Superhub : Superhub 2

[Ben B]

Originally Posted by jd001k0598

So, going back to earlier posts of Mb/Mbps I have plugged my desktop computer direct to the Sky Router and it's saying 100.0Mbps. Is that the same as 12.5Mb and would would I expect that to read when connected to the VM SHub 2. I realise it is dependant on a lot of factors, but a rough idea would be good.

---------- Post added at 16:18 ---------- Previous post was at 16:06 ----------

And to add I little more, if Sky are offering 20Mb, is that the same as 160Mbps? Or am I completly off the mark and trying to work this out.

The 100Mbps you mention is the actual Ethernet connection speed between your computer and router, the speed of your internet is different and you check that using something like speedtest.net

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by Ben B

The 100Mbps you mention is the actual Ethernet connection speed between your computer and router, the speed of your internet is different and you check that using something like speedtest.net

Or by logging onto your router and seeing what it's syncing at

[Ben B]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Or by logging onto your router and seeing what it's syncing at

I didn't know this, too much of a cable snob, blergh ADSL

[jd001k0598]

Originally Posted by Ben B

The 100Mbps you mention is the actual Ethernet connection speed between your computer and router, the speed of your internet is different and you check that using something like speedtest.net

Okay, thanks for that.

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Or by logging onto your router and seeing what it's syncing at

I will have a try, not really sure where to look though.

---------- Post added at 16:41 ---------- Previous post was at 16:36 ----------

Found something that says:

Downstream 9830 kbps
Upstream 737 kbps

Okay, now I'm confused whats a Kb?

[Ben B]

1Mb = 1024kb so 9830/1024 = 9.6Mbps

[Kushan]

Originally Posted by jd001k0598

So, going back to earlier posts of Mb/Mbps I have plugged my desktop computer direct to the Sky Router and it's saying 100.0Mbps. Is that the same as 12.5Mb and would would I expect that to read when connected to the VM SHub 2. I realise it is dependant on a lot of factors, but a rough idea would be good.

---------- Post added at 16:18 ---------- Previous post was at 16:06 ----------

And to add I little more, if Sky are offering 20Mb, is that the same as 160Mbps? Or am I completly off the mark and trying to work this out.

Connection speeds, be they wireless, ethernet or internet connection speeds (DSL or cable, doesn't matter) are measured in bits per second. So you have 1024 bits which is 1 kilobit (or kbit). 1024 kbit gives you 1Mbit and 1024Mbit gives you 1Gbit.
However, files on your computer are measured in Bytes . This is where the confusion sets in.
To get from bits to bytes, you just divide by 8 but the confusion comes from knowing when to do it.

If you see Mbit, this always means Megabit.

If you see MB, it's generally assumed that the capital B means Bytes.

The confusion is if someone writes "Mb". This is supposed to mean Megabit due to the lower case b, but sometimes people write that to mean Megabyte. The general idea is if they're talking about connection speeds, they mean megabit but if they're talking about file sizes they meant Mega Bytes.

Mbps stands for "Mega bits per second" and if you see this, you can always divide by 8 to get the Mega Bytes per second.


The part that causes a lot of confusion is if you're downloading a file. Is your download speed in Megabits because you're downloading it over the internet, or MegaBytes because it's a file? Most software go by the latter - so uTorrent, Firefox, Chrome, IE, etc. will generally show Mega Bytes.

Speed tests, because they're showing your connection speed, show Mega bits.

Sky's ADSL is "up to" 20Mbit. In Bytes, that's about 2.5MB/s but obviously your connection is much less than this (your connection is at about 9Mbit, or just over 1MByte per second).

When you plug an ethernet cable in, you'll get 100Mbit to your router but the internet connection speed is still only 20Mbit (or 9Mbit in your case).

When you get the new Superhub and connect your PC directly to it, you might actually see the connection listed at 1.0Gbps. I say "might" because it relies on your computer having a gigabit Ethernet port. If it's less than about 10 years old, it probably does. However, this is still only the connection to the hub, the actual internet connection will be lower (120meg in your case, I believe).

Hope that clears things up!

[linwelin]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Are all the lights on and blue when you have just one channel?

Normally you'd see this if you've caught the SH at the start of the boot processes. if you're on the internet with one channel, you'll get no more than 50 meg (if that) but it's a fault.

Less likely to be a SH2 fault but more likely to be something at the VM end (the CMTS), I reckon. The CMTS provisions a bonding group to the SH and then you have 6 channels.

always blue, seems to have ironed out any problems now, just needed time it seems.

[jd001k0598]

Originally Posted by Kushan

Connection speeds, be they wireless, ethernet or internet connection speeds (DSL or cable, doesn't matter) are measured in bits per second. So you have 1024 bits which is 1 kilobit (or kbit). 1024 kbit gives you 1Mbit and 1024Mbit gives you 1Gbit.
However, files on your computer are measured in Bytes . This is where the confusion sets in.
To get from bits to bytes, you just divide by 8 but the confusion comes from knowing when to do it.

