View Full Version : Slow speeds/browsing in the Renfrew Area
callumharte
10-05-2007, 22:51
At the moment a few friends and I are having some major problems on Virgin Media. We all stay within about 10 miles of each other and for the past few days the internet has been poor to say the least. I attempted to download SP2 for IT Professionals from Microsoft and downloaded at a measly 100K which is pathetic when it should be normally 1.1-1.2M (about 9.4meg equivelant). Most websites are very unresponsive. When Using news groups I never get more than 4meg (8 connections which was working at 9.5meg up until the end of April). It seems good during the morning, but as the night rolls on the speed is terrible. Last night it seemed to work pretty well, I was getting 8.9meg (which is more than acceptable), but this was only accomplished after numerous calls to Virgin from both myself and myfriends and again tonight I am downloading at no more than 4 meg.
To add some more information today I visited a few websites and downloaded a 340meg file. I understand that the traffic shaping should not be kicking in until I download SIGNIFICANTLY more.
Can anyone help me with this as I am sick of speaking to the Indian Call center. All they seem to know how to do is to tell you to reboot the modem. I have tried it with another PC, and another router. The power lvls are all acceptable +0.4 down +46.3 up. Please also remember that this is happening to at least 3 other people I know, one which stays in the Johnstone area, and two in the Paisley area.
Thanks guys for taking the time to read my post
djstevie
10-05-2007, 22:57
I stay in Renfrew and my mate in Erskine and we are both having the same problems. TBH my connection has been utter mince for the past few weeks. I've tried the usual proxy changing which normally does the trick, to no avail.
This is the first time in 8 years of being with Virgin (formerly NTL) that i've had any major speed issues but it is beginning to do my nut in.:mad:
Same boat as me i did a glasgow post!
Crap speed, worth thinking of moving to BT! sick of it!
Mate on Bothwell is just the same
smooth-criminal
11-05-2007, 00:51
same problem in Basildon, Essex.
Rang up tonight as my modem was reptedly restarting and appears they are doing works in my area.
Also saw a van outside with an engineer opening up a green box on the end of my road so hopefully somethings being sorted.
callumharte
11-05-2007, 08:56
Thanks for the replies guys, I am kind of Happy in a strange way that I am not the only one having these problems, but very dissapointed in VM that they are not able to run their own network.
I think I will start looking for another provider as this is getting out of hand. I wouldnt mind a 5 meg connection if I was guaranteed 5 meg speeds, but I am not even getting that.
Time to call VM and see if they are gonna do anything.
Cheers Guys
djstevie
11-05-2007, 09:37
Thanks for the replies guys, I am kind of Happy in a strange way that I am not the only one having these problems, but very dissapointed in VM that they are not able to run their own network.
I think I will start looking for another provider as this is getting out of hand. I wouldnt mind a 5 meg connection if I was guaranteed 5 meg speeds, but I am not even getting that.
Time to call VM and see if they are gonna do anything.
Cheers Guys
Let us know what they say as i cant be bothered ringing them to go through the "turn pc on, turn pc off" script that they read.
paisleypcdoc
11-05-2007, 10:31
I have the exact same problem.
I have found the call centres to be okay, but they simply cant help.
During the day (up till 4pm), my 10meg connection downloads at 9.4megabits (same as it has ALWAYS done).
Between 4pm and midnight EVERY DAY it downloads at 3.5-4.5megabits!! As soon as it reaches midnight (well, 11:55pm), my speed instantly jumps up to 9.4meg, leading me to believe this is possibly deliberate.
I'm getting really angry about it. My request has been escalated, but nobody has contacted me (as promised). They must be aware of exactly what the problem is- why dont they say anything? Thought branson said he wanted to be completely honest with customers.
I've had the top broadband package since it was £40 for 512K (and £150 for the modem). I have NEVER had less than 90& of the bandwidth I have been paying for and only 1 day without service.
If this is a genuine problem- just tell us, we'll understand.
If this is a deliberate throttle, say goodbye to your highest paying customers!
