Cable Forum - Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

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Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

I must be one of the lucky people then, my connection has been absolutely superb for all the time ive been with NTL/VM.

Pings excellent, and always full speeds, even now im on the 20MB.

Gotta love this 2.33MB/s leeching ;)

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanUK (Post 34324812)

I wonder why if their network is so good, that I now get fantastic speeds at all times of the day from my 8 meg (actual 6.5) connection with BT (DSL) to ALL sites that I need, than I ever did with my NTL 10 meg connection ??

I could get my full 10 meg from UK sites back then(so no local congestion) but peering with the US or Amsterdam was atrocious, why was that so when the network is so good ??

As far as I'm concerned BT wipes the floor with NTL even though the speeds are (supposedly) slower and the network worse..

I don't understand all the technical guff, all I know is that when I was with NTL I had to suffer awful speeds to most non UK sites, and now I'm with BT I get full speed all the time everywhere I go.

i don't think ntl/vm's network quite spans into US or Amsterdam ;)
It'd be interesting to see the amount of bandwidth VM go through compared to BT, even though BT have the users VM may have the higher average connected speed

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

Quote:

Originally Posted by dev (Post 34325852)

...VM may have the higher average connected speed...

But with the lowest average throughput speed...

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

If you have throughput issues on the VM network it's more likely to do with the type of cable modem you have and how many people are hanging off the UBR and the HFC metrics between you and it.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonegunman (Post 34326108)

If you have throughput issues on the VM network it's more likely to do with the type of cable modem you have and how many people are hanging off the UBR and the HFC metrics between you and it.

My modem is fine, I get full speed, but most on 10 or 20Mbps never seem to...

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

hmm, If I were not getting my allocated bandwidth I would take a look into my modem and see if the modem I had been supplied supported the package I was buying.
It's well documented that certain old modems supplied by SA and Motorola will not perform at anywhere near the claimed speeds of certain american cable companies. Read some of the Cox cable forums.
You can buy cable modems off the shelf over there for this very reason. I'm not sure what VM give their customers but I bet they are not all the same, and I bet there are still quite a lot of old "legacy" modems still in peoples houses from the days when 512kb was classed as fast!

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

The problem these days is often not the modem but the UBR they are connected to being over subscribed...

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbyssUnderground (Post 34326199)

The problem these days is often not the modem but the UBR they are connected to being over subscribed...

How can you tell how many people are connected to each UBR, and what's the maximum they can support?

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcw00 (Post 34326271)

How can you tell how many people are connected to each UBR, and what's the maximum they can support?

You can't, unless a VM insider tells you. But if you're consistently getting slow speeds and engineers say your modem is fine, you can only assume its oversubscribed.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

Quote:

Originally Posted by AbyssUnderground (Post 34326276)

You can't, unless a VM insider tells you. But if you're consistently getting slow speeds and engineers say your modem is fine, you can only assume its oversubscribed.

For the last 3+ years my speed has always been 100%, and no drop in speed.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

Quote:

Originally Posted by dev (Post 34325852)

i don't think ntl/vm's network quite spans into US or Amsterdam ;)

Name: amst-ic-1.inet.ntl.com
Address: 194.145.149.151

Telewest have/had peering to Amsterdam, Paris, New York and others.

You don't need to have fibre of your own everywhere, can lease a wavelength, lease some rack space at the other end and stick a router and switch in there, no problem :)

---------- Post added at 10:17 ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rik (Post 34325813)

Yes, so 3 of your last 4 posts and a large proportion of your recent ones say. I think people get the point and I'm sure people with speed issues feel much better reading how superb someone else's connection is.

It goes without saying a large proportion of the customer base is fairly happy.

Re: Virgin upgrading IP backbone network

Quote:

Originally Posted by lonegunman (Post 34323403)

Lol! Do you really believe that a company the size of VM would peer at Telehouse with 2 x 10Mb links!!

VM has at least three peering points that I know of, One in Amsterdam, One in Manchester and 2 at Telehouse All running WAY higher than 10Mb -Nearer 10Gb

Their Access core which is strategically located in 16 sites around the country are Cisco 7609's and a few Juniper M320's with multiple 10Gbe aggregating onto a 40Gb/e Juniper T640 Transit Core.

I don't work for em, I used to contract for em but now work for the competition. But I am envious of their network...!!

This is pretty much as good as it gets! (WRT IP Cores in Europe at least!)

Rest well VM customers, I think your bandwidth requirements are more than adequatly covered for the next few years. :)

lol, i know its been a long time since this thread went quiet but i had reason to indirectly link to it today
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/10...l#post34476302
and only just noticed my bad typing ,SORRY about that ,were ever you see Mb/Mbit, i did indeed mean Gb/Gigabit, at least i think i did,its been a long time now, and i cant remember the maps urls i based the posts on, but TBO i cant be 100% sure now, as incompletes post said 'That map is a bit out of date.' so perhaps it did say Mbit?

are there new maps to see now with the current kit/speeds as a general guide, not to give to much away as it were but good for PR and such as long as its accurate?.

still, not to worry,it may get some interesting posts if theres any interested tech readers here now.....
its all good if it enlightens and entertains the readers after all...
carry on with any interesting points you may have for today and the future.