How many will consider changing levels now?

[Marge]

I'm staying on 600/750 (associate rate anyway )

[seaneeboy]

I'm staying at 150. Was going to go to 500k, but this increase is enough for me!

Originally Posted by dev

the 1mb service is going up to 37.99 anyway so you aren't paying for that extra 500k

Of course you are. They put the price up first, then annouce the bandwidth increase later, so they can claim the increase is 'free'. Don't be taken in by ntl's PR spin.

If they had no intention of increasing bandwidth, do you really think they would increase the price of their top-tier service by about 4 times the current level of inflation while leaving their entry-level and mid-tier prices unchanged?

Full discussion of this aspect of the price/bandwidth changes is in this thread:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ad.php?t=11564

[orangebird]

Originally Posted by towny

Of course you are. They put the price up first, then annouce the bandwidth increase later, so they can claim the increase is 'free'. Don't be taken in by ntl's PR spin.

If they had no intention of increasing bandwidth, do you really think they would increase the price of their top-tier service by about 4 times the current level of inflation while leaving their entry-level and mid-tier prices unchanged?

Full discussion of this aspect of the price/bandwidth changes is in this thread:

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ad.php?t=11564

Towny, I thought your views of the speed increase was that it was a reaction to Telewests annoucement? Correct me if I'm wrong of course!

[Hell's Child]

Originally Posted by DeadKenny

I don't like being told I'm getting extra for free when I'm not and being told I should be happy to pay that bit more for the extra 500kbps, which although that's all very nice, does not represent a huge difference on a 1Mbps connection given typical use and limits of the Internet (i.e. for downloads, you may get that big download half an hour earlier if you're lucky, but I'm not really that bothered about it

So in your case, upload is you big requirement.
However im most cases people have 1mb for downloading, and that half hour quicker will make a big difference.

I don't understand how you can say that a 50% increase in speed

does not represent a huge difference on a 1Mbps connection

I don't like being told I'm getting extra for free when I'm not

The price increase was applied before the increase of speed was, so you had a price increase on your 1mb, now they are offering 500k extra at no extra cost on top of the 1mb connection (which is now 37.99), suppose it's to do with the way you look at it but, if you believe some people who believe ntl followed telewest, then your perception get's blown out of the water as the price increase had been on the cards since Jan, where as the speed increase has been on the cards since early march (so I am led to believe).

Telewest charge £37.99 if you only take broadband off them, so potentially ntl should look at giving a £2 discount to those who take telco off us as well.

Originally Posted by orangebird

Towny, I thought your views of the speed increase was that it was a reaction to Telewests annoucement? Correct me if I'm wrong of course!

That's going off the very narrow topic of this thread - so I answered it in the main BB speed increase thread, here.

Hi

I was not changing anyway been on 1 meg from the start and i am staying on it now

[DeadKenny]

Originally Posted by orangebird

If you have another service with them...

I have another service with NTL.

I repeat my statement. Telewest can do it for £35.

Originally Posted by Hell's Child

So in your case, upload is you big requirement.

Yes

However im most cases people have 1mb for downloading, and that half hour quicker will make a big difference.

You're sure the 1Mbps users are mostly downloaders? These are the extreme users of which there is only a small quantity anyway. Someone said 95% of NTL customers are on 150 and 600, so the other 5% are likely to be the extreme bunch who run their own LANs with web servers, video/media streaming, game servers,etc. It's highly likely the 256kbps upstream is more important to them than any other group of NTL users.

Even the extreme downloaders will need 256kbps more than others, as they're most likely using P2P apps, which require a chunk of upstream to get decent downloads, and to do that and be able to surf, you need twice as much upstream.

I don't understand how you can say that a 50% increase in speed does not represent a huge difference on a 1Mbps connection

It doesn't to me at least.

Try and download something like a movie trailer (for example) on 1Mbps. Then try it on 1.5Mbps. Chances are it will stuggle to achieve the max speed even at 1Mbps anyway, but other than that you're probably saving a small amount of time, but it's not going to be staggeringly amazing, not compared to the difference between analogue modem and broadband. In my experience the difference between 600kbps and 1Mbps is not that much. Sure it is on paper, but in practice it doesn't make an amazing difference.

