1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Before I post the whole letter I received this morning, has this been discussed elsewhere? I couldnt find anything recent(ish).

Acathla

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Lotts of places :D - show us the letter please :)

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Sorry no scannerbut it goes like this:

Internet a/c # xxxxxxxx
Cable Modem Mac Address: †˜xxxxxxxxxxxxÃÂà ‚¢ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢ââ⠀šÂ¬Ã…¾Ã‚¢

Dear Mr xxxxxx

We are writing to you because, unfortunately, some of our broadband customers in your area have been experiencing deterioration in the service we offer them. We have found that this is most often caused by a small number of our broadband customers who are continually uploading and downloading extremely large files, which has a detrimental effect on the network.

In order to ensure that we are able to offer all out customers a great broadband service we would like to remind you that we recommend that everyone reduces their daily level of activity to 1 gigabyte a day. This is the equivalent of downloading approximately 200 music tracks, 650 short videos, 10,000 pictures or around 100 software programmes per day. Our systems show us that recently you have been exceeding this level and we would like to remind you of the relevant section in the ntlworld User Policy.

Goes on to list clause h) in AUP

Please, for the sake of all our broadband customers, reduce the downstream bandwidth utilised through your cable modem to no more than 1GB per day. We would hate to have to impose restrictions on you but we are determined to offer all our broadband customers the best possible service.

If you are running and sort of ftp/web server or other applications, such as file sharing programs, please ensure that you follow the guidance we set out in the User Policy. For some advice on how best to achieve this please refer to http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bandwidthadvice.

Thank you in advance for you co-operation in this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact the Broadband Support Team on 01792 614432 between the hours of 08:00 to 18:00 if you would like to discuss this issue further.

Yours sincerely,

Donald Melrose
Internet Customer Care Team

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Soooo - I have now seen one in the flesh - so to speak...

What do you all think ?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

yes the ironie of a 24/7 BB conection with a 1 Gb cap, i reach just under a gig just by running TS2 server and web servers, with some gaming on top and a few downloads ive broken a gig, and this is not by mass downloading warez or any such crap. whats the point in 1Mb lines when there is a bw cap?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

You think that the cap should be higher or that there should not be one at all ?

P.S. Check your PM

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

1gb is easily reached with NTL 1meg BB especially if your downloading Linux & of course if your 1mb is running correctly :)

NTL have alot of BB customers paying £17.99, £24.99 & £34.99 each month, its a real shame that NTL are not investing in their BB network to such that their customers dont need to complain about bandwidth, oversubscription problems & the imposed 1mb cap restriction.

I personally think the cap was introduced as an excuse to save NTL not splashing out much needed money for their BB network so it can be directed to the NTL powers that be back pockets, its a pity they dont have a cap on their wages.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

This is just the reason I have been complaining for soo long about not being able to monitor my downloads and uploads. I have two teenagers sharing this connection and no way of knowing what they are downloading due to NTL blocking my access on the SACM. C&W area is not allowed to access for any reason so why can't NTL put it up on a website that the customer has to log in on using their user name and password to view the graphs..


Come on its only fair NTL want to cap it then allow customers the right to view what they have already used!!!!!

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Hi


Wellllll if they send me a letter goodbye NTL hello bt sky and bulldog.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I'm not going to sudenly pack up and leave NTL as I have been happy with the BB service provided so far.

I have already left them for Sky due to the poor TV service but treat the BB seperately. I have written back and said that I would work with them to find a reasonable resolution but setting download limits is NOT reasonable.

We'll see

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Just a point i wonder if any AOL BB customers who use the ntl network will get a letter.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I would be interested to hear if any1 else got one of these this morning and it wasnt just me!

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

How ironic the letter doesn't actually tell you either:

1) HOW to monitor your downloads; and
2) HOW MUCH bandwidth you have used in order to get the letter

If I got one of those letters I would want answers to both the above questions from ntl.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

:LOL: You could smell this thread from a mile away couldn't you m8 :D

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Acathla What area are you in, just out of interest?

And this was snail mail rather than e-mail? I think that is quite odd...

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

blue jammer: I'm in Wilmslow. It was snail mail.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Fair enough, my bad :pp
That may be, but why should a customer have to run around trying to find that out? Obviously the letter has not been thought through very well, otherwise this information would have been included.

