Why are you staying with VM? Another Slow 20Mb/s Thread

[DiscoStu]

I've just spent 30 minutes on the phone to VM - Customer services agreed that my service is unacceptable (5Mb/s on the 20Mb/s tier) so much so, that they put me through to tech support for free.

After speaking with a tech for five mins he then asked me to connect directly to the cable modem (250) I said I am unable to do this as I will lose the phone call as am using VOIP.

Now I have done this previously anyway, the result being the same. I said that this was a pointless exercise as I know that there is no problem with my kit, the modem should support this, the config file is correct and signal levels are all in order; I've tested *everything* using multiple machines/OS's and the results are very consistent - Last week I saw speeds of 18Mb/s for a couple of hours, then back to poor speeds.

Anyways, I used to get a very solid 10Mb/s before this 'upgrade' at any time of day or night.

He then told me there was nothing he could do if I wouldn't disconnect the router - Fair enough, I suppose they have to go through all the tests.

My reaction - after five years of cable broadband, I will give 30 days notice and go with Be. As much as I hate BT this seems to be the only way out at the moment. I know their service isn't perfect, I know people in this street are getting in excess of 20Mb/s with them.

It's a bloody sad day - but I'm not paying £38 for this 'service' - VM won't give any feedback on this - even the CS agent inferred there was a core network problem and they are upgrading kit. (taken with a healthy dose of sodium chloride)

AT LEAST BT/BE HAVE FREE CUSTOMER SUPPORT LINES! ARRRRGGGHHH!!! :mad:

[Paul K]

I take it you haven't seen the thread in the other ISP area where someone is struggling to leave Be after suffering the same sort of speeds as you are getting now?

[DiscoStu]

Yeah - I'll take a chance to be honest - BT/BE are both a 3 month 'contract' - I'm just over 1km from the switch, so 16-18Mb is not an unreasonable expectation.

This says much more than a very limited user experience:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/isp/compare.html?commit=Compare&isp_4=1&isp_84=1

There is so much; 'oh the grass is alway greener' FUD about - I know people in my street getting a consistent 20Mb with Be. And the upstream sh*ts all over VM's 768Kb :-) Oh what's that; for an extra £4 I can have static IP, no port blocking and no traffic shaping. (which brings the monthly sub to £38 inc line rental)

I was on ADSL back in 2000 before NTL offered broadband (s'why I left NTL then) then came back to them when I moved house in 2002 as BT didn't migrate DSL connections to new addresses easily.

Cable *should* be superior - it has been great, now looking a little shabby.

It's a matter of principle now; voting with my wallet!

[Paul K]

Is that 1Km direct line or 1K, following the street/ road layout? I could point out that just because others get a good speed in your street it does not guarantee you will get the same but obviously you know that line speed is reliant on the physical connection in your home and the equipment on it.
All I can say is good luck.

[DiscoStu]

The (*DSL) line speed is inversely proportional to the line attenuation, to be precise :)

The thing is, it's not just down to the pee-poor speeds, throw in the attitude the company has to it's customers and the straw that broke the camels back; the cost to call CS (I don't have a VM telephone line) and the premium rate tech support.

I don't want to leave – what other choice do I have, given VM wont let me know if there is an issue or when the fix could be completed????

And to add insult to injury - this came in the post this morning:

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2007/07/10.jpg

Mind, I should have expected NTL to go to the dogs after rebranding - most of virgins' services are all pee and wind in my experience :p:

[eth01]

Move to be and your Internet will go even worse.

[LaineY]

Good Luck With Copper Dude..

it a sad day when people want to step down in the world..

you best hope ur exchange aint too far away..

my mate is paying for 20 meg on Be.. and getting 2 is a bit of a bummer.. id rather stick with the 5.. or even better.. downgrade to 4mb.. then its a 10er cheaper for you..

but if your going to go ahead with it.. bear in mind the bt upgrades will be coming around 5 years from now...

Chris

[vmtech]

u tell them chris!

[janipewter]

It's easy enough for you to switch to ISP's who offer supposedly faster speeds such as Be/Sky/UKOnline/Bulldog or whoever, but remember, not everybody in the country lives in a major city. Even with a population of quarter of a million, the majority of LLU providers do not believe that unbundling in this city will be worth it. In fact the highest speed I can get here over copper is 5Mb. It's a sad fact but as bad as they are, Virgin Media do actually offer the best service in the area.

