Virgin Media UK Confirms Trial of Faster Broadband Upload Speeds

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by DaMac

I'm not really good at maths

I am, it is -£6.50 which means they have to pay you

[vm_tech]

200mb wasn't even announced 18 months ago...

[General Maximus]

I think it was June/July last year and they said they was going to start in November and have 90% of the country done before xmas.

[DaMac]

So nearly 12 months then, but the first estimate I had for my area was September October, in December my area had 200 mbs but every time I checked it stated a later month, they are still trying to get me to pay for something the publicly said I would get for free, I wonder why if on isn't involved.

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by DaMac

the first estimate I had for my area was September October

they didn't even start doing it till November

Originally Posted by DaMac

I wonder why if on isn't involved.

Ofcom

Originally Posted by DaMac

they are still trying to get me to pay for something the(y) publicly said I would get for free

I am going to look in to my crystal ball and guess that you aren't on 152mbits which is why you aren't eligible for the free upgrade to 200bmits and are instead on the next tier down (100 or 120mbits) and they are trying to entice you with the increased difference (100 to 200 vs 100 to 152) so the extra £6.50/month looks like a bargain. If you sign into my VM it will tell you what your current tier is, when your uplift is going to be and when it is due.

[DaMac]

Well you are wrong, i am on 152mbs, i wouldn't have been offered the free upgrade to 200mbs if i was on the lower tier, whilst i appreciate your replies don't tell me how to log in and see when my upgrade is, if you would have read i have done this many times, and each time i decide to have a look it has been pushed back my months and then months again, you say they didn't start till november, maybe they didn't but i first had an email like you said probably last summer and the first time i checked i'm sure it said september - october, the fact is it has been available in my area a long time and they keep pushing it out trying to get me to pay for the upgrade in the meantime when they promised it for free.
The way things are going they could still be promising it to me and pushing it out in 2020.
As another thread on this forum will testify, nothing comes soon to Virgin Media.

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by DaMac

i wouldn't have been offered the free upgrade to 200mbs if i was on the lower tier......the fact is it has been available in my area a long time and they keep pushing it out trying to get me to pay for the upgrade in the meantime when they promised it for free.

you are the first person I have heard of that has had to pay for the upgrade so VM have either made a mistake or you are in error. Either way, if you reckon the increased speed has been available in your area for a long time them ring retentions and ask them why you are having to wait and why they want you to pay for upgrade which you was told was free. I am sure they'll be more than happy to send it down once you point out their numerous mistakes.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by General Maximus

I wouldn't hold my breath. All they are doing is trialling it atm which is completely unnecessary because they can slap together 3 bonded channels in a jiffy because they have already got that in place from the work they did last year. Once again it will be a PR stint to give the impression that they are keeping up with the competition.

I remember posters getting upset over losing that third channel even though it wasn't actually accompanied by an uplift.

They can't just flick a switch. It requires preparatory work, CMTS firmware fixes and capacity planning. In some areas even network upgrades.

The deployment of an additional bonded channel via the WiFi sharing configuration was premature and the work you seem to think was done last year wasn't.

Hence these trials.

[JordanTheToaster]

Of course it's simple work they can easily just turn it on everywhere and everyone can instantly get all the speed they want

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

I remember posters getting upset over losing that third channel even though it wasn't actually accompanied by an uplift

to make matters worse it wasn't just the loss of a third channel, it was a qam64 channel

[JordanTheToaster]

Originally Posted by General Maximus

to make matters worse it wasn't just the loss of a third channel, it was a qam64 channel

Serious question why dose qam64 matter so much on upload?

[General Maximus]

50% increase in throughout vs qam16. As an example, if the maximum throughput was something like 24mbits per channel on qam16, then it would be 36mbits on qam64. When you tie that in with a bonded 3 channel group then you are looking at 72mbits vs 108. This is why all downstream channels are qam256 (more juice).

[JordanTheToaster]

Originally Posted by General Maximus

50% increase in throughout vs qam16. As an example, if the maximum throughput was something like 24mbits per channel on qam16, then it would be 36mbits on qam64. When you tie that in with a bonded 3 channel group then you are looking at 72mbits vs 108. This is why all downstream channels are qam256 (more juice).

Oh huh neat didn't know that.

[vm_tech]

The higher the modulation the higher the capacity. The higher the modulation the more prone to errors it is. Wait until QAM4096 on the downstream, all these home installations with face plates etc are going to fail miserably

[JordanTheToaster]

Originally Posted by vm_tech

The higher the modulation the higher the capacity. The higher the modulation the more prone to errors it is. Wait until QAM4096 on the downstream, all these home installations with face plates etc are going to fail miserably

That's a good question how would that work.