Why am i being throttled?

[bushmins]

Ive downloaded 300 meg in the last 5 hours and now as soon as 9pm came around im down to 2.5meg speeds. Anyone know why i should be getting throttled? My net comes through cable not a BT phone line.

[jb66]

Torrents?

[bushmins]

Torrents?

Nope, dont do any torrents. Ive been keeping an eye on what been connecting to my router, nothing out of the ordinary. I was thinking it was some new thing Virgin brought out or something - they might have got fed up with 99% of their customers downloaded after 9pm or something.

[thenry]

set up a thinkbroadbands ping monitor. lower your usage and itll pick up if its being caused by others...

[craigj2k12]

any type of peer to peer is throttles, not just torrents

[Milambar]

set up a thinkbroadbands ping monitor. lower your usage and itll pick up if its being caused by others...

How would it do that, exactly? All the ping monitor does is monitor your ping.

[thenry]

itll show if the areas oversubbed/cant take the load its trying to carry if there is any.

[Milambar]

No it won't. It will show you pings, latency, dropped packets and it will show them graphically on a timescale.

It will show things that could be used to diagnose oversubscription, but they are also things that could have their roots in other causes.

The only people who can say, factually, if an area is oversubscribed, is VM themselves. Everything else is just "possibly oversubscribed".

[thenry]

:o:

[kwikbreaks]

Strangely enough those reporting slow speeds virtually always also have TBB charts that look very very similar - quite pretty in fact with loads of red, yellow, and blue. Of course that's a complete coincidence I'm sure - only VM would be able to confirm it.

[Mick Fisher]

I got STM'ed while downloading in the "Happy Hour" a few days ago??

VM is a complete shambles IMHO.

[craigj2k12]

Strangely enough those reporting slow speeds virtually always also have TBB charts that look very very similar - quite pretty in fact with loads of red, yellow, and blue. Of course that's a complete coincidence I'm sure - only VM would be able to confirm it.

:D

Only VM will know so dont post on the VM forum, post on an unofficial support forum and dont follow anyone's advice

[kwikbreaks]

If it is oversubscribed it has to be massively oversubscribed before they'll admit it. If they do admit it (as they did with mine) you'll get a date months away that will almost certainly keep slipping.

The OP's problem may well not be oversubscription but as he seems happy with his speeds until the STM period ends and then it goes to rat's the chances are that like many many other areas his is now oversubscribed.

If your area isn't oversubscribed then enjoy it while it lasts. If it is oversubscribed then don't hold your breath on getting a fix anytime soon. Start thinking about your alternatives. If you have none consider taking up knitting instead of doing that internet stuff.

[qasdfdsaq]

You could just phone VM and ask if/why you're throttled.

I hear even the normally-incompetent offshore first-line support are able to see determine if your line has STM applied on it or not.

[New to cable]

You could just phone VM and ask if/why you're throttled.

I hear even the normally-incompetent offshore first-line support are able to see determine if your line has STM applied on it or not.

When it comes to asking VM how much you download a day/month I would take what they say with a pinch of salt.

When I canceled the 50Mb to go with Sky they told me I download 160Gb a month lol. 5Gb A DAY!!!!!! LOL.

[qasdfdsaq]

I'm not saying they have an accurate count of how much you download, we know that's not the case.

However they do have a support tool that says the equivalent of "STM currently applied to account: Yes/No"

[Andrewcrawford23]

I'm not saying they have an accurate count of how much you download, we know that's not the case.

However they do have a support tool that says the equivalent of "STM currently applied to account: Yes/No"

unless they have reenabled it 1st line cant see if they have been stmed other than looking at the modem docsis file which few agents are aware of to see i the config is that of stmed config of that tier

[qasdfdsaq]

STM has never showed up in the modem config file.

[Andrewcrawford23]

STM has never showed up in the modem config file.

it does not ont eh modem but on r** t**** which only virgin media tech staff have access to

[qasdfdsaq]

You mean red tools, and the CMTS config then...

[Andrewcrawford23]

You mean red tools, and the CMTS config then...

yes but 1st line can if they know what there doing can see the config file and yes it the cmts config file i jsut assumed you would have realised that when i saionly tech support can see it, and yes red tools but i delibrate never meantioned the name for a reason

[jagsman]

It has nothing to do with over-subscription. You have been throttled because the system says you have gone over the download/upload limits. It happens at exactly 9pm, and your speed drops to 25% of what it is supposed to be.

I have had this done to me on quite a few occasions(now being one of them), its a joke. If it was over-subscription, your speed would not be exactly the same as the advertised throttled speed. I am on 10mb and it always goes down to exactly 2.5mb. Everyone always thinks that you have been hammering the torrent sites when you mention this, so no-one has ever given a straight answer.

I have smashed the download limits before lunchtime on quite a few occasions, and not been capped until 9pm, why is that? At the moment i limit my torrent speeds to 30kB/s download and 10kB/s upload, just like today, but i still get throttled at 9pm. Just another way for Virgin to annoy the hell out of me.

