rubbish bandwidth of ADSL - 100kb while 8Gb expected

Zdenek K · 06-09-2008, 20:16

Hi all,

I've got few questions regarding VM ADSL broadband over BT landline. It, well, works. But...

My modem reports DownStream Connection Speed 5632 kbps UpStream Connection Speed 448 kbps, which seems fine. 5.6Gb is not quite 8Gb, but I'd be happy with that. I'm however far from being happy with currect behaviou. First - right after powering the modem on and estabilishing the link I reach 450-500kbps. That transfer, however, lasts for no more than a minute and then goes sharply down to various, but always mediocre values. For example at the moment it is 80kb from ftp.virginmedia.com, so on VM network exclusively. Opening single web page can takes half a minute sometimes. Pinging my gateway (i.e. the hop after the modem, popl-bam-1.network.virginmedia.net) returns anything from 40 to 350ms averaging at ~150ms. Also one of my downloads for example - suspending download and resuming it later makes one-two second running at ~1Mbit and after that it suddenly drops to 160mbit. The link is stable overall - once connected never goes down. All of that makes me suspect that either my area is terribly overloaded or I experience technical fault somewhere. Ah, and it makes no difference whether I run on wireless or cable. Three laptops from different vendors checked so far.

And now few questions. The first one - my modem is DG834Gv4 with the latest firmware, are there any issues known here? The second one - where can I get information about congestions, infrastructure, overloading etc. on MK14 area? The third one - did anyone was ever able to convince VM that there is a problem at all and fix (or cancel) the deal? WHat arguments were used for that? That's ridiculous - my mobile Vodafone pcmcia card beats this one! I could understand the link to be slower that advertised, but 100x slower is bit too much for me.

**Jefferson T** · 06-09-2008, 20:45

Sounds like you are a)being application throttled and b)traffic shaped

Broadbandings · 06-09-2008, 22:30

Virgin's ADSL network is heavily shaped and oversubscribed.

Try disconnecting and reconnecting then do the tests again until you get onto a bam that isn't so heavily overloaded that's about the only way to go.

You won't be seeing any shaping on FTP / HTTP as far as I know so chances are it's just oversubscription on the bandwidth to that bam, the DSL network is not per area but per bam and you go to bams on a round robin basis so dis/reconnect until you get lucky sadly

Zdenek K · 06-09-2008, 23:37

Ok, starting from midnight I reach 2.8Mbit. So the question is redesigned - was anyone able to slide out of the deal which gives you astonishing 1% of what was promised? Claiming that 1% of 8Mbit does not break "up to 8Mbit" deal is simply rubbish. I'll fight for paying 1% of the fee or scrapping the deal. The problem is that I work from home mostly. I'm, heh, network specialist (being sick already thinking about going through drone tech support - its function is to make so many problems by asking ridiculous questions that you resign) and I do rely on being able to transfer gigabytes big files all the time, not only when my provider finds it convenient. Not being able to transfer a lot equals to driving to work. Besides I do not recall being informed about these restrictions. I moved out from Bham area not so long ago and I never had any restrictions on my cable 1Mbit service there. And yes, I do run emule sometimes. I can find no clause that it impacts my bandwidth in the agreement.

Another question - do VM compensates it somehow (charging 1%, providing fixed bandwidth when shouted on really loud or anything similar)? What was the best deal you werea ble to get? If none, what's reasonable alternative, i.e. providers/services for ADSL in Milton Keynes area?

Fatec · 07-09-2008, 06:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zdenek K

Ok, starting from midnight I reach 2.8Mbit. So the question is redesigned - was anyone able to slide out of the deal which gives you astonishing 1% of what was promised? Claiming that 1% of 8Mbit does not break "up to 8Mbit" deal is simply rubbish. I'll fight for paying 1% of the fee or scrapping the deal. The problem is that I work from home mostly. I'm, heh, network specialist (being sick already thinking about going through drone tech support - its function is to make so many problems by asking ridiculous questions that you resign) and I do rely on being able to transfer gigabytes big files all the time, not only when my provider finds it convenient. Not being able to transfer a lot equals to driving to work. Besides I do not recall being informed about these restrictions. I moved out from Bham area not so long ago and I never had any restrictions on my cable 1Mbit service there. And yes, I do run emule sometimes. I can find no clause that it impacts my bandwidth in the agreement.

