View Full Version : Baguley / Slow Speeds.. What's the definitive answer?
spankysmagicpian
08-07-2007, 01:46
Well, I see I am not alone here. For some people it's been awful since the upgrade to 20Mb, for others it's been the best thing since the move to 10mb from 4mb.
I have had many problems (which I didn't have with NTL) since the re-brand to VM which has resulted in 5 engineers visits now.
This speed increase is the latest 'problem' I am sat here and I am downloading from the NGs at 2.35mb/s. I cannot get above roughly 600k/s on the newsgroups at all other times of the day (TM doesn't come into it). I can't complain as it was a free upgrade BUT I'm a little unhappy that I seem to have come off worse now and wished I had the 10Mb back.
I always download overnight but the slow browsing and frankly rubbish speed tests (from many sites) at all other times is poor.
So, do you think it will settle down?
Is this it now and people will have to get used to it?
Is there really a problem with Ambit modems (disproved as it's fine at the moment)
Is there a problem with the Network?
is it worth ringing faults yet again?
I don't wish to start an argument here and I appreciate that some people do get full speed all of the time but I just wish they were willing to be honest about things. I'm sure people would be a lot happier if VM told people 'Yes, we have a problem with HTTP browsing / download speeds most of the time and we are looking at it now' instead of we'll send an engineer out or we'll look into it.
I happen to think it is a very localised problem seemingly affecting South Manchester, maybe our part of the feed is over-subscribed? I just hope that it is looked at and hopefully fixed soon.
In all honesty Spanky, this is the worst I've seen since the AOL dial up days.
Lost connections and super slow internet are starting to really iritate me.
I'm not calling the powers that be, and I'm sure a resolution is on the horizon.
Until now It's been a trouble free experience, so I'm giving VM the benefit of the doubt for now.
I don't think the move to 20 is the issue. Even were you to return to 10, there's no guarantee things would be different. Indeed, the 4 Meg tier is bound by the same problems.
If the top tier was all running at full speed I could understand my speed being lower, but it appears you are about the same as me.
The situation is reminiscent of an online message board that has insufficient bandwidth for the user level. Dropouts and slow performance dominate.
There must be some sort of bottleneck somewhere. I can't see any other reason for such widespread problems. Except possibly some machines have maybe been compromised and are wacking the network? :erm:
To answer your questions:
So, do you think it will settle down? yes
Is this it now and people will have to get used to it? No. That would be an unacceptable situation
Is there really a problem with Ambit modems (disproved as it's fine at the moment) If that was the problem, then even 4Mb is being affected
Is there a problem with the Network? I think a big problem exists
is it worth ringing faults yet again? I don't see they can do anything to help
swoop101
08-07-2007, 07:07
One reason that people might be overlooking is actualy not to do with VM.
Since the last microsoft updates I have noticedthat IE7 is running like a dog and when i use firefox the net is much quicker.
Another reason is also likely to be that you could have quite a few heavy users in the same cab as you so therefore choking your bandwidth.
I am lucky in that most of my close neighbours are elderly and are not very likely to be heavy users.
Sherlock614
08-07-2007, 09:09
One reason that people might be overlooking is actualy not to do with VM.
Since the last microsoft updates I have noticedthat IE7 is running like a dog and when i use firefox the net is much quicker.
Possibly, but i mostly download from newsgroups and the speed is worse than 10mb.
Another reason is also likely to be that you could have quite a few heavy users in the same cab as you so therefore choking your bandwidth.
Possibly, but i find it funny that a LOT of people are suddenly having problems with quite a few heavy users when it was ok before.
This problem is more widespread than 'just local' - I would be happier if it was oversubscription, it would be an answer at the very least... As it stands we are just 'hoping' that someone is doing something about it without any real information at all :erm:
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 09:51
It's nothing to do with overuse I don't think. Since the upgrade I haven't been able to get anywhere near the stable speeds I got when on 10meg.
It's either VM throttling speeds 24/7 in congested areas (in which case it's false advertising) or something is amiss with the config for certain modems.
It's too much of a coincidence that the upgrade started these problems. I use the newsgroups to get a true indication of my speed and on average I'm 400k+ slower than when on 10meg no matter the time of day.
I hope this is sorted soon and I just hope that anyone who uses these boards and works at VM is kind enough to be pointing out the problems people are having.
edit: not definitive by any means - but speed tests from early Sunday morning - appalling if you ask me. £37 for an average of 6meg is a bloody joke.
Sun, 08 Jul 2007 08:56:37 GMT
1st 512K took 985 ms = 519.8 KB/sec, approx 4283 Kbps, 4.18 Mbps
2nd 512K took 515 ms = 994.2 KB/sec, approx 8192 Kbps, 8 Mbps
3rd 512K took 657 ms = 779.3 KB/sec, approx 6421 Kbps, 6.27 Mbps
4th 512K took 515 ms = 994.2 KB/sec, approx 8192 Kbps, 8 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 6772 Kbps, 6.61 Mbps
It's nothing to do with overuse I don't think. Since the upgrade I haven't been able to get anywhere near the stable speeds I got when on 10meg.
It's either VM throttling speeds 24/7 in congested areas (in which case it's false advertising) or something is amiss with the config for certain modems.
It's too much of a coincidence that the upgrade started these problems. I use the newsgroups to get a true indication of my speed and on average I'm 400k+ slower than when on 10meg no matter the time of day.
I hope this is sorted soon and I just hope that anyone who uses these boards and works at VM is kind enough to be pointing out the problems people are having.
edit: not definitive by any means - but speed tests from early Sunday morning - appalling if you ask me. £37 for an average of 6meg is a bloody joke.
Sun, 08 Jul 2007 08:56:37 GMT
1st 512K took 985 ms = 519.8 KB/sec, approx 4283 Kbps, 4.18 Mbps
2nd 512K took 515 ms = 994.2 KB/sec, approx 8192 Kbps, 8 Mbps
3rd 512K took 657 ms = 779.3 KB/sec, approx 6421 Kbps, 6.27 Mbps
4th 512K took 515 ms = 994.2 KB/sec, approx 8192 Kbps, 8 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 6772 Kbps, 6.61 Mbps
Agreed that there is definitely something wrong and i have been reporting it to the people i normally deal with when there are problems in the North West. However i do think that congestion does come into it as this is my speed at the moment. However at a night i can be down to 2 meg at the most.
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 11:28
I have seen your posts Bill C and appreciate every effort you have made to get this thing noticed by the people that can hopefully make a difference. And of course your great avatar you have :)
I have yet to make the dizzying heights you have managed though. I saw 16meg once for all of maybe 2 secs then right back down to around 7-8meg. I am using an older Ambit200 modem and I'm a bit concerned that it's part of the problem. I just haven't had anything like stable higher speeds despite being pretty much in the same area as a few who have. Most annoying.
I liked the stability of a cable connection, but obviously if this persists I will give ADSL a go seeing as I'm pretty much on top of the Rusholme exchange. This is too expensive at the moment for the service I'm personally getting.
I would honestly be happy if I had my stable 10megs back.
spankysmagicpian
08-07-2007, 11:56
Hear Hear for Bill Cs contributions.
I've just done a speedtest from this very page and got max 6.41 mbps. Yes I can browse no problems, I'm not down loading anything but on the 10Mb I could say my speeds were anything from 8mb to 9.42mb.... now it varies between 3mb and 9mb with full speed only realised via the newsgroups in the early hours of the morning. All other times 600kbs-700kbs where previously I was getting 1.17mbs downloads.
I'm not angry, I'm more disappointed to be honest. I ditched Sky to go VIP with VM (always had BB / Phone and TV with NTL) and I am still under continuing pressure from the family to get Sky back due to various faults here and there with VM. I'd rather go Freeview than go back with Sky but that's another argument for another thread.
I honestly think that VM have outstanding technology and can offer so much but in my own personal experience, it's not quite happening at the moment. If they offered a little more honesty then I think this would appease a lot of the people on here who are having problems.
I and others seem to be hanging on, thinking it will be ok 'in the next couple of weeks' but so far, those 'next couple of weeks' never happen.
I really hope they get to the bottom of this as I'm not going anywhere and sooner would be nicer rather than later.
I have yet to make the dizzying heights you have managed though. I saw 16meg once for all of maybe 2 secs then right back down to around 7-8meg. I am using an older Ambit200 modem and I'm a bit concerned that it's part of the problem. I just haven't had anything like stable higher speeds despite being pretty much in the same area as a few who have. Most annoying.
I too have an Ambit200 modem and in the 1000's of tests i've done i managed to hit 15.945mb once, but appaently the Ambit200 can go higher than 16mb.I wouldn't mind all this mess if i could get 20mb at least some of the time.
I happen to think it is a very localised problem seemingly affecting South Manchester, maybe our part of the feed is over-subscribed? I just hope that it is looked at and hopefully fixed soon.
Getting the same thing here in Glasgow
Down the Pub
08-07-2007, 12:07
Agreed that there is definitely something wrong and i have been reporting it to the people i normally deal with when there are problems in the North West. However i do think that congestion does come into it as this is my speed at the moment. However at a night i can be down to 2 meg at the most.
bill, had the engie out yesterday morning and things seem to have improved a bit. had look at the cab and increased the levels and fitted an attenuator so now the upstream is sat a reasonable 43dbmv, speeds have improved a bit and occasionally can get 17-18meg of newsgroups. funny things was that he showed me a txt that he said was sent form the one of the bosses to the techs saying about this speed issue and there was nox fix time for it, also on the baguley server that widnes and runcorn were the worse affected areas
make of it what you will.
bill, had the engie out yesterday morning and things seem to have improved a bit. had look at the cab and increased the levels and fitted an attenuator so now the upstream is sat a reasonable 43dbmv, speeds have improved a bit and occasionally can get 17-18meg of newsgroups. funny things was that he showed me a txt that he said was sent form the one of the bosses to the techs saying about this speed issue and there was nox fix time for it, also on the baguley server that widnes and runcorn were the worse affected areas
make of it what you will.
Yep i know where your coming from. Told you your levels where all to cock ;)
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 12:25
Talking about upstream levels then - mine is 38dbmv, is that good or bad?
Talking about upstream levels then - mine is 38dbmv, is that good or bad?
Good.
I take it your very close to the green cab. You can be to close as well :Yikes:, And that needs a engineer to come and adjust your levels to suit.
im in widnes (on baguley)aand every single day i have to reboot my modem at least once,usually twice just to get on the internet.Its not a major problem but it is flippin annoying.
i get speeds between 9 and 13meg usually but it quite often drops to below 1
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 12:34
Good.
I take it your very close to the green cab. You can be to close as well :Yikes:, And that needs a engineer to come and adjust your levels to suit.
The green cab (I assume you mean the BT style distribution boxes?) is about 20 yards from my front door.
Down the Pub
08-07-2007, 12:35
Good.
I take it your very close to the green cab. You can be to close as well :Yikes:, And that needs a engineer to come and adjust your levels to suit.
must request virgin to move the cab further down the street then :idea:.......no more than 20metres from mine.
The green cab (I assume you mean the BT style distribution boxes?) is about 20 yards from my front door.
must request virgin to move the cab further down the street then :idea:.......no more than 20metres from mine.
what they do is fit a cable simulator on the drop cable to your house. That increases the attenuation making it seem longer :)
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 12:51
Well I'm on the phone to them (28mins so far) being given the runaround. No one wants to help and keeps passing the buck. The (indian) chap I'm talking to now keeps saying he can't find my account details and I must have given him the wrong number. He keeps repeating back a WRONG number to me, which I keep correcting him on, and he just keeps saying "that is a wrong account number" - sigh. Finally found me through my postcode.
spankysmagicpian
08-07-2007, 13:13
Good luck Retro - let us know how you go on.
Well I'm on the phone to them (28mins so far) being given the runaround. No one wants to help and keeps passing the buck. The (indian) chap I'm talking to now keeps saying he can't find my account details and I must have given him the wrong number. He keeps repeating back a WRONG number to me, which I keep correcting him on, and he just keeps saying "that is a wrong account number" - sigh. Finally found me through my postcode.