PS: about the LLU thing - the only providers here are Talktalk (who I know are absolutely awful) and Sky (ADSL MAX only, no ADSL2 here until 2010.)

[DiscoStu]

Move to be and your Internet will go even worse.

Proof? Other than; mate of a mate or bloke down pub?

I know cable should be superior, but since the 'upgrade' it's b0rked!

[dav]

I'm on 2Mb, and so I still have most of my hair.

For those experiencing problems on 20Mb, why don't you downgrade to a lower, more stable tier and make sure VM know why you are doing it and tell them to get in touch when it's been sorted out in your area. That way, you aren't shooting yourself in the foot for when it finally does live up to the hype and all your neighbours are downloading the net at "the speed of light"

[DiscoStu]

Good Luck With Copper Dude.. Chris

Cheers man - VM copper (OK so it's a HFC network) isn't very good now - despite VM trying to misslead people with their "our fibre optic network" B$

Doesn't matter how good the technology is - if it's not maintained/configured and upgraded you're screwed.

Off topic: How many BT street cabs do you see hagning open or 'fixed' shut with insulating tape?

Just wish some VC would invest 4-5 billion in a company delivering FTTH in the UK - fat chance!

[amateurfool]

Just wish some VC would invest 4-5 billion in a company delivering FTTH in the UK - fat chance!

You would then need to find someone else to invest the rest of the £25+ billion that FTTH would actually cost.

[DiscoStu]

You would then need to find someone else to invest the rest of the £25+ billion that FTTH would actually cost.

Very true! Don't think it's gonna happen any time soon :)

I know my neighbours are getting 18Mb speeds with ADSL2+ - as I've had to do the resident geek thing and fix their computers. My brother on TalkTalk *Shudder* gets 6Mb and he's over 2K from the switch!

[Toto]

Very true! Don't think it's gonna happen any time soon :)

I know my neighbours are getting 18Mb speeds with ADSL2+ - as I've had to do the resident geek thing and fix their computers. My brother on TalkTalk *Shudder* gets 6Mb and he's over 2K from the switch!

6Mb from Talk Talk, that's not too shabby. :)

[eth01]

6Mb from Talk Talk, that's not too shabby. :)

That's again, another terrible ISP.

:p:

[DiscoStu]

6Mb from Talk Talk, that's not too shabby. :)

That's what I thought - considering the cost - I wouldn't risk it tho :-)

[Toto]

That's again, another terrible ISP.

:p:

Well, I was more impressed with the speed than the company who delivered it. ;)

I have a friend who uses Talk Talk and he's very happy.

[bonzoe]

Why am I staying? - No complaints about the service I get, no reason to change, certainly not to any current service using BT lines.

[mrattitude]

I am staying with VM simply because what other choice do I have?

I pay for my telephone, TV and broadband with VM and have been a cable customer from day one, never missed a bill or had to have a reminder sent out; I consider myself a very good loyal customer of VM.

Now if I decide to switch I will have to get a BT phoneline, new ISP and a Sky installation - all major hassle, if I had an easier choice of say another cable provider, I would have moved already.

[Rik]

Im staying with VM because I get 2.35MB/s from NNTP (Newsgroups) and BT (Bit Torrent) and can download whatever I want without fear of being disconnected.

My HTTP speed is about 6MB but as I dont really use the web for much more than browsing, I can live with it, other protocols are more important to me.

Fair enough tho, if your speeds are 5MB I can understand why you have had enough, luckily my area/connection is pretty good.

Good luck with the move tho. :)

EDIT.

Another thing is I live miles away from my exchange, so if I did happen to leave VM I would probably end up with 512k ADSL!! :Yikes:

[DiscoStu]

I'm glad that most of you are getting a good service from VM - I _was_ gettting a good service from them up until the 'upgrade'. So it could be you next ;)

Funny the 'upgrade' happened around the same time as the tech support line premium rate was introduced

[alferret]

I'm glad that most of you are getting a good service from VM - I _was_ gettting a good service from them up until the 'upgrade'. So it could be you next ;)

Funny the 'upgrade' happened around the same time as the tech support line premium rate was introduced

Se la vie, Se la vie mon cherrie, Rodders tried VM and BE and many others, they all have their plusses and minusses. Grandad was happy with what ever he could get and uncle albert, well tres mon he's able to relive his war stories in even more detail now, now he has the ability to research his stories.

Personally VM is rock solid for me :tu: