No such thing as unlimited broadband

RFU

Hi all

I have just signed up to Virgin Media's offer of 10mb unlimited Broadband and telephone for £5 for the first 3 month then whatever after that ( cant remember). This was installed on Thursday. I have since found out that I should have had a wireless router as part of the deal. Not recieved, but on its way after complaint 1. I then found out that my b/band connection was 2mb not the advertised 10mb. This was rectified after complaint 2. My b/band drops to 2mb. In goes complaint 3 and gets rectified back to 10mb.

I have downloaded my files I have stored on the internet 2.5gb worth. My b/band goes back to 2mb. I ring up with complaint 4 only to be told that I have exceeded the 500mb download limit between 4pm and 9pm and I am now restricted to 2mb for the next 5 hours.

I was told about their "fair usage" policy, but not about the traffic management system which restricts you if you d/l too much between certain times. So in fact, this in not an UNLIMITED broadband offer. What if I wanted to watch clips on youtube or watch BBC iPlayer. My kungfu instructor has videos of lessons to download, will I be shafted foir these aswell? Do I have to stay up all night to do stuff I wanted to do in the daytime?

If I can, im going to get out of this as my account is still incorrectly set up and I have not been given the offer I wanted. Lets see what they offer before I say adios.

Andy

DatabaseError

much as I disagree iwth the explanation, the term 'unlimited' is taken, by the ISPs, to mean 'unlimited time online' not, what you and I consider correct 'unlimited bandwidth/downloads'
As to VMs traffic management policy...it's well documented and discussed

456789

DatabaseError wrote: »

As to VMs traffic management policy...it's well documented and discussed

Yep and it is really bad

Though tbh O2 and BeThere are quite good in 'unlimited' dl's I know people who have done 100's of GB's every month and never had a problem

RFU

But there are limited accounts aswell with other companies. You can have unlimited b/band or you can be limited to 5gb a month or less or more pending packages, but they are all governed by the "fair user policy". I think that the policy was set up to deter piracy than to give everyone a crack of the whip of having a fast connection. Anyone that has 50gb or more a month is a candidate for piracy and these people should be targeted.

I just that in this day and age of modern technology and the internet is used more and more like Video on demand or iTunes or BBc iPlayer or anything else that has a high bandwith content, surely the suppliers need to put this in there equation and penalise the pirates and not the genuine users.

DatabaseError

RFU wrote: »

Anyone that has 50gb or more a month is a candidate for piracy and these people should be targeted.

I have 5 PCs in my house, 3 used by my wife, myself and children (16, 10, 10) to watch tv, youtube, listen to radio, play games, keep in touch with friends etc..(don't forget windows updates and AV updates x5) and between us we use around 80Gb/month (up + down).
I take exception to being called a pirate (or thief) and I await your apology.

Times have changed, high bandwidth applications exist and are popular, those of us who take advantage of new technologies do not want, nor expect, to be branded as dishonest, or to be told by people such as yourself that we are using more than our share!
:mad:

RFU

Database Error

I am expressing MY opinion and feel that you have misread what I was saying. For some reason you have taken it to a personal level.

Piracy is MY theory on the introduction of the "fair usage policy". Others may share that opinion, I couldn’t tell you.

I do not recall calling you a pirate. Nor would I say you are "hogging" the bandwidth. You are using the internet the way I am.

Did you happen to read my final paragraph before you saw the red mist?? I quote:

“I just that in this day and age of modern technology and the internet is used more and more like Video on demand or iTunes or BBc iPlayer or anything else that has a high bandwidth content, surely the suppliers need to put this in there equation and penalize the pirates and not the genuine users”.

I quote your last paragraph

“Times have changed, high bandwidth applications exist and are popular, those of us who take advantage of new technologies do not want, nor expect, to be branded as dishonest, or to be told by people such as yourself that we are using more than our share!”

You last paragraph looks very similar to mine, so I guess you didn’t read my last paragraph.

I feel that an apology is not warranted due to the fact that I did not address my post to anyone in particular. It was my “moan” about being capped on an unlimited account. It was meant as a warning to people to “read the small print”.

RFU

esuhl

RFU wrote: »

You can have unlimited b/band... but they are all governed by the "fair user policy".

Not all of them are... bit it'll cost you. Entanet resellers like Titan ADSL have an unlimited package for £163.83 a month. As far as I know there's no traffic shaping or port blocking.

PaulK_3

WM has a well known, well publicised fair usage policy, it even has an area on its site dedicated to it. Yes Bittorrent etc are a lot to do with it, people over stepping the mark and not being sensible in when they download mean peak time bandwidth saturation is imapacting the connections for thousands of people. No ISP will be able to keep up with the demands of a minority, the more fibre they lay and the more bandwidth they open up the more a group of people will hammer it.

RFU

I can agree with the companies restricting the network at peek times. I dont have aproblem with this. What I do have a problem with is, if I download over 500mb between these times, I am capped to 2mb for 5 hours. It is like a sin bin. This needs to be pointed out to new customers when they purchase.

aliasojo

RFU wrote: »

Anyone that has 50gb or more a month is a candidate for piracy and these people should be targeted.

I just that in this day and age of modern technology and the internet is used more and more like Video on demand or iTunes or BBc iPlayer or anything else that has a high bandwith content, surely the suppliers need to put this in there equation and penalise the pirates and not the genuine users.

Sorry RFU...I did read your reply to Database but I'm afraid I agree with him, your comment in bold above does suggest high users might equate to dodgy use. (Regardless of what the rest of your post says.)

Dont want to start a fight, just pointing out the way it comes across.

We too are a 'modern' family of 5 with multiple pc's, laptops and gaming machines all of which are on probably far too often. I haven't got an actual figure for our usage but I suspect it is extremely high.

I do agree that everything should be made abundantly clear to new customers when signing a new contract though. Companies do tend to blow their trumpets about all the good points and say little of the bad so it's a warning to all to check all t's & c's. Although for people who are not particularly computer or internet savvy, this may be a bit of a minefield.

moonrakerz

Why not pay for what you use ?

When I use petrol, gas, electricity, cornflakes I do just that - it seems a pretty fair way to do it.

I don't pay Esso £50 a month to do 100 miles a month in my 1.6L Ford so the guy down the road can do 5000 miles a month in his Bentley for the same money.

I will now sit back and wait for the howls of outrage !