-Paisleypcdoc
paisleypcdoc
11-05-2007, 16:49
-My internet has always been great, even at peak times, slowing to less than 8 meg was very, very rare.
-Virgin announce a 20 meg upgrade, starting 3rd May-
Brilliant
-Virgin announces "traffic shaping" to deal with heavy users "degrading" everyone elses services. (Wait a minute... My service has NEVER been degraded, even during peak times??? Why do we need this?)
-Never mind- its only if you download 3GB between 4pm-midnight.
Thats okay- It will rarely affect me.
-3rd of may onwards- Download speeds down to less that a third of usual speed every day from 4pm-midnight, then back up to normal.
What the hell- It's never done this before- what have you done, Virgin???
Undo it please!!! Havent you lost enough customers lately???
The 4pm to midnight speed change is too much of a coincidence- what software have you been installing on your servers, virgin?
Dont tell me you arent aware of the problem, -you must be!!!
Has virgin Media really got it's head buried in the sand???
stumbelina
11-05-2007, 17:15
So, further to my woes posted elsewhere (unusable sub-dialup internet for 2 days, pings averaging over 2000ms, call centre queues - no, we do not support linux and we will not even attempt to help you, UBR changes, still no internet) I seem to have the internet back.
Joy?
Well, joy if you can ignore the fact it because stable at around 4pm at exaclty half speed. Hmmm. It was completely dead arround 6 and 7am this morning, so not likely to be neighbours hammering thier connections.
Yep, having the same trouble too and connected to the Renfrew exchange. I called VM earlier in the week and asked them if any changes had been made. All they said was the area was due to be upgraded either Monday or Tuesday of next week.
Let's wait and see!
Rankrotten
12-05-2007, 10:21
In in Glasgow G14 and experiencing exactly the same trouble.
I was one of the first cablemobem users in the area originally with a self-bought 3Com CMX and always paid top whack and received a top whack service, until this month.
I'll reserve judgement until midweek when the network upgrades are finished in Renfrew. I'm not a heavy downloader but if I'm still being penalised in the evenings I'll need to consider my options.
kristoficus
12-05-2007, 10:58
Im in the PA3 area (just outside Paisley) and the latency, speed and reliability is absolutely shocking. My pings rocket past 300+ in BF2142 and constantly get kicked. It takes forever to load up anything - Google takes 15 seconds+ to load. I cant even reach the testmy.net speed test. Site loads, but the tests just timeout it takes so long.
Been like this the past 48 hours. Could it be a sign of them upgrading our lines to 20mbit enabled?
edit...bit off topic really, but im on the 4mbit service so if i download 750mb between 4 and 12, they label me as a heavy user and limit me. Heavy user my ass!! That's only 2 hours of watching Joost or about 3 hidef game/movie trailers!!! Why the hell is Virgin giving us 20mbit speeds when they give us bandwidth limits that wouldnt look out of place for dial-up connections?
In G61
I have been with NTL/Virgin for the last 5 years and never had a problem with Broadband but the last few days has been utter s**te. At one point this morning I was down at 56k speeds. Virgin, this just isn't acceptable. The call centre is also s**te as they refuse to accept the problem is at their end and just run you through the switch on & off, flush the IP config routine. I really am at the end of my tether now with the failing TV / broadband service I am being provided with by Virgin (all of these problems have only started since they took over) and will soon be adding to the net loss of customers once I can decide where to move my phone/TV/broadband services to. I would rather have a steady reliable 8Mb service on ADSL than the poor performance from my supposed 10Mb (soon to be any speed they feel like offering "up to" 20Mb) service over the last few days.
By the way, has anyone read the Virgin webpage re the upgrade from 10Mb to 20Mb service - http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html.../q2/speed.html (http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/existingcustomers/q2/speed.html)
Nowhere does it mention "up to" and in fact it states that "our Broadband XL customers WILL be able to: download an MP3 track in 2 seconds, a full album in less than 30 seconds, or an episode of their favourite TV show in just two and a half minutes. The faster upload speed of 768Kb means that customers WILL be able to send emails or upload photos even faster than before."
