. Lets hope it was just a blip.
Same here!
I'm not really a heavy downloader but I made the exception to download From
(usenet) a bit more in the early hours this past 2 nights and was able to max out my connection at speeds upto 5.6MB.
So somthing has changed, anyway so far so good :)
I noticed my US bit rate drops to the following
pstream Channels
Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Max Raw Bit Rate Frequency Power
Locked ATDMA 1 10240 Kbits/sec 35800000 Hz 37.5 dBmV
And in the mornings it's 20480
Currently I am getting 2mbps speeds even on http downloads
Max raw bit has increased as expected... Downloads were still bad late last night
Upstream Channels
Lock Status Modulation Channel ID Max Raw Bit Rate Frequency Power
Locked ATDMA 1 20480 Kbits/sec 35800000 Hz 37.0 dBmV
Retrovertigo
24-01-2012, 08:29
Hmm. will try mine later today. I can't imagine it being improved at it has been this way for ages. I haven't had cause to use them since I first started this thread so I'll see how I go. I won't hold my breath though.
Not on 50mb (yet) but astraweb gives me 10Mb (full speed) 24/7/365 on both the eu or us servers using only 8 connections (I'm not subject to STM but I would be subject to p2p/nntp shaping)
Currently using port 443 with SSL.
Must admit that even though I am not STM'd I still do all my downloading (normally less than 4gb) between 7am and 10am)
greeninferno
24-01-2012, 11:46
ther is also a traceroute tool on their website that may show up where any routing issue is located.
Not on 50mb (yet) but astraweb gives me 10Mb (full speed) 24/7/365 on both the eu or us servers using only 8 connections (I'm not subject to STM but I would be subject to p2p/nntp shaping)
Currently using port 443 with SSL.
Must admit that even though I am not STM'd I still do all my downloading (normally less than 4gb) between 7am and 10am)
Really Kymmy? Please do share with us what it is that you are downloading that occasionally exceeds 4GB in 3 hours. You wouldn't happen to be breaking the law and publicly posting about it would you? You're either being very stupid or else you're building up one heck of a Linux distro collection. ;)
General Maximus
25-01-2012, 22:46
Please do share with us what it is that you are downloading that occasionally exceeds 4GB in 3 hours
who cares, she can download whatever she wants when she wants
Retrovertigo
26-01-2012, 08:50
Tried downloading something random last night to see if my situation had improved, but it hasn't at all.
Still no joy speaking to tech support about it.
Really Kymmy? Please do share with us what it is that you are downloading that occasionally exceeds 4GB in 3 hours. You wouldn't happen to be breaking the law and publicly posting about it would you? You're either being very stupid or else you're building up one heck of a Linux distro collection. ;)
What do most (not all) people use their newsgroups for.. probably US/UK tv shows, dvd screeners and the odd game or two..
Do you not have a life instead you have to try to hound all usenet users whether they are downloading or not?
Sad.... very sad...
Really Kymmy? Please do share with us what it is that you are downloading that occasionally exceeds 4GB in 3 hours. You wouldn't happen to be breaking the law and publicly posting about it would you? You're either being very stupid or else you're building up one heck of a Linux distro collection. ;)Well, I have exceeded this with Steam/Origin for BF & MW (and others), and MS for Win7 and Office 2010.
Well, I have exceeded this with Steam/Origin for BF & MW (and others), and MS for Win7 and Office 2010.
Same here, also when downloading Lion from the Mac App store. Even demos on my xbox and PS3 as the last demo I downloaded was 1.9Gb and I had a queue built up with another for 1.3Gb and 600Mb. It all adds up. Glad I am on 50Mb :)
What do most (not all) people use their newsgroups for.. probably US/UK tv shows, dvd screeners and the odd game or two..
Do you not have a life instead you have to try to hound all usenet users whether they are downloading or not?
Sad.... very sad...
What you are doing is illegal, and you are posting about it in a public forum. If anyone else was posting in a public forum about breaking the law I would also pull them up on it.
---------- Post added at 19:48 ---------- Previous post was at 19:46 ----------
who cares, she can download whatever she wants when she wants
Not without breaking the law. Facts are facts GM whether you like them or not. I'm not having a go, I'm just saying people should know better than to publicly post on this forum, which I believe upholds a certain moral conduct, that they are breaking the law.
---------- Post added at 19:55 ---------- Previous post was at 19:48 ----------
Same here, also when downloading Lion from the Mac App store. Even demos on my xbox and PS3 as the last demo I downloaded was 1.9Gb and I had a queue built up with another for 1.3Gb and 600Mb. It all adds up. Glad I am on 50Mb :)
Stephen, we're talking about Usenet, not just downloading in general.
---------- Post added at 19:57 ---------- Previous post was at 19:55 ----------
Well, I have exceeded this with Steam/Origin for BF & MW (and others), and MS for Win7 and Office 2010.
Hugh, we are talking about downloading from Usenet not downloading in general.
This isn't personal, but can people please read the thread before posting? It will save mistaken posts.
There was talk about how much you can download in that time, so I posted how easy it is with a range of downloads.
There was talk about how much you can download in that time, so I posted how easy it is with a range of downloads.
Usenet downloads Stephen, we're talking about Usenet downloads, not Xbox downloads, not PS3 downloads, but Usenet downloads. Someone downloading off XBox Market Place is a completely different thing to someone who is a subscriber to Astraweb and who managed to exceed 4GB of data from Usenet in 3 hours.
General Maximus
28-01-2012, 21:31
it doesnt matter what downloads we are talking about. If you can download 4gb in 3 hours then you can download 4gb in 3 hours, it doesn't matter whether it is p2p, http traffic or streaming paid for movies. The thing you should be worried about if anything is the adverse affect that volume of traffic would have on the network segement regardless of source. 4gb is nothing, I can do that in a few mins. If you was talking about 1tb over a couple of hours and it impacted network performance you are not telling me that if it is usenet traffic you would moan but if it was xbox or anything else you would be okay with it. Traffic is traffic and that is why VM are altering the way the manage and throttle users so everyone is measured the same regardless of protocol
it doesnt matter what downloads we are talking about.
If you are talking about legality then yes it does GM. Whether you like it or not, downloading the things that Kymmy was talking about downloading is illegal. Clearly I was making a point about the legality of what these people are downloading, not the quantity that they are downloading, so yes, in this context, it does very much matter.
Retrovertigo
29-01-2012, 00:27
Do "these people" include me? I was the first person in this thread on the receiving end of your accusations, with no basis for your finger pointing whatsoever. But you decided to go ahead anyway, and I reported both your posts where you implied I was acting illegally.
You had no right whatsoever to accuse me of doing anything illegal - and then when asked how you'd know what I was downloading, decided to just laugh at the mods comment. Yet again implying I use them for illegal means.
The first time you suggested I was downloading illegal material I was actually going to mention what I'd been trying to grab from the newsgroups, but then I saw your pathetic little laughing icon in response to one of the mods and realised I owed you no explanation whatsoever.
You said that swearing said more about Kymmy than it does about you. I'd suggest your own belief that usenet is for piracy and nothing else says more about you than it does about anyone in this thread.
What a shame people couldn't discuss a legimate problem with their Virgin service without you coming in here adding nothing at all to the issue other than throw around baseless accusations.
I started this thread and for my money the mods can either lock it or delete it seeing as you steered it so wildly off-topic.
Do not discuss rep in public, it's against the forum rules.
Usenet downloads Stephen, we're talking about Usenet downloads, not Xbox downloads, not PS3 downloads, but Usenet downloads. Someone downloading off XBox Market Place is a completely different thing to someone who is a subscriber to Astraweb and who managed to exceed 4GB of data from Usenet in 3 hours.
Whatever the method used for downloading it's just showing that you can easily go over the allowances legally or illegally.