Personally i would have slammed the phone down by now.
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 13:20
They are doing a gazillion tests via the fault helpline and so far can't get me above 10meg no matter what they try. The guy really doesn't want to give me a new modem which I had hoped he might.
It is rather oddly amusing him keep thinking he has me sorted out, only for me to do their download speedtest and come back with the same 800-1000KB/s speed.
We shall see.......
edit: he did actually say I was on the wrong "machine" for my area and was connected to one some distance away. Not quite sure what he meant about that. It made a slight difference to the speed test, as before that I was getting 700k ish. It went up by around 200-300k after he did whatever it was to get me on the right "machine".
It is odd though that apart from upload speed, I'm getting nothing above 10meg. Which is confusing this guy as well. And it's disturbing me watching the F1!
At least they are refunding the call and keep calling me back instead.
They are doing a gazillion tests via the fault helpline and so far can't get me above 10meg no matter what they try. The guy really doesn't want to give me a new modem which I had hoped he might.
It is rather oddly amusing him keep thinking he has me sorted out, only for me to do their download speedtest and come back with the same 800-1000KB/s speed.
We shall see.......
edit: he did actually say I was on the wrong "machine" for my area and was connected to one some distance away. Not quite sure what he meant about that. It made a slight difference to the speed test, as before that I was getting 700k ish. It went up by around 200-300k after he did whatever it was to get me on the right "machine".
It is odd though that apart from upload speed, I'm getting nothing above 10meg. Which is confusing this guy as well. And it's disturbing me watching the F1!
At least they are refunding the call and keep calling me back instead.
I told you in a pm what to do if you hit that "i haven't a clue stage" ;)
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 13:34
I told you in a pm what to do if you hit that "i haven't a clue stage" ;)
Oh I spelled that out in no uncertain terms to the guy. Just spoken again and he said if they can't sort the speed they will give me a new modem - but that the modem I have should be capable.
Just tried the newsgroups and actually hasn't made any difference. Still around 800k speed. Not good.
He is speaking to an engineer and will be calling me back in a few minutes (fingers crossed) - he has given me a £20 rebate on my bill so far for "inconvenience". Which I guess will pay for a modem if the worst comes to the worst!
Oh I spelled that out in no uncertain terms to the guy. Just spoken again and he said if they can't sort the speed they will give me a new modem - but that the modem I have should be capable.
Just tried the newsgroups and actually hasn't made any difference. Still around 800k speed. Not good.
He is speaking to an engineer and will be calling me back in a few minutes (fingers crossed) - he has given me a £20 rebate on my bill so far for "inconvenience". Which I guess will pay for a modem if the worst comes to the worst!
:tu:
Stick to your guns
Hmm so this approach has the potential to work? Interesting :)
I'm one of those who's typically down to 500k-1mb for afternoons and evenings, maybe 3-5mb most of the time, 15-18mb at the crack of dawn.
(My downstream's 34.5 dB, my upstream is 54 dBmV - indicative of an issue there at all?)
Is the faults helpline the same thing as the 25p/min tech support? And, are my symptoms likely to be something a replacement modem/whatever would help with?
Good luck with your attempt Retro, will watch for an update with interest!
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 13:56
Right here is where I stand - slightly stuck to be honest.
The guy called me back and apologised profusely. He said he has been talking to engineers and that there is a network problem in the Baguely area and that they have escalated it to be a main priority or whatever the term was. he said that for the next 3-4 days I shouldn't expect to get 10meg because that's basically all that's being provided to my area.
He insisted it wasn't a modem problem and that it would all be working fine within the next few days. So I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and then if it doesn't get better call them back in a few days and insist on paying less for my broadband or leaving them.
I suppose someone admitting there is a network problem is a step in the right direction.
I worked in retail for a few years and know how to handle things should this not improve. I'm more than capable of persuading them as to my needs :)
Right here is where I stand - slightly stuck to be honest.
The guy called me back and apologised profusely. He said he has been talking to engineers and that there is a network problem in the Baguely area and that they have escalated it to be a main priority or whatever the term was. he said that for the next 3-4 days I shouldn't expect to get 10meg because that's basically all that's being provided to my area.
He insisted it wasn't a modem problem and that it would all be working fine within the next few days. So I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and then if it doesn't get better call them back in a few days and insist on paying less for my broadband or leaving them.
I suppose someone admitting there is a network problem is a step in the right direction.
I would not have excepted that.
:Yikes: Pm on its way
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 14:09
I should add, the reason I said I was "stuck" is that do I call the guy a liar for saying there are network problems and insist that I need a modem and that's all there is to it?
I suppose I should be asking advice as to the next step. I don't want to leave if this can be fixed. But how do I tackle someone claiming "network" problems without proof of my own? That's where it gets tricky and arguing becomes difficult.
I'm not being funny - but when I last spoke to Virgin and got a nice english woman to talk to, she was as helpful as you could hope for. The Indian support people are difficult to reason with when the line is bad and you struggle to make yourself understood properly.
How do you guarantee getting someone from this country when you call?
If anyone else calls them it would be great if you could then post your experience in this thread. Thanks
spankysmagicpian
08-07-2007, 15:22
He said he has been talking to engineers and that there is a network problem in the Baguely area and that they have escalated it to be a main priority or whatever the term was. he said that for the next 3-4 days I shouldn't expect to get 10meg because that's basically all that's being provided to my area.
Well, if that's true.. it's a start. If not, it's not very impressive. That's what is getting me. Each time I have spoken to Faults etc, I have never raised my voice and always let them I know that I can appreciate what a momentous task this must be almalgamating NTL / TW network following the merger. Maybe I'm too soft, I mean after the last but one engineers visit, he told me the PQ was down to old kit at the headend. This was going to be replaced in the next couple of weeks. That was nearly two months ago and it's no better which leads me to believe that they didn't do it. Sorry for the slightly OT there.
What I mean to say is NTL for the last 6 years have been good to me and it's all gone to pot since it became VM. I am willing to wait due to the rock solid service I have had over those years but at the moment it feels like tomorrow will never come. How many more people feel like me?
I'm a fool to myself but I'll see what happens over the next week. I won't leave as I know that once sorted, it will be hopefully be a service to be proud of once again.
Retrovertigo
08-07-2007, 15:42
Up until this fiasco I hadn't had many problems with NTL to be honest. On the 2 occasions I had needed an engineer, they actually came within 2 hours of me speaking on the phone.
This latest cock up though is getting me annoyed, as even if they can't provide faster speeds than 10meg, the simple fact is they aren't provided what I had initially.
I don't raise my voice to them, I just am firm and make sure that I sound confident in that I know what I'm talking about. A simple "trick" if you like, is to say something along the lines of "I'm not happy about x, or z, it's unacceptable and this is what I would like you to do about it". It's better than losing your rag with them. Always tell them what you expect rather than them offer you something.
It's only a few more days to wait so we shall see what happens. I suspect nothing though, sadly.
spankysmagicpian
08-07-2007, 18:36
Thanks for all your input guys and my inane wafflings. Glad I'm not on my own and i too, will leave it until another 7 days to see what gives (if anything)
I've just done a speedtest from this very page and got max 6.41 mbps.
Sounds like Hemel Hempstead, my 20MB is fabulous on every other protocol apart from HTTP traffic, when proxies where in use, i could simply change it and get the full 20MB speeds when using web, now SOMEHOW my line is not capable of going over 6MB when using HTTP. :( (this is not shaping either as ive just downloaded at 20MB on NNTP)
Im not that bothered as I use torrents and Usenet, but when i can be bothered I will give tech support a call from work and then explain whats happening.
TBH Can you imagine the response if i get through to India and start mentioning proxies etc, no doubt they will send a engineer around, what the hell is a engineer gonna do, the problem is not at my end as I get 20MBs from other protocols, its something to do with http somewhere along the line.
Sherlock614
08-07-2007, 20:41
Purring along here on the Wirral
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2007/07/96.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
spankysmagicpian
09-07-2007, 02:00
I'm dropping my daughter off at the airport for 3:30am so I'm still up.
I think VMs network is now borked - Well and truly
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2007/07/95.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
I don't want this all the time - just over 5mb or 6mb in the evening would be nice :rolleyes:
Here's a few of my Cableforum speed test readings on the Baguley server:-
Mon, 09 Jul 2007 06:32:39 GMT
1st 512K took 266 ms = 1924.8 KB/sec, approx 15860 Kbps, 15.49 Mbps
2nd 512K took 281 ms = 1822.1 KB/sec, approx 15014 Kbps, 14.66 Mbps
3rd 512K took 438 ms = 1169 KB/sec, approx 9633 Kbps, 9.41 Mbps
4th 512K took 203 ms = 2522.2 KB/sec, approx 20783 Kbps, 20.3 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 15323 Kbps, 14.97 Mbp
Mon, 09 Jul 2007 06:33:46 GMT
1st 512K took 266 ms = 1924.8 KB/sec, approx 15860 Kbps, 15.49 Mbps
2nd 512K took 281 ms = 1822.1 KB/sec, approx 15014 Kbps, 14.66 Mbps
3rd 512K took 250 ms = 2048 KB/sec, approx 16876 Kbps, 16.48 Mbps
4th 512K took 203 ms = 2522.2 KB/sec, approx 20783 Kbps, 20.3 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 17133 Kbps, 16.73 Mbps
Mon, 09 Jul 2007 06:34:45 GMT
1st 512K took 218 ms = 2348.6 KB/sec, approx 19352 Kbps, 18.9 Mbps
2nd 512K took 203 ms = 2522.2 KB/sec, approx 20783 Kbps, 20.3 Mbps
3rd 512K took 203 ms = 2522.2 KB/sec, approx 20783 Kbps, 20.3 Mbps
4th 512K took 171 ms = 2994.2 KB/sec, approx 24672 Kbps, 24.09 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 21398 Kbps, 20.9 Mbps
These readings just within a few minutes of each other show some variation.
Incidentally this was done using Firefox using an NTL250 modem . Anybody tried the speed test using different browsers e.g Opera or different modems? Maybe your browser & modem does make a difference.
spankysmagicpian
09-07-2007, 09:30
Ho Hum - back to 5782mbps connection. Didn't last long.
i'm from Brighton so no idea what i'm connected too but since my 20meg upgrade its been appaulling. I use Useneteserver for my newsgroup needs and right now i'm downloading at between 2meg and 3 meg with 10 connections. I have had 20 meg twice in 7 days early morning and my browsing on the internet in the evenings is dire with around a 4/6meg connection showing on various speedtest but webpages taking forever to load and steaming anything is a no go virtually every night. This has all happened since 20meg upgrade, most the time it seems like i'm on 4/6meg yet i pay for premium 20meg connection. There HAS to be something wrong with the network and i am shocked that VM can get away with it.
What makes it worse is i keep seeing the Big Brother VM adverts promoting Super Fast BB, it takes the wee!
DiscoStu
09-07-2007, 09:44
i'm from Brighton. . .
Me too! It's still pee-poor, I used to get a stable 9+Mb/s on the 10Mb teir - since the 'upgrade' I'm lucky to get 7Mb. I'd rather have a stable connection than this.
I think I'll give it a few weeks and see what happens as I don't really want to change supplier. May just drop down a teir. . .
spankysmagicpian
09-07-2007, 10:05
So far I have gone from
10Mb connection - 9.42mbps most of the time to
20Mb connection - 6.33mbps most of the time
Retrovertigo
09-07-2007, 10:34
What modem were you using again spanky? It seems from the tests I have noticed that it IS the newer modems giving the better performance.
I'm getting a little agitated with all this now. It really rams home my bitterness when I see people on the baguely server getting full speed when they fobbed me off with some excuse about server troubles.
Sherlock614
09-07-2007, 10:39
So far I have gone from
10Mb connection - 9.42mbps most of the time to
20Mb connection - 6.33mbps most of the time
Same here on an NTL 250 modem
spankysmagicpian
09-07-2007, 10:46
Retro - NTL (Ambit) 250. Blue one.