Sorry, but this whole thing smacks of the usual ntl bodge job. Firstly, since when has TSB been called on an 01792 number???!?

Secondly, that bandwidth website is a joke, isn't it? I could have made a better looking website in notepad with my eyes shut...

I see ntl have spared no expense in process for finally enforcing the 1GB cap :D

I did wonder how long it would take them to enforce it, and after running scared for a year now, they're finally sending the letters out.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

And a very professional site it aint to!

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Perhaps the website is suposed to be like that - to save on bandwidth perhaps :D

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

PMSL :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

That is very true, I did not think of that. So there are no products to monitor bandwidth of you are using a router because SNMP is disabled?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

It's nice to have a geographic number which is cheaper to call than a 0845 number.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Correct :mad:

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Out of interest, have you actually tried speaking to them by calling the number?

Interested to know if the advice they give is still along the lines of, "Please avoid heavy use of the connection at peak times", rather than just the less specific keep to 1 gig a day total. The reality being if you stuck to 1 gig but did it all in the peak mid evening period this would not assist other users in your area at all.

This "time-shifting" of bandwidth use was suggested would be the advice when the cap was first put in place as the contention problems only applied at peak times (in those areas where heavy use was a problem at all) and not 24/7 anywhere.

Reason for the interest is that if that advice still applies they will be establishing our favoured option of excluding off-peak use by "custom and practice" and the argument for adopting it more formally would then be far easier.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

In ex C&W areas we are not allowed that access can't even check docsis for faults and yes port 161 is open. I cannot access teh webpage for my SACM as its not allowed unlike some areas.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Ill let yo kow that my usage over the last few days has been:

13th 0.6G
14th 0.3G
15th 1.2G
16th 2.8G
17th 2.0G

Now I know that somedays im double 1G but the above averages at about 1.3G so thats not really far over is it?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

10 gb a day is just greedy - I dont think I could use that if I tried....

Perhaps the word " cap " is not correct.... Consideration for other users may be better !!!

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Depends how they monitor though Noob.

The point I was making is that even if such users restricted themselves to 1 gig a day but did so at peak times (as it was more convienient for them) it would completely negate the benefits from them having reduced their bandwidth.

The whole point of the exercise is to reduce congestion not just get people to comply to an arbitary limit of 1 gig.

Think about the reason for the rule rather than just the rule itself and the argument we make about off peak use makes sense but the way the cap is applied does not.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

the other thing is i use most my bandwidth between 11pm and 8am so ntl cant tell me this is peak times can they?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Have you pointed this out to them and if so what was the response?

The numbers you give clearly meet the terms of the current AUP as being a breach of the terms but as you rightly say your pattern of use clearly would not be disruptive.

In view of this it would help greatly to hear their response to the point you make.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I await their response!

I prefer to communicate via snail mail as I can send recorded delivery so I know that they received it and I have their responses written. Over the telephone things can be said then quickly forgotten!

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I would use a letter via registered post. Email read rcpts. can easily be negated !

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Do you really think you'd get a straightforward reply?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

no :(

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

So it begins eh.

Although I object to limiting an unlimited service I'm inclined to accept that those people who are using the service 24/7 full whack should have their usage restricted a little.

The 1gb a day guideline isn't that bad in reality. But I just don't agree at all with it being applied on a daily basis. I'd be happier if the 1gb a day guideline was taken over the course of a month, or even fortnightly. The daily usage limit is too easy for people to exceed even if they are not placing a burden on the network in the long term. I say give us 30gb a month and relax the restrictions outside peak times. I agree with lessening the peak time burden on the network but the 1gb cap doesn't actually achieve that anyway.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

If I get messed about by any of this stuff with NTL, its bye bye NTL after 4 years as a customer and hello Nildram, with their wholy more sensible 150 gb a month allowance on downloading.

Id urge anyone else to do the same :) Time to vote with your feet.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Sorry but this just doesn't look genuine to me.
Surely they'd put up a proper page like www.ntlworld.com/help/bandwidth or something?
It's done using an XHTML Doctype too, that's not the NTL I know.
Can any NTL tech confirm if this is real or not?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

if ur paying 4 unlimited use then in ur contract it will need to say that there can limit u or there in breach of their contract and u can get comp off them

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

ntl r crap any way ive had bb 4 3 months and they have had to refund every payment i have ever made coz of faulty services

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Ah the routing table entry - I remember..... I would have though that the routing table needs to be updates on the router via a static stub network entry or the like !!!!

