Finally realised VM are garbage

[peterjohno]

Very rarely post here,but just had to inform you of my position.
Been with VM for 3 years and have had 20mb since it came out. Since the STM got implemented i have been having issues on and off, resulting in the last 2/3 months getting less than 2 mb at any time of the day. Finally rang up to find out what was going on. Got the usual indian call centers who ran checks , nothing wrong with my system. an speedtest, getting 16/19 meb. Downloaded game files from blueyonder and still less than 2 mb. Now i dont use my pc during the day as im at wok,so i mainly use it at night,after 9 !! . Rang Vm to say i want out, i get the usual ,well whys that ?? Because my download speed is awful. Ok they say , well can i get an ex field engineer to contact you to run more in depth tests. Yes no problem. In the meantime get another call from VM to ask why im leaving,again ,i say download speeds. He says is it because of STM ? yes i said. Ok then ,your disconnection date is *****. Now this guy rings me and askes me to do these speed tests and says, yes you are being shaped,but cant understand why im getting crap speeds after the 9pm mark. He then says the ubr is oversubscribed and will be getting an update in the week. Right ok,well can i have a refund for the last two months of terrible speed. So he gives me 36 pound refund at half price. Now my issue is , even if they get this ubr ''issue'' sorted,im still going to be paying 37 pound for 20 mb, and as soon as i download 1 film or any file that takes me over 3 gig,then im capped for 5 hours at supposedly 5 meg.
Unless i do it after 9 !!. I have finally realised that paying that much money for a service that doesnt run right dosent make sense. I can get up to 16 mb from sky for 10 pound with no usage limits . Coupled with 10 pound for a bt phone line ,that 20 quid for a service that does exactly what it says on the tin. Its took a while , but ive finally realised that VM are having our pants off !!!!

[Gary L]

These low speeds and STM when you shouldn't be are more widespread than they should be. it's not good enough saying that to wait until they roll out the 50MB and see if that helps anything.

If a UBR is oversubscribed then they are selling a product knowingly that it cannot perform because of this.

If a person is being STMd because of a fault then again they are selling a product that they knowingly is not as per contract.

[AndyCambs]

I can get up to 16 mb from sky
Up to of course being the important operative words.

[xspeedyx]

Check you postcode here to check for rough estimate of the speed you will be get

www.samknows.com

[Storm1964]

Very rarely post here,but just had to inform you of my position.
Been with VM for 3 years and have had 20mb since it came out. Since the STM got implemented i have been having issues on and off, resulting in the last 2/3 months getting less than 2 mb at any time of the day. Finally rang up to find out what was going on. Got the usual indian call centers who ran checks , nothing wrong with my system. an speedtest, getting 16/19 meb. Downloaded game files from blueyonder and still less than 2 mb. Now i dont use my pc during the day as im at wok,so i mainly use it at night,after 9 !! . Rang Vm to say i want out, i get the usual ,well whys that ?? Because my download speed is awful. Ok they say , well can i get an ex field engineer to contact you to run more in depth tests. Yes no problem. In the meantime get another call from VM to ask why im leaving,again ,i say download speeds. He says is it because of STM ? yes i said. Ok then ,your disconnection date is *****. Now this guy rings me and askes me to do these speed tests and says, yes you are being shaped,but cant understand why im getting crap speeds after the 9pm mark. He then says the ubr is oversubscribed and will be getting an update in the week. Right ok,well can i have a refund for the last two months of terrible speed. So he gives me 36 pound refund at half price. Now my issue is , even if they get this ubr ''issue'' sorted,im still going to be paying 37 pound for 20 mb, and as soon as i download 1 film or any file that takes me over 3 gig,then im capped for 5 hours at supposedly 5 meg.
Unless i do it after 9 !!. I have finally realised that paying that much money for a service that doesnt run right dosent make sense. I can get up to 16 mb from sky for 10 pound with no usage limits . Coupled with 10 pound for a bt phone line ,that 20 quid for a service that does exactly what it says on the tin. Its took a while , but ive finally realised that VM are having our pants off !!!!