I was actually going to mention what I'd been trying to grab from the newsgroups
OK, I'll bite, I don't know maybe you are the only person in the world that pays for a service they don't need because legitimate material can be downloaded elsewhere.
So, please do share, what legitimate downloads are you doing from Astraweb that you to pay for so that you can download several gigabytes of this data every few hours?
---------- Post added at 00:44 ---------- Previous post was at 00:40 ----------
Whatever the method used for downloading it's just showing that you can easily go over the allowances legally or illegally.
USENET Stephen, specifically USENET. My entire and whole point is specifically about illegal downloading of USENET, which you would see if you read this thread. I have never, ever, in this thread made a point about data allowance, only ever about illegal downloading from Usenet. Please read what I have just said, slowly and with enough concentration so that all the words register with your brain before you post again.
Retrovertigo
29-01-2012, 00:45
Read the whole post - I'm not explaining myself to you. I don't need to. You aren't a mod here and you know nothing about me. And as long as you keep implying I'm doing something illegal, then I'll keep reporting you.
Now go ahead and twist that around into your own warped version of what you "think" I'm doing.
I do hope that this forum lives up to the standards you expect and does something about your trolling and accusations.
Really, who do you think you are that I owe you any kind of explanation at all?
edit: and where in this thread did I say I download several gigs every few hours? I said that on the occasions I attamepted to get something off the newsgroups, that during the evening if I "try" to use them, they are pitifully slow.
OK, I'll bite, I don't know maybe you are the only person in the world that pays for a service they don't need because legitimate material can be downloaded elsewhere.
So, please do share, what legitimate downloads are you doing from Astraweb that you to pay for so that you can download several gigabytes of this data every few hours?
---------- Post added at 00:44 ---------- Previous post was at 00:40 ----------
USENET Stephen, specifically USENET. My entire and whole point is specifically about illegal downloading of USENET, which you would see if you read this thread. I have never, ever, in this thread made a point about data allowance, only ever about illegal downloading from Usenet. Please read what I have just said, slowly and with enough concentration so that all the words register with your brain before you post again.
It's not why the thread was started. Usenet, Xbox live and other download services are done using p2p as well and so can trigger the slow downloads. Also I have thread the full thread so maybe it's you that needs to engage your brain and stop accusing everyone of illegal downloading.
Read the whole post - I'm not explaining myself to you. I don't need to.
OK, so now I'm just intrigued. May I inquire as to what you are downloading off Astraweb if you don't mind me asking of course?
---------- Post added at 00:57 ---------- Previous post was at 00:53 ----------
It's not why the thread was started.
Had this issue for months now, where when shaping/management comes in, -->newsgroups<-- downloads slow to around 200K
:rofl:
Retrovertigo
29-01-2012, 01:01
Seriously, you need to stop. You really do. I'm not bowing down to whatever pressure you think you might be imposing on me to "prove my innocence" or however you see it. I'm sure the irony would be totally lost on you if I told you anyway. You are wearing blinkers so well fastened on that you'll think I'm lying, making it up, keeping some of it secret - whatever fits your agenda. Most of the time I end up not grabbing anything because I can only access them during the evening and the speed is useless (which was the whole point of me starting this thread)
I'll tell you that since I first started this thread I haven't downloaded a single thing. So whatever you think I may or may not be up to, it is far less frequent than you seem to imagine.
Please mods delete this thread? I'll resort to reading other people's problems on the matter instead.
edit: and again with the silly laughing icon. I am home after a certain time in the day usually, and for months the newsgroups have been useless. Does everything need to be typed out in exact detail because otherwise you start finger wagging. You really need to get a grip and stop reading between lines that aren't there.
Seriously, you need to stop. You really do. I'm not bowing down to whatever pressure you think you might be imposing on me to "prove my innocence" or however you see it.
Wow, I just said I was intrigued as to what you are downloading of Usenet, seriously that's all I meant, no hidden agenda or anything. If you don't want to say then that's fine. Chill out.
Retrovertigo
29-01-2012, 01:18
I've just voted my own thread as "terrible". I apologise for not knowing all the forum rules, but if it's allowed, can I please request this be locked or deleted? Thanks
I've just voted my own thread as "terrible". I apologise for not knowing all the forum rules, but if it's allowed, can I please request this be locked or deleted? Thanks
Your OP is not against forum rules and as Russ recently stated in another thread
The fact is we do not (and will not) permit the discussion of helping people to illegally download anything.
We're not the moral police and we're not making any comment about whether it should or should not be done by having this policy. However our stance is methods or advice about how it is done will not be discussed on here. There are plenty of other sites which will cater for that sort of thing.
No discussion has taken place providing links to copyrighted material nor has any discussion stated how to download such material as such no-one has broken site rules or civil rules regarding copyright in discussions within this thread.
Now lets all get back on topic please which is "Pitifully slow newsgroup speeds during the evening"
General Maximus
29-01-2012, 08:40
I'll get us back on topic:
I have been doing some thinking about it and I believe it is strictly a utilisation issue. My torrents and newsgroups speed were always 0 - 200k in the evenings when I was on 50mbit and now I am on 100mbit they can go anything up to 4mb/sec which I am well chuffed with. I wouldn't have thought it is anything special to do with me being on 100mbit, but more to do with the upgrade work they have done for 100mbit which has added the extra capacity so there is more free bandwidth around to be used. I dont do a lot of downloading in the evenings simply because of the congestion but at least what they have done has made it usable again now.
I still think it's people clogging up the system, even though students go home at holidays I do know a lot stay and it only takes one downloader in a property to max out the connection.. I lived in Rusholme for many a year (just off Kippax) and do know that a lot of students stay behind all year.
General Maximus
29-01-2012, 08:53
yeah, same when i went home during Easter and Summer, I couldn't believe the number of people who stayed behind.
Retrovertigo
29-01-2012, 09:20
@Kymmy
I get what you are saying. But honestly, where I live in Fallowfield (ladybarn to be precise) a lot of students vacate premises here. I do see poor regular net browsing etc of an evening when they are staying in the area. But it really does go back to 50 meg when they leave for holidays.
I've read here and on other forums, that even people living in areas where over subscription isn't an issue, that they get that same 200k speed. It seems you either get newsgroups that work as normal. Or you get this odd 200k figure. For me, it doesn't matter whether they are home or away, that 200k never wavers. And I mean never - it stays locked at that speed. I've sat and watched it for maybe 20 mins just to see, but it stays stuck on that speed. But whenever I get a chance to try in the daytime (during the week....weekends are bad all day it seems), it will work as normal. I can't recall what time the throttling comes in - but you can see it change from full speed to 200k almost to the minute of throttling coming in. Very odd.
VM did say there was a known issue at one point. It was on the official forums. They stated they had found a problem with usenet access and had fixed it. Some people said afterwards that it was fixed, but no luck in my area.
I have tried them once in a while of an evening for months and months now, but downloading even a 300meg file means a long wait so I just shut my P.C down as I'm not having it running for hours downloading tiny files.
It is incredibly frustrating to see Virgin offer no help. Seeing as they actually have news servers themselves, you'd think they would be able to offer some help. But I get fobbed off - simply being told that they should be working and I shouldn't be seeing such low speeds.
Is it just usenet or do you have the same issue with normal downloads at the same time?
Also with Astraweb how many connections are you using, which ports/servers/SSL??
---------- Post added at 09:46 ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 ----------
Also can you try on Astraweb dropping down to just 6 connections, set port 443 with SSL and make sure you're using the SSL EU server and not the normal one.. Then report back your speeds (constant/high/low)
Not wanting to teach someone how to suck eggs but have you checked your program for scheduled speed limits (I know that newsbin has that functionality)
;)
bigal2012
29-01-2012, 13:16
I have used your setting for Astraweb, no way am I getting any good speeds. Also how do I get more than 1 connection? I am using Forte Agent as my reader & get too many requests for a re connection.