Seeing as I did hit 20mb at 2am this morning (see post above) then I can assume that the modem and my router are fine.
Seeing as I can't get much more then 7-8mbps the rest of the time, I'm guessing that here in Manchester / Baguley, the network is pretty much hanging by a thread and even the slightest amount of load by users is tipping it over the edge.
I mean, I have logged on from work at half 9 this morning and it was back to just under 6mbps... I can understand in the evening but early morning!?!?!!
Retrovertigo
09-07-2007, 10:53
Retro - NTL (Ambit) 250. Blue one.
Seeing as I did hit 20mb at 2am this morning (see post above) then I can assume that the modem and my router are fine.
You realise you've blown my conspiracy theory now don't you ;)
spankysmagicpian
09-07-2007, 11:30
You realise you've blown my conspiracy theory now don't you ;)
Not really - it could be a 23 hour conspiracy. Maybe it's like the traffic management - they can turn it on and off at will.
So far I have gone from
10Mb connection - 9.42mbps most of the time to
20Mb connection - 6.33mbps most of the time
and same here with the 255 latest modem
Update just posted on VM service status web site. Broadband status downgraded from Red to Amber - still red as far as I'm concerned
Est fix time is 15th July
"We are aware that some of our XL Broadband (20Mbps) customers are experiencing disappointing download speeds at the moment. A small number of customers who've recently been upgraded have reported slower than expected speeds, which we're working hard to rectify. We will naturally investigate any individual reports to resolve one-off faults or localised issues. As the UK's largest home broadband provider, and winner of ISPA's Best Consumer Broadband ISP award, we want you to enjoy the fastest, widely available Internet access available. "
Sadly now 31st July, that was quick
Last Modified Name Customers Affected Estimated Time Status Priority
09/07/2007 12:41 Alistair Hughes Broadband Internet 31st July 2007 18:00 Updated P1
Detailed Description
We are aware that some of our XL Broadband (20Mbps) customers are experiencing disappointing download speeds at the moment. A small number of customers who've recently been upgraded have reported slower than expected speeds, which we're working hard to rectify. We will naturally investigate any individual reports to resolve one-off faults or localised issues. As the UK's largest home broadband provider, and winner of ISPA's Best Consumer Broadband ISP award, we want you to enjoy the fastest, widely available Internet access available.
Ok im in Stoke and have only just got back from holiday.
I mainly use my connection for usenet and today have been leeching at a nice 2.3mb/s UNTIL about 6pm when traffic shaping came into play.
Am i right in thinking that traffic shaping halves your connection speed? So my 20mb would become 10mb?
If this is the case then why am i being limited to 560k/s like i always have been?????????
arcamalpha2004
09-07-2007, 18:05
Sadly now 31st July, that was quick
Last Modified Name Customers Affected Estimated Time Status Priority
09/07/2007 12:41 Alistair Hughes Broadband Internet 31st July 2007 18:00 Updated P1
Detailed Description
We are aware that some of our XL Broadband (20Mbps) customers are experiencing disappointing download speeds at the moment. A small number of customers who've recently been upgraded have reported slower than expected speeds, which we're working hard to rectify. We will naturally investigate any individual reports to resolve one-off faults or localised issues. As the UK's largest home broadband provider, and winner of ISPA's Best Consumer Broadband ISP award, we want you to enjoy the fastest, widely available Internet access available.
The 20mb customers are not the only ones experiencing slow speeds at the moment, but then again, why worry about the ones on lower speeds?
Makes you wonder how the hell they won the award :td:
Ok im in Stoke and have only just got back from holiday.
I mainly use my connection for usenet and today have been leeching at a nice 2.3mb/s UNTIL about 6pm when traffic shaping came into play.
Am i right in thinking that traffic shaping halves your connection speed? So my 20mb would become 10mb?
If this is the case then why am i being limited to 560k/s like i always have been?????????
It drops to 5Mb... Link (http://abcde.co.uk/virginmedia/stm.html)
Stupidboy
09-07-2007, 20:24
So far I have gone from
10Mb connection - 9.42mbps most of the time to
20Mb connection - 6.33mbps most of the time
Needless to say, this is almost exactly the same as me. And I've got a new 255 modem.
Incidentally Spankysmagicpian, I'm near the Quadrant, in the Chorlton direction..
spankysmagicpian
09-07-2007, 20:51
Needless to say, this is almost exactly the same as me. And I've got a new 255 modem.
Incidentally Spankysmagicpian, I'm near the Quadrant, in the Chorlton direction..
Ahh, down near Great S**** Road? I'm on Urms*** Lane further on from The Robin Hood.
There's are quite a few cable boxes on houses but no one that I know has 20Mb as I was going to ask them what their speeds were like. I know one bloke and he's only on 4Mb... might be worth a check with him....
Smashing
Mon, 09 Jul 2007 19:52:13 GMT
1st 512K took 437 ms = 1171.6 KB/sec, approx 9654 Kbps, 9.43 Mbps
2nd 512K took 844 ms = 606.6 KB/sec, approx 4998 Kbps, 4.88 Mbps
3rd 512K took 688 ms = 744.2 KB/sec, approx 6132 Kbps, 5.99 Mbps
4th 512K took 718 ms = 713.1 KB/sec, approx 5876 Kbps, 5.74 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 6665 Kbps, 6.51 Mbps
I would have imagined that the speeds we are getting now in the evening are comparable to the speeds we were getting in the evening on 10Mb besides the occasional dip to 3Mb. Nothing has changed really.... doen't make me feel any better though.
Retrovertigo
09-07-2007, 21:18
For the sake of completeness (I posted it in the Manchester thread as well), this is the speed test Virgin directed me to: http://f1test.notlong.com/
It's a small file to download to check speed. It is interesting as it gives me my best speeds (all of a whopping 10meg!) so might be a better indication for those wanting to know what speeds they might be capable of. Of course that I get 10meg is a bitter blow, but as I say, it gives me a faster speed than either newsgroups or speed test sites.
slowcoach
09-07-2007, 21:26
For the sake of completeness (I posted it in the Manchester thread as well), this is the speed test Virgin directed me to: http://f1test.notlong.com/
It's a small file to download to check speed. It is interesting as it gives me my best speeds (all of a whopping 10meg!) so might be a better indication for those wanting to know what speeds they might be capable of. Of course that I get 10meg is a bitter blow, but as I say, it gives me a faster speed than either newsgroups or speed test sites.
It's obviously not located on the Virgin servers then.
spankysmagicpian
09-07-2007, 21:58
For the sake of completeness (I posted it in the Manchester thread as well), this is the speed test Virgin directed me to: http://f1test.notlong.com/
It's a small file to download to check speed. It is interesting as it gives me my best speeds (all of a whopping 10meg!) so might be a better indication for those wanting to know what speeds they might be capable of. Of course that I get 10meg is a bitter blow, but as I say, it gives me a faster speed than either newsgroups or speed test sites.
Just download it? Just did - best I could get was 524kb/s
DiscoStu
10-07-2007, 11:29
Here in Brighton it seems to be getting worse. . .
1st 512K took 1640 ms = 312.2 KB/sec, approx 2573 Kbps, 2.51 Mbps
2nd 512K took 1875 ms = 273.1 KB/sec, approx 2250 Kbps, 2.2 Mbps
3rd 512K took 1875 ms = 273.1 KB/sec, approx 2250 Kbps, 2.2 Mbps
4th 512K took 1703 ms = 300.6 KB/sec, approx 2477 Kbps, 2.42 Mbps
Really good value for money. . . NOT!
Stupidboy
10-07-2007, 11:48
For the sake of completeness (I posted it in the Manchester thread as well), this is the speed test Virgin directed me to: http://f1test.notlong.com/
It's a small file to download to check speed. It is interesting as it gives me my best speeds (all of a whopping 10meg!) so might be a better indication for those wanting to know what speeds they might be capable of. Of course that I get 10meg is a bitter blow, but as I say, it gives me a faster speed than either newsgroups or speed test sites.
Interesting, when I download that the speed is 2.26MBytes/sec fairly constant which is about 18Mbps (I think if my maths is right) so that's not bad I suppose.
But then the basic speedtest results right now are:
Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:48:16 UTC
1st 512K took 281 ms = 1822.1 KB/sec, approx 15014 Kbps, 14.66 Mbps
2nd 512K took 234 ms = 2188 KB/sec, approx 18029 Kbps, 17.61 Mbps
3rd 512K took 266 ms = 1924.8 KB/sec, approx 15860 Kbps, 15.49 Mbps
4th 512K took 219 ms = 2337.9 KB/sec, approx 19264 Kbps, 18.81 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 17042 Kbps, 16.64 Mbps
which sort of ties up. Ho hum. I can't be bothered worrying about this any more!
Sherlock614
12-07-2007, 08:37
Any updates at all?
Actually got 10mb this morning for the first time in a while. Just wondering if anyone had any more info.
on in an hour!
12-07-2007, 11:54
Any updates at all?
Actually got 10mb this morning for the first time in a while. Just wondering if anyone had any more info.
theyre still trying to suss out what went wrong sherlock.est fix time on the known faults website is end of aug,but theyve obviously put this date on as they havent nailed it yet :(
theyre still trying to suss out what went wrong sherlock.est fix time on the known faults website is end of aug,but theyve obviously put this date on as they havent nailed it yet :(
Well, either the upgrade is in need of a tweak to get everything up to speed for all those on the Baguley server or the upgrade isn't producing the speeds Virgin expected. Maybe the upgrade needs an upgrade. ;)
I'm running my connection via an Apple Extreme wireless router. My desktop uses one of the wired LAN sockets and using that I can get between 13Mb and 17Mb on average.
I also connect wirelessly using a laptop but the highest speeds I get are between 6Mb-7Mb.
This is better than the 4Mb service I used to have but still doesn't approach the 20Mb that I am paying for.
Surely with all the equipment they have and quality control procedures, Virgin should be able to monitor the actual speeds which each customer receives?
spankysmagicpian
12-07-2007, 12:25
theyre still trying to suss out what went wrong sherlock.est fix time on the known faults website is end of aug,but theyve obviously put this date on as they havent nailed it yet :(
Cheers On In... it's nice to hear what is actually happening even if it does seem ages off.
Maybe they should put everyone back onto 10Mb until they find out the problem. :D
Retrovertigo
14-07-2007, 10:51
Well, to counter the speed problems I decided to play smart and grab the shows I wanted during the middle of the night. Which of course meant leaving my P.C on all night which I don't like.
I woke this morning to find I had lost my connection around 30 minutes after going to bed. So for 8 hours my P.C sat here doing nothing at all, and unable to take advantage of the mythical speeds which may or may not happen during those hours.
I managed to see around 1.7meg download speed this morning at around 9:30am for all of 1 minute, then right back down to the usual 800k.
I mean seriously, for now at least give me the speed I had before, and make sure the bloody service stays on during the night when it seems they want you to do any downloading without being penalised.
Getting angrier and angrier, especially as I see family and friends on providers like TalkTalk and getting the same speeds as I am getting, and for free!!
Not impressed one jot, and up until Virgin took over NTL were pretty good on the whole.
Sherlock614
14-07-2007, 12:26
I ran a download this morning and for the first time was getting 2.3mb/s download - not constant - but nice to see all the same (even if it's short lived).
Just hope it isn't short lived, will try another download later for the sake of testing.
Mmmm...
Seem to have zippy browsing tonight. Perhaps something has been sorted.
Mmmm...
Seem to have zippy browsing tonight. Perhaps something has been sorted.
Well considering your on the same nodal area as me that shocks me. Are you on 20 meg ?
Lol - 2 meg - but a zippy 2 meg!
---------- Post added at 22:55 ---------- Previous post was at 22:54 ----------
Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:55:02 GMT
1st 512K took 2153 ms = 237.8 KB/sec, approx 1959 Kbps, 1.91 Mbps
2nd 512K took 2173 ms = 235.6 KB/sec, approx 1941 Kbps, 1.9 Mbps
3rd 512K took 2133 ms = 240 KB/sec, approx 1978 Kbps, 1.93 Mbps
4th 512K took 2153 ms = 237.8 KB/sec, approx 1959 Kbps, 1.91 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 1959 Kbps, 1.91 Mbps
Lol - 2 meg - but a zippy 2 meg!