Agree with the above,ive been with ntl/vm for 7 years now i dont download only play online games for 2-3 hours 3 nights aweek,payin for 20mb and getting 2-5 from 9pm to 12,
currantly talking to o2 and be* broadband seem to be allot cheaper to
its a pain to have to move but im not prepared to pay for somthing im not getting:mad:

[Pog66]

Sky do employ traffic management - they call it DLM - so just be wary before moving (and yes it is buried within the vague FUP and not advertised in flashing lights on the Sky webpage) ;)

Check out Sky forums on Skyuser.co.uk or thinkbroadband.com to get a view on what you can expect. As mentioned unless you live next door to the exchange you are unlikely to get full 16Mb - Sam knows!!

btw, I am ex Sky broadband - but no grudges to bear. I was 4 miles from exchange so was limited to what bandwidth I could get thru ADSL

[D.Casey]

btw, I am ex Sky broadband - but no grudges to bear. I was 4 miles from exchange so was limited to what bandwidth I could get thru ADSL

What was your speeds like living that far from the exchange? pretty bad at peak times id imagine?

[southwell]

I got 14.5mb from 1.5 miles away with Sky. I'd only get 8 from my current home on ADSL but VM have been good so far.

[D.Casey]

I got 14.5mb from 1.5 miles away with Sky. I'd only get 8 from my current home on ADSL but VM have been good so far.

For that distance I think thats really good, friends living 2miles from their exchange struggle to get 2mb at peak times.
I guess it depends how populated your area is more than actual distance from the exchange?

[Magilla]

If a UBR is oversubscribed then they are selling a product knowingly that it cannot perform because of this.



Agreed, very shoddy practice.

[southwell]

For that distance I think thats really good, friends living 2miles from their exchange struggle to get 2mb at peak times.
I guess it depends how populated your area is more than actual distance from the exchange?
And how straight the cables are run to the exchange. That distance is only by the road, not cable runs i believe. I wouldn't like to risk downgrading from a cable connection to ADSL unless i wasn't happy with my service, of course.

[Nilrem]

And how straight the cables are run to the exchange. That distance is only by the road, not cable runs i believe. I wouldn't like to risk downgrading from a cable connection to ADSL unless i wasn't happy with my service, of course.

Yup, the route the cabling takes for phone lines can be very indirect depending on how and when they were laid compared to the house being connected, and the exchange's age (there is no guarantee you'll even be connected to the nearest current exchange from what i've heard).

[Pog66]

What was your speeds like living that far from the exchange? pretty bad at peak times id imagine?

Initially I was getting about 1.8 meg but after they introduced DLM (because of the high noise speeds on my line) it went down to 0.8 on an average evening.

[xspeedyx]

Sky only use Traffic management on the lower tiers there max package as not FUP or traffic management

[watzizname]

Sky only use Traffic management on the lower tiers there max package as not FUP or traffic management

Yeah, i'm pretty sure i remember reading on this very board, that they'd removed it.

[peterjohno]

Sky have removed the fup, but for me,i have had enough of the crap speed im getting for 37 quid. Id rather pay 10 quid and get get crap speed. Thats the bottom line. Vm would not consider dropping my cost. Theirs no point droppin to 4mb either because that gets shaped too and its still dearer than sky.I really didnt want to leave, but i cannot justify paying this price for a product i dont receive. Ive had enough of the will they/wont they fix it scenario,and try this and try that. We all know deep down that it will never be right while shaping is in place, so at least if i get crap speeds i cant moan for 10 quid.

