Convince me to Move =)

[Mechanicus]

[Copied from another forum]


Hello.

I am currently with Demon, on a 8mb ADSL line, but the service is poor (since the upgrade it's worse than my 2mb). Demon do allow users to regrade back to 2mb, but as far as I know the new terms (60gb/m FUP) would still be in effect. I gave them 12 days (on a 10 day regrade) to buck their ideas up, but it seems to have come down to the fact that they have swamped the lines with too many users, and we have to now pay the price (which, incidentally, would stay the same whatever speed I got, even if I regraded to a slower speed).

So I am considering switching to ntl. I currently get TV (Digital Family Pack) and phone line.
I am interested in the 10mb, but it is a bit too pricey for me at £35, so I think I'll go with the 4mb plan. Would it be alright if I could get some straight answers from people who have the service?

1) Would it be possible to have 10mb half price for the first 3 months then regrade down to 4mb once the offer has finished?

2) I use the internet all day, any time of the day. Is there a noticible drop in speed during peak hours?

3) My TV is next to my computer. Will I be forced to use the Pace box because they are that close, or can I tell them to install it on a modem?

4) Is there a FUP? If so, what is the limit?

Thanks for your time!

[MovedGoalPosts]

If you want 10meg broadband, you'd have to have that supplied by modem, not STB. Even the Samsung STBs only get to around 5 or 6 meg.

These days virtually all ISPs have some sort of fair use policy. However ntl did scrap their "caps" on usage some time ago, although on 10meg speeds you may find your connection subject to traffic shaping if you are a heavy user.

[Mechanicus]

I am seriously considering it. One of the main things which could sway my decision is that I read on these forums about some kind of shaping which comes into effect around 6pm and limits all downloads, regardless if you are being throttled or not.

[Fenlock]

I'm not 100% on the traffic shaping, but as far as i know the only thing that's being "shaped" is Bit-torrent traffic.

Some users say it's possible to get around this using different clients and encrypting the transfers so the traffic shaping doesn't know any better.

Personally id never touch Bit-torrent so it doesn't bother me. Premium news services that download on port 80/81 suit me just fine.

As for the service in general, i think it really depends on where you live. The network seems to suffer worse in different parts of the country. I live just outside oxford, have been a customer for years and always max my connection out (10mb). In roughly 9 or 10 years ive lost service for about 3 or 4 days total.

Id agree with the advertising, if you can - you should. :tu:

[Mechanicus]

Yeah, I've more-or-less made my mind up, I just need to make sure I can leave my current ISP (Cross posting alert! (http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33604600)), and then I'll be coming on over :D

[Uncle Peter]

The traffic management seems to be affecting P2P traffic in general. Some of my online games have turned into lag-fests so if you use Xbox live for eg, beware. As a result I am cancelling my NTL services as soon as Christmas is out of the way.