Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

Shall we make another comparison?

As noted by PaulM in his announcement in the NTL further upgrades post in the NTL forum NTL, may re-introduce the 150kb tier so both NTL and BY/TW would offer 4 tiers of service :

NTL:150kb TW:256k (TW win)
NTL: 1mb TW:1mb (TW win (no cap))
NTL: 2mb TW:2mb (TW win (again, no cap)
NTL: 3mb TW:4mb (telewest win, by a MILE, no cap and faster u/l)

Although NTL are a little cheaper on each tier, not signficantly and people who want / need top tier speeds are usually prepared to pay for them (I used to pay £50 for my 1mb connection and was happy to do so)

Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

A better comparison:

New Speeds (list applies to existing customers)

Entry Level
BY 256k/128k = £17.99 (usage guide 750mb a day or about 23gb per month)
ntl 1Mb/64k? = £17.99 (cap 5gb per month + £25 Admin Fee)

Mid-Tier
BY 1Mb/128k = £25 (Free upgrade + unlimited usage)
ntl 2Mb/128k = £24.99 (cap 30gb per month + £25 Admin Fee)

High
BY 2Mb/256k = £35 (Free upgrade + unlimited usage)
ntl 3 Mb/256k = £37.99 (cap 40 gb per month + £25 Admin Fee)

Higher
BY 4Mb/384k = £50 (Free upgrade + unlimited usage)
ntl - n/a


IMO I think BY wins on the three higher tiers. More speed = more downloading - why would we want caps? I admit, BY prices are not as attractive as ntl but theyll go down when ADSL can compare with BY on speed and price.

Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

Does Telewest use proxies for web surfing ?

Does Telewests Email service work properly ?

Can you get Telewest on the phone within 5 mins ?

I don't know the answer to these questions, but I'd rather NTL fixed whats broken/annoying rather than just keep on increasing speed.
3 or 4 mb is nice, but if you are still proxied and unable to use the email on a daily basis and also unable to reach anyone within a reasonable time to moan about it then whats the point ?

Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

NTL are not going to re-introduce the 150k service. :)

Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

Telewest have actually announced upgrades for all their broadband customers not just the top tier.

They may say that they are giving an unlimited service but they still have usage restrictions in their terms and conditions. These are the usual restrictions that most ISPs have about not using the service to download / upload copyright material. They may not have applied the particular clause in the past and taken action against any customer for breach of it, but that is not to say that they will not use it in the future. I would imagine that most heavy users do download / upload copyright material, no matter what they say and could lose their service as a result.

So before you can comment about what is a good deal you have to wait and see how the the companies police their deals. If you are a very heavy user and your iSP wants to get rid of you they will find a way.

Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

Fair enough :)
BY offer 4 tiers and NTL 3, so NTL offer their customers less choice.

Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

I've just read their AUP and the ONLY mention it makes of acceptable use on the higher tiers is about abuse of UPLOAD bandwidth.

Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

In my case BD were atrocious.

However going away from that newsgroup retention is currently approximately 12 days, and groups 'missing' are intentionally omitted. But let's not let facts get in the way of a good rant :)

Re: [merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed
 

I think enough is enough .... this was supposed to be a realistic discussion about the TW announcement, and the benefit to TW customers.

Face it NTL and TW are two different companies, who really aren't even in competition with each other as their customer bases aren't the same. The comparisons are fruitless, pointless, and unnecessary.

On that note .... Thread closed.