Also how do I check for speeds?
---------- Post added at 13:16 ---------- Previous post was at 13:12 ----------
Sorry I forgot to ask, what is their EU SSL server? As I have just checked that I am using their ssl astraweb server.
My suggestion to try just 6 connections was purely to see what speed he was getting.. It in no way was a solution but a diagnostic tool.
As for speed/connections Forte Agent used to be designed more for text newsgroups and not binary, no idea if that has changed as it was 10+ years ago.. Try Newsbin, Grabit or another agent designed for binary only.
As for the server Astraweb have two SSL servers (one EU and one US) and two nonSSL servers (Eu and US)
bigal2012
29-01-2012, 15:16
Forte is brilliant, it is one of the best piece of software I currently use. For some strange reason Grabit does not download all my news servers newsgroups. I now use the EU server on ssl & it is a lot faster. But still I would like to know the download speed.
as I said I've not used Forte for 10+ years, instead I discovered Newsbin back in 2000 and have never looked back. With newsbin it give you your speed readout on the status bar..
Only advice I can give is RtM (Read the Manual :) )
Retrovertigo
30-01-2012, 00:41
Is it just usenet or do you have the same issue with normal downloads at the same time?
Also with Astraweb how many connections are you using, which ports/servers/SSL??
---------- Post added at 09:46 ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 ----------
Also can you try on Astraweb dropping down to just 6 connections, set port 443 with SSL and make sure you're using the SSL EU server and not the normal one.. Then report back your speeds (constant/high/low)
Not wanting to teach someone how to suck eggs but have you checked your program for scheduled speed limits (I know that newsbin has that functionality)
;)
No scheduled speed limits in use :)
I have tried some normal downloading of an evening (things like demos off Xbox Live) and there is a dramatic difference than during the daytime - but not anywhere near as low as 200k. I'd say a 1 gig demo takes about an hour to download in the evening. Which is pretty bad.
I know that doing speed tests in an evening results in a speed of usually around 10meg. I've been having an argument of sorts for a while now with VM, as for quite some time they gave me a small discount because speeds were generally poor of an evening. But they have since said there are no contention issues in my area and so have started charging me full price again. But one excuse for poor newsgroup performance was high contention :)
I was in touch with a guy via email who had been brilliant. But since they started charging me full price he has started ignoring my emails when I have tried contacting him :/
I'll try that extra setting stuff tomorrow as its a bit late here now and I need to be up early :)
bigal2012
30-01-2012, 09:08
Thanks,
I will look at Newsbin.
I went through Forte Agent's manaul, nothing about download speed.
Kymmy, I'm glad that you took the time to delete you swearing at me from your post, at least it shows you thought twice about your actions. I'm guessing you were mad at something on Saturday night and took it out on me. An apology would be nice though, but I'll settle for a retraction.
I do have to point out that if you are downloading UK/US TV shows from Usenet you are breaking the law, maybe people aren't aware of this, and maybe you yourself are not aware of this, but it is unfortunately a fact, and I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people to comment on it, especially since you are posting it on a public forum.
All I was saying to the OP is that it would be best to prove a slow download speed downloading legitimate content. I still think that is sound advice.
General Maximus
31-01-2012, 20:48
Kymmy, I'm glad that you took the time to delete you swearing at me from your post, at least it shows you thought twice about your actions. I'm guessing you were mad at something on Saturday night and took it out on me. An apology would be nice though, but I'll settle for a retraction.
I do have to point out that if you are downloading UK/US TV shows from Usenet you are breaking the law, maybe people aren't aware of this, and maybe you yourself are not aware of this, but it is unfortunately a fact, and I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people to comment on it, especially since you are posting it on a public forum.
All I was saying to the OP is that it would be best to prove a slow download speed downloading legitimate content. I still think that is sound advice.
Dude you are just making things worse by going on and on about it. I can't be arsed to check but I would have thought that downloading publicly available content isnt breaking the law. E.g if I download an episode of the x factor from a site it is no different than watching it on terrestrial tv, Sky, catch up on Virgin, downloading it through Sky to my pc or watching it on itv player. I pay for all those services and thus the tv series so as long as I get to watch it somehow it doesnt make any difference. Same can be said for US series like Greys Anatomy. I know of several sites that share tv eps and they are 110% anal about what they allow to share and what they don't to make sure they stay within the law and only let you download what you would watch on tv anyway.
greeninferno
31-01-2012, 21:09
Kymmy, I'm glad that you took the time to delete you swearing at me from your post, at least it shows you thought twice about your actions. I'm guessing you were mad at something on Saturday night and took it out on me. An apology would be nice though, but I'll settle for a retraction.
I do have to point out that if you are downloading UK/US TV shows from Usenet you are breaking the law, maybe people aren't aware of this, and maybe you yourself are not aware of this, but it is unfortunately a fact, and I don't think it is unreasonable to expect people to comment on it, especially since you are posting it on a public forum.
All I was saying to the OP is that it would be best to prove a slow download speed downloading legitimate content. I still think that is sound advice.
one of the most wretchedly sanctimonious things i've ever read anywhere
have a word with yourself.
qasdfdsaq
31-01-2012, 22:12
Kymmy swore?
Women don't swear on the internets. It's un-lady-like
Kymmy, I'm glad that you took the time to delete you swearing at me from your post, at least it shows you thought twice about your actions. I'm guessing you were mad at something on Saturday night and took it out on me. An apology would be nice though, but I'll settle for a retraction.
Kymmy didnt remove it, I did. I strongly suggest you stick to the topic at hand and not staff decisions, assuming you do not wish to take any further enforced rests from posting.
General Maximus
01-02-2012, 09:19
assuming you do not wish to take any further enforced rests from posting.
oooooooo, the whip is coming out :p:
Retrovertigo
03-02-2012, 00:51
But I'm digressing here. I hope that this thread lays to rest once and for all that copying live broadcasts from a linear channel whether it be Freeview, VM cable or SKY is NOT illegal. There is NO legal time limit on how long you can keep these copies for and this INCLUDES HD broadcasts. And archiving it to another device is at worst a grey area.
The above was posted by Caph on these very forums. I find it hilarious that he thinks it's at worst a grey area when he wants to archive stuff he has paid for by his own convoluted means. But anyone who for whatever reason - after paying for the content on Sky, Virgin etc - needs to grab an episode from the newsgroups to watch is hounded day in and day out and pretty much branded a criminal.
General Maximus
03-02-2012, 08:37
But I'm digressing here. I hope that this thread lays to rest once and for all that copying live broadcasts from a linear channel whether it be Freeview, VM cable or SKY is NOT illegal. There is NO legal time limit on how long you can keep these copies for and this INCLUDES HD broadcasts. And archiving it to another device is at worst a grey area.
The above was posted by Caph on these very forums. I find it hilarious that he thinks it's at worst a grey area when he wants to archive stuff he has paid for by his own convoluted means. But anyone who for whatever reason - after paying for the content on Sky, Virgin etc - needs to grab an episode from the newsgroups to watch is hounded day in and day out and pretty much branded a criminal.
well said, and that is my point exactly
Here's a 4gb game download for the OP to try.. recently done and should give him full speed. Will be interesting if he restricts himself to 6 connections and also plots the thinkbroadband graph for the download period..
Links on this page http://renxgame.com/ please use the USENET NZB
Retrovertigo
03-02-2012, 11:18
Here's a 4gb game download for the OP to try.. recently done and should give him full speed. Will be interesting if he restricts himself to 6 connections and also plots the thinkbroadband graph for the download period..
Links on this page http://renxgame.com/ please use the USENET NZB
I'll get on that this evening and see how I go. I'll grab a screen shot as well. Thanks :)
Retrovertigo
03-02-2012, 20:57
For the life of me I can't get that thinkbroadband graph to plot a single thing? Tried and tried with no luck.
