200M : Moved home & receiving under 2Mbps and really high ping

[Doz007]

Hi all,

I've recently moved house and experiencing extremely slow internet connectivity. Prior to this, the same equipment was plugged in at my old property and I happily received 200Mbps almost 24/7.

Now I've moved onto a new developmentit's turned in to a nightmare! VM have partnered with the home builders and all the houses are wired for VM in every room. The problem is that the internet is completely unusable and VM tell me it's due to living in an area of high utilisation.

Is there anything I can do? Would moving to the Homeworks 300Mb service help or will I still be receiving under 2Mb?

[jb66]

There is nothing you can really do if it's utilisation apart from look for another isp

[Doz007]

I feared that would be the answer. My problem with this is that VM are still accepting new customers in this area knowing full well that the network can't cope. Surely they must have a plan to increase the network capacity?

There's approximately 100 more homes being built on this development so I would have hoped that VM factored this prior to wiring all the homes for Virgin?!

[Eeeps]

Originally Posted by Doz007

I feared that would be the answer. My problem with this is that VM are still accepting new customers in this area knowing full well that the network can't cope. Surely they must have a plan to increase the network capacity?

There's approximately 100 more homes being built on this development so I would have hoped that VM factored this prior to wiring all the homes for Virgin?!

Have VM give you a fault reference? If they formally accept that there is a fault you can either...

1) expect a reduction in you monthly bill

or

2) give them a reasonable time to rectify the fault (to your satisfaction) and if they don't, request to leave penalty free (if you are within a minimum term).

What you shouldn't do is believe their assurances that it will be fixed by mm/yyyy because most people's experience suggests otherwise.

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by Doz007

Now I've moved onto a new developmentit's turned in to a nightmare! VM have partnered with the home builders and all the houses are wired for VM in every room.

I don't know how best to explain it you, whether you want to think of it as the capillaries and blood vessels in your body, twigs/branches and a tree trunk or streams flowing in to a river. Many houses go in to a street cabinet, many cabinets feed into one big cabinet and that cabinet connects to one of many cards on an CMTS. VM have got the capacity in place further up the network, the over utilisation is purely due to demand on your estate. There will be somewhere around 12 downstream channels available for your area (which is more than just your housing estate) which will run at ~55mbits each and that is 660mbits total for your area. Work out how many houses are connected x 200mbits internet connection and you will see you haven't got anywhere near enough. All those connections aren't going to be maxed out all the time so on an average estate you would probably be fine during the day and only notice some slow down in the evening. The problem you have got is that given your demographic, subscription on your estate may be 100% whereas VM might only plan for 40% of total households. I know in my area because of where I live it is minimal so I get full speed all day every day.

The best way to think of it is that you have divided your blood supply throughout your body and it is being distributed proportionally base on demand (which we know is true). You have now attached another body to your little finger and you want that bodies blood flow to be managed through the blood vessels in your little finger. It just ain't enough.

The only way VM can fix something like this is to completely redesign the network in your area which normally takes about a year of planning and preparation so the only way you can "fix" it is to switch to completely different isp like BT which will use a different network and hopefully have laid some fresh fibre.

[Kushan]

Just to clarify, have you done a wired speed test or are you experiencing wireless congestion?

[General Maximus]

Good question dude, i could have saved myself a whole lot of typing. I assumed he went wired though as he made a point of saying that 'VM connection has been put into every room'. I am assuming the house has been wired and there are ports/face plates in every room.

[ruddock08]

Originally Posted by General Maximus

I don't know how best to explain it you, whether you want to think of it as the capillaries and blood vessels in your body, twigs/branches and a tree trunk or streams flowing in to a river. Many houses go in to a street cabinet, many cabinets feed into one big cabinet and that cabinet connects to one of many cards on an CMTS. VM have got the capacity in place further up the network, the over utilisation is purely due to demand on your estate. There will be somewhere around 12 downstream channels available for your area (which is more than just your housing estate) which will run at ~55mbits each and that is 660mbits total for your area. Work out how many houses are connected x 200mbits internet connection and you will see you haven't got anywhere near enough. All those connections aren't going to be maxed out all the time so on an average estate you would probably be fine during the day and only notice some slow down in the evening. The problem you have got is that given your demographic, subscription on your estate may be 100% whereas VM might only plan for 40% of total households. I know in my area because of where I live it is minimal so I get full speed all day every day.

The best way to think of it is that you have divided your blood supply throughout your body and it is being distributed proportionally base on demand (which we know is true). You have now attached another body to your little finger and you want that bodies blood flow to be managed through the blood vessels in your little finger. It just ain't enough.

The only way VM can fix something like this is to completely redesign the network in your area which normally takes about a year of planning and preparation so the only way you can "fix" it is to switch to completely different isp like BT which will use a different network and hopefully have laid some fresh fibre.