Another question - do VM compensates it somehow (charging 1%, providing fixed bandwidth when shouted on really loud or anything similar)? What was the best deal you werea ble to get? If none, what's reasonable alternative, i.e. providers/services for ADSL in Milton Keynes area?

http://www.samknows.com click on availability checker and enter your post code to see what other ISP's you can go with.

VM ADSL has REALLY heavy and unfair restrictions/throttling/traffic shaping.

The cable service also now has traffic managent so you was with the company when it was actually good.

As for getting it reduced, i'm pretty sure they dont give out much for their adsl product.

utt · 07-09-2008, 11:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zdenek K

Ok, starting from midnight I reach 2.8Mbit. So the question is redesigned - was anyone able to slide out of the deal which gives you astonishing 1% of what was promised? Claiming that 1% of 8Mbit does not break "up to 8Mbit" deal is simply rubbish. I'll fight for paying 1% of the fee or scrapping the deal. The problem is that I work from home mostly. I'm, heh, network specialist (being sick already thinking about going through drone tech support - its function is to make so many problems by asking ridiculous questions that you resign) and I do rely on being able to transfer gigabytes big files all the time, not only when my provider finds it convenient. Not being able to transfer a lot equals to driving to work. Besides I do not recall being informed about these restrictions. I moved out from Bham area not so long ago and I never had any restrictions on my cable 1Mbit service there. And yes, I do run emule sometimes. I can find no clause that it impacts my bandwidth in the agreement.

Another question - do VM compensates it somehow (charging 1%, providing fixed bandwidth when shouted on really loud or anything similar)? What was the best deal you werea ble to get? If none, what's reasonable alternative, i.e. providers/services for ADSL in Milton Keynes area?

It should that you are being restricted during peak periods given you potentially transfer large files all of the time. If this is so you will be restricted during peak hours for a week at a time. You will need to look at your usage of the service. This is all covered under the T&C's of your account here

As it says its an up to 8Mb service and will depend on how far you are from your exchange. Also as its a residential service and not business it is highly unlikely you would get anything refunded

sparky621 · 07-09-2008, 11:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zdenek K

The problem is that I work from home mostly. I'm, heh, network specialist ...........and I do rely on being able to transfer gigabytes big files all the time,

AND we wonder why VM has introduced traffic management

Broadbandings · 07-09-2008, 11:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky621

AND we wonder why VM has introduced traffic management

Because 4GB a month on their ADSL service is a lot of bandwidth. That's how much during peak times some people have noticed themselves getting managed at. I'm not talking gently managed either, I'm talking sub-100kbps managed.

On their ADSL platform the limit is simply the top 5% of users. So they go elsewhere and you get down to the next 5%, and the next 5%, and the next 5%...

07-09-2008, 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky621

AND we wonder why VM has introduced traffic management

Indeed

**Jefferson T** · 07-09-2008, 11:54

I download all my stuff off peak with my virgin adsl and still get shaped, yup silly me expecting to be able to use my service at a reasonable speed when I'm paying for it.

sparky621 · 07-09-2008, 11:56

My point was that he is using a RESIDENTIAL service for business purposes.
Gigabyte files all the time is a hell of a lot of data!

**Jefferson T** · 07-09-2008, 11:59

no, I don't think it is anymore. Not when you look at HD video file for example.

Broadbandings · 07-09-2008, 12:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky621

My point was that he is using a RESIDENTIAL service for business purposes.
Gigabyte files all the time is a hell of a lot of data!

A whole gigabyte isn't much. World of Warcraft and many other games, especially during beta test periods, have patches that approach and exceed these levels. Demo versions of software can break the 1GB barrier quite comfortably. BBCi uses 350MB/hour and that is the standard definition version.

All these perfectly legal residential uses of a connection.

sparky621 · 07-09-2008, 12:17

But he IS using his connection for business purposes. And reading his post it is not occasional. This is contrary to the T&Cs for a reidential service. How many other businesses are doing this and in the process spoiling it for leisure users?

Broadbandings · 07-09-2008, 12:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky621

But he IS using his connection for business purposes. And reading his post it is not occasional. This is contrary to the T&Cs for a reidential service. How many other businesses are doing this and in the process spoiling it for leisure users?

Going by the usual performance of Virgin DSL I'd imagine not many at all.