---------- Post added at 22:55 ---------- Previous post was at 22:54 ----------
Sun, 15 Jul 2007 21:55:02 GMT
1st 512K took 2153 ms = 237.8 KB/sec, approx 1959 Kbps, 1.91 Mbps
2nd 512K took 2173 ms = 235.6 KB/sec, approx 1941 Kbps, 1.9 Mbps
3rd 512K took 2133 ms = 240 KB/sec, approx 1978 Kbps, 1.93 Mbps
4th 512K took 2153 ms = 237.8 KB/sec, approx 1959 Kbps, 1.91 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 1959 Kbps, 1.91 Mbps
there's your answer :)
Retrovertigo
16-07-2007, 02:38
Well, I purposely left my P.C switched on tonight with the intention of grabbing Jekyll off the newsgroups during the early hours to see what speed I could manage.
I haven't even broken the 700k barrier. It's 2:35am as I type this. No way on earth the network is congested. Something is wrong, plain and simple. I know my modem can manage the full 10meg speed, so my equipment isn't at fault.
It's pathetic to be honest. I shouldn't be sat here at this hour and seeing such an appalling speed. And as I have said before, least not when I am paying a top tier premium price for it compared to other providers out there.
It's a shame that my posts on these boards are all to complain and that I didn't have something decent to write just for a change. I'm at a loss as to how others who live within a stones throw of me have witnessed such fast speeds in the middle of the night.
Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:15:47 UTC
1st 128K took 63 ms = 2080508 Bytes/sec = approx 17310 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 46 ms = 2849391 Bytes/sec = approx 23707 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 63 ms = 2080508 Bytes/sec = approx 17310 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 47 ms = 2788766 Bytes/sec = approx 23203 kbits/sec
This is at 2pm, and it's like that [20meg] all day except at peak hours, download is fine, upload i rarely ever use, but web browsing of most sites, uk and abroad is bad news most of the time, it could be the internet really is grinding to a halt. ;)
I should imagine the awards were from other ISPs for all the extra business they are receiving.........:rolleyes:
My BT line is being installed next week, already dumped VMs phone service and the so called broadband will follow shortly.:td:
I am sure that for £25 per month most ADSL providers can do better than a 1.4mb connection with 12% packet loss in the middle of the day during the week (don't mention weekends!).;)
Retrovertigo
16-07-2007, 16:58
Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:15:47 UTC
1st 128K took 63 ms = 2080508 Bytes/sec = approx 17310 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 46 ms = 2849391 Bytes/sec = approx 23707 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 63 ms = 2080508 Bytes/sec = approx 17310 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 47 ms = 2788766 Bytes/sec = approx 23203 kbits/sec
This is at 2pm, and it's like that [20meg] all day except at peak hours, download is fine, upload i rarely ever use, but web browsing of most sites, uk and abroad is bad news most of the time, it could be the internet really is grinding to a halt. ;)
Posts like this just serve to fuel my desire to switch providers. I don't care what the naysayers bleat on about with regards ADSL not giving decent speeds because of distance blah blah. Nothing can be worse than me paying nearly forty quid for less than 8meg.
spankysmagicpian
16-07-2007, 19:20
Thought I'd test out a download from Microsoft - 24mb file - top download speed.....49kb/s. I know it's peak time but come one...49kb/s. Sheesh.
m044bz00
16-07-2007, 21:37
It's just taken me 3.5 hours to download 120MB Win2K3 SP 2 from MS and I'm on a 20MBPS connection on Baguley. (and that's all I've downloaded today)
What a bag o $h!t
BigLarry
16-07-2007, 22:04
Taken me 32 minutes (Baguely area) to "download" a 3 minute clip on YouTube!
Rock on Virgin! :dunce:
There's definitely been something up since about 5pm this evening.
On 20mb here, but dog slow...no problems usually.
spankysmagicpian
17-07-2007, 01:15
You know what gets me. I have written to the CEO office (Steve Burch), got a nice phone call, they sent an engineer round too, I even directed them to these forums to show them it's just not me.
I mean - are you telling me, even without me pointing this forum out, that anyone doesn't read these pages from VM? If I were VM, I'd be trying to get it rectified very quickly indeed.
If I was a cynical person I'd guess that as they were getting more new cutomers than the number leaving... why should they fix it?
I am back to dial up speeds for the night. Oh well they now have only 28 days to fix it. If its not fixed by t -10 then i will have to get on to BT to connect my line up. That will be used just for a brand spanking new Be Unlimited connection. comes to something when i have to move to another provider than the one i work for.
spankysmagicpian
17-07-2007, 19:03
<sigh> I'm at at a loss as what to do next. I'd hate to go but what with BB slow, VOD not working 98% of the time, bobbins V+ picture I am seriously tempted to and I'm not at all happy that I am feeling slightly tempted.
just do it and save money at the same time as one wise vm engineer told me there is no short term fix on the horizon for this year unless someone ploughs money into it and i cant see richard asshat putting his hand in pocket.
I don't understand. My connection ran at about 9mbps when on 10mb connection. Why does it now drop to 200-300kbps? I mean, I can see that the network may not support the full 20mb, but why drop below the performance of the old 10mb connection?
Games playing seems unaffected. Played lots of Gears of War on 360 - hosting and joining games, no problems with lag or dropping out at all. I guess this makes sense though as I still have 700kbps upload, and the game must fit into 128kpbs anyway as it's peer-to-peer and that's what most people must have as upload.
I'm going to hang on to the 20mb for a few more weeks then look into ADSL or knock the connection speed down until 20mb is fixed. No point paying for something I don't get.
questover
17-07-2007, 20:14
Speedtest gave me 398 kb/s download and 324 kb/s upload.
Nowhere near the 4MB I should be on.
It was fine during the day when I was working from home, but suddenly the network is running like a dawg.
Getting fed up with VM, and seriously considering a domain name with forwarding and getting a BT line put in.
just do it and save money at the same time as one wise vm engineer told me there is no short term fix on the horizon for this year unless someone ploughs money into it and i cant see richard asshat putting his hand in pocket.
Thing is i get my broadband for next to nothing and yet i am willing to pay BT for a line and Be for broadband. Why because my 20 meg at the moment is not even worth what i am paying for it. :Yikes:.
What i cannot understand is the complete and utter cluster **** that 20 meg has made of my connection :Yikes:
Before 20 meg i could get 10 meg no problems. Now i have 20 meg super duper fibre optic cable broadband :rolleyes: It's now at dial up speed.
---------- Post added at 20:34 ---------- Previous post was at 20:27 ----------
Speedtest gave me 398 kb/s download and 324 kb/s upload.
Nowhere near the 4MB I should be on.
Better than my super duper fibre optic cable broadband dial up :LOL:
Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:33:24 GMT
1st 512K took 9355 ms = 54.7 KB/sec, approx 451 Kbps, 0.44 Mbps
2nd 512K took 6892 ms = 74.3 KB/sec, approx 612 Kbps, 0.6 Mbps
3rd 512K took 5318 ms = 96.3 KB/sec, approx 794 Kbps, 0.78 Mbps
4th 512K took 4569 ms = 112.1 KB/sec, approx 924 Kbps, 0.9 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 695 Kbps, 0.68 Mbps
To repeat this test from the source server click here (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.marsden/newspeedtest.html?1184700838204).
Now i have 20 meg super duper fibre optic cable broadband...
Oooooh! Want! Want! Want! :)
Oooooh! Want! Want! Want! :)
Well that's what it says in the advert, Pity it totally incorrect.
This is what it should say
Now i have 20 meg super duper coaxial cable modem broadband :rolleyes:
But if you live in my area then you have to put up with a Fred Dibnah steam powered UBR. So can someone put more coal on the fire please :LOL:
Retrovertigo
17-07-2007, 21:41
Yeah as I mentioned in one of the threads, VM's advertising campaign at the moment is a joke. It slags off ADSL as being dependant on the distance from your exchange (whic is true) and says that with ADSL you "might not get what you pay for". The implication being that with VM you get exactly the speed you pay for.
They really should be stopped from writing that crap. i also sigh a little each time I see them advertising for new customers. I sit there thinking "make your current customers happy first you b******s".
put up with a Fred Dibnah steam powered UBR. So can someone put more coal on the fire please :LOL:
LOL
Funniest post of the day award goes to Bill C! :D
RIP Fred, just like Bills Broadband! ;)
spankysmagicpian
17-07-2007, 23:37
Well Rik - you often seem pleased with your 20Mb so what's your browsing speed like down south... not Giganews connections..,. browsing..in the evening?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YqL95vk_5Ps
Its funny becouse its so close to the truth
iTekweni
18-07-2007, 21:12
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YqL95vk_5Ps
Its funny becouse its so close to the truth
So true
HiroofTime
18-07-2007, 22:27
Giganews was going full speed earlier, come 5pm, dropped to 500k ish and I've been watching streaming videos all evening from Gamespot and at 5pm everything went to ****. Virgin suck balls.
spankysmagicpian
19-07-2007, 09:08
Well Rik - you often seem pleased with your 20Mb so what's your browsing speed like down south... not Giganews connections..,. browsing..in the evening?
Hmm thought not, no reply :rolleyes:
Retrovertigo
19-07-2007, 10:15
My usual complaint of the day. 10:13am and getting the vast speed of 600k off giganews.
I don't care how some here want to explain this away by the system sometimes being busy, or server loads etc. I used to get 1.17meg at this time of day - rock solid.
Something is amiss, and my complaint to the head honcho, plus a letter to ofcom are on the way. I'll be phoning VM again at the weekend as well (I need to muster up the willpower for that particular task).
This is simply not good enough.
edit: well, I decided to call them while it was quiet this morning and got through to someone immediately (albeit someone in India!) was told that they know there is a problem blah blah blah - not estimate on when it will be sorted blah blah. No compensation for shoddy service at the minute, despite them taking my full money they seem happy to give me a quarter of what I should get speed-wise.
So, it's ofcom and the managing director next for me. Then of course cancelling my service and taking a chance with ADSL. It's a damn shame that cable companies don't have the same competition that ADSL has that's for sure.
I am bloody fuming to be honest. I got the cost of the call refunded and that's it. I hate to say this, but I think being based in India, the staff basically don't give a toss. I think at least if you got someone in this country they might actually sound sympathetic.
Great big SIGHHHHH
<snip>
So, it's ofcom and the managing director next for me. Then of course cancelling my service and taking a chance with ADSL. It's a damn shame that cable companies don't have the same competition that ADSL has that's for sure.
<snip>
if you go the adsl route, will you be equally fuming when the speeds aren't as advertised (ie 24mb)?
something you'll disagree on probably but, there is no minimum speed requirement for residential services, if you want a guarenteed speed you have to pay for it (and you're looking at quite a high sum for 20mb). 600k being around 5mb and more than the other speed levels VM offer, you'd have a hard case in getting anything done officially against VM as the speed is not that slow. that of course is if it's congestion etc, if it's a fault with the equipment (which appears isn't the case from what you say) then they should fix it
iTekweni
19-07-2007, 11:28
If one is paying for a 10 or 20 meg service should we be satified with what is delivered surely getting the speeds I am is not delivering anything near acceptable, last night it was a measly 1.69mbs now this is all I am getting
Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:18:53 UTC
Test 1: 1024K took 2391 ms = 428.3 KB/sec, approx 3529 Kbps, 3.45 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 2390 ms = 428.5 KB/sec, approx 3531 Kbps, 3.45 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 2375 ms = 431.2 KB/sec, approx 3553 Kbps, 3.47 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 6906 ms = 296.6 KB/sec, approx 2444 Kbps, 2.39 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 3264 Kbps, 3.19 Mbps
not good at all
dojoman47
19-07-2007, 11:43
Mine has been rock steady for the last few days, good d/l speeds from Giganews and no problems in the evening when I am surfing the net. Looks like I am one of the lucky ones, and I really feel for you guys getting a crap service, VM want to pull their finger out and get it sorted. I come off Baguley and live in Runcorn as does my daughter and her speeds are ok as well, saying that the speeds are slower today than they have been, here is the latest speedtest that I have done and this is the same as I am getting from Giganews at the moment.
Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:40:36 UTC
Test 1: 1024K took 860 ms = 1190.7 KB/sec, approx 9811 Kbps, 9.58 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 781 ms = 1311.1 KB/sec, approx 10803 Kbps, 10.55 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 781 ms = 1311.1 KB/sec, approx 10803 Kbps, 10.55 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 1578 ms = 1297.8 KB/sec, approx 10694 Kbps, 10.44 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 10528 Kbps, 10.28 Mbps
To repeat this test from the source server click here (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.marsden/newspeedtest.html?1184841640046)
Retrovertigo
19-07-2007, 11:59
if you go the adsl route, will you be equally fuming when the speeds aren't as advertised (ie 24mb)?
something you'll disagree on probably but, there is no minimum speed requirement for residential services, if you want a guarenteed speed you have to pay for it (and you're looking at quite a high sum for 20mb). 600k being around 5mb and more than the other speed levels VM offer, you'd have a hard case in getting anything done officially against VM as the speed is not that slow. that of course is if it's congestion etc, if it's a fault with the equipment (which appears isn't the case from what you say) then they should fix it
You are right - I disagree. And with ADSL I am virtually on top of the exchange so they WILL beat the speed I get at the moment - and crucially, for far less moeny than I pay now. At least ADSL are honest and point out that distance is a factor. It shouldn't be with Cable, but apparently the problems seem to sugegst it's just as flakey.
ADSL will get my business for being more upfront and honest. I have done a test and should get a minimum of 16meg. If I only get 10meg it's better than I get now and will cost me a lot less. It's a no lose situation.
I am going to ask once more - why do you bother writing in these threads? If I call VM and I tell them I am only getting 600k and they say they are escalating my problem, then THEY obviously agree it's not acceptable.
Frankly I don't care about your responses anymore. Come on, tell us what speeds you get. If you are fine and dandy then good for you. But for the love of god don't expect people to settle for less than you get.
You never offer anything useful other than think people should shut up. It's that attitude that gets companies sitting on their arses and taking no action.
Not happening here though - it's NOT good enough. Would they be happy me paying them a quarter of the charges for a quarter of the service.
There are people here getting the full speed that live within a spitting distance of my house. So something is screwed up and I'm not going to sit blindly and ignore the problem.
By all means you do that - but not here, no way. Come one, tell us your speeds dev. I bet you are sitting pretty with full speed. if not then more fool you for taking it.
One last time, I and others here are getting less than we got on 10meg. That's wrong - and for the life of me I can't see what would get that rammed home to you.
I just don't see how you can read post after post of people getting ridiculously low speeds and blame everything bar the people responsible. If we all were on 10 meg and got pretty much what we paid for, and now only get a fraction yet are supposed to be on a higher speed, then there is a fundamental problem.
What I'd like to do is start a thread for all with speed problems, and I mean real problems. I'm noty talking people getting 16meg and wanting more, I'm talking people like me getting a quarter of what we pay for. And that the thread only take posts on what is happening tech wise, and if things get resolved. With posts of any other nature whatsoever being deleted. That way we could stick to the facts instead of having folk popping up saying "hey, I get 20meg so I'm laughing" - or "600k is good enough so stop moaning".
But could it be guaranteed that the thread would be kept under control so that we could all help each other with anything we get resolved?
edit: and just to ram the point home. VM's own advertising campaign "the truth about broadband" - "with ADSL you are dependant on the distance from an exchange. You may actually be paying for something you don't get". So by their own advertising we should be getting pretty much top speed give or take a few percent. That's false advertising as I see it.
You are right - I disagree. And with ADSL I am virtually on top of the exchange so they WILL beat the speed I get at the moment - and crucially, for far less moeny than I pay now. At least ADSL are honest and point out that distance is a factor. It shouldn't be with Cable, but apparently the problems seem to sugegst it's just as flakey.
of the adsl ads i see, i don't see them mention distance (unless it's in the small print), if adsl companies were honest they'd offer differing levels of service with relative prices to how far you are from the exchange. why should someone who's 4km from the exchange pay the same as someone who's 4m from the exchange when they have no hope in hell seeing the same speed?
I am going to ask once more - why do you bother writing in these threads? If I call VM and I tell them I am only getting 600k and they say they are escalating my problem, then THEY obviously agree it's not acceptable.
to try and get people to understand 2 things, speed tests aren't everything in determining speed. secondly, just because you have a 20mb line doesn't mean everyone in the world can provide that speed to you 24/7 (VM included). do you think i complain to my server provider that i don't get 100mb from every transfer the server does?
Frankly I don't care about your responses anymore. Come on, tell us what speeds you get. If you are fine and dandy then good for you. But for the love of god don't expect people to settle for less than you get.
make your mind up if you want a response or not :p: I was about to post saying, as i've said previously, i get the same <0.5mb speeds to speedtest.net/speedtest.bbmax.co.uk and went off to get some examples:
speed test off here (using IE, opera gives odd results, 3mb->50mb+):
Test 1: 1024K took 453 ms = 2260.5 KB/sec, approx 18627 Kbps, 18.19 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 500 ms = 2048 KB/sec, approx 16876 Kbps, 16.48 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 688 ms = 1488.4 KB/sec, approx 12264 Kbps, 11.98 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 1172 ms = 1747.4 KB/sec, approx 14399 Kbps, 14.06 Mbps
speedtest.net: http://www.speedtest.net/result/157128366.png
speedtest.bbmax.co.uk: http://www.speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/results.php?t=1184861833&v=1870143
those are NOT what i've been seeing at peak times for the past few weeks and so either all the people threatening to leave have, VM are actually doing something, everyones outside in the sun or doing other things. i will say this though, although those aren't the speeds i've been seeing recently, multithreaded downloads have been fast enough at the slowest of times even when those speed test sites give <1mb speeds.
You never offer anything useful other than think people should shut up. It's that attitude that gets companies sitting on their arses and taking no action.
i dont think people should shut up, i think they need to look more into things rather than relying on certain sites as the written word to what speed they are getting.
Not happening here though - it's NOT good enough. Would they be happy me paying them a quarter of the charges for a quarter of the service.
the way retentions give out deals, you'd probably pay less than quarter :p:
What I'd like to do is start a thread for all with speed problems, and I mean real problems. I'm noty talking people getting 16meg and wanting more, I'm talking people like me getting a quarter of what we pay for. <snip>
i agree on that, places like australia/china/japan/korea etc i'd be happy with 3 or 4mb, some places in the eu like holland/germany/uk should be seeing 10mb+, others 5-10mb. that's what i think, you may not agree but surely you'll agree there isn't much VM can do outside the uk can they?
in fact, judging by the amount of outages on VM's status page, maybe that explains the better than normal speeds, could explain the lack of replies in here too, what speeds are others seeing now?
Retrovertigo
19-07-2007, 18:04
With regards to your points. It's always mentioned if you look at ads that distance is a factor where ADSL is concerned. It's there in the small print for all to see.
I am less likely to take your posts seriously, when your speed tests show that compared to others, you are doing pretty well. Now explain how people like you can get pretty good readings, when I can't get those readings no matter the time of day? I've purposely stayed awake and tested at 2am. And still no better than maybe 700k. No matter how you look at it, that's a problem right there.
You keep talking about no one providing speeds full whack 24/7. Have I ever asked for that? It seems you aren't capable of seeing the obvious, people are doing speed tests and getting less than they did before. It's not a question for most of saying "we aren't getting 20meg" - it's people saying "we aren't getting the speeds we were getting when we were on 10meg". I defy you to justify that it's "ok" for people to not be getting the speeds they once had, but blaming it on companies not always being able to provide full speeds. That's NOT what people are complaining about. But it seems it's what you always base your arguments around.
if I got back my full 10meg speed that they provided me with before - you know what? - I'd be happy with that. It was good enough for my needs and retentions have knocked some money off my bill as it happens. Although I still pay more than some I know who get better speeds.
I know what you are saying about people relying on speed tests. But it's all they have, and if it's what they always used before then it's a fair comparison for them to make I say. I know from the people who have access to usenet that speeds in general are down on what they were. Regardless of whether you think they can't always provide full speed (something the ill advised staff counter argue by the way when you say you want to leave. It's been quoted to me "ADSL can't guarantee full speed, WE CAN". It's wrong I know, but the average joe will fall for that nonsense) the fact is that they should be supplying at least the speeds that people were getting before. It's that which is getting most people wound up.
But as I say, while you are seeing speeds far in excess of what i ever see myself, then I am inclined to not really take much notice of you. It's nothing personal, but it's all too easy to sit back and think others are whingers or however you want to classify us. I have NEVER seen 1.8meg speed on my p.c since the upgrade.
spankysmagicpian
19-07-2007, 18:50
I'd be happy with 10Mb back too. Although I didn't hammer it on a couple of occasions I did download a show in the evening (usual 350Mb) I used to get 1.17mb/s.
Now....I'm lucky to get web pages coming up at times.
As i said those results (and all the ones i've done today) are not what it's been like during the day over the past few weeks. (see below)
I was under the impression you could get the 20mb (or close to) in the small hours of the morning, which i thought was the case for the majority. if it's the case you're getting <1mb speeds 24/7 surely you should be booking an engineer and not ending the call till one is booked.
to show what i mean about "normal" day speeds for me:
7/19/2007 4:16 PM GMT 19657 kb/s 620 kb/s
7/19/2007 4:06 PM GMT 16192 kb/s 621 kb/s
7/17/2007 5:33 PM GMT 475 kb/s 592 kb/s
7/12/2007 8:29 AM GMT 1099 kb/s 576 kb/s
7/10/2007 8:14 PM GMT 385 kb/s 603 kb/s
7/10/2007 6:44 PM GMT 768 kb/s 585 kb/s
7/9/2007 6:20 PM GMT 637 kb/s 327 kb/s
7/9/2007 6:16 PM GMT 574 kb/s 593 kb/s
compared to early hours:
7/19/2007 9:47 AM GMT 14433 kb/s 565 kb/s
7/18/2007 1:29 AM GMT 18130 kb/s 487 kb/s
7/17/2007 1:55 AM GMT 19664 kb/s 623 kb/s
excluding the ones today, seems pretty much the same as the majority here, but as i've stated previously, other places and multiple threaded connections seem largely unaffected and are faster than the above speed test results suggest possible
Well Rik - you often seem pleased with your 20Mb so what's your browsing speed like down south... not Giganews connections..,. browsing..in the evening?
The browsing speed is fine, apart from the fact that it never goes over 6MB (fine for surfing tho), since proxies have been disabled, there is something limiting the speed on HTTP thats a fact, if i could be bothered to ring the support premium rate number I would call them and ask them to get to the bottom of it, but to be honest I dont download hardly anything over HTTP, so the 6MB is more than sufficient and nippy enough for browsing, if any engineers are in the house tonight, can you please tell my why my speed now never goes over 6MB, when before I could specify a proxy server on my 20MB service and then get 20MBS HTTP Speeds.
Please enlighten us, not a biggie as im a hardcore leecher type! but would be interested to know why and how its capped.
This happens at anytime of the day, so not to do with STM.
Id rather it this way tho, than vice versa, as Usenet and Torrents are my lifeline :D and no I dont sell anything i download ;)
---------- Post added at 19:02 ---------- Previous post was at 18:59 ----------
Hmm thought not, no reply :rolleyes:
I was at work grumpy! :D
Hey i signed up just to diccuss this problem
On newsgroups im getting around 200k-300kbps when normally i get around 1.7 mbps, so definatly something up there. Tempted to ring VM but im sure they will not help me, im jus biding my time at the moment hoping they will fix it.