Now that both of you have mentioned the website Hmmmmmm - It does look a little fishy !!!!

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Apparently it's genuine, if a bit outdated.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

ntl broadband cant restrict usage as it breaks their contract

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

JustAnotherN00b:

Two stamps on envelope.
One from Swansea dated 13.02.04
and another GB Postage Paid (PBP03080) for 20p

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

No it doesn't

http://www.ntlhome.com/legals/userpolicy.html

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

If noone else can before I will sort out a scanned copy of the letter tomorrow when I'm in work

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Thanks. :)

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

So it begins again :pp

Its a stupid cap that's been implemented by a stupid company who believe sending out a stupid mail will stop anyone downloading what they want to download.

If they really want to put a cap on then do it properly get some decent software that would restrict your speed down to a lower "service" if you go over the limit (which should be way way bigger then a gig)

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

OK, so in order for me to be able to watch I don't go over this limit, I'll do all my downloading when I can be infront of the PC - something like 6PM - 11PM, I'd guess others will be doing the same.

I'll also try to ensure I download .99Gb of some crap or other everyday, I don't want to feel I'm not getting value for money.

and I'll limit myself to lots of small files, as I guess that has no effect on the network.

and I'll leave my FTP on 24hrs maxing out all my upload bandwidth.

:rolleyes:

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

1Mb a day! ntl are really getting tight now! :rofl:

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Hope i get one then i can finally have the motivation to get adsl, you can get 1mb adsl for £26 now and 2mb for £35 or so...

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

No disrespect to those discussing the problems of monitoring downloads behind a router, but I hink would it be a good idea to set up a separate thread for it?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Yes, I agree they are linked, and it is natural that the discussion on it started here, but there have been so many posts about it that it might be clearer if the thread could be split.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Yes agreed, and I've tried my best to split them up to make sense. Now back on topic with the letter :D

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I got a letter too!!!

In my mail this morning I also had one of these letters, so you're not on your own Acathla ;)

I've scanned in a copy and posted the link below. I wont post it here as it's pretty big, only 64k though. The lines on the scanned copy aren't from my scanner, that was the quality of letter NTL sent out!

http://klaus1013.freeyellow.com/ntl.jpg

Some interesting discussion in this thread. I am a heavy user of my connection and I know it. However, I signed up to an unlimited service and that is what I expect. I generally download in excess of 100Gb per month and why not? I readily admit to computers being one of my hobbies, the Internet being one of the biggest parts. These days I'm at loss as to what I used to do with my computers before I had broadband. That little RJ45 plug brings such joy ;)

So it's bye bye NTL for me. I'm not paying £35 per month to download 30Gb!!! Especially when there are so many providers not imposing restrictions. Worst case scenario and all ISP's eventually impose restrictions, which is possible, I'll switch to a business connection.

I understand that I use more than most people do. So NTL, bring some different pricing structures in, at least a tiered CAP, rather than 1Gb across all connections. I can max out my daily limit in one hour on my connection, what's the point of having it for the other 23 hours of the day?

If anyone is interested, I have an OCR scan of the letter. Just drop me a line at klaus1013@yahoo.co.uk. I'm Stockport, South Manchester btw.

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

www.nildram.co.uk if the amount is an issue, they have a 150 gb a month limit there.

there are others but im not sure about limits on them myself

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I'll add it to the alternative phone number thread :)

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I really did wonder how long after setting the cap they would start to impose it looks like 12months is the mark.

Thank You Keyser for splitting the threads I will continue to take part in the other half to continue to discuss how to monitor the SACMs in the Ex C&W areas.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

No wonder I was confused, all those quotes from posts that just weren't there :confused: :LOL: :rofl:

Edit, I'm still waiting for someone who's ditched Ntl to get one, or for them to send one out to someone who's been out of the country for the past month, cant be long.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Bulldog are the ISP for me. As a company they are impressive in their adoption of new technologies and are one of the few to do any unbundling. Their website is already talking about ADSL2, the standard for ADSL offering better speeds. NTL are showing that they are a company who are not interested in pushing broadband further, they have showed they're not a company who are interested in the customers...

