virgin media and traffic lighting.

kezz

Hi, We currently pay around £25 per month for virgin media broadband 4mb L unlimited access.
Our connection has been really slow for the past month or so and between 4pm and midnight is extremely slow or unusable.:mad:
I spoke to customer services this evening and was told that they've introduced a traffic light system which is why the connection is so slow. Surely this means hat our access is no longer unlimited?
Theyve offered half price broadband for the next month and said they didnt know how long the traffic lighting would be in place.
Should I switch suppliers? I do feel really cheated.
Thanks
Kerry

darwin-rover

Traffic shaping is here to stay , ALL ISPs use it in some shape or form , they have to .
VM still has unlimited downloads , there are NO caps on downloads , hence it is still an unlimited service .
If you are going to download big files , don't do it between 4 and 12 .

peter999

Have you checked there isn't a problem with your Pc ??
What speed are you getting & what was speed like before ??

Your speed shouldn't be moderated unless you're in the top 5% of downloaders.

More info here:

Traffic management
http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/traffic.html

If you are not big downloader & have a problem, your area may suffer from congestion or maybe there is problem on Virgin network.

Customer services generally don't have a clue !!

peter999

kezz

Hi, Thanks for the replies. We have two pcs, one which is used for online gaming by our 18 yr old, the other used by us for emails and forums, general use. For example, I cant do an online shop between 4 and 12. We dont download alot atall and have the same problems even when the 18 yr old is away for the weekend. Our neighbour is having the same problems. Is it unlikely to be the traffic shaping?
We had a really good service with telewest, it has been pants since virgin have taken over.

BrunoM

It's unlikely to be traffic management. Virgin have been having issues with the network in general, with certain makes of modem, and especially with the new upgrades to 20mb service, for the last month or so. Take a look at this forum if you like, to read about some of the current circumstances - not everyone is suffering but lots are.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12/

To-poor

Virgin media is capping full speed downloads at 3GB per day. I have complained to the ASA about this as all their adverts even the one on their homepage offers unlimited downloading at high speed. The ASA has received several complaints about this and is currently investigating. I urge ALL Virgin Media customers to contact the ASA and make a complaint about what is a very underhand practice.

I have had no official notification from VM that my service terms have changed. They are still taking my direct debits as normal. I will be investigating whether this is fraudulent on their part and perhaps making a backdated claim for the money they have taken since they introduced the usage cap.

peter999

kezz wrote: »

Is it unlikely to be the traffic shaping?
We had a really good service with telewest, it has been pants since virgin have taken over.

Virgin/NTL will never admit they have general problem on network (eg. congestion due too many users downloading), as it will open the floodgates to complaints, like when they lost Sky channnels.

It took 3 engineer visits, numerous phone calls, for engineers to admit my area suffers from congestion/overload.

That was engineers saying it to me in person.
They would never put in writing & customer services don't have a clue, will string you along for ever with various excuses (eg. problem with your Pc etc.)

Now they have increased speeds to 20Mb, problem will get worse, as the network hardware probably hasn't been upgraded to match the user demand.

peter999

darwin-rover

To-poor wrote: »

Virgin media is capping full speed downloads at 3GB per day. I have complained to the ASA about this as all their adverts even the one on their homepage offers unlimited downloading at high speed. The ASA has received several complaints about this and is currently investigating. I urge ALL Virgin Media customers to contact the ASA and make a complaint about what is a very underhand practice.

I have had no official notification from VM that my service terms have changed. They are still taking my direct debits as normal. I will be investigating whether this is fraudulent on their part and perhaps making a backdated claim for the money they have taken since they introduced the usage cap.

There are NO caps on VM cable BB . Your speed will be cut when you download more than 3gb between 4pm and 12 . This is called "throttling" or traffic shaping . Capping is different . You will still be able to download as much as you want .