Interesting stuff! So if I have the HomeWorks 300 service.. when I'm using the entire 300mbps bandwidth, I am effectively using just under half of my local area's bandwidth? That's mental!!

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by ruddock08

Interesting stuff! So if I have the HomeWorks 300 service.. when I'm using the entire 300mbps bandwidth, I am effectively using just under half of my local area's bandwidth? That's mental!!

If you were in any area apart from those that were ex-CWC then you were using over half of the available bandwidth if you had 20Mb running at full pelt, 20Mb of 38Mb.

You use over half your area's bandwidth if it's 12 downstreams. ~600Mb available, you can chew through 330Mb of it.

[Doz007]

Thanks for all the replies folks, much appreciated.

Originally Posted by Eeeps

Have VM give you a fault reference? If they formally accept that there is a fault you can either...

1) expect a reduction in you monthly bill

or

2) give them a reasonable time to rectify the fault (to your satisfaction) and if they don't, request to leave penalty free (if you are within a minimum term).

What you shouldn't do is believe their assurances that it will be fixed by mm/yyyy because most people's experience suggests otherwise.

Yes, they've provided me with a fault reference number but when I asked about an estimated fix date his computer conveniently froze!

Originally Posted by General Maximus

I don't know how best to explain it you, whether you want to think of it as the capillaries and blood vessels in your body, twigs/branches and a tree trunk or streams flowing in to a river. Many houses go in to a street cabinet, many cabinets feed into one big cabinet and that cabinet connects to one of many cards on an CMTS. VM have got the capacity in place further up the network, the over utilisation is purely due to demand on your estate. There will be somewhere around 12 downstream channels available for your area (which is more than just your housing estate) which will run at ~55mbits each and that is 660mbits total for your area. Work out how many houses are connected x 200mbits internet connection and you will see you haven't got anywhere near enough. All those connections aren't going to be maxed out all the time so on an average estate you would probably be fine during the day and only notice some slow down in the evening. The problem you have got is that given your demographic, subscription on your estate may be 100% whereas VM might only plan for 40% of total households. I know in my area because of where I live it is minimal so I get full speed all day every day.

The best way to think of it is that you have divided your blood supply throughout your body and it is being distributed proportionally base on demand (which we know is true). You have now attached another body to your little finger and you want that bodies blood flow to be managed through the blood vessels in your little finger. It just ain't enough.

The only way VM can fix something like this is to completely redesign the network in your area which normally takes about a year of planning and preparation so the only way you can "fix" it is to switch to completely different isp like BT which will use a different network and hopefully have laid some fresh fibre.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, it helps understand my current situation but it only emphasises how poorly thought out VMs network is. The crazy thing is later on in the year they'll announce speed increases!

Originally Posted by Kushan

Just to clarify, have you done a wired speed test or are you experiencing wireless congestion?

This is wired and wireless. On Sunday I factory reset the SH, unplugged everything but the PC from my network and still got the same speeds (1.89Mbps)

Originally Posted by ruddock08

Interesting stuff! So if I have the HomeWorks 300 service.. when I'm using the entire 300mbps bandwidth, I am effectively using just under half of my local area's bandwidth? That's mental!!

Exactly what I was thinking!

This can't be right surely. What happens when ten people in a single area subscribe to the 300Mb service along with all the current people on the lower packages, the network will completely buckle! Absolute madness.

I was hoping that the Homeworks 300Mb package would be the answer to all my problems...

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by Doz007

This can't be right surely.

no isp plans for every user to be using their connection 24/7 and that type of service is called an uncontended connection and you are guaranteed the speed you subscribe to. Like I said earlier, you can plan for a 40% subscription rate in your area (and say other people are going to BT, Talk Talk etc) and then say people are at work/school/holiday/day out etc etc so at any one time we are going to have x amount of people consuming x amount of bandwidth. Obviously it is a very generalised approach and doesn't take into account certain variables which is why you always have problems in student areas in large cities. A perfect example is my situation and yours as complete opposites to the norm. Because you are in a new housing estate I am going to make several assumptions:

1) houses have been purchased by young couples who are looking for their first home
2) houses have been purchased by young couples with children who are looking for something new in a family orientated neighbourhood where they know it is going to be safe
3) there aren't going to be any old couple at all as they are happy in their current homes with what they know and don't want anything new

Bearing those assumptions in mind I can assume that literally every single home on your estate is connected to the internet and not only that, usage is above average due to the age range of population. Not only will it be a "pc for the occasional email", it will be games consoles, phones, tablets, tvs etc. You are at literal extreme of the range for a) the % of connected properties and b) the usage per property.

Now the reason why I went through all that is to put it perspective for you. I live in a very affluent and gorgeous area of Lincoln and the housing estate I live is primarily occupied by old fuddy duddys who like to spend all their time gardening and knitting or if they are younger people they have very busy full time jobs so they can afford the houses and aren't at home a lot. In comparison to the above generalisations I made, a) I am in a very low subscribed area and b) usage per household (for the few that are connected) is minimal due to the age of the occupiers. This is why I have been saying for years that the network in my area is mint and I have no problem getting full speed 24/7.