HTTP has definatly been affected because its taking a while just to view pages with images, viewing video streams from ign now i have to wait for it to load which i have not done in the past.
I tested out downloading a torrent and got higher speeds around 1.4 mbps
my two cents.
Retrovertigo
19-07-2007, 20:31
As i said those results (and all the ones i've done today) are not what it's been like during the day over the past few weeks. (see below)
I was under the impression you could get the 20mb (or close to) in the small hours of the morning, which i thought was the case for the majority. if it's the case you're getting <1mb speeds 24/7 surely you should be booking an engineer and not ending the call till one is booked.
to show what i mean about "normal" day speeds for me:
7/19/2007 4:16 PM GMT 19657 kb/s 620 kb/s
7/19/2007 4:06 PM GMT 16192 kb/s 621 kb/s
7/17/2007 5:33 PM GMT 475 kb/s 592 kb/s
7/12/2007 8:29 AM GMT 1099 kb/s 576 kb/s
7/10/2007 8:14 PM GMT 385 kb/s 603 kb/s
7/10/2007 6:44 PM GMT 768 kb/s 585 kb/s
7/9/2007 6:20 PM GMT 637 kb/s 327 kb/s
7/9/2007 6:16 PM GMT 574 kb/s 593 kb/s
compared to early hours:
7/19/2007 9:47 AM GMT 14433 kb/s 565 kb/s
7/18/2007 1:29 AM GMT 18130 kb/s 487 kb/s
7/17/2007 1:55 AM GMT 19664 kb/s 623 kb/s
excluding the ones today, seems pretty much the same as the majority here, but as i've stated previously, other places and multiple threaded connections seem largely unaffected and are faster than the above speed test results suggest possible
Nope, I get max 700k no matter the time of day. I once saw 1.6meg for all of 2 seconds then it was back down to 700k max. It doesn't matter whether I use 10 simultaneous connections on giganews, or speed tests via the net.
I am home during the day and always without fail got 1.17meg speed off giganews without it flickering when I was on 10meg.
That's why I am annoyed, and as far as I can tell, why people like Billc are at the end of their tether. We'd be happy with what we had before the upgrade.
I tried my best today to get tech support to either send an engineer or post me a modem. She wouldn't budge even with the "threat" of writing to the managing director and ofcom. I even said I was going to cancel if it wasn't sorted - and she said nothing. This is where I honestly believe someone based in this country would have more sympathy at the very least and maybe offer some "helpful" advice. She simply wasn't interested in what I had to say - just repeating "we have escalated your problem with no date for a resolution".
How the f*****g hell do you reason with someone like that? You can't sadly.
My next step is writing a carefully worded letter to the MD and seeing what comes of it. I don't want to leave unless necessary as I don't want to be tied down for 12 months to somebody. But the way it's going I'll have no choice in the matter.
Oh and come 4pm I get traffic shaped as well, no matter if I have ony just switched on my P.C - but again do VM listen? Nope. And at the end of the day, bar canceling, they have you by the short and curlies.
Mine is better tonight, pages loading faster. For what it's worth, speed tests are reporting 5mbps down and 730kbps up, (better than the 300k down 730kbps up I have been getting).
Downloaded 450MB from the playstation store in a few minutes too. Still going, and it looks to be ticking up at about 1MB/s.
Hope everyone who is having problems gets sorted out soon, I've sat through 300kbps and it's like being beamed back five years or so :(
Oh and come 4pm I get traffic shaped as well, no matter if I have ony just switched on my P.C - but again do VM listen? Nope. And at the end of the day, bar canceling, they have you by the short and curlies.
before the advice on what to do, how are you checking you are traffic shaped? if you're under 1mb you can't be seeing you're capped at 5mb :p:
now for some advice, i'd send a recorded letter to mr branson (address at end), giving the problems and the uselessness of the support etc (obviously not in those words) and i'm sure he'll be not the happiest that a customer is complaining to him directly and hopefully get things sorted.
address (i assume it's fine to post as it's on a virgin web site (http://www.virginradio.co.uk/about_us/faq/#dickie)):
Sir Richard Branson,
Virgin Management Limited,
120 Campden Hill Road,
London W8 7AR
Retrovertigo
19-07-2007, 21:06
before the advice on what to do, how are you checking you are traffic shaped? if you're under 1mb you can't be seeing you're capped at 5mb :p:
now for some advice, i'd send a recorded letter to mr branson (address at end), giving the problems and the uselessness of the support etc (obviously not in those words) and i'm sure he'll be not the happiest that a customer is complaining to him directly and hopefully get things sorted.
address (i assume it's fine to post as it's on a virgin web site (http://www.virginradio.co.uk/about_us/faq/#dickie)):
Sir Richard Branson,
Virgin Management Limited,
120 Campden Hill Road,
London W8 7AR
Cheers for the address. As for shaping, while I can't be 100% sure. I can test usenet before 4pm and get the usual 600-700k, come 4pm it drops to around 530k and stays at that no matter what. It's a small but significant drop which just adds insult to injury to be honest. There are a few examples of people in the manchester area with exactly the same thing happening to them.
I think we should get EVERYONE to send him a recorded letter. He might get the message.
Retrovertigo
19-07-2007, 21:21
I think we should get EVERYONE to send him a recorded letter. He might get the message.
Although probably a little difficult to organise, it would be great if every single person here having problems, rattled off a letter and they were sent in one huge envelope.
At the end of they we here represent a small minority of customers. People like my cousin will have no idea (and indeed may not care) of what speed they should be hoping to get.
It makes you wonder just how bad the problem really is.
I seriously doubt that Mr B opens that mail, and i strongly suggest there is a shredder in the same room.
Cheers for the address. As for shaping, while I can't be 100% sure. I can test usenet before 4pm and get the usual 600-700k, come 4pm it drops to around 530k and stays at that no matter what. It's a small but significant drop which just adds insult to injury to be honest. There are a few examples of people in the manchester area with exactly the same thing happening to them.
so you're working in bytes which is around 6/7mb which isn't that bad, but still you should see higher than that at some time of the day so i'd still say send the letter assuming you've ruled out any router etc on your side causing problems
just to make you feel better, i'm now down to ~700kbps down (that's in bits)
Retrovertigo
19-07-2007, 21:52
so you're working in bytes which is around 6/7mb which isn't that bad, but still you should see higher than that at some time of the day so i'd still say send the letter assuming you've ruled out any router etc on your side causing problems
just to make you feel better, i'm now down to ~700kbps down (that's in bits)
Ok, each time I think we head for common ground you say things which make me make sure my eyes aren't deceiving me.
6/7mb may not be "that bad". But in terms of them offering up to 20meg and supposedly - by their own adverts claims - distance not being a factor in the speeds they offer unlike ADSL, it's a ****take. It's around a third of what they advertise and no one here should be paying £37 per month for a "not bad" speed. I pay a premium because it should be a premium service. As i say, if I got what I had before (10meg) which is still only half of what I pay for, I'd be happy.
And yes, for the time of day i use it. It's a disgrace. But as I say, that's not the issue. The issue is that before the upgrade they managed to get me a rock steady 10meg up until traffic shaping took hold at 4pm. THAT'S what really gets me so annoyed. That an upgrade has taken the service in giant steps backwards.
Honestly mate - you shouldn't be thinking that 8meg is ok and you'll put up with it. If that's all they can offer everyone, then they should be selling it as a 10meg service max. It's that simple.
oh and contrary to how I may have come across, no it doesn't make me feel better you getting poor speeds. We should all be expecting them to deliver on advertised promises.
i meant getting 700kbytes isn't as bad as what i thought you were getting (700kbits)
Sherlock614
19-07-2007, 21:59
As Bill C said - Bring back 10mb, that would be nice :tu:
Retrovertigo
19-07-2007, 22:03
i meant getting 700kbytes isn't as bad as what i thought you were getting (700kbits)
Ok, gotcha, but the mood I'm in, 40meg wouldn't be good enough at the minute ;)
iTekweni
19-07-2007, 22:12
I think that when one decides to upgrad his speed and pay the extra money you should expect what is advertised and not accept what VM can give you unfortunately me like many others work during the day and can only get onto the pc in the early evenings and at that time the speeds are unaceptable.
Even during the day my speed has slowed and my hardware is exactually the same as when I was on the 10 meg and then my speed was reasonable and acceptable but now it is rubbish.
Thu, 19 Jul 2007 21:05:32 UTC
Test 1: 1024K took 4109 ms = 249.2 KB/sec, approx 2053 Kbps, 2 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 4063 ms = 252 KB/sec, approx 2076 Kbps, 2.03 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 4500 ms = 227.6 KB/sec, approx 1875 Kbps, 1.83 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 10359 ms = 197.7 KB/sec, approx 1629 Kbps, 1.59 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 1908 Kbps, 1.86 Mbps
I can only hope it gets better as I am not prepared to waste money on a premium rate call to some illiterate person across the other side of the world who does not know what is happening here.
Patients is a virtue but mine is slowly running out
spankysmagicpian
19-07-2007, 22:28
The browsing speed is fine, apart from the fact that it never goes over 6MB (fine for surfing tho), since proxies have been disabled, there is something limiting the speed on HTTP thats a fact, if i could be bothered to ring the support premium rate number I would call them and ask them to get to the bottom of it, but to be honest I dont download hardly anything over HTTP, so the 6MB is more than sufficient and nippy enough for browsing, if any engineers are in the house tonight, can you please tell my why my speed now never goes over 6MB, when before I could specify a proxy server on my 20MB service and then get 20MBS HTTP Speeds.
Please enlighten us, not a biggie as im a hardcore leecher type! but would be interested to know why and how its capped.
This happens at anytime of the day, so not to do with STM.
Id rather it this way tho, than vice versa, as Usenet and Torrents are my lifeline :D and no I dont sell anything i download ;)
---------- Post added at 19:02 ---------- Previous post was at 18:59 ----------
I was at work grumpy! :D
OK - you're forgiven :D
The only way you will get Virgin to take the speeds problems with the Baguley server seriously is to go public.
You tend to get action when you take you complaint to BBC's Watchdog programme and make the general public ( and potential customers) aware of the problem.
spankysmagicpian
19-07-2007, 23:05
Can we get one thing straight here?
I am quite sure that everyone, including myself, are not complaining that we are not getting the 'full 20 Mb' all the time - that would be stupid to presume that. What we are complaining about is the fact that despite the doubling of speed to 20Mb for the majority of people in this thread, the general feeling is that since the speed upgrade the whole browsing experience has suffered.
Yes, I would imagine most people on 10Mb downloaded films, music etc but overnight and as such were pretty responsible. What we are seeing / suffering now (delete as appropriate) is a degradation of the service so much so that some nights I can't even stream youtube videos without large pauses which, when I was on 10Mb, I could - any time of the day - even evening (peak) time.
I have posted before that as this was a 'free' upgrade, I shouldn't complain but when browsing is nigh on impossible some nights, even on sites here in the UK that I visit often, I feel rather let down.
I'm not a VM basher, far from it. I was previously on BBL and TV M for over 6 years (started on 128K - I'm sure people on here go further back) and I cancelled Sky when the VIP Pack came out.
I don't feel angry about this - just let down and frustrated at the current state of the situation and I am going to stick it through as long as I can as I had not one problem with NTL prior to the rebrand and I compare VM to a cat - trouble is, they have used up 5 of their 9 lives so far :-)
I do hope they get this speed issue out of the way as they have such potential with the technology they have got but from what I can see, they are currently wasting it big time.
I'll be sending a follow up letter to CEO office to update them on my problems and add a new 'issue' as they like to call them - the browsing speed.
And yes, I think it would be a good idea if everyone did the same - not sure it will do anything but it would be nice if they took notice of it and admitted there is a problem in some areas.
Sorry for the rant and possibly off-topic drivel.
Retrovertigo
20-07-2007, 00:11
Can we get one thing straight here?
I am quite sure that everyone, including myself, are not complaining that we are not getting the 'full 20 Mb' all the time - that would be stupid to presume that. What we are complaining about is the fact that despite the doubling of speed to 20Mb for the majority of people in this thread, the general feeling is that since the speed upgrade the whole browsing experience has suffered.