[Andrewcrawford23]

It has nothing to do with over-subscription. You have been throttled because the system says you have gone over the download/upload limits. It happens at exactly 9pm, and your speed drops to 25% of what it is supposed to be.

I have had this done to me on quite a few occasions(now being one of them), its a joke. If it was over-subscription, your speed would not be exactly the same as the advertised throttled speed. I am on 10mb and it always goes down to exactly 2.5mb. Everyone always thinks that you have been hammering the torrent sites when you mention this, so no-one has ever given a straight answer.

I have smashed the download limits before lunchtime on quite a few occasions, and not been capped until 9pm, why is that? At the moment i limit my torrent speeds to 30kB/s download and 10kB/s upload, just like today, but i still get throttled at 9pm. Just another way for Virgin to annoy the hell out of me.

and they put the stm in place because most areas are over subscribed and they cant meet the headline speed when everyone is online, stm is way to manage your traffic and make sure everyone gets fair share

regardless if it illegal torrent or legal one like ubuuntu etc, torrents are network killer plain and simple, not becaus eof the down speed but becuas eof the uplaod

even though you limit your torrents unless you are doing nothing else on you internet conecntion you will still be stmed, i appericate it annoys you but if you dnt want stmed just klimit yoru conenction not yoru torrents

[jagsman]

and they put the stm in place because most areas are over subscribed and they cant meet the headline speed when everyone is online, stm is way to manage your traffic and make sure everyone gets fair share

regardless if it illegal torrent or legal one like ubuuntu etc, torrents are network killer plain and simple, not becaus eof the down speed but becuas eof the uplaod

even though you limit your torrents unless you are doing nothing else on you internet conecntion you will still be stmed, i appericate it annoys you but if you dnt want stmed just klimit yoru conenction not yoru torrents

That is exactly what I do. I use the internet for browsing web-sites, shopping , banking and posting on the odd forum. I do not stream movies or TV shows, or download large files outwith utorrent. My major gripe with all of this, is that I have to cap myself to download and upload speeds of 30kB/s and 10kB/s respectively, during the times set out by Virgin, then even if I dont breach any limits, Virgin cap me between 9pm and 2am.

So if you look at all that, my internet is NOT the 10mb that I pay for 66% of the day. So why should I be charged the 10mb fee?

If my lowly 10mb connection can cause the local network to slow down, then Virgin should not be allowed to sell 1 more broadband connection in my area.

[Andrewcrawford23]

That is exactly what I do. I use the internet for browsing web-sites, shopping , banking and posting on the odd forum. I do not stream movies or TV shows, or download large files outwith utorrent. My major gripe with all of this, is that I have to cap myself to download and upload speeds of 30kB/s and 10kB/s respectively, during the times set out by Virgin, then even if I dont breach any limits, Virgin cap me between 9pm and 2am.

So if you look at all that, my internet is NOT the 10mb that I pay for 66% of the day. So why should I be charged the 10mb fee?

If my lowly 10mb connection can cause the local network to slow down, then Virgin should not be allowed to sell 1 more broadband connection in my area.

if you dnt like it go elsewhere other isp use trafic management to and asa ruled it is fien as did ofcom if you dn tliek it complain ot the goverment nto that ti will get you far torries are hell bent on ruining the country again and blame labour for the national debt but in truth it go further that labour it goes down to inviduals but that political and off topic if you dnt like it leave

[jb66]

That is exactly what I do. I use the internet for browsing web-sites, shopping , banking and posting on the odd forum. I do not stream movies or TV shows, or download large files outwith utorrent. My major gripe with all of this, is that I have to cap myself to download and upload speeds of 30kB/s and 10kB/s respectively, during the times set out by Virgin, then even if I dont breach any limits, Virgin cap me between 9pm and 2am.

So if you look at all that, my internet is NOT the 10mb that I pay for 66% of the day. So why should I be charged the 10mb fee?

If my lowly 10mb connection can cause the local network to slow down, then Virgin should not be allowed to sell 1 more broadband connection in my area.

your not paying for 10mb your paying for a level of service

[broadbandking]

It has nothing to do with over-subscription. You have been throttled because the system says you have gone over the download/upload limits. It happens at exactly 9pm, and your speed drops to 25% of what it is supposed to be.

I have had this done to me on quite a few occasions(now being one of them), its a joke. If it was over-subscription, your speed would not be exactly the same as the advertised throttled speed. I am on 10mb and it always goes down to exactly 2.5mb. Everyone always thinks that you have been hammering the torrent sites when you mention this, so no-one has ever given a straight answer.

I have smashed the download limits before lunchtime on quite a few occasions, and not been capped until 9pm, why is that? At the moment i limit my torrent speeds to 30kB/s download and 10kB/s upload, just like today, but i still get throttled at 9pm. Just another way for Virgin to annoy the hell out of me.


Have Virgin confirmed you are STM'd, I find it really hard to believe you get STM'd at 9pm everynight without going over the STM limits, in rare occassions yes STM does kick in at an incorrect time but can you provide proof VM are doing this.

