reliability of different VM BB services

jimbo1968 · 05-03-2008, 15:50

Within a given area, is there/could there be, a reliability difference between the 2Mb,10Mb,20Mb services? eg because they use different hardware?

I am quite happy with the reliability of my 2Mb service (plus I have BT as a backup). But I would upgrade if I was sure that the service would not get less reliable.

Last time I had a disconnect was over 2 months ago, which is quite good as I'm on for 5 hours straight 60% of eveniings.

Background: Disconnects from poker tourneys cost real money

PS: My Pipex ADSL connection disconncts for a few seconds about twice per evening. So this shouldn't be taken as a moan about VM reliability.

moaningmags · 06-03-2008, 03:32

Depends where in the uk you are.
It might be an idea to check the status page on VM and see if your area is inundated with problems.
If you're ex-blueyonder go to http://tools.blueyonder.co.uk and that will tell you your ubr.

Mine for example is: Client Host Name: XX-XX-X-XXX.cable.ubr01.uddi.blueyonder.co.uk

If you're really nosy, like me, once you know your ubr, a call to tech support to query problems on that ubr would also be a good indicator.
Yes its 25ppm, but I'd be nosy enough to find out.
If you do decide to upgrade, remember to state your upgrading for 30days as a trial and that you don't want tied to a new 12month contract.

HTH
Mags

dev · 06-03-2008, 07:30

depends on your definition of reliability. I'd expect change tier wouldn't involve any physical changes and so if your connection is solid (as in there is some form of a connection) i'd expect that to be the same for any tier.

If you define reliability as the speed too, then getting 2mb 24/7 of the day would mean you'd see between 2 and 4mb on the 4mb service but it shouldn't get slower. Similarly, if you see 4mb 24/7 on the 4mb service, you shouldn't go slower by upgrading to 20mb. That's how i'd expect it to be.

I'd also expect if you never got over 3mb on a 4mb service, you'd still only get 3mb on the 20mb service.

jimbo1968 · 06-03-2008, 14:11

For me reliability just means not losing connection. Speeds right down to 50kbps are OK for me.

My fear is that the 4(10Mb) service will be very popular and that might lead to disconnects. If certain 4(10) service problems don't effect the 2Mb service I'm better off staying on 2Mb.