*ALL* ntl Cap Discussion (Part 3)

To repeat - this thread is not an english lesson. Off topic posts removed.

[mcmanic]

Originally Posted by DieDieMyDarling

BT customers got emails today, about the caps, going into a lot more details and also stating that users don't have to worry if they only go over the caps every now and then, and not by too much.
Expect an announcement by NTL soon, catch up time.

at least they get a e-mail, i mean how are NTL customers who got letters posted to them meant to read them and to follow what is setout in them when they gone missing in post?,

*The average user don't vist these forums and therefore I know nothing of caps,gigs,bytes, cap letters,fair usage policies, NTL should state these more clearly on signup not by small print- and currently 51gigs downloaded this month*

[chiba]

So assuming someone who recieved a letter (me) still goes over the cap limit what do people think NTL will really do,
according to letter
either move you to a lower speed with higher usage allowance (does this exist??)
or suspend your account but you still remain liable for monthly charge (well if you are past the 12 months minimum contract I can't see how they are planning to hold this up, if you don't like it just cancel your account and go else where)

so are NTL just trying to prune there accounts, again I find it hard to believe that network congestion is really the problem, as there are other ISP's that other totally unlimited usage for about the same price, and I still haven't heard of anyone who has had a problem with there service that is/was caused by congestion, please anyone, I wouldn't mind the cap so much if I thought NTL were telling the truth..

[theNomad]

yeah I agree with your last comments chiba & mcmanic but we know that ntl have had very cagey policy about actually telling people the truth on the caps clearly because its harder to sell the package to people telling them they could only use it in some cut down limit way,and like you state unless you do visit forums like this you probably wouldnt know ntl have any kind of fair use policy.

If ntl played fair I think people wouldnt mind as much as they clearly do.What they need to do is

#1 Make a clear policy about packages - Tell people what they are getting for their said package & how much they can use.We are all here paying different amounts for the same or even worse packages.I have the 1.5mb pace set up and pay the same as the users with proper 2mb probably about 50kbs slower D/L and at least half as much U/L as they have for the same cost.You also hear 1mb users who are paying £25 and not the £18 other 1mb users are.

#2 Come into line with other providers for price & speed - this is the 2nd key issue people are leaving in large numbers.Cost per what you get for your money when you put NTL next to other ISP's - 30gbs for £25 and 3gbs for £18 per month is not value per household,they need to stop marketing on these dream speeds when clearly you cant use that speed for long with those painfully low caps.

I know guys say if your so unhappy switch to another ISP but I'm holding out like ive said before in this cap thread as its a pain to change my tv,net,phone packages to seperate companys.And also Ive gone over my cap again this month but hoping the letters where like the ones from 1-2 years and never went further than empty threats.

peace out guys see you when the next letters and possible action to customers happens.

[astra_lestat]

Just saw Tesco's broadband 512kbps - NO download limits.
I am going to keep their CD now in case I get a letter.

[Rone]

These are going out to BT customers atm.

BT Yahoo! - Important news about your Broadband from BT service Posted:
Weââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ve got some great news about TWO improvements weââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢re making to your broadband. And donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t worry, they are improvements at NO extra cost!

Youââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ll be aware that each of our products comes with a usage guideline. This is the amount of data you can send and receive through your broadband connection each month. However, as we donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t want anything to get in the way of your enjoyment of the Internet, weââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢re making two important improvements to the way usage guidelines work.

A new approach to usage guidelines †“ to give you more freedom

Although the vast majority of our customers are within the current usage guidelines for their product, some customers have told us that they feel restricted. So weâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ve responded.

Our new approach to usage guidelines means you are free to use your broadband without the fear of being limited or charged.

From now on, if you occasionally exceed your monthly usage guideline there will be no need to worry, as youââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢ll be able to continue using the service as normal for the rest of the month without any restrictions or additional charges.

In fact, as long as you donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t regularly exceed your usage guideline by a large amount, you have no need to worry whatsoever. If you do regularly go over the allowance, we may contact you about moving to a more appropriate product for your needs. However given that the usage guideline for BT Yahoo! Broadband is more than enough for most people on this product, itââ‚ ¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s unlikely this will be necessary.

And an increased monthly usage guideline at no extra cost

Additionally, as there are more and more things you can do with a broadband connection, we have decided to increase your usage guideline anyway. This means your monthly usage guideline will be increased from 30GB to 40GB, giving you even more reason to relax and enjoy your broadband.

And you donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t have to do a thing

Well its an improvement, and they are increasing limits.

[smashie]

well thought i'd just share my atempt at finding and alternative provider with you all...

I'm about to eat some humble pie here so no flaming please, as i posted in part two of this thread i received a letter with regards to my usage (which i hasten to add i was not incensed about) and decided that i would seek solace somwhere where i wasn't going to be subject to capping.