[Planetgarb]

Sky have removed the fup, but for me,i have had enough of the crap speed im getting for 37 quid. Id rather pay 10 quid and get get crap speed. Thats the bottom line. Vm would not consider dropping my cost. Theirs no point droppin to 4mb either because that gets shaped too and its still dearer than sky.I really didnt want to leave, but i cannot justify paying this price for a product i dont receive. Ive had enough of the will they/wont they fix it scenario,and try this and try that. We all know deep down that it will never be right while shaping is in place, so at least if i get crap speeds i cant moan for 10 quid.


Fair play i sometimes wonder why i pay £37 for 20meg and crappy speeds because i use the internet

[blade85]

My cousin can only manage to get 4 megs with sky and he lives a few hundred meters away from the exchange. depends on the line not just the distance.

i could have sworn id seen a site somwhere telling you how fast you could potentially go with ADSL in your area.

[Noggo]

http://www.adslchecker.bt.com/pls/adsl/adslchecker.welcome

[peterjohno]

Right havent been on this all day, and im getting right now 542.8 kb,s on newsleecher!! Tech say i aint got a problem. 20mb, and all for 37 quid. Go figure !!!!

[sollp]

Before lots of people get there guns out and shoot, there is the problem of the customers PC, now i know alot of people are going to claim, alot will know how, but alot of PC's either will not, cannot or can but are so out of date with drivers it can't perform properly, therefore cannot produce 20Mb.

Now i'm know expert on PC's, i can build them tinker with them, keep the going and working effectively enough, but when i do visit customers houses and see some of the states they are in OR people who genuinely believe there PC works fantastic because they know or have a PC Engineer check it over, but with a few simple checks there slow connection can be improved because of the PC. Drivers need regular update, hard drive cleaned out of the rubbish that resides in them, Spyware,Malware ect. Poor Antivirus and or Firewalls the list is long. But this can and does have an effect on the performance.

Now im not saying that everyones problem is this, but what i am saying is alot of people balme the ISP,(whom ever it maybe) and basically not themselves.

Only on monday after a person had complained of poor speeds that they had had for the past 18Mths?? After a bit of optimistaion, it improved form 2Mbs - 15Mbs on the download. customer couldn't believe it. This happens alot.

[john coley]

i'm with you all the way. If it wasn't that I'm a blind person and need an internet service, as I can't see to read print, and so need email, which I can access with my screenreader I'd give them the old heave ho as well. If I can find an alternative in the area Virgin will be history.
John.

[peterjohno]

Only on monday after a person had complained of poor speeds that they had had for the past 18Mths?? After a bit of optimistaion, it improved form 2Mbs - 15Mbs on the download. customer couldn't believe it. This happens alot.

Sollp;;

I appreciate your point and do agree .However i too build pc,s and regularly optimise my own and have it running properley. Therefore i dont agree with my problem being pc related. How can i get 16/19 mb on a speedtest, and then get less than 2 mb on a download ??? . My issue is probably ubr oversubscription, but vm dont care if we get crap speeds until we complain like hell or threaten to leave. Then they get their fingers out. It shouldnt be that way,but it is. If they cannot near enough guarantee that after 9 you will not be shaped,then what is the point in paying £37 pm ?????

[Nilrem]

Sollp;;

I appreciate your point and do agree .However i too build pc,s and regularly optimise my own and have it running properley. Therefore i dont agree with my problem being pc related. How can i get 16/19 mb on a speedtest, and then get less than 2 mb on a download ??? .


What sort of download?
Some websites cap per connection to allow more connections without killing their connection (possibly solution use a download manager that can open 2 or more concurrent connections), torrents and the like vary wildly depending on how many others are uploading that particular file (and their speeds and how many are downloading it) etc.

I saw someone complaining quite heavily about how when they go to apply the latest Warcraft patch their downloads go from 1900k to 100k the other day on another forum, it turned out (from memory) that the warcraft patcher uses a torrent style download and defaults to using as much upload as possible (which always kills download speeds).

[peterjohno]

What sort of download?



The type of download that the engineer gave me to test while on the phone to him. And any download from the ftp blueyonder site !!