Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

stephen wrote:
naza wrote:
The chance of you getting a good speed depends on where you live, like
ADSL
depends on the length and quality of your line.
Apparently the 'average' speed on ADSL is over 5 Mbps. Hardly bad and with
ADSL2+ it'll be faster.

part of the system is already ADSL2+ - the LLU providers are using it at
least.

LLU providers are using their own equipment, not BTwholesales.

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


Woody wrote:

The VM broadband feed - no matter others may say - is probably the
best
and most reliable on the market. It certainly meets or is very close
to
quoted speed at almost all times - which it is guaranteed you will
not
get with ADSL.

Uh ?

With VM's 4 meg service I was normally down to 500kbps at peak times.

With an '8 meg' service from Idnet over a BT line I rarely see less
than 5
Mbps even at peak times and see peak speeds of 7 Mbps.

Both figures from the speedtester at thinkbroadband.com and Bbmax

You're talking complete and total nonsense about VM's alleged 'great'
broadband. It's actually total ****e.

Graham


VM depends very much where you are. The bigger part of VM was NTL and
they expanded by buying up other cable systems.

Those of us lucky enough to live in an area that had good quality feeds
have or had little trouble. Those that lived in poor areas - and from
what I see we are talking Dircon and Videoton here - suffer problems.

Don't plaster them with your experiences and assume everyone is the
same. I'm lucky and pleased with the results.


--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

"HVS" wrote in message
...
On 30 Dec 2007, Eeyore wrote
Daffy Duck wrote:

Just because your service was bad with VM doesn't mean everyone
elses is as well.Mine's spot on but,unlike you,i'm not claiming
that that means everyones is.

Fair enough, but the comments in user groups illustrate that the
vast majority of comments about VM are very negative.

You appear to be lucky that you're on infrastructure originally
operated by Telewest (Blueyonder) rather than NTL. How long that
may give you an advantage is anyone's guess I reckon.

Hmmm.....

I've been with NTL for 7 years (Reading UBR); started with the 512
service in December, 2000, and was gradually increased to the 4meg
service.

I invariably get around 3850/3900 down and 380 up on speed tests;
have had maybe 4 or 5 short outages over the years -- the sort of
thing all ISPs suffer now and then; and haven't needed to have
many dealings with support (thank god, from what I've read).

Since I'm not a fanboy, I tend not to post in user groups saying
how solid my connection is; but those who point out that user
groups provide a skewed sample of customer satisfaction have quite
a solid point.

FWIW, I'm not enthralled -- at all -- with the way the company has
gone since they (a) merged with TW/BY, and then (b) rebranded as
VM. The fixed-line phone was always bad value; the new non-
contract Virgin Mobile charges are considerably more expensive than
the old ones were; the willy-waving over Sky was boringly juvenile
(we cancelled the VM telly after that and went to Sky -- should
have done it years ago if only for the Arts and Performance
channels); the imported BY support department seems deeply flawed
to me (way out of their depth, and often out of the corporate
loop); charging 25p/min for support is absolutely inexcusable;
and I've been migrating my e-mail to my own domain over the past
year or so to keep my options open.

But that said, I've always been happy with the speed and
reliability of my ex-NTL *broadband* service, and won't drop that
unless it goes the way the rest of the company seems to be going.
And so far, the broadband continues to deliver what it says on
the box.

--
Cheers,
Harvey

100% agreed here in Harrogate.


--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

naza wrote:

but how many people get full 8mbps.

Me for one !

Exactly you for ONE. One person does not reflect the state of the
whole network.

I gather the average speed on MAX is around 5 Mbps.


Because you were getting crap speeds on VM does not
mean that every single person who joins VM or are connected to VM are
getting the same service. The Same for ADSL just becuase your getting
a great service does not mean everyone else is. There are probally
people out there who are with IDnet who dont get the same speeds as
you, yet they will get the same level of customer service.
How many Customers Does IDnet have exactly?

I have no exact idea. They have a fair number of largish business
customers. Quality you see.

Graham

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:09:42 +0000, Eeyore wrote:

tony sayer wrote:

Eeyore scribeth thus
naza wrote:

Now VM network does not have any of these [line related] problems, but rather
contention problems which ADSL has

NO. ADSL does NOT have any inherent significant contention problems. Not for
ages. BT has fixed that ages back. That's why they don't quote a contention
figure for
MAX. It's still a popular myth however that there are such problems but it IS a
myth.
There may be congestion/contention problems over the *ISP's* network but that's
down
to themand YOUR decision to use them.


but how many people get full 8mbps.

Me for one !

Next to the exchange is it then?..

Around 800m as the crow flies. About 1.5 miles is what a BT engineer said.

Actually, I'm currently only syncing at about 7500kbps. I must check if it's that
cordless phone messing it up.

Still good for an actual 5713 kbps download right now though.
http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/res...8026&v=3137379

Graham

But in your previous reply you stated that you're one of the people who
gets their full 8mbs,so can you post a link showing you actually achieving
that 8mbs d/load speed?.

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

Woody wrote:

"Eeyore" wrote
Woody wrote:

The VM broadband feed - no matter others may say - is probably the
best and most reliable on the market. It certainly meets or is very
close
to quoted speed at almost all times - which it is guaranteed you will
not get with ADSL.

Uh ?

With VM's 4 meg service I was normally down to 500kbps at peak times.

With an '8 meg' service from Idnet over a BT line I rarely see less
than 5 Mbps even at peak times and see peak speeds of 7 Mbps.

Both figures from the speedtester at thinkbroadband.com and Bbmax

You're talking complete and total nonsense about VM's alleged 'great'
broadband. It's actually total ****e.

Graham


VM depends very much where you are. The bigger part of VM was NTL and
they expanded by buying up other cable systems.

Those of us lucky enough to live in an area that had good quality feeds
have or had little trouble. Those that lived in poor areas - and from
what I see we are talking Dircon and Videoton here - suffer problems.

This area was previously Telecential and then Comtel.


Don't plaster them with your experiences and assume everyone is the
same. I'm lucky and pleased with the results.

What speeds do you get at peak times on what package ? I see little
slowdown with Idnet for example.

Graham

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

Daffy Duck wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
tony sayer wrote:
Eeyore scribeth thus
naza wrote:

Now VM network does not have any of these [line related] problems, but rather
contention problems which ADSL has

NO. ADSL does NOT have any inherent significant contention problems. Not for
ages. BT has fixed that ages back. That's why they don't quote a contention
figure for MAX. It's still a popular myth however that there are such problems
but it IS a
myth. There may be congestion/contention problems over the *ISP's* network but
that's
down to themand YOUR decision to use them.


but how many people get full 8mbps.

Me for one !

Next to the exchange is it then?..

Around 800m as the crow flies. About 1.5 miles is what a BT engineer said.

Actually, I'm currently only syncing at about 7500kbps. I must check if it's that
cordless phone messing it up.

Still good for an actual 5713 kbps download right now though.
http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/res...8026&v=3137379

Graham

But in your previous reply you stated that you're one of the people who
gets their full 8mbs,so can you post a link showing you actually achieving
that 8mbs d/load speed?.

As I'm sure you well know, an 8128 kbps sync will give you a 7150 kbps profile. I've
had over 98% of that on speed tests and have posted links to them previously.

Graham

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

Lobster wrote:

Therefore I'm wondering if I'm just setting myself up for a fall by
switching away from VM, apparently without knowing how good the
competitive service will be until it's up and running? I live about a
mile from the nearest BT exchange, which sounds OK I think? And
bt.com's postcode speed checker claims 5.5Mb max.

Is your local exchange LLU?

--
Abo

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

In article , The Natural
Philosopher scribeth thus
tony sayer wrote:
But if you unlucky then you will suffer like mad with them. There are
somepeople who get the full 20meg all the time on VM's broadband, and
yes I have seen it and used it wheras there are others like you who
dont.
You wont find out what speed you will get with VM until you join them,
just like ADSL.
ADSL is more predictable. You can get a good estimate of your line speed
from
the various online calculators. Once you have ADSL, backhaul capacity
issues
and
not a problem as long as you're not a cheapskate looking to save the last
penny.
Simply choose a good ISP. With cable there's only one choice and it's
rubbish.
Graham


I really think you have a very biased and blinkered view. I know of
several people in locations off the VM network who would pay more than
what they do for ADSL from any provider as after all with very rare
exception it all runs over BT wires;!.

Course some of the VM network was built better then others but some of
the BT network wasn't all that clever either!...

We have a location in Cambridge .. yes the hi-tech hub of England that
struggles to get much more then 1 to 1.75 meg on a 5:1 contention
service!...
Better move here. I get 3 megs easily out here in the sticks..

Well oddly enough the fastest service we have is out in the fens at
Friday bridge!..

Yes it does exist .. never found out why it was called that!...

Has Grunty Fen got broadband yet? :-)

Or even electricity?



Pass 'n pass;!...

--
Tony Sayer

Should I quit Virginmedia?
 

In article , Eeyore rabbitsfriendsandrel
scribeth thus


tony sayer wrote:

Eeyore scribeth thus
naza wrote:

Now VM network does not have any of these [line related] problems, but
rather
contention problems which ADSL has

NO. ADSL does NOT have any inherent significant contention problems. Not for
ages. BT has fixed that ages back. That's why they don't quote a contention
figure for
MAX. It's still a popular myth however that there are such problems but it
IS a
myth.
There may be congestion/contention problems over the *ISP's* network but
that's
down
to themand YOUR decision to use them.


but how many people get full 8mbps.

Me for one !

Next to the exchange is it then?..

Around 800m as the crow flies. About 1.5 miles is what a BT engineer said.

Actually, I'm currently only syncing at about 7500kbps. I must check if it's
that
cordless phone messing it up.

Still good for an actual 5713 kbps download right now though.
http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/res...8026&v=3137379

Graham

Well thats near enough for 8 meg eh;?...
--
Tony Sayer