Further, their note (2) to this point states "in a very small minority of areas, where the network has capacity restrictions, only speeds of up to 16Mb may be achievable" which, to my logic, means that in most areas we should get speeds of 16Mb up to 20Mb.
Therefore their traffic shaping must surely be a breach of contract
djstevie
12-05-2007, 12:13
Cant be a coincidence all of us in the same area having problems. Yet it seems that Virgin wont admit theres a problem :rolleyes:
Cardiff Is Haveing Same Probs Vm Are The Worst Than Ntl I'll Stay For A Month Or So If No Better I'm Out To Look For Another Isp
I am on 10Meg and fed from Renfrew also. Have been getting a consistent 4meg down in speed tests, however I have been experimenting by setting specific proxies in my IE settings. I can get almost 8meg down on a couple of them.
Give it a try!
djgazzabhoy
12-05-2007, 15:32
I am in Renfrewshire area also , and the speed's have been totally shocking recently.
I Really do hope it aint a permanent thing , 35 pounds a month is alot of money for broadband and if you can't even get full usage out of it then its pointless :sleep:
I'm in herts/watford area and I'm also having slow speeds
wilfuerdo
12-05-2007, 18:13
South Yorkshire too
Sat, 12 May 2007 17:06:35 UTC
1st 512K took 31453 ms = 16.3 KB/sec, approx 134 Kbps, 0.13 Mbps
2nd 512K took 11172 ms = 45.8 KB/sec, approx 377 Kbps, 0.37 Mbps
3rd 512K took 11859 ms = 43.2 KB/sec, approx 356 Kbps, 0.35 Mbps
4th 512K took 10703 ms = 47.8 KB/sec, approx 394 Kbps, 0.38 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 315 Kbps, 0.31 Mbps
Not good for 10mb XL
Hope they return their great service fast.
I am in Renfrewshire area also , and the speed's have been totally shocking recently.
I Really do hope it aint a permanent thing , 35 pounds a month is alot of money for broadband and if you can't even get full usage out of it then its pointless :sleep:
Let hope the Upgrade sorts this out.....There usually quite good and fast upgrading Scotland!
jreynolds
13-05-2007, 18:09
I'm in Glasgow and on the Renfrew line but for the most part my speeds have been fine so either this problem is only affecting the minority or I'm one of the lucky few?
Traffic shaping is more of a problem for me as even if I haven't downloaded for days, as soon as I try to get something during the day speeds only reach around 7MB/s max, although its fine after midnight. Not going to complain though considering the speeds some of you are getting. They're shocking speeds!
Lets hope once the upgrade is completed these problems will be solved for most folk :)
Asha'man Jay
13-05-2007, 23:56
G31
Getting crap speeds here also.
Just out of intrest do any of you guys have to reset your STB's every day. Channels getting mixed up, on demand not working etc. Only started happening when VM took over.
No probs with NTL. Since it's changed to VM things have gone right downhill.
Just for info server updates are planned for Renfrew over the next 3 days between twelve midnight and 6 am.
Asha'man Jay
14-05-2007, 12:17
Hopefully when they're finished I'll get to play some BF2 without my ping spiking :)
jreynolds
15-05-2007, 19:22
A couple of people have said on this thread that the Renfrew area is being upgraded on Mon/Tues night so I was just wondering if anyone has noticed a difference yet? Might be a bit early to expect it but just in case :D
No improvement here in PA1...but AFAIK they're going to be working on the Renfrew server updates over the next couple of nights too.
On the morning of Thursday the 17th May between midnight and 6 am, Network improvements will result in a loss of service in Stafford, Mansfield and the surrounding areas. Server updates in Renfrew, Leicester, Brighton, Baguley, Hersham and the surrounding areas will result in a loss of Cable Modem provisioning. Network updates in Baguley and the surrounding areas may result in degraded service.