I ran a speed test for the heck of it.....giggle at the results of my XXL 50meg service which they claim they will be doubling. So I should see about 10meg by by the end of the year!!
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/132830213699359712246.png
Here is a screenshot of my attempt at downloading that file just now. I left it for around ten minutes or more and you can clearly see the average speed.
I can guarantee that if I try it first thing in the morning it will download a full speed http://www.flickr.com/photos/50576603@N00/6813597001/
Thinkbroadband needs the ping response turned on, that should be in your router config..
Have you tried modem mode on the superhub aand just plug your PC directly into it then doing the speed tests?
Retrovertigo
03-02-2012, 21:08
I don't have a superhub. I have the black modem that was installed when 50meg wasn't long out.
But yeah, I've tried direct into the modem etc. As I say, anytime outside this throttling time band, and newsgroup speeds will be fine.
edit: will need to read up on how to enable ping response on this router. It's a d-link with DD-WRT firmware on it (my last router, a Netgear, had the same bad speeds though)
How many connections are you using? You didn;t say if you dropped it down or not..
I think though that this might be a case of using newsgroups at off-peak times, you do live in a problematic area, VM do actively traffic shape nntp/p2p and you do have good speeds at off-peak times..
Sorry if I can't be of more help.....
..Anyone know if perhaps VM are turning up the traffic shaping in certain problematic areas to non-standard levels?? (not looking at paranoid theories but asking the VM tech (not phone jockeys) guys if they've heard of anything like this before)
Retrovertigo
03-02-2012, 21:29
I used 6 connections whereas usually I use 20. Doesn't make any difference though.
To be honest I've been starting to think the same thing. That because of the below 5meg speed, Virgin are crippling peer to peer etc to absolutely unusable levels. I think stuff like Xbox live is also slowed down in some way as well, as demo downloads take an age. Much slower than a 5 meg speed would normally allow.
Still getting flyers through the door looking for new customers as well - which makes my blood boil.
I asked you to drop it down as sometimes a restricted upload can be swamped by 20 connections and can severely effect download. 6 connections should give you at very least 15Mb download (EU servers on a recent post).. If you're getting no difference then the upload isn't the cause.
In other words was just trying to discount a few things..
Chrysalis
03-02-2012, 21:36
Its worth mentioning here that the level of throttling on file sharing is area dependent, over subbed areas are likely to be more extreme than light areas.
Its worth mentioning here that the level of throttling on file sharing is area dependent, over subbed areas are likely to be more extreme than light areas.
You're the first to mention that :clap: and it at very least gives a reason as to why the problem seems to be local to the OP
greeninferno
03-02-2012, 21:52
I used 6 connections whereas usually I use 20. Doesn't make any difference though.
To be honest I've been starting to think the same thing. That because of the below 5meg speed, Virgin are crippling peer to peer etc to absolutely unusable levels. I think stuff like Xbox live is also slowed down in some way as well, as demo downloads take an age. Much slower than a 5 meg speed would normally allow.
Still getting flyers through the door looking for new customers as well - which makes my blood boil.
have you tried the ssl server on a different port, 443 for example?
this will get round the punitive protocol shaping until you hit the 3GB? downlosd threshold.
southwell
04-02-2012, 10:40
I changed to 443 a while back when my speed started fluctuating badly. It has been maxing out ever since.
Retrovertigo
04-02-2012, 13:15
I'll test out the ports later. If Virgin really are making stuff like this totally unusable then I'm going to hound them for a discount or I'll look to B.T infinity.
I'm not paying the same money for a service purposely reduced compared to what others get for the same cash.
I'll test out the ports later. If Virgin really are making stuff like this totally unusable then I'm going to hound them for a discount or I'll look to B.T infinity.
I'm not paying the same money for a service purposely reduced compared to what others get for the same cash.
Yet ADSL with it's capability dependant on distance from the exchange has been doing that for years..
qasdfdsaq
04-02-2012, 15:49
Infinity isn't ADSL, and provides the same proportion of provisioned speeds as VM's 50mbit.
Never said it was, just pointing out that it wasn't anything new in relation to speed variation ;)
qasdfdsaq
04-02-2012, 16:39
True when it comes to ADSL, but he wants to switch to Infinity, which currently performs a lot better and a lot less variably than VM.
Infinity, being the first "true" competitor to VM's 50mbps and being the first widely available FTTx has thus far lived without the variability of VM or ADSL, and I'm obviously hoping it stays that way just to give VM a kick up the behind.
General Maximus
04-02-2012, 17:47
me too, they need some proper competition to keep them in shape and change their attitude and behaviour.
Not even got ADSL2 here so not much chance of Infinity anytime soon :D Mind you VM seems to be good in this area..
qasdfdsaq
05-02-2012, 03:29
Yeah, that's the one thing putting me off from moving home - which I've been planning half a year now. My top priority in a home is probably broadband (sad eh?) and I'm already in the best place for broadband with VM Cable, Infinity, 900m from exchange with ADSL2+ and a half dozen LLU providers, way above average 3G and JANET. Only thing missing is FTTP but I hear that's coming this year...
Hence the only reason I can tolerate terrible VM performance week after week is the fact that I don't have to put up with it :)
Retrovertigo
05-02-2012, 09:26
I've actually been speaking to an engineer who frequents a games forum I visit. He is a B.T engineer in Manchester and has been installing Infinity for a while now.
He is actually someone I "know" and has been giving me information on Infinity in my area.
I actually live really close to an exchange and the B.T infinity street box is literally on the street next door to my flat so I shouldn't have any issues really. I should certainly see a more consistent speed than I'm getting with VM.
Basically B.T have got far less broadband customers here because of the fact all the students flock to Virgin with supposed promises of super fast speeds - which I truly believe Virgin are mis selling as they know that the "up to 50 meg" is stretched far beyond what people should reasonably expect.
I tried the port trick posted above and low and behold speed "shot up" on newsgroups. I say "shot up" because it went up to around 6 meg. That 6meg being what speed tests showed my speed to be last night.
I think most reasonable people would agree that 6 meg falls way short of what "up to 50 meg" should be. Thanks
A dumb question - 6MB/s, or 6 Mb/s?
A dumb question - 6MB/s, or 6 Mb/s?
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/35374994-post83.html
Chrysalis
05-02-2012, 13:26
I've actually been speaking to an engineer who frequents a games forum I visit. He is a B.T engineer in Manchester and has been installing Infinity for a while now.
He is actually someone I "know" and has been giving me information on Infinity in my area.
I actually live really close to an exchange and the B.T infinity street box is literally on the street next door to my flat so I shouldn't have any issues really. I should certainly see a more consistent speed than I'm getting with VM.
Basically B.T have got far less broadband customers here because of the fact all the students flock to Virgin with supposed promises of super fast speeds - which I truly believe Virgin are mis selling as they know that the "up to 50 meg" is stretched far beyond what people should reasonably expect.
I tried the port trick posted above and low and behold speed "shot up" on newsgroups. I say "shot up" because it went up to around 6 meg. That 6meg being what speed tests showed my speed to be last night.
I think most reasonable people would agree that 6 meg falls way short of what "up to 50 meg" should be. Thanks
Round here just about every property in student areas has VM pre fitted. So its just a case of tenants activating over the phone, whilst if they were to go with BT they would likely get landlord objection and extra waits as well as costs for installation, not to mention I dont think BT do student freindly contracts (max 9 months).
The sad thing is VM will be well aware what the service is like in oversubbed student areas but they still keep signging them up every year.
qasdfdsaq
05-02-2012, 14:52
I guess that's just area demographics then. Round here my area's eased up a bit since Infinity became available - surprise surprise - particularly since most buildings are hundreds of years old and have had BT lines installed since long before VM was even a pipe dream.