Hell, even at work where we a significantly faster connection, the reality is we only get downloads equivalent to a 1Mbps connection most of the time.

The price increase was applied before the increase of speed was, so you had a price increase on your 1mb, now they are offering 500k extra at no extra cost on top of the 1mb connection (which is now 37.99), suppose it's to do with the way you look at it but, if you believe some people who believe ntl followed telewest, then your perception get's blown out of the water as the price increase had been on the cards since Jan, where as the speed increase has been on the cards since early march (so I am led to believe).

Yeah right, and NTL would have had no chance in applying the increase with no benefit at all given most of the ADSL competition are fighting to reduce prices, not increase them. The price rise and speed increase are definitely linked. Whether that means NTL knew about Telewest's plans back in January, or were planning their own increase anyway, who knows, and who cares.

At the end of the day, as said above, it's spin. The fact is that for 1.5Mbps you will have to pay £3 more than the old 1Mbps service, thus it's not free.



By the way, can we change the poll so the option "Wouldn't change at all?" is split into...

"I'm on 1Mbps, and won't change"
"I'm on 600kbps, and won't change"
"I'm on 150kbps, and won't change"

That way we can see how many of the "Wouldn't change" users are on which tier, otherwise it could be the low numbers on the dropping options could just be down to a low number of users on those tiers by proportion and the "Wouldn't change" users could turn out to be mostly 150kbps users.

[Florence]

Originally Posted by DeadKenny

y the way, can we change the poll so the option "Wouldn't change at all?" is split into...

"I'm on 1Mbps, and won't change"
"I'm on 600kbps, and won't change"
"I'm on 150kbps, and won't change"

As so many have already posted perhaps a mod or I can total up the speeds from this thread to split it when its closed.

Would all others who vote wouldn't change please also post the speed they are on.

Maybe it would be easier to close this and have a new poll asking which speed people have now - and which they plan to have going forward ?

Something like ;

Plan to have 1.5M
Plan to have 750K
Plan to have 300K
Plan to have None
Currently Have 1.0M
Currently Have 600K
Currently Have 150K
Currently Have None

With two choices allowed.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by towny

I won't move down mainly because I upload a lot of photos to our family website. I can just about bear with 128k up, but 64k up on the entry-level service is just a little too much like going back to dial-up for my liking. If it weren't for that, I might have been tempted to experiment with the 300k service just to see if I could get by with it for browsing and occasional downloads.

Forgot about that - stay the same then - while 300k download is probably enough, the 64k upload will be painful. My ISDN line will be quicker.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could pick and choose both streams in a menu pricing matrix.

[Florence]

Originally Posted by Pem

Maybe it would be easier to close this and have a new poll asking which speed people have now - and which they plan to have going forward ?

Something like ;

Plan to have 1.5M
Plan to have 750K
Plan to have 300K
Plan to have None
Currently Have 1.0M
Currently Have 600K
Currently Have 150K
Currently Have None

With two choices allowed.

Some times those who have already voted will not vote again :S

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by Kits

I was just unterested to see how many members now feel the lower package is fast enough for them?

If you are on 1MB soon to be 1.5MB and are a light user would you move to the new 750K ?

Is there any on the 600K soon to be 750K now feel the new 300K is fast enough for what they use?

Would anyone move up from their present level to the next after this press release?

Time for a poll

Currently on the 1Mb service...planned on angrily downgrading to the 600k service after the price increase was announced, but didn't get round to it ('cos of my usual lameness).....but now planning on staying on the 1Mb, due to the (upcoming) speed increase to 1.5Mb.

My connection is shared with my housemates' PCs, so more DL is definitely good for me (although I'd prefer a higher upload for gaming).

The £3 increase....I split the bill with the house, so the extra £3 per month is negligible.

[SOSAGES]

id go down but i need the 256 up.

[dave1379]

i agree i dont need 1mb but as i play a lot of xbox live i need the 256 upload to host, i think it sucks that they will charge me more now