Info found here http://www.ntl-isp.ntl.com/ServiceStatus/ServiceDetails.aspx?FaultID=622
Rankrotten
15-05-2007, 20:04
Is the Renfrew headend located just off the M8 westbound slip road into Braehead Shopping Centre as there is a satellite dish farm there with lots of scary looking kit...?
jreynolds
15-05-2007, 20:19
Thats brilliant, thanks for the info, much appreciated :)
Rankrotten, you could be right but I have no idea, maybe someone else knows?...
Thats brilliant, thanks for the info, much appreciated :)
Rankrotten, you could be right but I have no idea, maybe someone else knows?...
my speeds have been very slow, thought it was my bro downloading filth, but he was not downloading...... so it must be the servers here. tried the proxy switch to something different, no change...
ik
helmutcheese
15-05-2007, 23:36
FTP me some of that filth :D
Asha'man Jay
16-05-2007, 00:43
One of the guys in the same clan as me claims to have over a TB of filth in one of his rigs :erm:
shush....I said keep it to yourself ¬_¬ :p:
my speed seems a bit faster today, not only that I have the shiney new EPG on my stb
ik
howudoinn
17-05-2007, 08:48
On the morning of Thursday the 17th May between midnight and 6 am, Network improvements will result in a loss of service in Stafford, Mansfield and the surrounding areas. Server updates in Renfrew, Leicester, Brighton, Baguley, Hersham and the surrounding areas will result in a loss of Cable Modem provisioning. Network updates in Baguley and the surrounding areas may result in degraded service.
So has anyone been upgraded in the Renfrew area after the server update:tu: or was it just maintenance work being carried out and we all got exited about nothing:td:
afraser2k
17-05-2007, 09:26
I'd expect that this is only preparation work for the 20 Mb upgrade rather than the full switch as we've had a lot of problems in Renfrew and I don't think it would cope with 20 Mb demand.
Gekogeek
17-05-2007, 11:28
we've had a lot of problems in Renfrew and I don't think it would cope with 20 Mb demand.
What kind of problems? I live in Renfrew and have a 4mb connection I've never experienced any problems!
helmutcheese
17-05-2007, 13:35
The 4meg users didnt have, it was 10meg that went to crap in last 6-8months, many customers downgraded to stable 4meg from a unstable 10meg that could run daily between 1/2meg and 10meg. (all areas going by inout in forums)
it was 10meg that went to crap in last 6-8months
Absolutely. The last four months have been particularly bad for me: not only is my 10Mbit connection slower than a snail squirming through treacle, but my STB requires daily reboots due to channel freezing. I'm hopefully going to be moving later in the year and I don't intend taking Virgin's services with me (I've been with NTL/Virgin for years now so I'm not constrained by a contract).
Chequered
18-05-2007, 01:34
Like many of you Ive been on the top package since the 512k days. Ive been happy to pay for a service which has usually been of an excellent quality.
Recently Ive been getting random loss of service and degradation of service and Im not happy either.
However, if at the end of the week I get 20mb I will be happy :)
What I dont understand is why am I using the renfrew exchange when I stay 5 minutes drive west of uddingston ???
(and they already have the 20meg !!!)))
helmutcheese
18-05-2007, 01:57
Just the way things are laid, it has to start and end somewhere and you dont want to be on UBR10 as its oversubbed.
Scotianet
20-05-2007, 10:57
Just checked the schedule today and it has been updated for Renfrew. Now says May for the upgrade so hopefully in the next 10 days.
http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/existingcustomers/faster/schedule.html
Just the way things are laid, it has to start and end somewhere and you dont want to be on UBR10 as its oversubbed.
cant be how it is laid......
look at that page listed fro virgin. clydebank is in between dumbarton and motherwell, motherwell is about 20-30 miles from clydebank, on same side of water, renfrew is across the water from those three.
clydebank is with renfrew and dumbarton is with motherwell and uddingston. that no make sense if it how its laid.