---------- Post added at 14:52 ---------- Previous post was at 14:37 ----------
I should add - if you're a heavy newsgroups user, you're probably better off on BT Infinity anyway.
According to this page (http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10495/c/346/?s_cid=con_FURL_broadbandusagepolicy), BT don't traffic shape or throttle newsgroups at all, only P2P.
In addition, it seems (not sure if this is new or not) that the unlimited option 2 is in fact, completely unlimited.
Arthur Hucksake
05-02-2012, 15:52
Yeah, it is completely unlimited. They scrapped the fair usage policy and expect people to hammer their line for the first few months whilst the novelty is there and then usage will ease off.
qasdfdsaq
05-02-2012, 16:48
Heh, won't work on me, I'm moving over from 50mb cable so there won't be any novelty. Except maybe the novelty of a connection that works as it should... and the 10mbps upload, I'm on a crippled 1.5mbs ATM.
Will be interesting to see the difference in performance during the few weeks or so I have both connections up.
Arthur Hucksake
05-02-2012, 18:58
Heh, won't work on me, I'm moving over from 50mb cable so there won't be any novelty. Except maybe the novelty of a connection that works as it should... and the 10mbps upload, I'm on a crippled 1.5mbs ATM.
Will be interesting to see the difference in performance during the few weeks or so I have both connections up.
I get 8Mbit upload and it works as it should but they are very cunning in that it won't aid most people because P2P is throttled. A torrent haven, it isn't.
Notice the perks of it when uploading to services like Dropbox though.
qasdfdsaq
05-02-2012, 19:49
Fine for me, most of my upload is taken up by remote desktop. Low latency, zero jitter and high bandwidth will help that drastically while I won't be touched by the P2P throttling
Chrysalis
06-02-2012, 03:05
I guess that's just area demographics then. Round here my area's eased up a bit since Infinity became available - surprise surprise - particularly since most buildings are hundreds of years old and have had BT lines installed since long before VM was even a pipe dream.
---------- Post added at 14:52 ---------- Previous post was at 14:37 ----------
I should add - if you're a heavy newsgroups user, you're probably better off on BT Infinity anyway.
According to this page (http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10495/c/346/?s_cid=con_FURL_broadbandusagepolicy), BT don't traffic shape or throttle newsgroups at all, only P2P.
In addition, it seems (not sure if this is new or not) that the unlimited option 2 is in fact, completely unlimited.
Well I expect my immediate area to get relief when FTTC is live, as the student areas are some streets away. Of course at that point I will likely not care so much as I will probably be on FTTC myself.
I just hope FTTC doesnt get oversubbed in the meantime.
---------- Post added at 03:05 ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 ----------
Fine for me, most of my upload is taken up by remote desktop. Low latency, zero jitter and high bandwidth will help that drastically while I won't be touched by the P2P throttling
Lets hope the p2p shaping is reliable and not false positives galore. Although I suspect they use plusnet filters so is likely to be more reliable than VMs shaping.
Arthur Hucksake
06-02-2012, 13:08
Well I expect my immediate area to get relief when FTTC is live, as the student areas are some streets away. Of course at that point I will likely not care so much as I will probably be on FTTC myself.
I just hope FTTC doesnt get oversubbed in the meantime.
---------- Post added at 03:05 ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 ----------
Lets hope the p2p shaping is reliable and not false positives galore. Although I suspect they use plusnet filters so is likely to be more reliable than VMs shaping.
Streaming via sopcast isn't effected by the throttling, only torrents that seem to be effected on the upload.
Retrovertigo
06-02-2012, 23:47
Part of me just thinks someone else deserves a crack at providing me with a decent broadband service.
I've given Virgin a LONG time to sort all this out. My post history here reveals how long I've been having various issues for.
That plus B.T will do me Infinity for £17 a month which is less than half of what I pay Virgin, And I think the B.T upload speed will/should? help with the lag I get over Xbox Live during the evening.
qasdfdsaq
07-02-2012, 11:09
Yes, I've said this repeatedly - BT Infinity is better than VM for gaming in just about every way. Better upload, lower ping, lower jitter, lower packet loss.
Dodgyben
08-02-2012, 22:12
I noticed this too. My speed can go right up to 50 after a while on uesnext and other times its really slow 25kbs
I am getting around 300KB download speed today..
Current download speed is 116kb/s on usenet on a file, it has been this slow in the evening for 3 or 4 days. I have just changed all passwords to the superhub and wireless passwords thinking someone had managed to connect to our home network, but obviously its a vm issue as others seem to be having these issues.....
We are on 20 meg and have never had this issue before, always 2.2mb/s up to the traffic shaping limit and when downloading after 10pm have never had an issue at all.
speedtest.net gave me 19.86mb/s down and 1.86mb/s up earlier so it must be a usenet issue. Like I say this has never happened before and have been on cambridge cable/ntl/virgin since I dont know when......33.6 modem anyone remember them.
Current speed is just overing over 3.x MB.. something seriously wrong with the nntp protocol / provider
I'm getting roughly 400kbps max from my 50Mb line. Tried three different servers, my main service and both virgins and tesco's. All showing really poor speeds. Hopefully this issue will be fixed soon. Checked the status page and it's not showing any problems. I'm guessing the folks at virgin know about this by now ?
General Maximus
10-02-2012, 08:53
Tried three different servers, and tesco's
what? i havent read the last couple of pages of this thread but there is no way you can count on any servers from retailers to provide accurate speed tests. You need to be heading over to www.speedtest.net and use the London server
My speed has gone down to around 800KB... I can get full speeds on http downloads
what? i havent read the last couple of pages of this thread but there is no way you can count on any servers from retailers to provide accurate speed tests. You need to be heading over to www.speedtest.net (http://www.speedtest.net) and use the London server
news.usenetserver.com
news.virginmedia.com
news.tesco.com
All three usenet servers showing very poor speeds. Downloading using http, FTP ect. is working perfectly well
at around 6000kbps.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2012/02/66.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
crazyronnie
10-02-2012, 11:29
news.usenetserver.com
news.virginmedia.com
news.tesco.com
All three usenet servers showing very poor speeds. Downloading using http, FTP ect. is working perfectly well
at around 6000kbps.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2012/02/66.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
im using news.virginmedia.com
and im getting download speeds of 820KB/s where as usually i'd get 5.98MB/s. This only started happening yesterday afternoon.
Speedtest.net is giving me great speeds and downloading via http im getting 6.3MB/s
djmagnifique
10-02-2012, 11:53
I'm on 10mb and for the last couple of days i've been getting slow speeds on newsgroups at any time of the day.
I'm using grabit and have just changed the server properties for the maximum allowed connections from 3 to 50 and my speed has jumped from 240KB/s to 950KB/s.
EDIT:- spoke too soon, speeds have dropped again.
Mick Fisher
10-02-2012, 14:56
news.usenetserver.com
news.virginmedia.com
news.tesco.com
All three usenet servers showing very poor speeds. Downloading using http, FTP ect. is working perfectly well
at around 6000kbps.
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2012/02/66.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
I'm pretty sure all of those are Highwinds providers or resellers. Highwinds are the absolute pits. Faults can and do go unrectified for months and months.
Try Giganews or Astra before pointing the finger at VM.
I'm pretty sure all of those are Highwinds providers or resellers. Highwinds are the absolute pits. Faults can and do go unrectified for months and months.
Try Giganews or Astra before pointing the finger at VM.
errrrrr... usenetserver has been in business for a long time and I have been using them for years without any issues until recently.
Mick Fisher
10-02-2012, 19:15
errrrrr... usenetserver has been in business for a long time and I have been using them for years without any issues until recently.
I am still pretty sure that usenetserver is a highwinds reseller and it is a fact that Highwinds are the pits.