Anyway, enough ranting ;) Bulldog have a special offer for 2Mb for £37.99 per month. £2 dearer than NTL, plus I already have a BT line :D

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I have just upgraded my service from 600k to 1Meg so that i could download more. Thankfully for NTL i havn't recieved one of those offensive letters yet, but god help them if i do. I have been with NTL for about 6 years now and currently have all services and top packages so if they wish to loose even more money than they already have then so be it i dare them to send me one of those letters. I won't think about using another provider i just will.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

The letter is from a 'Donald' in internet customer care team, I would of thought this was an AUP matter?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

The letter was a bit strange. No NTL frank or markings on the envelope. No date on the letter. Plus the print quality of the letter was terrible, with all the lines running across...

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Just phoned the number to confirm the letter was genuine. The number goes straight to the broadband support team. I asked them to confirm the letter and they did. They then wanted to start taking details, but I declined and said I would consider what the letter had to say first. The woman confirmed I "would decide if I needed to do anything about the letter" and that I would contact them if I needed to.

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

One reason could be that the "overuse" isn't covered by the AUP directly as such if the issue is to do with maxed out upstream rather than downstream problems.

The AUP makes no mention of a specific upstream limit, although I believe a rule of thumb being used at one time was about 300MB a day being a figure considered excessive.

I can see one possible reason for them not being specific about this though as AFAIK on-line game play by its very nature uses more upstream bandwidth than most other "normal" use.

For me it was no accident that the original change to the AUP came at the time NTL were going all out to sign up people for the various Xbox & PS2 type use. By signing up more people playing games they were perfectly well aware this would shift the usual balance between upstream and downstream usage.

If this is the case then asking users to avoid running up-stream servers at peak times should be the focus not limiting downloading at all.

As it stands all the heavy users could comply completely as regards the AUP downloading limits, or even give up downloading completely, but still cause congestion by running servers during peak times.

Essentially what is required is an "Intelligent" rewording of the AUP that would promote and steer both upstream and downstream use for file transfers towards off-peak times. Most will have no problem complying with this as file transfers can be scheduled to off-peak times whereas browsing and game-play can not.

The result at the end of the day must surely be to get the maximum use out of the equipment with the minimum disruption to individual users.

The current AUP does neither. It instead applies what may well be unnecessary restrictions on some, thus annoying them and many others, but without actually improving the quality of service for anybody because the tool being used is too blunt and aimed at the wrong target.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I said on the first day the cap was announced that if I ever received such a letter I would immediately cancel all services. I have the full package and my monthly bill is on or over £100/month. Like Kitty I have 2 teenage sons who share the connection - we aren't particularly heavy users but I loathe the idea of having to monitor what everyone is doing and worrying about the threat of these letters hanging over us!

My sister-in-law has an adsl connection with Demon - through all my DNS problems, outages, mail problems, her connection whizzed along trouble free. Each time I saw her I thought 'why am I still with ntl?' Laziness plain and simple.

Well that's it - no more. First thing tomorrow a phone call to BT, then Sky (fortunately I still have my box and contract - only need to go back to the full package). Only question remaining - who to sign up with for adsl?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Nicely put Sociable :)

I do use my upstream almost continously. I host an e-mail and web server and do a lot of remote management to here. I'm also on a couple private P2P communities, which I choose to give most of my bandwidth to. I want to be able to give back to these communities. At the same time I'm crying out for a home user connection with a faster upload and am willing to pay more for it.

This cap is far too broad and needs a lot more consideration. However, even if they did move towards off-peak usage, I would still leave. I pay for an unlimited connection and that is what I want to be able to use. More and more applications, games, web-sites and on-line services are being produced which use more and more bandwidth. I want to be able to make use of these at my leisure, not have to worry about whether I might be going over my daily limit or what time of day or night it is.

When other ISP's in the this country and around the world are rolling out faster and faster connections. What does it say about the future of one that tries to curtail it's user's use of their connections?

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Hmmm, well with my usage pattern over the last 2 or 3 months I guess it's only a matter of time before I get one. I mainly stick my pc to download overnight, from about 1am to about 7:30am, but I definitely go over their limits. I've been with NTL for about 5 years now and am paying them over £100 a month for phone, TV and broadband. If I get a letter then that £100 will be going to BT, Sky and whichever ISP can give me email that works 24/7, real newsgroups with binaries groups that work and at leasy 1mb download for under £30, so basically any other ISP apart from NTL.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

The two ISP's I'd recommend for ADSL are PlusNET and Bulldog. PlusNET offer an excellant service and have won many awards. They offer a variety of packages, focusing on their customer's needs. They even have seperate packages for P2P users and non P2P users! (Are you listening NTL?) Their support is excellant and their website is just as good. The amount of services and tools made available through their website is amazing.

