[merged] New Telewest (Blueyonder) Speed

[PC_Arcade]

Originally Posted by bigitup_j

let's compare ntl's and telewest's new broadband offering...

was 256k/300k now:
NTL:1mb TW:256k (ntl win)
was 750k now:
NTL: 2mb TW:1mb (ntl win)
was 1.5mb now:
NTL: 3mb TW:2mb (ntl win, again)
was 3mb now:
NTL:N/A TW:4mb (telewest win)

most customers will not reach their caps or "usage allowances" with ntl. and telewest will probably end up introducing caps when certain customers begin abusing their network, and degrading other's service.


overall, ntl are going to offer the better service

Shall we make another comparison?

As noted by PaulM in his announcement in the NTL further upgrades post in the NTL forum NTL, may re-introduce the 150kb tier so both NTL and BY/TW would offer 4 tiers of service :

NTL:150kb TW:256k (TW win)
NTL: 1mb TW:1mb (TW win (no cap))
NTL: 2mb TW:2mb (TW win (again, no cap)
NTL: 3mb TW:4mb (telewest win, by a MILE, no cap and faster u/l)

Although NTL are a little cheaper on each tier, not signficantly and people who want / need top tier speeds are usually prepared to pay for them (I used to pay £50 for my 1mb connection and was happy to do so)

[rnb14]

Originally Posted by bigitup_j

let's compare ntl's and telewest's new broadband offering...

was 256k/300k now:
NTL:1mb TW:256k (ntl win)
was 750k now:
NTL: 2mb TW:1mb (ntl win)
was 1.5mb now:
NTL: 3mb TW:2mb (ntl win, again)
was 3mb now:
NTL:N/A TW:4mb (telewest win)

most customers will not reach their caps or "usage allowances" with ntl. and telewest will probably end up introducing caps when certain customers begin abusing their network, and degrading other's service.

overall, ntl are going to offer the better service

A better comparison:

New Speeds (list applies to existing customers)

Entry Level
BY 256k/128k = £17.99 (usage guide 750mb a day or about 23gb per month)
ntl 1Mb/64k? = £17.99 (cap 5gb per month + £25 Admin Fee)

Mid-Tier
BY 1Mb/128k = £25 (Free upgrade + unlimited usage)
ntl 2Mb/128k = £24.99 (cap 30gb per month + £25 Admin Fee)

High
BY 2Mb/256k = £35 (Free upgrade + unlimited usage)
ntl 3 Mb/256k = £37.99 (cap 40 gb per month + £25 Admin Fee)

Higher
BY 4Mb/384k = £50 (Free upgrade + unlimited usage)
ntl - n/a


IMO I think BY wins on the three higher tiers. More speed = more downloading - why would we want caps? I admit, BY prices are not as attractive as ntl but theyll go down when ADSL can compare with BY on speed and price.

[IanUK]

Does Telewest use proxies for web surfing ?

Does Telewests Email service work properly ?

Can you get Telewest on the phone within 5 mins ?

I don't know the answer to these questions, but I'd rather NTL fixed whats broken/annoying rather than just keep on increasing speed.
3 or 4 mb is nice, but if you are still proxied and unable to use the email on a daily basis and also unable to reach anyone within a reasonable time to moan about it then whats the point ?

Originally Posted by PC_Arcade

As noted by PaulM in his announcement in the NTL further upgrades post in the NTL forum NTL, may re-introduce the 150kb tier so both NTL and BY/TW would offer 4 tiers of service :

NTL are not going to re-introduce the 150k service.

[ian@huth]

Originally Posted by PC_Arcade

Telewest have apparently just announced another free upgrade for their top tier BB customers, with their 3mb speed rising to 4mb, including a 128k upload increase bringing it to 384.

All still uncapped obviously.
Makes NTL's recent free upgrade look a bit poor IMHO and I just WISH I lived in a TW area

Telewest have actually announced upgrades for all their broadband customers not just the top tier.

They may say that they are giving an unlimited service but they still have usage restrictions in their terms and conditions. These are the usual restrictions that most ISPs have about not using the service to download / upload copyright material. They may not have applied the particular clause in the past and taken action against any customer for breach of it, but that is not to say that they will not use it in the future. I would imagine that most heavy users do download / upload copyright material, no matter what they say and could lose their service as a result.

So before you can comment about what is a good deal you have to wait and see how the the companies police their deals. If you are a very heavy user and your iSP wants to get rid of you they will find a way.

[PC_Arcade]

Fair enough
BY offer 4 tiers and NTL 3, so NTL offer their customers less choice.

[PC_Arcade]

Originally Posted by ianathuth

They may say that they are giving an unlimited service but they still have usage restrictions in their terms and conditions.

I've just read their AUP and the ONLY mention it makes of acceptable use on the higher tiers is about abuse of UPLOAD bandwidth.

[Ignition]

Originally Posted by PC_Arcade

I have 2 friends on Bulldog (both in Leeds) and have heard nothing but glowing reports about them. In all honesty I don't know what their service is like where I am, BUT can you HONESTLY say NTl's has been GOOD????

Emails that you can't get, newsgroups with NO retention and alot of them simply missing

In my case BD were atrocious.

However going away from that newsgroup retention is currently approximately 12 days, and groups 'missing' are intentionally omitted. But let's not let facts get in the way of a good rant

[Nemesis]

I think enough is enough .... this was supposed to be a realistic discussion about the TW announcement, and the benefit to TW customers.

Face it NTL and TW are two different companies, who really aren't even in competition with each other as their customer bases aren't the same. The comparisons are fruitless, pointless, and unnecessary.

On that note .... Thread closed.