I am not trying to be a dick but I am trying to explain the two extremes. I imagine there are very few areas which are like yours or mine and most lie in the middle. VM can't fix anything until it is broken and without everyone ringing up and complaining they do do their own monitoring of the network and will notice a massive spike in utilisation in your area. It will get fixed but the work involved is massive and will take a year like I said earlier. The best thing you can do at the moment if you need the speed is to move to BT/Openreach because the way their network is designed and works is completely different to VM. The problem you are going to have is the max you are going to get is 76mbits which is far short than your 300mbits with VM but far more than the current 2mbits which you are achieving. You can sign up to a 12 month contract and after a year speak to some of your neighbours and see if VM have got any better. Like one of the users has said above, once a utilisation fault has been raised there is a fault reference for it and VM will be making a plan to fix it even if it does get delayed and take many many months.

Originally Posted by Doz007

What happens when ten people in a single area subscribe to the 300Mb service along with all the current people on the lower packages

everybody gets a fraction of their speed because their isn't enough juice to go around. Ironically though I notice that you have got the Sky logo as your avatar. Sky use Openreach and if you have got Sky tv you should give them a ring and see what deal they will do you for tv, phone + bb. You will be a million times better off than staying with VM.

[Doz007]

Originally Posted by General Maximus

no isp plans for every user to be using their connection 24/7 and that type of service is called an uncontended connection and you are guaranteed the speed you subscribe to. Like I said earlier, you can plan for a 40% subscription rate in your area (and say other people are going to BT, Talk Talk etc) and then say people are at work/school/holiday/day out etc etc so at any one time we are going to have x amount of people consuming x amount of bandwidth. Obviously it is a very generalised approach and doesn't take into account certain variables which is why you always have problems in student areas in large cities. A perfect example is my situation and yours as complete opposites to the norm. Because you are in a new housing estate I am going to make several assumptions:

1) houses have been purchased by young couples who are looking for their first home
2) houses have been purchased by young couples with children who are looking for something new in a family orientated neighbourhood where they know it is going to be safe
3) there aren't going to be any old couple at all as they are happy in their current homes with what they know and don't want anything new

Bearing those assumptions in mind I can assume that literally every single home on your estate is connected to the internet and not only that, usage is above average due to the age range of population. Not only will it be a "pc for the occasional email", it will be games consoles, phones, tablets, tvs etc. You are at literal extreme of the range for a) the % of connected properties and b) the usage per property.

Now the reason why I went through all that is to put it perspective for you. I live in a very affluent and gorgeous area of Lincoln and the housing estate I live is primarily occupied by old fuddy duddys who like to spend all their time gardening and knitting or if they are younger people they have very busy full time jobs so they can afford the houses and aren't at home a lot. In comparison to the above generalisations I made, a) I am in a very low subscribed area and b) usage per household (for the few that are connected) is minimal due to the age of the occupiers. This is why I have been saying for years that the network in my area is mint and I have no problem getting full speed 24/7.


I am not trying to be a dick but I am trying to explain the two extremes. I imagine there are very few areas which are like yours or mine and most lie in the middle. VM can't fix anything until it is broken and without everyone ringing up and complaining they do do their own monitoring of the network and will notice a massive spike in utilisation in your area. It will get fixed but the work involved is massive and will take a year like I said earlier. The best thing you can do at the moment if you need the speed is to move to BT/Openreach because the way their network is designed and works is completely different to VM. The problem you are going to have is the max you are going to get is 76mbits which is far short than your 300mbits with VM but far more than the current 2mbits which you are achieving. You can sign up to a 12 month contract and after a year speak to some of your neighbours and see if VM have got any better. Like one of the users has said above, once a utilisation fault has been raised there is a fault reference for it and VM will be making a plan to fix it even if it does get delayed and take many many months.


everybody gets a fraction of their speed because their isn't enough juice to go around. Ironically though I notice that you have got the Sky logo as your avatar. Sky use Openreach and if you have got Sky tv you should give them a ring and see what deal they will do you for tv, phone + bb. You will be a million times better off than staying with VM.

Thanks again.

I believe that your assumptions are correct and explain a lot when thinking about it. I guess, we've just moved from an area similar to where you are living now in that the population of elderly people was fairly high and gardening was the hobby of choice. Like yourself, I've been singing VMs praises when I comes to internet for years prior to moving into our new home.

I've been looking into other ISPs today and VM is the only Fibre option here unfortunately so I think it's going to be a case of playing the waiting game while VM put a plan in place to relive this congestion. On the plus side, I'm seeing an improvement this evening and currently testing 28Mbps.... Nothing great but way better than before.

You didn't sound like a dick at all either. Quite the opposite in fact, a really informative post. Thanks again!