Quote:
Originally Posted by sollp
And Like BT, when you ring and complain they will quote all the issues affecting the speed and as i found with MY bt Infinity 2 BB, that as long as the speed is between 50-68Mb, they DO NOT SEE AN ISSUE. So I pay for 76Mb, line is capable of 68Mb, router connects at 54Mb....
Unlike VM where the customer sees a massive reduction of 20Mb on there service and the Engineers are running around trying fix the issue.
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I find that last paragraph pretty astonishing. VM couldn't care less if customers on 152Mb are hitting 20Mb as long as they don't hit it for too long during a 7 day period, let alone dropping 20Mb. A quick look at the VM forum shows people hitting sub-10Mb at peak times being told that their area 'hasn't breached thresholds'. I can show you customers on VM that have been paying for 152Mb and been achieving less than 10Mb at peak periods for over a year. Hardly 'running around trying to fix the issue'.
When you, or I, order a service from an xDSL ISP they will quote a speed range. That is what we are paying for and what they commit to provide. Indeed Ofcom regulate this and if the speeds fall below estimate too much we can leave free of charge.
At least we have a low end and a high end, and if we don't like it there are usually 40Mb products available. For a VM customer 'up to' can mean less than 10Mb/s during peak periods for several months on a 152Mb service.
xDSL has distance limitations that are outside of the ISP's control, it's a symptom of the technology. Cable has issues that are most definitely within the cable operator's control. VM do not make any attempt to ensure that services are congestion free, and will openly admit to this.
Incidentally the speed ranges are intentionally wide. They don't mean that your line is definitely capable of the higher end speed at all. If that were the case you'd have a single figure given. The estimates are based on the line length between the cabinet and the distribution point that serves your, and other, properties. If you are further away than most from that distribution point your speeds will be at the lower end. If uptake of FTTC in your area is high that'll also have an impact on the speeds due to crosstalk.
You were given an estimated speed range, your line performs within that speed range. The laws of physics are pretty unforgiving and they are what govern these speeds. This is in contrast to speeds on VM, which are entirely down to the laws of profitability.