Giffgaff - 256kpbs

cgk1

Didn't see a thread and might be of interest to Giffgaff members:

During peak hours, our aim is to maximise the number of members who are able to get a good data speed. To achieve this, we would like to start sharing out some of the additional network resource that some members are enjoying during peak times with other members, who perhaps otherwise wouldn’t be able to enjoy a good network experience.

At giffgaff, we are able to identify and respond to data usage patterns as they are happening, so where we see a usage pattern which is using a higher than average share of network resource during peak hours, we can manage this by applying a maximum speed of 256kbps. We think that this would help as many members as possible get a good experience on giffgaff. The maximum speeds would only ever be introduced during peak hours, where we think that it will improve the experience for other members and it would be removed immediately at the end of peak period.

We would expect only about 1 or 2% of members to be impacted by this each day, although on a monthly basis perhaps 15-20% of us would have at least a single day where our speed maxes out at 256kbps. However, speeds would then be improved for remaining members, which will help us to even out the network resource during peak times and give a fairer service to all members.

http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/News-Announcements/Managing-data-experience-during-busy-hours/m-p/13096395#M57945

Techhead_2

It seems a very complicated way to manage a problem. And that's not even A 3G speed, it would take too long to do even straight forward things.

MikeWhite

Techhead wrote: »

It seems a very complicated way to manage a problem. And that's not even A 3G speed, it would take too long to do even straight forward things.

But those speeds will only apply to the very heavy users?

ZhugeEX

MikeWhite wrote: »

But those speeds will only apply to the very heavy users?

Giff gaff are saying it'll affect 20% of users at least once in a month.

So one in five giff gaff users will experience this harsh throttling.

Giff gaff have got progressively worse over the years.

Viberduo

MikeWhite wrote: »

But those speeds will only apply to the very heavy users?

Knowing GiffGaff they will find a excuse to call you a heavy user, I had a sim for a month and stopped using it after a week due to ANYTHING I did was flagged as tethering, I went to a download site for some game updates, seconds later I was blocked, another time I went to youtube via the browser not app and was blocked for being a heavy user, I complained and they accused me of tethering!

Even though my usage for that week was under 50 megabytes somehow I had patterns of tethering.

Techhead_2

MikeWhite wrote: »

But those speeds will only apply to the very heavy users?

What is a very heavy user? According to that it is someone who uses a higher than average share of network resource during peak hours.

Which begs the questions:

What does network resource mean? Do they mean amount downloaded during peak time? Or percent of backhaul capacity at any specified moment or what.

When are peak hours? Is this a fixed period or does it mean those times when the network can't cope.

When did "above average" become a very heavy user? Do they really mean "anyone who is using more than (capacity of network) / ( number of users)”?

What happens if the average share of network resource is less than 256kbps ?

Is it OK to advertise an unlimited service and then when you can't provide it impose restrictions rather than increase capacity?

I think it's very clear that Giffgaff have not explained at all well what they intend to do.

neil40

I was using them but find Lycamobile light years ahead in terms of speed & reliability.Will take payback next month & port out number.

joeluken

If this is meant as a restriction for heavy users the preamble in the linked post doesn't make any sense. To me it suggests a wider speed cap to allow more users to have at last some access to do the things most customers do on the giffgaff network. If that's not the case why make out that 256kbps is a good download speed ??


It sounds like by capping the speed they are planning to achieve a more consistent 256kbps for all during peak times i.e. "so at peak times (when the network can become congested), higher data speeds for some of us can lead to lower data speeds for others"

"The real benefit of fast speeds is that we can download content to our phones quickly and we can stream videos at the highest possible quality levels, which is great. However, high data speeds also use a large amount of network resource, so at peak times (when the network can become congested), higher data speeds for some of us can lead to lower data speeds for others. During these hours, we’d like to start thinking slightly differently to ensure that as many of us as possible are getting a good download speed.

So, what is a good download speed? We have been trying to answer this question and research has suggested that 256kbps might be the answer. Please see the table below to see what this experience might look like on some popular services. We will be testing this speed soon as well and will be inviting some of you to join us."

cgk1

They also plan to ban users who use an unlimited bundle as if it's em.. unlimited from buying anymore:

http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/News-Announcements/Congestion-Management-Launch/td-p/13059998

boatman

Partner on giffgaff in Bournemouth for about 2 weeks, barely a signal anywhere, 3g is non existent, im on vodafone and its ok, found tmobile better but would not return to them if you paid me..

gycraig_2

You get what you pay for. If you pay pennies a month it's not gonna be as good as a "proper" network genuinely