If I am mistaken then accept my apologies for slurring the reputation of your favourite NNTP vendor :) but do try another provider that is known not to be a highwinds reseller. I only know of Giga and Astra that fit that catagory.
Just to confirm since yesterday despite being on 50meg i cant get no more than 4-5meg from the virginmedia usenet server, hope it gets fixed or an official reason given sooner or later. I hope its not because my new next door neighbour also just had 50meg fitted :-/
qasdfdsaq
10-02-2012, 20:16
You're subscribing to a service where newsgroups are throttled and low priority. Deal with it, or switch provider, nobody's going to "fix it" because it's normal and intentional.
I'm using grabit and have just changed the server properties for the maximum allowed connections from 3 to 50.
I thought 10 was the max allowed on VM newsgroups? :dunce:
I was dl'ing just headers today... 3 groups, and they came down at sub 100kb.... and I'm on 30Mb
Just read on virgin media forums about the problem of a fibre optic cable having been cut underwater near the Amsterdam servers so I contacted support and there is indeed a problem and they told me to connect to the american servers.
Bam from 130kb/s to 2.2mb/s
result
Dont know if this sorts everyones problems but may help some.
I am with Newshosting.
What's the american server id for newshosting?
EDIT: Okay guessed it and I am back at full speed
I have Newshosting and Newsdemon and both have been downloading at only 2-5mb (100mb tier) since Thursday the only server id i can find for Newshosting is news.newshosting.com is this the american one ?
I have Newshosting and Newsdemon and both have been downloading at only 2-5mb (100mb tier) since Thursday the only server id i can find for Newshosting is news.newshosting.com is this the american one ?
news.us.newshosting.com
news.us.newshosting.com
Thanks. Sent an e-mail to newshosting and they replied :
There was an undersea fiber cut this week that is affecting many hosts out of Amsterdam and the surrounding area. If you are in/near Europe I would encourage you to use the server news.iad.newshosting.com for about a few days while the transit provider that owns that cable gets it repaired. Your existing port/SSL settings can still be used.
If you are in the U.S., please let us know and we'll take other steps.
Tried the us server first and got full speed.
after midnight now and im getting 120k :( (VM usenet)
EDIT switched to just4today.net now getting 5mbit, a definite improvement
crazyronnie
14-02-2012, 12:29
im getting 2MB/s on VM Usenet better than the 500kbps i was getting last week. But not as good as the 6.2MB i was getting the week before last
Bladeando
15-02-2012, 01:56
ill be ringing in the morning too. i don't care what some of the posters say about us whining we don't get the newsgroup speeds. we are paying a premium to get the speeds and it has been taken away.
50M when it came out gave 6MB/sec down on newsgroups. i upgraded to the 100M when it came out and have had 12.49M/sec until last thurs/Fri. cannot get more than 2-2.5M/sec.
i'm not paying extra for less than i had before.:mad:
qasdfdsaq
15-02-2012, 02:12
You're paying a premium to get non newsgroup speeds. If you want decent newsgroup speeds go to an ISP that actually offers them.
That's like buying a Ferrari and complaining you get crappy MPG out of it.
Bladeando
15-02-2012, 02:14
your missing the point, i ALWAYS had that for newsgroups but now i don't plus i am a gamer, other isp's that derive from a non fibre line such as a copper BT line..they cannot compete. ive had no end of them and VM that was NTL are the most stable. that is not the point though. the point is they have changed it and that was not a part of what i bought.
Quick update.
Now back to my full line speed when using virgins news server. Still a little on the sluggish when using usenetserver but then again they have allways been a little on the slow side. I wonder if the persons who cut the line in the first place have been found and just how much would it cost to splice the cable back together again ?
Mega sheckles me thinks...
qasdfdsaq
15-02-2012, 14:25
your missing the point, i ALWAYS had that for newsgroups but now i don't plus i am a gamer, other isp's that derive from a non fibre line such as a copper BT line..they cannot compete. ive had no end of them and VM that was NTL are the most stable. that is not the point though. the point is they have changed it and that was not a part of what i bought.
You're missing the point. Having had something in the past you weren't entitled to does not give you an automatic right to it in perpetuity
---------- Post added at 14:25 ---------- Previous post was at 14:23 ----------
Quick update.
Now back to my full line speed when using virgins news server. Still a little on the sluggish when using usenetserver but then again they have allways been a little on the slow side. I wonder if the persons who cut the line in the first place have been found and just how much would it cost to splice the cable back together again ?
Mega sheckles me thinks...
Accidental fibre breaks happen every day. When you see how thin and fragile a raw fibre is you'd be less surprised.
Accidental fibre breaks happen every day. When you see how thin and fragile a raw fibre is you'd be less surprised.
Yeah but the cables used in the ocean have more armour protecting them than a battle tank. Must have took a ships anchor to snap something like that. Out of curiosity your speedtest, was that taken from work or perhaps from a university connection ?
General Maximus
15-02-2012, 17:32
i upgraded to the 100M when it came out and have had 12.49M/sec until last thurs/Fri. cannot get more than 2-2.5M/sec
consider yourself lucky. I have been trying to download 50gb since this morning and it was ticking along 1.2mb/sec all day and it has just dropped to 650k
Bladeando
15-02-2012, 17:34
why else do you think people that want 100M services in their domestic premises pay to have it? i do a lot of ftp work to you tube and servers i use for trade explanation videos. i use newsgroups for personal use and have every right to use the service for reasons i pay for it.
your missing the point. if you take your cheques to the bank to be cashed and always have done because it is an unwriten expectation they will cash it and have done for you for 10 years but then without notice decide to remove that facility, you would not be happy. hence why so many like myself are annoyed.
That's like buying a Ferrari and complaining you get crappy MPG out of it.
no it's actually like buying a Ferrari and being told your not allowed to put petrol in it. or in your terms, getting 12 MPG for 10 years out of it but then all of a sudden you get 2 MPG, you would know something is wrong.
i'm not here to argue with you either, i can't be bothered with that but it certainly sounds suspiciously like an employee. you have your opinion and i will not be paying for mine.
Perhaps, just perhaps, if you need a "business" level of service, a residential service may not be suitable (regarding your ftp work for trade).
btw, I am not an VM employee, or associated with it in any way other than being a residential customer.
General Maximus
15-02-2012, 17:42
sounds suspiciously like an employee. you have your opinion and i will not be paying for mine.
qas defo doesnt work for VM
Bladeando
15-02-2012, 19:03
qas defo doesnt work for VM
good, just opinion differences then. :cool:
qasdfdsaq
15-02-2012, 20:22
Out of curiosity your speedtest, was that taken from work or perhaps from a university connection ?
Both.
---------- Post added at 20:12 ---------- Previous post was at 20:08 ----------
good, just opinion differences then. :cool:
I'm leaving VM because they don't deliver what I need them to.
No, I don't like how they've introduced shaping, management, throttling, FUPs and all that crap over the years but that's what you get when you have a stupid fast service for a stupid cheap price (remember, a leased line at 50mb costs about £2500 a month). One of the few good things about living in this city is the free choice of ISPs that provide what you want and the ability to leave any ISP that doesn't.
It just happens that right now VM's service is a heavily throttled, heavily managed, pile of poop where I live that despite the above still barely delivers a fifth of the rated speed in the last few days, and it just happens that other providers are providing unthrottled and unmanaged services for less money.
Again, newsgroups are low priority and throttled on VMs service and in any case they openly state they can and will be throttled down to 25% of local capacity or less. Again, that's part of the service you choose to take, like it or not. Again, if you don't like it there's other options. Again, no point demanding VM give you something they've already stated you're not entitled to just because you had it in the past.
