[Merged] NTL - New 1MB / 5GB Cap - should I subscribe @ 300k with NO CAP ?

The simple answer is that none of us really know.

The new services have specific caps assigned to them, that is clear from the announcements.

We also know that ntl have plans for metered access next year - this is in their own presentation document, so they must be installing equipment to monitor your usage.

The existing services also have a limit, that is not applied much at the moment because they don't have the means to monitor and enforce it.

Put these facts together and what do you get ?

The implication is that as soon as ntl has the means to monitor your usage properly and individually, they will. What will happen if you then exceed your limit - again, no one knows, but an educated guess would be that you will have a choice of either paying for extra, or being dropped right down in speed (probably to 150k). I do not think they will ever cut people off.

I believe that by this time next year - all the ntl services will be limited, and the limits enforced. Only time will tell.

[Earwig]

I think I will be looking for a new I.S.P next year.

With more and more companies unbundling BT's exchanges we should see many high speed packeges available soon on ADSL and available to far more people than at the moment.

If you look at some of them they offer a choice of both "Capped" and "Uncapped" which at least gives you the choice.

If you are a heavy user (like myself) then I would opt for an uncapped service but pay a little extra.

For those that do not use it as much opt for the cheaper option (still utilising the same speed as me) but have to adhere to a cap.

It stuns me that NTL have not gone for an option similar to this. They seem to have a tier of a few separate speeds ALL with their own relavent caps. The caps are also so low that you could download your months worth of allowance in less than a week.

Is this really the way to go??

I am pretty sure that NTL will lose many, many customers next year if this is the way they plan to go forward.

Even NTL's rival Telewest (soon to be merged??) has no mention of a capped service......

Going back to the point made by the thread starter, is it wise to opt for NTL at all as your provider?? All depends on wether or not you are a Heavy user or not? From what I can gether you are not so perhaps a faster speed and a cap would suit you.
But on the other hand when you have this faster speed and you find out what you can really do with a fast connection you will find tha cap a killer...........

[Matth]

It depends - The question of 1Mbit / 5Gb per month (where the cap is clearly to avoid every current 750k user piling in to a cheap 1Mbit), 300k at £2 cheaper (and will it have the 5Gb cap, the 1Gb/day soft cap, or a lower limit than the 1 Mbit?), being forced up to the next tier (but I'd probably bail out to a currently unlimited 512K ADSL, as there is a BT line available).

By my current metering, I'd probably be ok with 5 Gb/month, but leaving little room to use broadband like broadband - to put it another way, anything I can't do with 300k now, would burn too much of the 5Gb quota too quickly, but anything I AM doing with 300k now, I could do faster.

Though I have misgivings about any cap that's within my "need to watch it" possibility, they've probably set it about right, though I'd jump at half the speed and at least twice the quota or no quota, a threshold which would then be "out of sight".



The other question, the quota includes, of course:
1. Download and upload
2. Email and newsgroups (including spam)
3. Probably the junk as well, pings, and other crap hitting your firewall with YOUR IP address on it.

The other stuff that some PC based monitor programs count are:
1. Broadcast traffic, eg. DHCP traffic to others in the same segment (your firewall sees this)
2. ARP traffic - there is a LOT, and this registers as a constant background of about 0.8Kb/s on some monitors - I believe this has been referred to as a defect in the way ARP is handled from the UBR, as if ARP results were cached, it should NOT need a constant barrage of ARP

[iron25]

What I suggest that people should do is cancel there ntl broadband subscription and then sign up to AOL. As far as I know, they do not have any caps and the ironic thing is they use the ntl network.

Originally Posted by JohnHorb

me too

[daxx]

Originally Posted by iron25

What I suggest that people should do is cancel there ntl broadband subscription and then sign up to AOL. As far as I know, they do not have any caps and the ironic thing is they use the ntl network.

at 512K, but read the T&C very carefully

[cookie_365]

Originally Posted by Earwig

... It stuns me that NTL have not gone for an option similar to this ...

How do you know that they haven't? They haven't ****** well announced anything yet, apart from the new speeeds themselves !



zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Now now, play nice children.

[AndrewJ]

Well I am appauld by this move by NTL and as I shall state when we d/c from them end of December while we move house, I wont be having there broadband because I need higher limits then what they are offering.

Originally Posted by AndrewJames

Well I am appauld by this move by NTL and as I shall state when we d/c from them end of December while we move house, I wont be having there broadband because I need higher limits then what they are offering.

Then why not pay for what extra you use? Metered broadband is said to be launching, sometime in 2005. If you go over your usage limit then there is that option to pay for what extra you use.

[AndrewJ]

I see your point there, BUT my issue would be I like to have a flat rate per month, and would prefer to pay 50pounds for a months 3mb service to include no cap, because the usage of my net varies but I need bills to stay same as money flucuates alot here.

Closed/open/closed - what's going on with this ('cap') thread?

[lakeybloke]

The trouble with moving away from NTL if you don't like the caps, is that you can't have the TV without the phone line.

This means that if you want to go back to BT, you have to either pay for an extra line just for your internet access, or scrap the TV, telephone, AND broadband altogether or you may just end up paying loadsa money just to "escape" from NTL.

Originally Posted by JohnHorb

Closed/open/closed - what's going on with this ('cap') thread?

I have re-opened it. Some people might not like capping discussions if not then do not read the thread but some people want to talk about it and cast their views particular on such issues which metered broadband coming next year has just come to light, or ask further questions and should be able to, without others entering the the thread and posting 'zzzz' etc when quite clearly they have a choice in the first place not to read the thread if it does not interest them.