A Hypothetical Moral Question About Speed

cllp1975 · 24-10-2009, 13:24

So you have your 50meg broadband. It works, on a wired connection, however with the supplied router (which is part of the package and supported by the company - let's call them "Flurgin"), your coverage and speed is down to that of dial-up, often.

After much craziness, and the repair of several other faults, the conclusion is reached that the congestion on 2.4ghz band is so saturated, that achieving reasonable speeds is not likely.

So the question is this, really - both legally and morally:
Given that Flurgin don't supply a dual-band router, which they could quite easily do, are they doing everything they can to provide you with the service you are paying for. And I guess more fundamentally, given that Flurgin (or whoever) supply and support the router, is it therefore reasonable to accept in nearly 2010, that the only way one will get a good speed is to wire every machine?

Don't get me wrong.... wireless speeds drop over wired speeds. That's fine. But a drop of 48meg.... Equally I accept that the wifi network is open, and there's not a lot one can do if it's crammed - but given that there ARE alternative bands (which are damn near empty right now), then don't Flurgin have a duty to customers to exhaust every opportunity to get the customer what they are paying for?

I'd welcome your thoughts....

Any similarity to any similarly named cable company is purely coincidental...

webcrawler2050 · 24-10-2009, 13:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by cllp1975

So you have your 50meg broadband. It works, on a wired connection, however with the supplied router (which is part of the package and supported by the company - let's call them "Flurgin"), your coverage and speed is down to that of dial-up, often.

After much craziness, and the repair of several other faults, the conclusion is reached that the congestion on 2.4ghz band is so saturated, that achieving reasonable speeds is not likely.

So the question is this, really - both legally and morally:
Given that Flurgin don't supply a dual-band router, which they could quite easily do, are they doing everything they can to provide you with the service you are paying for. And I guess more fundamentally, given that Flurgin (or whoever) supply and support the router, is it therefore reasonable to accept in nearly 2010, that the only way one will get a good speed is to wire every machine?

Don't get me wrong.... wireless speeds drop over wired speeds. That's fine. But a drop of 48meg.... Equally I accept that the wifi network is open, and there's not a lot one can do if it's crammed - but given that there ARE alternative bands (which are damn near empty right now), then don't Flurgin have a duty to customers to exhaust every opportunity to get the customer what they are paying for?

I'd welcome your thoughts....

Any similarity to any similarly named cable company is purely coincidental...

What you have to remember, it's not about morals etc here - it's simple a business decison about cost. Thats all.

Peter_ · 24-10-2009, 13:46

If you want a better router then the are plenty available out there, if you expect your ISP to supply a high end piece of kit then expect to pay more for the service and for the 0800 50Mb support number to go to 25ppm.

They supply kit at a price and if you want better you are able to upgrade it, I bought a PC but I upgraded that to the spec that I wanted.

cllp1975 · 24-10-2009, 14:45

I take your point - but I don't expect a freephone customer service number. I've only ever rung it once.

I do expect to be able to get 42-43meg wirelessly, on a 50meg service, and I expect the company to do what they have to in order to get that - and price their offer accordingly from the outset.

"Up to 8meg" is one thing. But when you're paying for a premium service, I do expect to get what I pay for, for a fair price. If Flurgin can't offer me that service at that price, they either need a different offer, or a different price structure.

Give it a few years and wifi problems will be chronic, especially in London - and expectations of a good wifi connection are only going to get higher.

Peter_ · 24-10-2009, 15:05

50Mb support line number is actually free though 0800 052 0431

cllp1975 · 24-10-2009, 16:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moldova

50Mb support line number is actually free though 0800 052 0431

I know it's free. My point is, I don't really care if my customer service is free or not - I care if my service works as advertised. If I have to pay 0845 or 0870 for a call to do that, bring it on - priorities way out of wack.

Peter_ · 24-10-2009, 16:04

As I said if you want a better router the are plenty out there and most people will either stick with the supplied kit or buy a better one.

Toto · 24-10-2009, 16:29

Who or what is Flurgin?

cllp1975 · 24-10-2009, 18:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toto

Who or what is Flurgin?

Non litigious rhyming slang...

dev · 24-10-2009, 18:57

Always said and will continue to do so, if you want speed and reliability, used a wired connection.

Also, what is with this "nearly 2010" rubbish? What has the year got to do with what a hypothetical company should or should not be expected to do?

caph · 24-10-2009, 19:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by cllp1975

the congestion on 2.4ghz band is so saturated, that achieving reasonable speeds is not likely

Have you checked this?

Download and run InSSIDer and check exactly what is on the 2.4GHz band in your area. You may find a sweet spot you can change channel to...

---------- Post added at 20:05 ---------- Previous post was at 19:57 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by dev

Always said and will continue to do so, if you want speed and reliability, used a wired connection.

I use 802.11g on a 20Mb connection and the lowest speed I get at all times is 19.5Mbit with average ping times of around 16ms. There is no problem with wireless speed and reliability if you get a good channel and a good UBR. Wired is loads better for LAN, but currently in the UK it makes sod all difference for cable WAN access.

Jon T · 24-10-2009, 19:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by caph

Have you checked this?

Download and run InSSIDer and check exactly what is on the 2.4GHz band in your area. You may find a sweet spot you can change channel to...

Presumably this doesn't identify networks that have turned of their SSID broadcast?

cllp1975 · 25-10-2009, 19:30

Thanks - this is much better than the other network stumbers I have used.

As for it being nearly 2010 - my point is... a maximum speed for a wired connection in this day and age is meaningless - and yes, I accept that there will be some drop in speed - but today's consumers work wirelessly.... I use wired connections where possible, but what about the netbook, the wii, the media streamer? They have to work wirelessly, and right now, they're acting as doorstops because they don't work.

And the reason they don't work is that I am not being offered the equipment I need to make it work in my premises. And as far as I am concerned, that means I am not being offered the service I am paying for. QED.

Jon T · 25-10-2009, 19:44

You are getting a cable modem, which provides you with your 50Mb broadband with wired ethernet presentation. I'd say your getting exactly the service your paying for. If Virgin were to offer equipment taylored to every customer's requirements then they'd end up doing a site survey before every order.

If you feel you need a 5Ghz router and accomanying dongles/PCI cards, then do what us 2.4Ghz/non 50Mb lesser mortals do, go and buy some kit.

25-10-2009, 19:46

i don't aggree with your hyperthetical question at all simply because they are suppling a router that is "fit for purpose"maybe not as fit as some but still fit ,given the choice which i have i will always supply my own router because then i know what i'm getting

Flurgin are only supplying a base model that is cost effective because otherwise the cost would be too great and you'd end up buying one anyway cos they wouldn't supply one ...and they don't have too