---------- Post added at 20:16 ---------- Previous post was at 20:12 ----------
why else do you think people that want 100M services in their domestic premises pay to have it? i do a lot of ftp work to you tube and servers i use for trade explanation videos. i use newsgroups for personal use and have every right to use the service for reasons i pay for it.
You're not paying for newsgroups. You're paying for a service that is faster for everything else specifically because newsgroup speeds are reduced.
---------- Post added at 20:22 ---------- Previous post was at 20:16 ----------
i'm not here to argue with you either, i can't be bothered with that but it certainly sounds suspiciously like an employee. you have your opinion and i will not be paying for mine.
Funny, how I get accused of hating everything to do with VM in one thread to being suspiciously like an employee in another... :dozey:
You must be doing something right.....
qasdfdsaq
15-02-2012, 20:25
:D
keepitretro
15-02-2012, 21:06
Looks like its an astraweb problem, (AGAIN)!!!! as just changed to supernews and getting a straight 12.4mbps!!!!!!
PAYNEARDO
15-02-2012, 22:08
Looks like its an astraweb problem, (AGAIN)!!!! as just changed to supernews and getting a straight 12.4mbps!!!!!!
I have tried several and giganews was fine (but now cant even get to their site!!!) and astraweb seems OK for now..., it seems to go own to a 10/th of the speed for some periods and to be honest I have tried usenet server and also newshosting.com and lucky if I get 900K from them !!
Retrovertigo
18-02-2012, 09:20
After further tests I think the conspiracy theory that newsgroups are purposely strangled to be useless in certain busy areas is true.
I changed the port whatsits as suggested here and tried the download file Kymmy recommended. I started at around 3:45pm and watched as it downloaded full speed for a few minutes, and as it passed 4pm it started to get worse and worse (as the students get home)
I instead started to download it at 4:50pm and watched as it started off at around 20 meg (I'm on 50meg)and slowly but surely drops minute by minute until it settles at around 6 meg. Trying again during the evening gives an average speed of maybe 6-8 meg.
Taking that into account there is no way they could provide anywhere near the 10meg they reckon I should get while speed is capped during busy hours if they can't actually manage to provide 10meg as a normal speed during that time.
I can only assume that because my area is so bad, that P2P and newsgroups are simply slowed down as to be worthless. Pretty shady stuff really considering they want to increase prices while providing such poor performance in some areas.
Something has definitely changed in my area (South Manchester Hub), as I had been getting full 50meg speeds via newsdemon for the past 6 months or so and only noticed in the past week that the speeds appear to be capped around 20meg during peak hours.
Had the same throttling on my connection last night, but this morning speeds are back to full speed, so will check again later this afternoon.
crazyronnie
18-02-2012, 12:34
i use vm usenet and today im getting around 4.8MB not the 6.2 i use to get but much better than the speeds i've been getting over the past few days.
lakerheel
20-02-2012, 14:42
I think there might have been a fiber cut causing some issues. My guess is that it caused issues on multiple internet services. Here is the link from newsdemon.com: http://www.newsdemon.com/status.php
Andrewcrawford23
20-02-2012, 16:37
I think there might have been a fiber cut causing some issues. My guess is that it caused issues on multiple internet services. Here is the link from newsdemon.com: http://www.newsdemon.com/status.php
oh i have to love this post jsut goes to show how people can think thoeries up and blame virign (not syaing virign aint throttling0 jsut find it funny that the reason without thinking of other causes for slow down it takes two pipes so to say to provide your speed, virign pipe and teh newsgroup pipe
Chrysalis
20-02-2012, 17:41
its a bit more complex then that.
there is also many tools at an isp's disposal to manipulate performance.
One such tool is basic traffic shaping.
another is throttling.
another is deliberatly sending undesirable traffic down congested links.
Andrewcrawford23
20-02-2012, 17:49
its a bit more complex then that.
there is also many tools at an isp's disposal to manipulate performance.
One such tool is basic traffic shaping.
another is throttling.
another is deliberatly sending undesirable traffic down congested links.
im well aware, and i have said i am aware virign are doign it, even if they dnt admit it, but i still have to lvie the fact it virgin fault straight away rather than looking at other cuases
Chrysalis
20-02-2012, 17:51
well I have no idea what VM may or may not be doing, but those are some examples of what could be done by an isp.
Andrewcrawford23
20-02-2012, 17:59
well I have no idea what VM may or may not be doing, but those are some examples of what could be done by an isp.
nor do i, but i know there something other than the p2p newsgroup shapign they meantion on the site
I was using Astraweb which doesn't allow non-standard port SSL connections, hence open to throttling by our Virgin overlords. I was lucky to get 1MBps the past few weeks (evenings). I've just switched to Usenetserver and enabled the non-standard port SSL connection and now I'm getting about 5MBps (almost the maximum 6 on my 50Mbps). I don't work for them honest :)
The only port usenetserver has on SSL that astraweb doesn't have is 8080.. Wouldn't surprise me if Astraweb soon added the same
Andrewcrawford23
20-02-2012, 19:39
I was using Astraweb which doesn't allow non-standard port SSL connections, hence open to throttling by our Virgin overlords. I was lucky to get 1MBps the past few weeks (evenings). I've just switched to Usenetserver and enabled the non-standard port SSL connection and now I'm getting about 5MBps (almost the maximum 6 on my 50Mbps). I don't work for them honest :)
wont matter when virign introduce the new type of traffice management that will catch vpn ssl everything but it doesnt work i believe from wha ti read from ingition on ports throttling or application i think it more load balancer but i dnt know much about it or when it will com but i suspect it will coem soon
The only port usenetserver has on SSL that astraweb doesn't have is 8080.. Wouldn't surprise me if Astraweb soon added the same
It would surprise me as I asked them the question before leaving and they said they have no plans to add non-standard SSL ports.
That's them shooting themselves in the foot... especially with more and more ISP's port throttling.. Mind you once the new p2p/nntp restrictions come into place on VM it won't matter which port you use...
Mick Fisher
21-02-2012, 13:02
That's them shooting themselves in the foot... especially with more and more ISP's port throttling.. Mind you once the new p2p/nntp restrictions come into place on VM it won't matter which port you use...
That will be VM shooting themself in the foot again. So soon after the superhub fiasco :D.
Oooo look!!! Unrestricted downloads including NNTP on Infinity. Oooo look I can play games withiut lagging on Infinity. Oooo look P2P managed at peak times on Infinity.... :shrug: not a big deal for me.
My consolations to those who (so far) do not have a choice of FTTx. I fear you will soon be the only ones keeping VM's, restricted to the hilt, BB afloat.
The only downer is Infinity is run by BT :td: , an altogether more evil organisation than even VM. :shocked:
I'll lay odds that when Infinity has taken off, and they have a lot of customers committed to contracts, BT will slowly start to introduce some sort of STM, citing, as the reason, some obscure line in their terms and conditions.
It's not as if various BT subsidiaries haven't done that before..
Mick Fisher
21-02-2012, 13:23
I'll lay odds that when Infinity has taken off, and they have a lot of customers committed to contracts, BT will slowly start to introduce some sort of STM, citing, as the reason, some obscure line in their terms and conditions.
It's not as if various BT subsidiaries haven't done that before..
I'd lay odds on it too. But that doesn't stop us making hay while the sun still shines in Infinityland. :)
qasdfdsaq
21-02-2012, 13:44
I'll lay odds that when Infinity has taken off, and they have a lot of customers committed to contracts, BT will slowly start to introduce some sort of STM, citing, as the reason, some obscure line in their terms and conditions.
It's not as if various BT subsidiaries haven't done that before..
It's not really that obscure at all.
www.bt.com/broadbandusagepolicy: (http://www.bt.com/broadbandusagepolicy:)
We manage these restrictions daily based on the demands on the network, but downstream restrictions will typically be in place 4pm - midnight on weekdays and 9am - midnight on the weekend. Upstream restrictions may be in place at other times.