Yes, I would imagine most people on 10Mb downloaded films, music etc but overnight and as such were pretty responsible. What we are seeing / suffering now (delete as appropriate) is a degradation of the service so much so that some nights I can't even stream youtube videos without large pauses which, when I was on 10Mb, I could - any time of the day - even evening (peak) time.
I have posted before that as this was a 'free' upgrade, I shouldn't complain but when browsing is nigh on impossible some nights, even on sites here in the UK that I visit often, I feel rather let down.
I'm not a VM basher, far from it. I was previously on BBL and TV M for over 6 years (started on 128K - I'm sure people on here go further back) and I cancelled Sky when the VIP Pack came out.
I don't feel angry about this - just let down and frustrated at the current state of the situation and I am going to stick it through as long as I can as I had not one problem with NTL prior to the rebrand and I compare VM to a cat - trouble is, they have used up 5 of their 9 lives so far :-)
I do hope they get this speed issue out of the way as they have such potential with the technology they have got but from what I can see, they are currently wasting it big time.
I'll be sending a follow up letter to CEO office to update them on my problems and add a new 'issue' as they like to call them - the browsing speed.
And yes, I think it would be a good idea if everyone did the same - not sure it will do anything but it would be nice if they took notice of it and admitted there is a problem in some areas.
Sorry for the rant and possibly off-topic drivel.
Spot on. I am sure everyone here with problems would happily go back to the stable 10meg speeds we all seem to have been happily trundling along with before the upgrades were forced upon us. It's not like we can even say "no, keep me on what I had before please" - because as it stands that's just wishful thinking.
Good post :tu:
slowcoach
20-07-2007, 01:46
After 2 full days of near enough 20 MB/s D/L speed, without much change in the slow browsing speed, the speed of browsing has suddenly increased dramatically, it's awesome.
I have always had slow browsing ever since I moved to ntl and put it down to the poor cable upload ratio but now it is showing what cable can be, I can't get over the difference.
I don't think that there would be anyone complaining if everyone had my connection as it is at the moment, I just hope that VM don't bugger it up.
Sherlock614
20-07-2007, 04:56
I just hope that VM don't bugger it up.
Give it time :LOL:
Virgin have potentially a great service. As usual, all this heated debate stems from a simple fact - No information .... Leading to frustration / arguments / people going to adsl etc.
I just wish they would be more forthcoming on the communication front where their customers are concerned... Maybe people wouldn't be so quick to let their feet do the talking.
Had an email this morning from a friend in the know who tells me my area is to be re-segmented next week and that should fix my slow speed's. I bloody well hope so as this is crap. If they fix it i will cancel my disconnection but ONLY if they fix it. So roll on next week.
If it does fix it my next question will be WHY did they let it get that bad in the first place. :rolleyes:
Had an email this morning from a friend in the know who tells me my area is to be re-segmented next week and that should fix my slow speed's. I bloody well hope so as this is crap. If they fix it i will cancel my disconnection but ONLY if they fix it. So roll on next week.
If it does fix it my next question will be WHY did they let it get that bad in the first place. :rolleyes:
It could be that the VM engineers did not know why the speeds were so low.
VM marked off the upgrade as complete but then found that customers were complaining they were not getting the expected speeds.
Just hope that the re-segmenting gives us the reliable, high speed, 20 Mb service we are paying for.
spankysmagicpian
20-07-2007, 09:19
Had an email this morning from a friend in the know who tells me my area is to be re-segmented next week and that should fix my slow speed's. I bloody well hope so as this is crap. If they fix it i will cancel my disconnection but ONLY if they fix it. So roll on next week.
If it does fix it my next question will be WHY did they let it get that bad in the first place. :rolleyes:
Just your area Bill or Baguley as a whole?
Stupidboy
20-07-2007, 10:03
What does 're-segmenting' mean?
I haven't posted for a while as there didn't seem to be any point (I'm still in the same position as everyone else). Just did a test from that f1test.notlong.com website and getting > 2.1 MBytes/sec so that's not too bad, however as usual in the evenings I still get <4Mbits/sec. Someone mentioned Youtube - the other night I was trying to look at a few things, everything was stopping/buffering to such an extent it was impossible to watch.
It's sad when you wish they'd make the 10Mb/sec config file available again for our modems..
I hope they fix the problem soon then :)
My speed issues only started the past 2-3 weeks, before that it was fine and fast.
But now browsing is just slow, newsgroups are SLOW [200-300kbps] and streaming videos you have to wait for :S
Which makes no sense when downloading a torrent is fast 1.5mbps :S
Retrovertigo
20-07-2007, 11:47
What does 're-segmenting' mean?
I haven't posted for a while as there didn't seem to be any point (I'm still in the same position as everyone else). Just did a test from that f1test.notlong.com website and getting > 2.1 MBytes/sec so that's not too bad, however as usual in the evenings I still get <4Mbits/sec. Someone mentioned Youtube - the other night I was trying to look at a few things, everything was stopping/buffering to such an extent it was impossible to watch.
It's sad when you wish they'd make the 10Mb/sec config file available again for our modems..
You know what? I tried that f1test again, and like before it refuses to budge over the 10meg mark. It is honestly as though my speed is still set at 10meg despite my modem thinking it's set to 20meg.
And can someone more technical explain why I can get 10meg from that test, and that test alone? I should easilly be able to sustain 10meg from the newsgroups in that case, but I can't. It makes me think that test flatters any speed you think you might be getting.
edit: yep, just tried giganews and it wavers anywhere between 6.5 and 7meg download speed. How are VM throttling a muli connection source like that? I just don't get it. It should be flying, especially this time of day.
iTekweni
20-07-2007, 13:13
Wow it 13.13hrs and I am getting whopping Overall Average Speed = approx 2212 Kbps, 2.16 Mbps
Well done VM
Had an email this morning from a friend in the know who tells me my area is to be re-segmented next week and that should fix my slow speed's. I bloody well hope so as this is crap. If they fix it i will cancel my disconnection but ONLY if they fix it. So roll on next week.
If it does fix it my next question will be WHY did they let it get that bad in the first place. :rolleyes:
same reason as any business probably, run at 80% capacity to maximise justification of investment, ignore the odd 100% capacity untill constantly high capacity, then upgrade/change stuff to drop to 80% capacity, then the cycle continues
no business would buy twice what they need unless it's critical to safety
iTekweni
20-07-2007, 17:04
Ah well off to the pub I am just tired of trying to surf and download at these redicules speeds
Fri, 20 Jul 2007 16:02:30 UTC
Test 1: 1024K took 8922 ms = 114.8 KB/sec, approx 946 Kbps, 0.92 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 11640 ms = 88 KB/sec, approx 725 Kbps, 0.71 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 10547 ms = 97.1 KB/sec, approx 800 Kbps, 0.78 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 27375 ms = 74.8 KB/sec, approx 616 Kbps, 0.6 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 772 Kbps, 0.75 Mbps
To repeat this test from the source server click here.
Just your area Bill or Baguley as a whole?
Sorry just my Ubr. :(
Sorry just my Ubr. :(
I said the other day my UBR was steam powered. They must have put some coal in the burner tonight or they have fed the hamster at Baguley . :LOL:
Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:29:19 GMT
Test 1: 1024K took 312 ms = 3282.1 KB/sec, approx 27045 Kbps, 26.41 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 1307 ms = 783.5 KB/sec, approx 6456 Kbps, 6.3 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 1341 ms = 763.6 KB/sec, approx 6292 Kbps, 6.14 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 2524 ms = 811.4 KB/sec, approx 6686 Kbps, 6.53 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 11620 Kbps, 11.35 Mbps
To repeat this test from the source server click here (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.marsden/newspeedtest.html?1184959765221).
This is the fastest it has been for me all week :)
Retrovertigo
20-07-2007, 20:41
Sent my letter to the MD today. I don't expect miracles, but felt I needed to do more than just sit here bashing my head against a wall talking to the people in India.
I sent it recorded delivery and will be keeping an eye as to when it's signed for and how long - if at all - until I get a reply.
I pointed out in it that emails went unanswered and that Ofcom would be receiving a complaint from me.
Watch this space! But while you are, don't hold your breath ;)
for the hell of it I did several speed tests via the one on this site, here is the fastest result I achieved:
Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:45:38 GMT
Test 1: 1024K took 1328 ms = 771.1 KB/sec, approx 6354 Kbps, 6.21 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 3250 ms = 315.1 KB/sec, approx 2596 Kbps, 2.54 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 1328 ms = 771.1 KB/sec, approx 6354 Kbps, 6.21 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 2610 ms = 784.7 KB/sec, approx 6466 Kbps, 6.31 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 5443 Kbps, 5.32 Mbps
To repeat this test from the source server click here.
spankysmagicpian
20-07-2007, 22:58
Mine took 3 months to be answered so as mentioned - don't even attempt to hold your breath Retro
Retrovertigo
21-07-2007, 10:03
Mine took 3 months to be answered so as mentioned - don't even attempt to hold your breath Retro
Figured it could be a long wait like that. Ah well, I at least feel like I've done something to make myself feel better.
Oh and just to add, another day, 10am and 600k off usenet - amazing speeds!!! This really is pathetic. A few weeks ago on 10meg I would be getting full speed no problem.
I've sent a complaint to ofcom as well. It's a shame they only build a database of complaints rather than handle them individually. I urge anyone having problems to visit the ofcom page and fill in the required form. It only takes a moment. The more people who do this, the better. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/internet/speed/ that's a good starting point. But please, only do this with poor speeds in general. Don't make a mockery of it by complaining you are only getting 16meg on a 20meg setup. I don't think that will help the cause of those getting stupidly low speeds. Thanks.
iTekweni
21-07-2007, 22:02
Retrovertigo thanks for the site address as I have added my name on the complaints form because my patients is wearing thin at the minute.
Still no change :/ might ring VM on monday even though it wont do much.
Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:26:23 GMT
Test 1: 1024K took 1219 ms = 840 KB/sec, approx 6922 Kbps, 6.76 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 1156 ms = 885.8 KB/sec, approx 7299 Kbps, 7.13 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 1485 ms = 689.6 KB/sec, approx 5682 Kbps, 5.55 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 2922 ms = 700.9 KB/sec, approx 5775 Kbps, 5.64 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 6420 Kbps, 6.27 Mbps
Anyone know why torrents would be getting faster speeds than newsgroups?
Just thought I'd post this as I've been following the thread :-
Sat, 21 Jul 2007 22:46:39 UTC
Test 1: 1024K took 5765 ms = 177.6 KB/sec, approx 1463 Kbps, 1.43 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 5625 ms = 182 KB/sec, approx 1500 Kbps, 1.46 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 5625 ms = 182 KB/sec, approx 1500 Kbps, 1.46 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 11469 ms = 178.6 KB/sec, approx 1472 Kbps, 1.44 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 1484 Kbps, 1.45 Mbps
Not quite 20 meg tonight....
I know it's topped again but it's even worse tonight, it's a friggin joke atm
Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:11:00 UTC
Test 1: 1024K took 6437 ms = 159.1 KB/sec, approx 1311 Kbps, 1.28 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 8875 ms = 115.4 KB/sec, approx 951 Kbps, 0.93 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 7844 ms = 130.5 KB/sec, approx 1075 Kbps, 1.05 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 18969 ms = 108 KB/sec, approx 890 Kbps, 0.87 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 1057 Kbps, 1.03 Mbps
I've not had those sort of speeds for years until the upgrade to 20 meg
Everything seems at a standstill this morning. I've just been downloading some virus defs and it just sat there for ages doing nothing. This site's speed test just sits there for ever and browsing is really clunky.
There's nothing on the status page for Baguley - yet.
I guess that flood water has been seeping down the fibre optics all the way to Manchester.
slowcoach
25-07-2007, 11:04
The flood water hasn't reached Oldham, too high up, speeds here are full whack today, as they were all day yesterday.
Been downloading from Brazil at full whack, rock steady.