If you're a heavy user and don't want all the extras, I'd go for Bulldog. Only £37.99 for their 2Mb connection and the website even states unrestricted. If you're not lucky enough to be near one of the 450 exchanges with the 2Mb service, then their 1Mb service is only £32.99. They also offer off-peak packages (Still listening NTL?), they work out even cheaper. Have a look at the post at the top of this page for all the benifits for using them. But there's no e-mail, web-space, static-ip, etc. Not a problem for me, but PlusNET is much more user friendly.

PlusNET - http://www.plus.net/info2/residentia...broadband.html
Bulldog - http://www.bulldogdsl.com/residential/home.asp

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Personally I think this is a cut and paste job. The NTL logo is the old one with the N and T stuck together also wouldn't the logo be ntl:home like on their website www.ntlhome.com The logo was changed to the one on their website before the cap was introduced.

Please try better Klaus, and for everyone else, please don't feed the trolls.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Bulldog looks dodgy if you ask me, their 2MB connection isn't 2MB ALL the time, it's off peak, and during peak hours it's 512MB, Pah.

I'm a heavy-heavy user with P2P and the like, and I'll wait till I get a letter before I decide who to go with, nildram looks like the winner so far, even though they're pricey, have a look-see at this package:

1024down, 256up static IP and no limit on downloads at all, £57.58 (bit pricey) a month...

It does have another section that says "Up to 256 Private IP Addresses" + option (£5.88) (£47.00 admin - over 8 IPs) all of which goes straight over my head, can someone have a look and explain that?!

linky: http://www.getadsl.co.uk/dslpro1000.htm

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

So many questions - but the answer to "Do I upgrade to 1mb" has been answered.
I would like to see someone actually confirm the letters are ligit or not, and why would they have a homepage.ntlworld.... address (not likely me thinks?) Who has the account bandwidthadvice?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Realy? :erm:

AllTime 2000 gives you up to 2 Mbps 24 x 7 with a superior 40:1 contention ratio. And now 0845 dial back-up is provided as standard.

For a limited period, Bulldog is offering its AllTime 2000 service for just £37.99/mth

So that's about £3 more a mont for double the upload :erm:

You want to look at Bulldog properly, here's the details on their 1Mbit service:

Up to 1 Mbps downstream bandwidth, that's nearly 20 x faster than dial-up

Up to 256 kbps upstream bandwidth**

Flat monthly fee - unmetered usage

Available nationally***

40:1 contention ratio (that's 20% better than industry-standard 50:1)

0845 dial back-up now included as standard
Choice of Static or Dynamic IP Address (Static IP is available for £2.35 per month*)

'No-frills' - e-mail and other services excluded

£32.99 :)

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Tricky, for the reason I gave above, I think that this letter is a fake.

also, Klaus joins today and posts the link with his first post, and finally they give a Swansea number for the Tech support team, when for the majority of the UK, the 0845 number is cheaper.

I am 99% sure this is a fake.

PS isn't cable modem support 24/7??? The letter says 8-6

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

cjmillsnun, I don't know how I can convince you, but I assure the letter is legit and sat right next to me. If you can think of a way I can convince you, please ask.

blue jammer, you need to look at Bulldog's AllTime packages, not the PrimeTime ones. Have a look here - http://www.bulldogdsl.com/residentia...me/alltime.asp

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Yes but this was the bit (bolded) that worried me:

Up to 2 Mbps downstream bandwidth, that's nearly 40 x faster than dial-up

:confused:

Can anyone who's actually signed up or used bulldog confirm this, as I'd hate anyone to sign up and then find they're stuck with a service that isn't consistent...

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Klaus, I shall remain sceptical until a member of AUP or a Tech support person says it is genuine.

Believe it or not, they do use this site.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Thanks for pointing that out Klaus, I'm going blind :spin:

Is that who you'll be going with then?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Just a thought but could this be a semi "unofficial" effort by one local team to help sort a localised problem only, hence the need to be specific about the number called so as to ensure routing to a specific location?