We may need to vary the policy from time to time to ensure the best possible experience for all our customers. This site will always be kept up to date with the latest information.Weasel words all the way...
That said, contract or no contract I'll be off to fibre if/when that happens.
I should point out though that BT very deliberately completely removed their existing FUP and STM policy nearly a year ago and in that time OFCOM's surveys have seen average speeds go up, not down, as they have very much kept up with infrastructure and backhaul upgrades where VM haven't. This demonstrates to me anyway that BT actually want to provide a STM-free experience and are willing to spend the money on making sure their network can handle it. At least in the short-term.
Andrewcrawford23
21-02-2012, 16:31
i would be off to fttc and fibre on demand (i wouldnt mind paying few hundred pounds for fibre connection only onc ei own mty house) if bt ever upgrades my area
Chrysalis
21-02-2012, 16:42
I'll lay odds that when Infinity has taken off, and they have a lot of customers committed to contracts, BT will slowly start to introduce some sort of STM, citing, as the reason, some obscure line in their terms and conditions.
It's not as if various BT subsidiaries haven't done that before..
BT have never had a STM.
VM is the only uk isp I know off that has 2 forms of traffic management.
General Maximus
21-02-2012, 17:37
i read somewhere last week that on infinity they traffic manage all p2p traffic 24/7
qasdfdsaq
21-02-2012, 18:10
BT have never had a STM.
VM is the only uk isp I know off that has 2 forms of traffic management.
BT had STM for at least five years up until April last year. It operated over a longer period - days to weeks - but under exactly the same principle. Download more than X amount in Y time and your connection would be slowed by Z (in their case, I think it was along the lines of 300GB in 30 days and your line gets set to 1mbps).
BT also has protocol based shaping which was also in place over the same period and remains in place, so until last April also had two forms of traffic management.
Retrovertigo
22-02-2012, 00:06
Well as an side to my newsgroup woes I have sat just now and tried Onlive for the first time in quite a while.
Needless to say I kept getting disconnected because of "poor network speed". I did a quick speed test on speedtest.net and sure enough speeds vary on each test anywhere from 1.5 meg to 6 meg. That is with a ping time in the mid eighties. No wonder Onlive wouldn't work.
VM shout from the rooftops about being the fastest ISP, but my near on £40 gives me a connection that is just about useful for net browsing and nothing more. It's pathetic and I just need a couple of things in place so that I can commit to a contract with B.T.
I have written again to a guy at Virgin who has been amazingly helpful in the past and was answering my troubles within a couple of days. It now takes well over a week to get responses, and then I'm ....not fobbed off - that would be unfair of me to accuse him of that - I get excuses as to why he can't help me at all. Even with me saying I am leaving, there is no effort made to try and keep me as a customer, whereas at one time he was bending over backwards.
This doesn't tell me he is not wanting to help - it tells me he simply can't help as he knows how bad things are here.
To not be able to get past 10meg at this time is ridiculous. It's midnight!! Actually I could probably live with 10meg if it was just consistent. It is the up and down and all over the place of the speeds which causes me so much grief....xbox live etc is a nightmare.
Chrysalis
22-02-2012, 05:11
BT had STM for at least five years up until April last year. It operated over a longer period - days to weeks - but under exactly the same principle. Download more than X amount in Y time and your connection would be slowed by Z (in their case, I think it was along the lines of 300GB in 30 days and your line gets set to 1mbps).
BT also has protocol based shaping which was also in place over the same period and remains in place, so until last April also had two forms of traffic management.
Yeah I remember something on adsl similiar now.
Thats more akin to a FUP policy than STM tho. As STM works different, its based on very small limits each night and expires after 5 hours.
Its that same FUP policy which has now been scrapped, at least on infinity anyway.
Its also my opinion that VMs STM breaches the new ASA ruling which kicks in this april. If STM still exists at that point its likely a complaint will be heading ASA's way. Maybe with STM scrapped VM will actually bring in working traffic management to cover their inadequate capacity investment.
Bladeando
22-02-2012, 09:23
well i don't know what has happened but my newsgroup speeds seem to have returned and i never actually got round to ringing them. how long this will last for though is yet to be seen.
from 2002 i can actually count on one hand how many times i have lost the internet and again, on one hand how many times my speed has been effected. the most recent one being by far the worst.
i now am back to getting 12.4M/s down on newsgroups during the day and after midnight.
General Maximus
22-02-2012, 09:48
This doesn't tell me he is not wanting to help - it tells me he simply can't help as he knows how bad things are here
Are you sure he just cant help you because he cant talk to you without a ticket being raised?
qasdfdsaq
22-02-2012, 14:16
Yeah I remember something on adsl similiar now.
Thats more akin to a FUP policy than STM tho. As STM works different, its based on very small limits each night and expires after 5 hours.
Call it what you want, it's the same behaviour with different numbers in the boxes. You might say VM's has lower thresholds, but then BT's had higher penalties - VM "only" slows your connection by 75% while BT would slow your connection by "Up to 95%" (20mbps down to 1mbps)
Chrysalis
22-02-2012, 20:24
Call it what you want, it's the same behaviour with different numbers in the boxes. You might say VM's has lower thresholds, but then BT's had higher penalties - VM "only" slows your connection by 75% while BT would slow your connection by "Up to 95%" (20mbps down to 1mbps)
I am simply calling it what BT called it which was FUP. The FUP which they have now scrapped on infinity. (not sure on the adsl tho).
Both cases tho should in my opinion breach the ASA's new ruling.
I consider both significantly different simply put because to hit BT's usage limit one would have to be doing downloading over a number of days before hitting the limit whilst on VM it could be done over a matter of minutes.
Also remember 20mbit on adsl2+ is uncommon, typical speeds are nearer 6mbit.
Retrovertigo
23-02-2012, 00:14
Are you sure he just cant help you because he cant talk to you without a ticket being raised?
No, he has always been super helpful. When I started to have serious issues with 20meg - and numerous disconnects - he was instrumental in getting me an upgrade to 50 meg for the same monthly cost.
Then he managed to net me a further 12 months at the 20meg price as there were serious disconnect issues when I first started using 50meg. He has always been friendly and helpful. But lately - despite still having had semi-regular contact (he usually contacts me every few months to see if things have improved) - he has gone very quiet.
I don't really want to say anymore as if he did manage to read this, I don't want him thinking I haven't been grateful for what he has done for me. Because I'm super grateful for how he has pushed VM to sort me out rather than see me leave. If it wasn't for him I would have left them two years ago, no question.
qasdfdsaq
23-02-2012, 11:00
Also remember 20mbit on adsl2+ is uncommon, typical speeds are nearer 6mbit.
Yes but typical speeds on Infinity are nearer 35mb, and the 'FUP' still cut you down to 1mb.
BT are actually quite clear and forthcoming on these matters - and do abide by the voluntary code of practice and provide all the important information in the normally recognized format whereas VM do not:
www.bt.com/broadbandusagepolicy (http://www.bt.com/broadbandusagepolicy)
As you know a lot of ISPs oversell products or impose excessive limitations on them to hit certain targets such as an uneconomically low price. Far as I'm concerned as long as the information is laid out clearly to the (prospective) customer in advance so they can make an informed choice ISPs should be able to do what they want. Retroactively changing things for customers under contract who cannot simply choose to leave however, is something I disagree with, but not all ISPs do this - for example when O2 introduced fair use limits and traffic shaping, they applied it *only* to new customers signing up after the change and all existing customers remained unlimited and unshaped for as long as they remained a customer.
Chrysalis
23-02-2012, 11:01
There is no FUP on infinity. It just has the p2p shaping.
qasdfdsaq
23-02-2012, 11:10
I already said that on the previous page...
vBulletin® v3.8.11, Copyright ©2000-2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.