MSE News: Advertised broadband speed claims are 'false'

stilltheone

Dave_C wrote: »

It's a non-story, Nothing has happened since the last one. This voluntary stuff will never change anything.

If you bought a 150 MPH Ferrari and it only did 20 MPH it would be straight back to the garage. Why should broadband be different?

My solution You buy an up to 10M package and only get speeds of 2M you pay 1/5 of the bill (including any telephony etc.) Then advertised speeds will quickly become realistic.

Dave

So how do you propose they make that in to a working model?

They have no control over BT's copper wire and the distance from the exchange. But their costs are the same. OpenZone won't charge less if you are further from the exchange.
This is a bit of a non story.

MrsTinks

I do work for an ISP (runs for cover) and it's something we constantly run up against... UP TO... does not mean "we will guarantee this speed!". Before I get shot then I don't work on the consumer side btw! LOL

What we have seen is a lot of slow speed issues where the line can go faster but BTs IPstream capacity is full and so things get throttled. As of yet there is very little congestion on the LLU side on our network at least... that means if it's a slow speed it's usually never (at least I've never seen it) because we've had to traffic shape things... can't promise what the future will look like but at least for now most LLU customers get as much as we can get out of the lines (barring cases where there is a line fault obviously...)

One thing I WOULD say is that if you're on a super duper line DO make sure your router and wireless card in your laptop/pc is up to it Can make a difference if you're still using an old and cheap router from umpteen years ago

Dave_C_2

stilltheone wrote: »

So how do you propose they make that in to a working model?

They have no control over BT's copper wire and the distance from the exchange. But their costs are the same. OpenZone won't charge less if you are further from the exchange.

I'm trying to change the status quo. If we paid on a per MB/s rate then at a stroke we then get fair pricing and BT gets a huge incentive to improve broadband speeds.

At the moment I'm subsidising the urban population nearer the exchange on the same service as me but with much better speeds.

Dave

Mark_In_Hampshire

The beginnings of a solution lie with the definition of broadband.

Virgin Media define broadband as 10Mbps, given it's their basic package.

BT define it as an ADSL capable phone line (160kbps+)

The first thing is to define what broadband is. I suggest 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up.

Nothing can be sold as broadband if the above cannot be achieved.

In addition, the headline speeds should be dropped altogether because they are meaningless.

So ADSL2+ "up to 24Mbps broadband" is simply called ADSL2+.

Customer is given an estimate on sign-up. If that estimate cannot be achieved, customer has the option of a 100% refund of all money paid and their commitment ends immediately.

Focuses minds, and then demonstrates that about 25% of the country do not have access to broadband at all.

Then raise the required speeds by 1Mbps in both directions each year.

stilltheone

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

The beginnings of a solution lie with the definition of broadband.

Virgin Media define broadband as 10Mbps, given it's their basic package.

BT define it as an ADSL capable phone line (160kbps+)

The first thing is to define what broadband is. I suggest 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up.

Nothing can be sold as broadband if the above cannot be achieved.

In addition, the headline speeds should be dropped altogether because they are meaningless.

So ADSL2+ "up to 24Mbps broadband" is simply called ADSL2+.

Customer is given an estimate on sign-up. If that estimate cannot be achieved, customer has the option of a 100% refund of all money paid and their commitment ends immediately.

Focuses minds, and then demonstrates that about 25% of the country do not have access to broadband at all.

Then raise the required speeds by 1Mbps in both directions each year.

Not unreasonable suggestions. Though your 4MB suggestion might take some doing.

As to speeds, there is usually a link to which you can add you telephone number on ISP's website, that will be you an indication of what speeds to expect. So there should be no surprises.

As MrsTine indicates, it's the people who are on BT's product who have to put up with poor service.

I'm quite happy with my Be/O2 connection. Especially as I am getting the full speed for which I am paying. Had to get OpenZone out to fix their line first.

StuieUK34

stilltheone wrote: »

"""" My current place, am on DSL2 , the only LLU to offer that option on that exchange is o2/BE... There line checks said 17.5mb sync rate for me, as we are less than 1km from the exchange, but when doing the speedtests, no matter what time, average speed is 10.26mb , and naturally, given its o2, that means your actual download rate is around 2mb ! :( """"

This is just silly. I get the full download speed as indicated by my sync rate.
Perhaps your router or line needs tweaking.

Maybe your downloading somthing of no importance, so its not traffic shaped, therefore downloads at the max speed.
For the stuff i want (no matter what it is), i find that 90% of the time, and as confirmed with o2 support, its traffic shaped heavily up till Midnight, hence the 2mb download claim (ie: say 246kb a sec)

Going back to this ofcom ruling rubbish, where as before the advert states upto 8mb or upto 12mb or even 20mb.....
The new Ruling now means the same advert, say on plusnet for instance, instead of saying upto 10mb for me, it says i will get between "2mb and 10mb" ??? !!!!!! ?????? thats no different from before! I'd expect 2mb if i were attached to string!!!