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Hi again cjmillsnum :) I joined today because I got the letter this morning and went looking for other people who had also had the letter. I knew about this forum and saw that Acathla had had the same letter.

As for the details on the letter, they are what they are. I was a bit dubious about it and rang the number, I was put on hold and it did say NTL Tech Support. However, I'm now glad I didn't give my details, as the letter could be from someone trying to scam some details! Seems unlikely, as only a few NTL users have had them and they all admit to heavy usage.

Oh and you probably won't believe me, but... I have a friend who works for NTL Narrowband. Now he admits he doesn't deal directly with this issue, but that they were informed of it last week.

cjmillsnum, if you would like to chat real-time with me, maybe I could convince you? I'm usually on-line on the following; ICQ: 69313980, Yahoo: klaus1013 or MSN klaus6466@hotmail.com

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

blue jammer, yes, I'll be going with Bulldog. I follow the broadband scene pretty closely and Bulldog have constantly impressed me with their service offerings.

cjmillsnun, I hope someone from NTL can confirm the letter. It would put my mind at ease too.

Sociable, I thought it could be a local thing too. Seeing as both cases here were South Manchester. Someone on another site has said they have had one, so I've asked him where he is. However, the frank on my letter is Swansea...

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Klaus, phone up about it again, but use the number 0845 650 0121.

This being the tech support department at Swansea. If they sent the letter, they will gladly advise you about how to monitor your usage, and shouldn't need to take any details, unless you ask them about how much you have used it.

I am sure Russ could find out from a contact at Matrix Court if the letter was genuine.

Lastly you mention that you have a high upstream usage, but you don't mention your downstream.

But the cap as per the AUP is only on downstream usage at this moment in time.

I am willing to eat humble pie if proven wrong, but my views remain.

Anyway, I'm not a mod and don't work for ntl so what do I know, and Welcome to NTHW.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Do you want to PM me your webspace.ntlworld.com/<address> to take you out of the equation? :wavey:

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Thanks cjmillsum :)

My downstream is almost as busy as my upstream. I download in excess of 100Gb per month. I'm fully aware this flaunts NTL's AUP, but I signed up to an unlimited connection and will use it as such for as long as I can.

On hold to NTL now. Would you believe this is the first time I've rang their tech support!!!

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Hey Tricky, nice idea :) I'll figure out how to put something up there and let you know.

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

That just isn't true, most of the time it is more expensive to call a non-geographic number than a national one.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I'm with Bulldog on their Primetime tariff, the service is great (I had a little issue with their CS dept, but it was soon sorted :) ) I get wonderful download speed both during the day (always nearly 512k) and in the evening speed tests regularly show me spot on 2Mbit.

They are billed as "up to" services because they are contended (sp) just like your Ntl BB. The difference is Bulldog are honest (as are Pipex and the like who also say its an up to speed) and Ntl aren't. Ntl regularly bill their products as 1 Mbit, with no indication that the actual speed may be slower. If contention is a problem then I would look at Bulldogs new 40:1 products :)

edit Another reason I like Bulldog at the moment is because all their customer service is dealt with at their head office, they don't have a call centre, thus its easier to get problems sorted :)

Oh, and they now do a residential 4Mbit service too :D

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Got through to NTL after a few minutes. The guy who answered the phone wasn't aware of the letter, but rather worryingly confirmed it was from them anyway. I pushed the point and he went off to find someone senior.

After about five minutes someone who introduced himself as Gary Humphries came on the line. He confirmed that the letters started to go out to customers on Thursday last week. He also asked me if there was another number on the letter other than the one I called. When I confirmed this he said it was to the same office as the 0845 number, but went through to a team who were aware of the letters. He didn't ask any questions about my usage, but I had been very clear I just wanted to confirm the letter's origin. After that I hung up.

Surprising the front-end guys didn't know about the letters. However, I could have just got through to someone who doesn't read memo's and the like. My friend in the Narrowband dept certainly knew.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Bah.. I dont want to have to monitor my bandwidth usuage.. thats not what I got broadband for, its not what I signed up for either.