in saying that how do they make up the cabled areas, who goes with who?
ik
helmutcheese
20-05-2007, 21:48
Thats not what I stated, I never said it was well laid out in a sensable way, but it does need to start one place and end another so you could be in same street as someone and be on a diffferent UBR. (example)
Steve-o||[^]
20-05-2007, 23:21
The 4meg users didnt have, it was 10meg that went to crap in last 6-8months, many customers downgraded to stable 4meg from a unstable 10meg that could run daily between 1/2meg and 10meg. (all areas going by inout in forums)
yep. I`m one of said customers :) have to say DL of files (say...big nix distros, <3) seem to be fine. it`s the regular web browsing that seems to cut off after an hour or so browsing..i have to reboot everything for it to work again (but file downloading, irc, CS, and the like still work :S)
vincebio
25-06-2007, 10:10
Is the Renfrew headend located just off the M8 westbound slip road into Braehead Shopping Centre as there is a satellite dish farm there with lots of scary looking kit...?
yes it is mate.....and ive been very tempted to go down there with an axe a few times...
hows everyones download speeds now?
Im PA2, still never downloaded a file more than 9m since the upgrade.
another month of this crap and im offski i reckon
Im on 20mb's and this is my result for tonight
Download Speed: 2367 kbps (295.9 KB/sec ) Upload Speed: 698 kbps (87.3 KB/sec )
VM sux
Rankrotten
26-06-2007, 11:21
Speeds are still poor.
Maybe we should have a whip-round and buy then some new kit ? I'll see what's down the back of the sofa ;)
herby247
26-06-2007, 18:10
Speeds are still poor.
Maybe we should have a whip-round and buy then some new kit ? I'll see what's down the back of the sofa ;)
I 2nd that^^:p:
Seriously though, this is a JOKE! Since the 20 meg upgrade things have been REALLY BAD, and i am not just talking about d/load speeds!
Currently as a post this reply the cable forum page has took AGES to load, almost every website is taking FAR longer than used to to fully load, even on the likes of big companys like play,amazon, bbc news the progress bar just seems to die. Had loads of this page cannot be displayed erros etc.
Really WHAT IS THE PROBLEM??
Hi Guys,
i dont know if anyone has noticed but Virgin has had a message running on there website in the help section check server status page i dont know if this is a national problem or the fix time
Last Modified Name Customers Affected Estimated Time Status Priority
26/06/2007 18:12 Andrew Pott Broadband Internet 25th June 2007 18:00 Updated P1
Detailed Description
Virgin media customers on the Broadband XL (20Meg) service might be experiencing slow speeds when downloading files. Our engineers are aware of this issue and will endeavour to resolve this as soon as possible. Virgin Media would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.
At the moment a few friends and I are having some major problems on Virgin Media. We all stay within about 10 miles of each other and for the past few days the internet has been poor to say the least. I attempted to download SP2 for IT Professionals from Microsoft and downloaded at a measly 100K which is pathetic when it should be normally 1.1-1.2M (about 9.4meg equivelant). Most websites are very unresponsive. When Using news groups I never get more than 4meg (8 connections which was working at 9.5meg up until the end of April). It seems good during the morning, but as the night rolls on the speed is terrible. Last night it seemed to work pretty well, I was getting 8.9meg (which is more than acceptable), but this was only accomplished after numerous calls to Virgin from both myself and myfriends and again tonight I am downloading at no more than 4 meg.
To add some more information today I visited a few websites and downloaded a 340meg file. I understand that the traffic shaping should not be kicking in until I download SIGNIFICANTLY more.
Can anyone help me with this as I am sick of speaking to the Indian Call center. All they seem to know how to do is to tell you to reboot the modem. I have tried it with another PC, and another router. The power lvls are all acceptable +0.4 down +46.3 up. Please also remember that this is happening to at least 3 other people I know, one which stays in the Johnstone area, and two in the Paisley area.
Thanks guys for taking the time to read my post Welcome to the forums m8 and welcome to VMHELL
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