Upgrade to 10mb from 2mb - now worse off :(

Apollo · 18-04-2006, 16:53

Today I made the move of upgrading my 2mb connection to the 10mb NTL package.

I currently use the Samsung STB and was assured that in the 10 days or so till my cable modem arrived I would be getting around 4-5mb bandwidth.

Anyhow, after some speed checks at various places it seems that my bandwidth is operating between 500K and 1.2mb!

I never had a problem with the 2mb package and always got around 1.8 - 1.9mb on the speed tests.

What I dont understand is why this would occur - I asked whether the contention ratio was different on 2mb than the 10mb package - the answer i got was that they are all the same (even though the support rep didn't know what "contention" meant).

Other problem is that if I am downloading on one PC the other lags severely. I have made no changes to my router/hardware config this only started occurring after the package upgrade.

Anyone had similar problems or got any idea as to what on earth could be going on? NTL of course are at a loss and it's "all my fault" even though my hardware has been identical for 12 months and only had problems after the package change.

I am wondering whether to just head back to 2mb and if i did would it be as stable as it was before? or am I now doomed to unreliability...

Mick Fisher · 18-04-2006, 17:57

10meg is C***, Support is C*** and you will likely find they won't change you back till the start of your next billing period.

Druchii · 18-04-2006, 21:02

Just wait until you get the modem, if things aren't better by then, then's the time to complain. Remember the STB was never meant to handle 10Mb.

Rone · 18-04-2006, 23:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Druchii

Just wait until you get the modem, if things aren't better by then, then's the time to complain. Remember the STB was never meant to handle 10Mb.

That should'nt be a problem, you get a prize if you ever see 10meg anyway.

DaggaDagga · 18-04-2006, 23:43

I'm about to upgrade from 10Mb to 2Mb

Apollo · 19-04-2006, 00:11

Sounds bad...

Maybe it was a mistake.

Chrysalis · 19-04-2006, 01:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaggaDagga

I'm about to upgrade from 10Mb to 2Mb

monkey2468 · 19-04-2006, 01:05

Never really understood why upgrading some peoples speeds actualy give a decrease in speed. I can't think of any technical reason. Does anyone have a theory or answer as to why this might occur?

Druchii · 19-04-2006, 07:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkey2468

Never really understood why upgrading some peoples speeds actualy give a decrease in speed. I can't think of any technical reason. Does anyone have a theory or answer as to why this might occur?

My theory is that the STB is trying its damned hardest to use the extra bandwidth available to it, and as such is actually perfoming worse off. Whereas if they eft the config how it was until the modem was in place it would have been different.

Apollo · 19-04-2006, 13:54

You wont believe this...

after two days and total phone time of 3.5 Hours, after speaking with 3 sales and 4 support personnel, after a visit by a disgruntled engineer who diagnosed my problem being - " 'cause your on 10 meg, it's crap". The solution was...

A junior assistant noticed that I had been put on a 750K connection NOT 10mb! How do they do this? My jaw hits the floor at their ineptitude, nobody for the last two days of fault finding even spotted it.

My connection now shows 3mb, if its all I ever get I dont care, just let me out of here!

Thought I would share...

G.B.H. · 19-04-2006, 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaggaDagga

I'm about to upgrade from 10Mb to 2Mb

Classic

Druchii · 19-04-2006, 15:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apollo

You wont believe this... after two days and total phone time of 3.5 Hours, after speaking with 3 sales and 4 support personnel, after a visit by a disgruntled engineer who diagnosed my problem being - " 'cause your on 10 meg, it's crap". The solution was... A junior assistant noticed that I had been put on a 750K connection NOT 10mb! How do they do this? My jaw hits the floor at their ineptitude, nobody for the last two days of fault finding even spotted it. My connection now shows 3mb, if its all I ever get I dont care, just let me out of here!

Thought I would share...

I didn't even know they could put people on 750k connections :O

Might explain my 3.4mbps... nah, just kidding

Chrysalis · 20-04-2006, 00:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by monkey2468

Never really understood why upgrading some peoples speeds actualy give a decrease in speed. I can't think of any technical reason. Does anyone have a theory or answer as to why this might occur?

Yes when capacity isnt upgraded by the same margin.

If you increase the max burst speed to each user by 500% (2mbit to 10mbit) then if you dont increase the shared bandwidth pool by the same margin you are also increasing contention ratio and as such actual bandwidth per customer drops.

So an example I could give is you have a load of customers on 2mbit, the actual bandwidth to each customer is 400kbit but because of light users they are able to fully burst and as such they all happily getting their 2mbit and their is some spare bandwidth leftover. Now upgrade these users free of charge but leave the shared bandwidth pool the same size, so you now have customers who can burst to 10mbit and still have 400kbit actual bandwidth, most of the light users still use the same but the heavier users find they can use more, so now contention is biting and it isnt possible to hit 10mbit and because of increased contention the 2mbit is no longer acheivable.

I think some people wont agree with me on this tho, BT,NTL and loads of other isps have started scrapping contention ratio figures to try and hide whats going on.

---------- Post added at 00:16 ---------- Previous post was at 00:12 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Druchii

My theory is that the STB is trying its damned hardest to use the extra bandwidth available to it, and as such is actually perfoming worse off. Whereas if they eft the config how it was until the modem was in place it would have been different.

Whats your explanation for the SACM 250 users?

dragon · 20-04-2006, 23:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

Yes when capacity isnt upgraded by the same margin.

If you increase the max burst speed to each user by 500% (2mbit to 10mbit) then if you dont increase the shared bandwidth pool by the same margin you are also increasing contention ratio and as such actual bandwidth per customer drops.

So an example I could give is you have a load of customers on 2mbit, the actual bandwidth to each customer is 400kbit but because of light users they are able to fully burst and as such they all happily getting their 2mbit and their is some spare bandwidth leftover. Now upgrade these users free of charge but leave the shared bandwidth pool the same size, so you now have customers who can burst to 10mbit and still have 400kbit actual bandwidth, most of the light users still use the same but the heavier users find they can use more, so now contention is biting and it isnt possible to hit 10mbit and because of increased contention the 2mbit is no longer acheivable.

I think some people wont agree with me on this tho, BT,NTL and loads of other isps have started scrapping contention ratio figures to try and hide whats going on.

---------- Post added at 00:16 ---------- Previous post was at 00:12 ----------

Whats your explanation for the SACM 250 users?

Chrysalis i think the question was more to do with the fact that now hes on the 10mbit service why does he get slower speeds than when he was on the 2mbit service.

i understand that theres a shortage of bandwith for the 10mbit service but how come you can get a stable connection if your on the 1 or 2mbit yet you get slower than 2mbit on the 10mbit

are they keeping the 10mbit users on a different channel to the 1 and 2mbit ones or something.

Chrysalis · 22-04-2006, 11:42

I thought I answered that.

Or are you saying that if he was to downgrade again his speeds would rise to 2meg?

In my case no matter what tier I am on if speeds are poor in the evening they dont reach 2meg even if I am on the 2meg tier.

If he has a modem capable of 10meg and his speeds speed up on the middle tier to higher then the 10meg tier then I would expect it to be to do with something ntl have done rather then general contention because that doesnt make sense. Their is only one downstream channel on the ubr so all the 3 tiers share the same bandwidth.