[Now Official] More ntl speed changes

[etccarmageddon]

"If you do not want to move to the new speeds (although I personally cannot see any reason for this ) then you do not have to.

Originally Posted by XFS03

Do you know this for certain?

I can't see ntl having 6 tiers of service. It would be much "cleaner" to have just 1, 2 & 3MB service options.

this must be the case as NTL are offering the new speeds as an option for existing customers to take for a £25 charge - therefore you have the option to remain on the old speeds (until they force you to changeover).

the old tiers wont be available for new customers though.

[zovat]

Originally Posted by XFS03

Do you know this for certain?

I can't see ntl having 6 tiers of service. It would be much "cleaner" to have just 1, 2 & 3MB service options.

Not for certian - but the NTL statement is that existing customers "can upgrade from Q1 2005 for a fee of £25".

I take the "can" as a "can but do not have to", otherwise I would expect "existing customers MUST upgrade" in their somewhere.

I may be wrong - but that is how I read it.
(but as I said - I cannot see why people would not want to )

Originally Posted by Chris T

On the contrary, the only reason I know any warez monkeys is by being a member of this forum ...

Whether their rampant p2p-ing is ultimately for their own consumption or for sale down Paddy's Market / The Barras / <Insert local outlet of dodgy warez here> I don't know.

I must admit i feel sorry for anyone on the same ubr as a warez monkey as you put them

[PC_Arcade]

A 40Gb cap is not unreasonable compared to some that exist, BUT bandwidth usage is INCREASING not DECREASING and to be capped to todays reasonable level is tomorrow's unreasonable level.

It will all have to be reviewed at some point when Ultra high bandwidth (VOD for example) become more common place, already any software I do buy is done electronically by downloading the package, this will only increase and IMHO the 40gb cap WILL become restrictive.

[etccarmageddon]

nice to see this is developing into a CAP thread!

zzzzzzzzzzzz

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by PC_Arcade

A 40Gb cap is not unreasonable compared to some that exist, BUT bandwidth usage is INCREASING not DECREASING and to be capped to todays reasonable level is tomorrow's unreasonable level.

It will all have to be reviewed at some point when Ultra high bandwidth (VOD for example) become more common place, already any software I do buy is done electronically by downloading the package, this will only increase and IMHO the 40gb cap WILL become restrictive.

Who's to say cap will stay as it is? As technology progresses packages progress with it, naturally.

By the time VOD is really widespread most likely DOCSIS 3 will be around and ready to rumble, which will be rather pleasant

Nothing stopping future caps being traffic sensitive - certain types of traffic being explicitly excluded or included, just a question of the required hardware being installed for deep application layer inspection of the data.

Likewise nothing stopping traffic shaping (eek swearword!!) being used in lieu of or as an accompanyment to more generous traffic limits.

[PC_Arcade]

sorry
That really wasn't my intention.

[PC_Arcade]

Originally Posted by Ignition

Who's to say cap will stay as it is? As technology progresses packages progress with it, naturally.

we can but hope

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by Ignition

Who's to say cap will stay as it is? As technology progresses packages progress with it, naturally.

By the time VOD is really widespread most likely DOCSIS 3 will be around and ready to rumble, which will be rather pleasant

One point that is being missed is that in reality NTL BB prices are coming down whilst you are getting faster and faster speeds. Prices held with positive inflation means you have to work less hours to pay for them.

DOCSIS 3 ?, what happened to DOCSIS 2 ?

[DeadKenny]

Originally Posted by ray_uk

I might be willing to pay about 60 to 70 a month for a 2 or 3 mb unlimited download.

That's a bit steep!

I'm on 2Mbps uncapped with PlusNet for £40.

Have to admit that a 30GB capped 2Mbps product with NTL would be much cheaper, but then I refuse to put up with endless packet loss, modem reboots, slow pings and terminally slow browsing on a 2Mbps product, as I had been getting on 1.5Mbps with NTL. I'm happy to pay more money for better quality and especially a stunningly better level of customer service with PlusNet.

NTL should sort out the network and local problems, plus their customer service, rather than concentrate on increasing speeds at lower prices to attract new customers thus congesting the network further. Sort that lot out, and I'd consider coming back (though I'd be more interested in NTL via ADSL than Cable Modem, as I'm convinced now that ADSL is a better technology in the long run, unless NTL are prepared to re-lay the entire cable network).

Though a little thought I've just had... is this confirmed to be a speed increase on NTL's cable network or is this actually what's going to be offered on their LLU ADSL connections? (or will they offer it on both?).

[sav112]

As far as I see now, Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m staying on the £17.99 300K with the 30GB a month cap. Although I thought it did not have a cap, but I read different now.

What is the point of giving us a faster connection able to download things and use the net more when there is such a low cap. If I had the new 1MB service for £17.99 Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢d go over the 5GB downloading Demoââ‚ ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s and clips, Music with that speed and does that mean that you loose the connection.

Itâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s like giving you a Ferrari and giving you 5 miles to drive it, utter madness you can ripe down the road fast as you like but the journey ends rather fast or drive at 2mph and make it last but your sitting on all this power.

Surly the 5GB a month is wrong?
How much is 5GB in reality to normal usage?

I would only take it if you got a warning that you had the last 1GB free for usage so I could stop all downloads and just use my everyday essentials like browsing, E-mail.

The upgrade looked good even with the Admin fee (£25 ouch) but im not so sure now.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by DeadKenny

NTL should sort out the network and local problems, plus their customer service, rather than concentrate on increasing speeds at lower prices to attract new customers thus congesting the network further. Sort that lot out, and I'd consider coming back (though I'd be more interested in NTL via ADSL than Cable Modem, as I'm convinced now that ADSL is a better technology in the long run, unless NTL are prepared to re-lay the entire cable network).

Confirmed as being on cable network.
Your area is fixed up now, it was never congested, however following some planned work some things went wrong that took a while to isolate. This has now been done and Woking is sweet again.
ADSL as it is now certainly isn't a better technology, pure copper, distance dependent, 8mbit/1mbit maximum vs hybrid fibre / coaxial network, no distance limitations, current max speeds ~28Mbps down and 4Mbits upstream (on ntl's implementation, can go a little higher with extra kit).
Certainly DSL will progress, however BT have had a max speed on their products of 2Mbit downstream 256k upstream for 4 years since commercial launch, and this is the same rate they trialled 8 years ago.
Whatever technology is the best it's down to what the companies decide to do with it. Virtually everywhere ntl have bb BT do as well, so ntl are competing with BT. Due to it being much cheaper to DSL enable an exchange than lay new cable in a town BT are able to cover much more of the country, so in their mind ntl / Telewest aren't really an issue as they have all these monopoly areas, which is why their product line has been so static, and their main innovations are removing unmetered charging for their bandwidth to smaller ISPs (a work in progress) and introducing massively higher charges for those ISPs that want to be able to use the pipes unmetered in order to get those extra few quid out of ISPs and customers.
Meanwhile their own ADSL ISP is so fed up with the rest of the company's attitude towards growing DSL's abilities and wholesale prices that they are considering unbundling exchanges themselves to have more control.

Fundamentally due to deeper fibre in network cable is the better technology, ntl are by the looks of it by far the more progressive company as well (comparing to BT Wholesale, who supply ADSL connectivity to all ISPs that don't unbundle).

Surly the 5GB a month is wrong?
How much is 5GB in reality to normal usage?

Considerably above average for 300k customers, approximately average for 750k....

[Ramrod]

link

NTL is to revamp its cable broadband packages at the start of next year, including the launch of a 3Mbps service.
It will replace its existing 300Kbps, 700Kbps and 1.5Mbps packages with services offering speeds of 1Mbps, 2Mbps and 3Mbps.
The 1Mbps package will cost £17.99 a month with a download limit of 5GB, the 2Mbps service will be priced £24.99 per month with a usage allowance of 30GB and the 3Mbps connection will cost £37.99 per month with a 40GB download limit. All include free activation and a free cable modem.
Existing NTL broadband customers will stay on their current service until they pay a one-off £25 charge to upgrade. Currently, members pay £17.99 a month for the 300Kbps package, £24.99 a month for speeds of 750Kbps and £37.99 a month for a 1.5Mbps connection. NTL said a dedicated online registration system for upgrades will be available from next year.
Aizad Hussain, managing director of NTL, said: †œOur new services are highly competitive and leave rivals stuck in the slow lane. Having led the way towards choice and value propositions I'm delighted that we're now leading the pack once again by launching these new super-speed services at affordable prices.
NTL said plans to launch bundled offers with the new broadband packages and its TV and telephone services are "in the pipeline".
Earlier this week, NTL launched a range of internet and telephone services for customers outside its cable network. A 512Kbps broadband service costs £17.99 per month.

...and here

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

DOCSIS 3 ?, what happened to DOCSIS 2 ?

Ah DOCSIS 2 only really gives higher upstreams, DOCSIS 3 will allow 'bonding' of multiple downstream channels, supplying nominal 56Mbit using 2 channels for example, instead of 28.

[Chrysalis]

NTL deserve a clap for this, I think maybe the top tier should be higher cap (50 or 60 gig) but in general I like.

1 - Bottom tier is low cap to stop mass downgrading from middle to bottom tier
2 - Middle tier is same cap as now but a speed increase from 750kbit to 2mbit (250%)
3 - Top tier gets a cap increase and double speed

As it stands ntl is just using a soft cap system and I think for at least the first 6 months it will stay that way, they will probably monitor usage and and send out letters to people who really take the **** (900 gig a month), then if they see the problem becoming to widespread then they might introduce a hard capping system.
I also like how finally the bottom tier have a lower cap limit. I will at this time probably stay on the middle tier.