Appears it takes them a few weeks after the upgrade to get everything in tune.
Retrovertigo
25-07-2007, 12:34
Well, they have had a few weeks here in fallowfield and I'm currently getting the heady heights of 600k off the newsgroups. It's a shame the maoning has died down here to be honest. I don't want to think people are resigning themselves to the service being like this with nothing ever being done about it.
So come on whingers, let's unite and keep complaining ;)
groobber
25-07-2007, 12:51
I think the problems are with VM's own servers, it seems that if anything is hosted on thier own servers then things are really slow.
I have been downloading of non VM sites at full speed this morning.
Keep this quiet, ( dont tell anyone at virgin ), but amazingly for 2 days or so my speed has been relatively consistant at 6mb to 17mb
Admittedly my modem seems to love rebooting itself and assigning a 192.168.100.10 ip address to my router, but hey i can cope with dyndns getting updated with stupid numbers.
*hopefully* with a little luck this obvious fault that is giving me a decent connection will spread outwards to everybody else.
Next time it goes down tho i will gladly post some nasty conspiracy theory and moan like a trooper :D
It seems to flow hot and cold. Fine at the moment on 2mbps:Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:34:53 GMT
Test 1: 1024K took 4336 ms = 236.2 KB/sec, approx 1946 Kbps, 1.9 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 4266 ms = 240 KB/sec, approx 1978 Kbps, 1.93 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 4256 ms = 240.6 KB/sec, approx 1983 Kbps, 1.94 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 8583 ms = 238.6 KB/sec, approx 1966 Kbps, 1.92 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 1968 Kbps, 1.92 Mbps
Mine has been up and down, the past few days it has been alot faster still no 20mb but its aroudn 12mb, this morning it was very slow but has now gone up to around 20mb so i hope it stays like this.
themelon
26-07-2007, 12:42
Still to make people feel better the cable is still working better than the ADSL Connection we have here at work:
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:40:01 UTC
1st 128K took 246 ms = 532813 Bytes/sec = approx 4433 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 4164 ms = 31477 Bytes/sec = approx 262 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 254 ms = 516031 Bytes/sec = approx 4293 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 507 ms = 258525 Bytes/sec = approx 2151 kbits/sec
These results appear to be rather fast: maybe this page was in the browser cache.
To repeat this test from the source server click here.
Apparently this is 'normal' according to BT and Eclipse ummmmmmmmm. Also everytime it rains heavilly (most days recently) the Internet drops off.......also normal by all accounts. We should be able to get 8Mb
Our new cable from ntl:telewest business is giving slightly better results,s till not the full 10Mb
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:36:47 UTC
1st 128K took 178 ms = 736360 Bytes/sec = approx 6127 kbits/sec
2nd 128K took 230 ms = 569878 Bytes/sec = approx 4741 kbits/sec
3rd 128K took 214 ms = 612486 Bytes/sec = approx 5096 kbits/sec
4th 128K took 529 ms = 247773 Bytes/sec = approx 2061 kbits/sec
These results appear to be rather fast: maybe this page was in the browser cache.
iTekweni
27-07-2007, 16:40
On 20 meg and still these amazing speeds
Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:39:35 UTC
Test 1: 1024K took 3500 ms = 292.6 KB/sec, approx 2411 Kbps, 2.35 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 3266 ms = 313.5 KB/sec, approx 2583 Kbps, 2.52 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 3328 ms = 307.7 KB/sec, approx 2535 Kbps, 2.48 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 8250 ms = 248.2 KB/sec, approx 2045 Kbps, 2 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 2394 Kbps, 2.34 Mbps
Wonder if they are working on the server as the speeds are slower than usual today?
Retrovertigo
28-07-2007, 10:31
Even my cousin, who is no tech head by any means (and who lives in a flat behind mine) knocked on my door yesterday and asked if my internet was "crap". He was complaining it was really slow loading up webpages etc. It's pretty bad when a 20meg connection times out simple webpages and has a "layman" thinking the service is absolute rubbish. Well done Virgin.
Sherlock614
28-07-2007, 10:48
Still poop here on the Wirral also :(
By the way, not keeping up on events here, what happened to Bill C? Would appreciate a pm or something as he was one of the posters i liked reading the most :(
spankysmagicpian
28-07-2007, 12:44
Still poop here on the Wirral also :(
By the way, not keeping up on events here, what happened to Bill C? Would appreciate a pm or something as he was one of the posters i liked reading the most :(
I've just got back from Holiday and was wondering the same...... I'd appreciate a PM if poss. Always sad to see quality posters vanishing.
I wouldn't worry about quality posters. Most of them love this forum and would connect to it whoever their ISP is.
If VM cannot provide the goods I'm sure they will find someone who can and they will tell us all about it here.
Be a bit ironic, though, if ex VM customers connected to this forum via, say, Sky internet.
Last posting I saw from BillC was talking about the resegmenting of the Baguley server or a possible card change. Wonder if the work has started yet.
Any VM staff know the latest position re: Baguley please?
Got back from holiday today and the speed is ****e, whats going on ?
Got back from holiday today and the speed is ****e, whats going on ?
20 meg has been great in stoke all week (but i havnt checked today)
20 meg has been great in stoke all week (but i havnt checked today)
It's been decent in speed all week but we still have the packet loss/high latency issues: http://tinyurl.com/2jzshz
It's usually ok during non peak hours, then BAM! No Xbox live for me tonight unless it dies down. It's definitely better than it used to be but still not quite there yet.
I really want to find out if it's just VM or any other ISP, to see if it's a peering network rather than VM. Though judging from previous graphs on previous days/weeks/months, looks like it's VM's equipment at fault.
Sherlock614
29-07-2007, 00:39
Sat, 28 Jul 2007 23:36:52 UTC
Test 1: 1024K took 5000 ms = 204.8 KB/sec, approx 1688 Kbps, 1.65 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 875 ms = 1170.3 KB/sec, approx 9643 Kbps, 9.42 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 890 ms = 1150.6 KB/sec, approx 9481 Kbps, 9.26 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 2079 ms = 985.1 KB/sec, approx 8117 Kbps, 7.93 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 7232 Kbps, 7.07 Mbps
To repeat this test from the source server click here.
If your out there and reading this Bill C, good luck to you... It was a pleasure reading your posts ;)
If your out there and reading this Bill C, good luck to you... It was a pleasure reading your posts ;)
:tu:
:clap:
:clap:
joglynne
29-07-2007, 01:31
Sat, 28 Jul 2007 23:36:52 UTC
If your out there and reading this Bill C, good luck to you... It was a pleasure reading your posts ;)
:tu:
:clap:
:clap:
:clap:
:clap:
iTekweni
29-07-2007, 10:30
He will be missed
on in an hour!
29-07-2007, 12:59
fear ye not,i have it on good authority the man will be back,albeit in a different guise!! watch this space ;)
Retrovertigo
29-07-2007, 13:18
Well, seems like the engineers might have been hard at work in the baguely area this weekend. Instead of the usual average of 700k on the newsgroups, I managed an average of................................................ ...800k!! wow, a speed improvement. I can only assume that every single person in my neighbourhood had gone away for the weekend, it's the only explanation for this phenomenal increase in speed ;)
joglynne
29-07-2007, 16:54
Well, seems like the engineers might have been hard at work in the baguely area this weekend. Instead of the usual average of 700k on the newsgroups, I managed an average of................................................ ...800k!! wow, a speed improvement. I can only assume that every single person in my neighbourhood had gone away for the weekend, it's the only explanation for this phenomenal increase in speed ;)
They have all gone to Southport for the weekend. Thought we would go there to-day for a run out in the car and the place is absolutely heaving. We just looked at the crowds and drove back home. A cool beer in the back garden was far more appealing:D:D
Jo:)
Just turned the computer on and wow im really fast today not bad for a 4 meg supposed connection
cant even get a video to work off UTube, think ill just turn off and go and enjoy some more of the sunny weather.:)
Overall Average Speed = approx 665 Kbps, 0.65 Mbps
Sherlock614
30-07-2007, 00:51
fear ye not,i have it on good authority the man will be back,albeit in a different guise!! watch this space ;)
Great news :tu:
The place aint the same without him :D
Stupidboy
06-08-2007, 16:40
Bump for this thread, any news about Baguley? Has the speed thing been sorted out yet? Been ill last week so not really bothered about the internet. And just what IS 'resegmenting'?
Also - did something happen to Bill C??
Retrovertigo
06-08-2007, 17:24
My Baugely connection is still terrible (even when comparing to what it was on 10meg) and as I have said before, this is during the summer lull when a lot of students aren't in the area!
Was wondering about Billc myself. Maybe VM have kidnapped him to keep him silent? I miss his calming words when all around people are losing their heads (me included :) )
Mine was real slow earlier today - but not before today. But power cycled my router and all back to normal. Maybe something happened at my end or the Bagueley end?
Anybody on the Baguley server noticed any difference? Though unstable my connection seems to have got a lot better.
I'm getting improved speed readings on all the usual tests I use and seem to be getting a service reliably over 15Mbps.
Has anyone else found the same?
Fireplace
20-08-2007, 09:25
I've been getting just over 10Mbps for the last week or so, whereas prior to the previous weekend I was crawling along at between 2 & 5 Mbps at best.
Do we know if anything has been done to change this or is it just luck!
spankysmagicpian
20-08-2007, 09:52
slightly better in the evening to be honest although random speed tests show anything from 3Mb to 11Mb at varying times in the day although I do get full speed from the newsgroups after about 11pm.
iTekweni
20-08-2007, 16:41
No change at my end WA5
Stupidboy
20-08-2007, 22:30
No change here in M16 either, last night and tonight I'm getting on average just under 6Mbps, using the speedtest here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.marsden/newspeedtest.html
Just done it a few times and it's surprisingly consistent, the four tests it does are all about 5.6 Mbps. I'd be happy if it was consistently just around 10Mbps like it was before the 'upgrade'. Oh well.
Fireplace
21-08-2007, 09:25
No change at my end WA5
That's weird, as I'm in WA5 and as I say above I've been getting above 10 for the last week or more. This was just now:
Test 1: 1024K took 657 ms = 1558.6 KB/sec, approx 12843 Kbps, 12.54 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 515 ms = 1988.3 KB/sec, approx 16384 Kbps, 16 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 688 ms = 1488.4 KB/sec, approx 12264 Kbps, 11.98 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 1234 ms = 1659.6 KB/sec, approx 13675 Kbps, 13.35 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 13792 Kbps, 13.47 Mbps
I did read and use some information in a thread about changing the settings on my NIC card to 'Auto Negotiate' but don't know whether this contributed to the change in speed.
That's weird, as I'm in WA5 and as I say above I've been getting above 10 for the last week or more. This was just now:
Test 1: 1024K took 657 ms = 1558.6 KB/sec, approx 12843 Kbps, 12.54 Mbps
Test 2: 1024K took 515 ms = 1988.3 KB/sec, approx 16384 Kbps, 16 Mbps
Test 3: 1024K took 688 ms = 1488.4 KB/sec, approx 12264 Kbps, 11.98 Mbps
Test 4: 2048K took 1234 ms = 1659.6 KB/sec, approx 13675 Kbps, 13.35 Mbps
Overall Average Speed = approx 13792 Kbps, 13.47 Mbps
I did read and use some information in a thread about changing the settings on my NIC card to 'Auto Negotiate' but don't know whether this contributed to the change in speed.
Strange. I took mine off autonegotiation and set it on 100Mbps. The I discovered a recent new driver for my network controller which I installed. Also got TCPOptimiser and put my computer on the optimal settings. Suddenly, I'm getting over 15 Mbps on a regular basis on all the speed tests, which had previously shown me to be on much lower speeds.
Did the same to my laptop by updating my Intel 3945 wireless card driver and more than doubled my speed from about 5Mbps to 12Mbps.
Strangely, though I have gigabit lan on both my desktop & laptop I cannot find the 1000Mbps setting which you can find on other controllers or the "Autonegotiate to 100Mbps" mentioned by others.
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