If you see Mbit, this always means Megabit.

If you see MB, it's generally assumed that the capital B means Bytes.

The confusion is if someone writes "Mb". This is supposed to mean Megabit due to the lower case b, but sometimes people write that to mean Megabyte. The general idea is if they're talking about connection speeds, they mean megabit but if they're talking about file sizes they meant Mega Bytes.

Mbps stands for "Mega bits per second" and if you see this, you can always divide by 8 to get the Mega Bytes per second.


The part that causes a lot of confusion is if you're downloading a file. Is your download speed in Megabits because you're downloading it over the internet, or MegaBytes because it's a file? Most software go by the latter - so uTorrent, Firefox, Chrome, IE, etc. will generally show Mega Bytes.

Speed tests, because they're showing your connection speed, show Mega bits.

Sky's ADSL is "up to" 20Mbit. In Bytes, that's about 2.5MB/s but obviously your connection is much less than this (your connection is at about 9Mbit, or just over 1MByte per second).

When you plug an ethernet cable in, you'll get 100Mbit to your router but the internet connection speed is still only 20Mbit (or 9Mbit in your case).

When you get the new Superhub and connect your PC directly to it, you might actually see the connection listed at 1.0Gbps. I say "might" because it relies on your computer having a gigabit Ethernet port. If it's less than about 10 years old, it probably does. However, this is still only the connection to the hub, the actual internet connection will be lower (120meg in your case, I believe).

Hope that clears things up!

Once again thanks. I am getting cofunsed with the Megabits and the Megabytes I think. I need to get it into my head to work in Mb for the speed and not MB for the filesizes (which I am more used to).

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I will be reading this a few times!

---------- Post added at 17:11 ---------- Previous post was at 17:01 ----------

1024 seems to stick out in my brain for some reason, maybe computer RAM or something?

---------- Post added at 17:17 ---------- Previous post was at 17:11 ----------

At least when I get my new Router i will have a much better understanding of the speeds.

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by jd001k0598

1024 seems to stick out in my brain for some reason, maybe computer RAM or something?

ya, it is still the same nomenclature. You are probably thinking of 1024MB of ram which is basically 1gb. The way to think of it is that bits are used more for speed and bytes for space. As an example, your 100 mega bits per second connection equates to 13 megabytes per second (give or take) so if you are download a 130 mega byte file you can work out that it will take 10 seconds at full speed.

You just need to be careful when you do your speed tests because it will be reports in bits (e.g. 93.5mbits) and you might think "well hang on, I have just downloaded a file and windows said it went at 7mb/sec"

[jambul]

Out of curiosity, I have just rung Virgin up to see about the SH2. They have said that it would cost me £49.95 to set up but because I am already on the top TV, Broadband and Phone package they would give me a £25 discount. However, that would tie me into another 12 month contract on all of my services. That does not seem right to me, I accept the Broadband tie-in but not the TV and phone.

[Sephiroth]

I think that what they have offered is highly disreputable. There is nothing in the T&Cs that allow them to tie you into another contract when you "buy" a SuperHub.

My advice is to call Retentions and tell them that you are thinking of leaving because of this disreputable behaviour. You shouldn't even accept the Breoadband tie in, IMO.

I'd be outraged if that happened to me.

[General Maximus]

I agree with Seph, you arent asking them to change your package in any way, all you are doing is requesting new hardware (which they are even asking you to pay for) and that does not affect the length of your contract. If you were asking to either lower your tv package or increase your bb speed then that would be different. I hope Ben is reading this to once again see customers are being lied to.

[Kushan]

I don't think he's being lied to, per se, I think the agents just have a lot of leeway in what they can get away with. There's no rule that states they can't just arbitrarily ask you to sign a new contract and different agents will do different things to get that. Most offer discounts on bills, other offer discounts on hardware and such.

That said, what that agent has offered is utterly terrible and frankly a bit of a joke. The £25 credit thing sounds to me like the agent's own credit rather than a company policy (Agents are allowed to credit customers up to £30 and I believe retentions are allowed so many per month in order to keep customers) so it sounds to me like he was trying to pull a fast one.

Ring up, go straight to retentions and tell them you feel you've been treated poorly and they'll likely do something better.

[jd001k0598]

Originally Posted by jambul

Out of curiosity, I have just rung Virgin up to see about the SH2. They have said that it would cost me £49.95 to set up but because I am already on the top TV, Broadband and Phone package they would give me a £25 discount. However, that would tie me into another 12 month contract on all of my services. That does not seem right to me, I accept the Broadband tie-in but not the TV and phone.

I am a new VM customer that has not yet had my installation (26 June)

I have signed for the VIP package so according to the terms I should get the new SHub 2.

I emailed them to confirm this and was told I would have to pay £49.95 manned installation fee to get the new SHub 2! I can only hope that they haven't looked at my account properly to give me that information.

There was no mention in the email of signing another 12 month contract though.

[Sephiroth]

If you're being installed on 26-June, according to VM's policy, your SH2 should be on the van for you.