Re: Prices
 

VM can barely cope with what they are giving now lol

Re: Prices
 

I think some people just can't imagine that others might disagree with them, or be happy with something they themselves would not be happy with. For many of us, there's nothing keeping us with Virgin so if we are with them, it's for a reason - they're either cheaper or offer a better service than the competition. What you define as "better" may vary".

---------- Post added at 20:59 ---------- Previous post was at 20:58 ----------

I'm a heavy user and not only do I not suffer from congestion in the evening, I can't remember the last time I was STM'd (even when I should have been).

Re: Prices
 

In that respect I'm the same as you.

Re: Prices
 

This is certainly so for me. I can't get a better service for a lower price. If I could I'd be doing just that.

Regarding unlimited - I don't think any ISP should be allowed to advertise unlimited as it just gives an excuse to use the system beyond what any rational person would consider to be reasonable and the result is poorer performance and/or higher prices for everybody else.

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Even if they didn't say "unlimited" people would still thrash the thing to a standstill.

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I would be lucky to get 2mbps on my rusty old BT socket.

I get limited in the evening apart from last friday when it was off. So it takes me longer to download when limited but I get there in the end.

I just see people saying VM don't do enough for them and their network is slow etc. But I also see how they then get the service super cheap.

I am sorry if anyone takes offence to this but if VM grew a backbone and stopped giving refunds discounts and compensation to anyone who cried like a wet lettuce they might actually have some money to make the network better. (I know there shareholders too) but come on.. Can't make an omelette if you gave all your eggs away! (okay so bad use of words there)

---------- Post added at 21:39 ---------- Previous post was at 21:38 ----------

Fair play.

I use about 500GB a month - I bet that costs VM a fair whack! £37.50 is nothing!

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Looking at VM's 2012 accounts, they've got c. 5 million residential broadband customers and they are in profit. So the cost of you 500 GB/month annualised will be around 90% of what you pay!

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£405 a year.. and £45 profit.

Well if they let me they can have £900 a year and £495 profit. Ill still do the same only faster :D

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To be super pedantic the way they drop your speed is by dropping your data.

---------- Post added at 00:34 ---------- Previous post was at 00:33 ----------

And if the ISP is perfectly able and prepared to provide that level of service, why should they be banned from doing so?

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according to Google VM have already been investigated by the ASA about this unlimited thing and cleared.

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If they can then fine but I doubt that there are many that can support downloads and uploads at full headline speed by all their customers 24x7 which is what "unlimited" implies.

Every utility that supplies a measurable product (such as gas electricity and water) does so at standing charge + price per unit volume. If ISPs did the same it would get rid of the "unlimited" nonsense and all the sniping between high volume users and low.

---------- Post added at 11:30 ---------- Previous post was at 11:22 ----------

They had to drop their letters threatening disconnection for excessive use to do so. Now they just send advisory letters which get filed in the bin. There are still plenty of complaints about congestion proving that their capacity isn't unlimited. The ASA also made questionable rulings about what can be called fibre optic broadband. IMO neither cable nor FTTC legitimately meet that description but both can be sold as such.

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Kwikkie

You still misapply the term "unlimited" to the current VM offer. They are quite sepcific on their web site as to how the term "unlimited" is to be applied. It's unlimited volume and no other claim is made.

Anyone who infers otherwise has no case.

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Bandwidth isn't the only thing that is sold in "unlimited" quantities and yet I can't think of a single thing sold in this country as "unlimited" that is as unlimited as you describe.

When I go into Subway and get a drink with Unlimited refills, I'm well aware that if I and every other customer in the place drank to excess, they would run out.

If I go to a buffet where I can eat an unlimited amount of food, I'm well aware that occasionally some items may run out before I've had my fill.

If I pay British Gas for boiler cover, then every single customer has an issue and demands an engineer right away, they may have to wait - despite the unlimited call outs.

This "unlimited" nonsense has less to do with excessive usage and more to do with knowing what your bill is going to be every month. It's incredibly easy to accidentally download a lot of data without realising it - all it takes is a rogue program (For example, there's a bug in Windows 8 with Outlook 2013 whereby IMAP sometimes gorges on bandwidth - happened in my work and we lost 30-40GB a day of our 100GB Monthly quota). When it comes to gas or electricity, how likely is the same thing to happen? You might leave a light on or forget to switch off the oven one evening but you'll notice before it starts costing you hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

Perhaps Virgin could do with being clearer on their STM policies, or being more proactive when warning customers of congestion before they sign up - I have no quarrel with this, but to blame them selling "unlimited" bandwidth is the wrong argument. Nothing is truly unlimited, but we all understand that unlimited really means no bill shock.

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These days with all the hype on the term "unlimited" it means:

1. What the FTTC suppliers mean by the term

2. What VM means by the term

Both make their meaning clear and nowehere does it say anything along the lines of "no bill shock".

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I understand fully what "unlimited" as used by VM means. It doesn't take much reading of this and other boards that plenty regard "unlimited" to mean precisely what the dictionary says it means and no ISP can deliver that.