If I ever get a letter like that, I'll just deny I ever recieved it. The cheek! "Pay us 35 quid a month, and have this lovely broadband.. ooooh isn't it lovely... Right thanks for the money, now actually could you stop using it soo much cos its annoying other ppl" ffs.

ntl sort it out, or you'll be going down the pan.

tbh I'm not sure how many ppl in my street actually have broadband.. my neighbour has 150K, dunno about anyone else.. But I'm on a newish network anyway.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Hi Guys,

I'm new to NTL, just got 1 mb broadband installed after being with Freeserve Broadband for several years, I'm quite impressed with the speed etc so far but this 1 gig issue seems very unfair and worrying to me.

I totally understand that it may be necessary to impose some level of cap to keep the service running well for all users, but the way NTL have chosen to do this seems wrong. Surely the rates of cappage should be something along the lines of:

150k connection: 1 gig
512k connection: 3 gig
1 meg connection: 5 gig

or something similar, its really ridiculous that 1 mb users are capped the same as 150k users ?, this is brought home when I see on the Register today that the BBC are considering using their own P2P network to distribute their archive programming to the public.(http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/35617.html) With the current NTL cap we would not be able to see much !!

Also NTL themselves offer 'Broadband Plus' for an extra monthly fee, How are we supposed to be able to use it properly ?
Yesterday I downloaded the Unreal 2004 Demo, today I downloaded the PainKeeper demo, both files were over 200 meg, the far Cry demo is over 400 meg I think so if I had downloaded that and then had 'Broadband Plus' (at an extra £3.99 a month) I would be frightened to use it for fear of the 'cap'.

Sorry for my first posting here to be a whinge, but I just wanted to have my say.

Cheers

Ian

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Someone was mentioning that they dont like people hogging the upstream, well its their fault... if they had decent newsgroups people wouldnt be forced to use p2p.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

And to think ppl only have half the upstream compared to adsl. Heaven help the ntl network if it's ever brought in line.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I can assure you this letter is genuine, or Klaus has inside knowledge of who is who in ntl :)

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

:welcome: Hi Ian don't worry about the post it needed to be said. I also said the same nearly 12 months ago. Shame NTL was playing the role of the three monkeys see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil

Any way we all have a rant over this and will for years to come but at least we do talk...

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Trouble is Nutty, you're already a customer under the AUP which has the restriction in it. In theory you should already be monitoring your bandwidth. I doubt they're going after everyone who goes over the 1Gb limit though. Question is, what is the criteria for getting a letter. I doubt NTL will tell us.

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Thinking back, didn't someone from NTL say that they would monitor peoples usage and people who had broken the cap on consistently over a 3 day period would get letters??

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Ah, sorry for the double post. Replied before I reaslised there was another page, then meant to edit instead of post... :eek: :naughty:

IanUK, my thoughts exactly. Your break down of the caps would seem a much more sensible way to go about things. To rub salt into the wound, I received an e-mail from NTL today trying to get me to subscribe to their 'Broadband Plus'!!!

Nutty, the upstream on the 1Mb service is 256, the same as ADSL. If it wasn't, I wouldn't have signed up in the first place!!

Keyser, thanks :)

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

Daft question number 1 - Does anyone who has received a letter monitor their usage? so that they can show an example of usage..

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

yes they did originally. They also got a lot of customers to register supposedly to help devise teh best way forward with the cap. Which never even got under starters orders I still have the emails from the powerusers group..

I will be cancelling Broadband plus as it would be a waste of money after these letters.

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I was a member of the Powerusers Group too!!! Fat lot of good that did...

Tricky, I do monitor my bandwidth usage pretty closely. If I take an average over a month, I would say I download around 8Gb and upload around 2Gb per day! I'm sure I'll get some flack for this, but as I've said, computers are one of my hobbies. I guess downloading is a big part of that hobby :D But broadband connections should be unlimited and if the stuff is there to download, why not download it?

Klaus

Re: 1GB Cap Letter!!!!
 

I reckon I probably do around 2 - 3 gig on weekend days and probably easily reach 1 gig on most days of the week. Occassionally if there is something I wanted to download I have gone up to 4gig. On a couple of days I have noticed I've gone over 6gig. I only know this because I have a log for my newsgroup usage, because on top of the inflated 1meg price I pay to NTL for a service with a flaky email service and non-existant newsgroup service, I have to pay £20 for seperate newsgroup access. I've paid NTL over 5 grand in the last 5 years. If they want to get rid of me then that's fine by me. I'll take my money elsewhere and hope they suffer financially for their stupid business decisions.