Most people are quck to jump on the STM wagon as its the easiest way to have a dig at VM for using such methods.

[qasdfdsaq]

your not paying for 10mb your paying for a level of service
http://shop.virginmedia.com/home.html?buspart=Portal_HP_c_topnav_1_1

http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband/up-to-10mb.html

It's very clearly marketed as "speed" and not a level of service.


Broadband (http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband.html)

10Mb broadband (http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband/up-to-10mb.html)
Up to 10Mb broadband


Order now and we’ll double your broadband speed as part of our network upgrade starting February 2012. Find out when (http://doublespeed.virginmedia.com/)



9.66Mb is what our customers typically get
(http://shop.virginmedia.com/broadband/about-virgin-broadband/broadband-speeds-explained.html)
Unlimited1 downloads


Nothing about a level of service in there anywhere. It's all about the speed.

[jb66]

up to ten meg isnt a speed, its meaningless

[qasdfdsaq]

But what customers *first* see is "10Mb broadband" and not "Up to" anything, and even on the detailed page they're clearly trumpeting the speed:

"9.66Mb is what our customers typically get"

Now why would they say that unless they were trying to convince people of the speed they're paying for?

I don't see anywhere where they say "An medium level of service is what our customers typically get"

[jb66]

That's just clever marketing!

Next it will be "As low as "16ms ping*"

*30% of customers achieve this when pinging blahblah

[kwikbreaks]

up to ten meg isnt a speed, its meaninglessQuite right. It doesn't stop VM (or every other ISP) advertising it though. All the ADSL ISPs point out achieved speeds will probably be less though and VM suggest most customers get close to the headline speed (which of course most do) but there are many thousands that don't.

[Andrewcrawford23]

Quite right. It doesn't stop VM (or every other ISP) advertising it though. All the ADSL ISPs point out achieved speeds will probably be less though and VM suggest most customers get close to the headline speed (which of course most do) but there are many thousands that don't.

witht eh new ruling as long as x percentage do they can advertise it as such, untilt eh regulator gets some balls pardon teh pum and acutally enforce the isps to only adertise the lowest speeds 95% of cusotmer get then there will always be problems liek this

[chrisjones]

I feel your 'pain' RE throttling but theres something you need to consider. The torrents your downloading are most probably not 'legal', be honest, they are most probably not. Based on that fact alone, the fact you are gettings music,TV shows, movies and games (one of those at least) for free - your really not in a position to gripe at VM's traffic management policies.

We all get throttled from time to time, some most days. Its not as though we are being cut off, the service works just as well at 2.5mb for basic surfing, emails and even youtube/gaming. The fact you have to wait a few more hours for your 'free stuff' is just something you will have to deal with!

[Andrewcrawford23]

I feel your 'pain' RE throttling but theres something you need to consider. The torrents your downloading are most probably not 'legal', be honest, they are most probably not. Based on that fact alone, the fact you are gettings music,TV shows, movies and games (one of those at least) for free - your really not in a position to gripe at VM's traffic management policies.

We all get throttled from time to time, some most days. Its not as though we are being cut off, the service works just as well at 2.5mb for basic surfing, emails and even youtube/gaming. The fact you have to wait a few more hours for your 'free stuff' is just something you will have to deal with!

:clap: i couldnt agree more, even if they dnt want to admit for fear of being tracked for doign it the fact remains it most liekly is free something tha thsould be paid for and as you said your nto cut off jsu tlimtied how fast you can get it

[Kymmy]

That's just clever marketing!

Next it will be "As low as "16ms ping*"

*30% of customers achieve this when pinging blahblah

You mean like this

http://www.pingtest.net/result/57787302.png
http://www.pingtest.net/result/57787545.png

[Chrysalis]

and they put the stm in place because most areas are over subscribed and they cant meet the headline speed when everyone is online, stm is way to manage your traffic and make sure everyone gets fair share

regardless if it illegal torrent or legal one like ubuuntu etc, torrents are network killer plain and simple, not becaus eof the down speed but becuas eof the uplaod

even though you limit your torrents unless you are doing nothing else on you internet conecntion you will still be stmed, i appericate it annoys you but if you dnt want stmed just klimit yoru conenction not yoru torrents

in theory.

in reality it doesnt do enough in some oversubbed areas and is pointless in low utilised areas.

---------- Post added at 09:57 ---------- Previous post was at 09:54 ----------

witht eh new ruling as long as x percentage do they can advertise it as such, untilt eh regulator gets some balls pardon teh pum and acutally enforce the isps to only adertise the lowest speeds 95% of cusotmer get then there will always be problems liek this

The way I see it if the isps are telling the truth that its only ever a minority with performance problems then they would have no issue with rules like 95% of customers should be able to get the advertised speed. There is clearly a reason why the 10% figure was decided on and that will be because its a figure isp's are comfortable with.

From what I have heard of ofcom with VM its currently around the 2/3 mark which have no sigificant performance problems.