I phoned ntls' cs and explained the situation and the guy on the end of the phone was very helpful and did as i asked and set me up for disconnection, at that point i started browing for deals and came across onetels unlimited 2mb service plan which i signed up for.

Job done you may think, cut to three weeks later or so and last weekend my ntl service halted so i atempted to set up the onetel kit that had been delivered a few days previous and guess what.. NO DICE!!! the knobbers at onetel hadn't even done a line test to see what if any connection i would get, needless to say i was more than a little upset and after 40 mins of talking with incompetent or indifferent indian call centre staff i finally lost the plot and demanded that my contract was terminated.

the guy at the end of the phone said this can be done but i would get a fifty pounds charge for terminating early, so i went down the bank monday morning and cancelled all their direct debits (see em in court i guess!!), Anyhow to cut a long story short i phoned ntl and asked to get reconnected which was done in a flash, and now i promise to be a good boy and play by the rules..

better the devil you know, bring on the unlimited packages

[astra_lestat]

Well, you can blame only yourself for signing up with someone not so well known. Nowdays you gotta make a good research on the Internet before deciding, also it is a good practice to call them up and ask questions regarding caps and p2p traffic tolerance. So...of cause it is risky. It merely depends on how much one can tolerate caps. I for one, will switch to 512kbps Tesco with no caps than constantly worry about every megabyte I download (in case I receive a letter). But I will do the research before I disconnect

[chiba]

Nildram, bulldog, ukonline to name a few much better deals for heavy downloaders, I'm going Nildram way if NTL disconnect me in October close to 200 Gig so-far and proud of it

BTW Direct debits can be re sent from the ISP no problem just cancelling at the bank wont stop them getting the money unless you tell the bank the ISP is trying to de-fraud you of the money but then I'm sure the bank have a duty to inform the police

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by chiba

Nildram, bulldog, ukonline to name a few much better deals for heavy downloaders, I'm going Nildram way if NTL disconnect me in October close to 200 Gig so-far and proud of it

BTW Direct debits can be re sent from the ISP no problem just cancelling at the bank wont stop them getting the money unless you tell the bank the ISP is trying to de-fraud you of the money but then I'm sure the bank have a duty to inform the police

The ISP's that you mentioned may have better deals on paper but do they have them in reality? They all have clauses in their T&C's that they can use to disconnect any user that they want to get rid of. Many ISP's that are commonly named are not the giants that such as NTL and BT are and would be unable to cope with an influx of very high bandwidth users. As these ISP's offer ever increasing speeds they are getting nearer and nearer to the time when they will no longer offer unlimited services or will use the magic word "UPTO" to ensure that you cannot get anything like the speed you expect. Take Bulldog for example who only have something like 65,000 BB customers and a waiting list of 20,000 (figures were from a month or so ago) who have been having horrendous problems for a fair time.

If you notify your bank that you are cancelling a Direct Debit mandate then they will not take any further funds from your account that were the subject of that mandate.

[chiba]

only said Nildram as I know a few people using them and they have never had a problem one person in paticular is a heavy ftp user.
Nildram have a 50gig monthly cap except between midnight and 8 am with is uncapped, but what i really like is that if you do go over the 50gig cap you aren't diconnected but speed reduced to 64k during 8am to midnight, this I think is fair.
If NTL's real problem was congestion why not offer an uncapped 'Off-Peak' allowance.

I also love the fact BT have now back-stepped to a soft cap only policy the is very clever bussiness if you ask me as soon as NTL go ahead with inforcing hard capping BT up your limit to beat NTL.

as for these small companys taking to long to connect new customers try moving house with NTL then waiting over a month to have the internet connection re-enabled even though you have the phone and tv service working fine, at least the small companies can always use the to small excuse ;-) as opposed to the not customer orientated approach, unless your a new customer of course...

ment to add 'i think' to the direct debit thing as its happened to me the bank 'Barclays' said it was because it was a rolling direct debit not just a one off payment, this is why standing orders are better because they normally have a payment date on them and sometimes even an end date
Direct debits do not they are just an agreement for a company to bill your account for example phone bills are not allways for the same ammount so untill the phone companys issues the direct debit your bank does not know anything about it but you don't have to sign or agree to the transaction each time your bill is due...

as I said i'm not 100% sure just previous experience and worth checking maybe....
__________________

just compared ntlworld an nildram over at adslguide
just look at the gap between them especially regarding Customer service, looks good to me
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/isps/com...action=Compare

[Dogster]

Like many others I'll be waiting to see the outcome of all this but
until we know more I've modified my usage.
Not that I ever considered myself a heavy user, but even modifying
my download/browsing etc.. habits, I'm still in excess of the current
miserable 30GB cap.

[Chrysalis]

dogster what tool you used for that?

[Hans Gruber]

It looks like dumeter with some godawful windows skin

[nemesis01]

pretty sure i have gone over the limit, maybe only by a gb or so tho so, i'm hoping ntl lets that go as acceptable.