up to 38meg

with my Plusnet contract finishing at the end of November I'm shopping around, but can anyone please clarify something for me?

If I currently achieve 29mb down and 8 up on the Plusnet Unlimited package which is advertised at "up to" 76mb will these be cut in half if I opt for a package that is advertised at "up to" 38mb? or will my line deliver the same either way.

If its the latter then presumably those services are artificially constrained to make it possible for the firms to charge more for higher speeds.

Hi there, hope I can clear these up.

In reply to a post by ainsley001:

If I currently achieve 29mb down and 8 up on the Plusnet Unlimited package which is advertised at "up to" 76mb will these be cut in half if I opt for a package that is advertised at "up to" 38mb? or will my line deliver the same either way.

Your line will deliver the same either way.

In reply to a post by ainsley001:

If its the latter then presumably those services are artificially constrained to make it possible for the firms to charge more for higher speeds.

That's not the case, the issue is that fibre (like ADSL) is dependent on line quality and more importantly distance from the cabinet. That's why people are seeing variable speeds. If you have a fibre estimate of 65Mb say and order the up to 40Mb service, then you should see the full 40Mb. If you upgrade to the up to 80Mb service though you'll not see any speeds faster than 65Mb.

Likewise if your line estimate is below 40Mb, you can upgrade to the 80/20 variation (and may well see an increase in upstream performance) but if your line can't handle speeds faster than 40Mb downstream then upgrading will do nothing to change that I'm afraid.

Hope that helps explain.

As I understand it there are 2 things that affect your download speed on an FTTC line:
1. The distance that you are from the cabinet that you are connected to
2. The package that you are on

If the cabinet was 5m away just outside your front garden and you were on an up to 80mb package then you should get 76mb download speed. If you switch to a 40mb package then you would expect the download speed to drop to 40mb.

If you are quite a long way from the cabinet and on an 80mb package as you are then you should get a speed related to the distance, in your case 29mb. If you were to switch to a 40mb package then I would expect the speed to stay at 29mb because the distance is the constraining factor rather than the package (and you could save yourself some money).

The 40/10 product does have only 40GB peak-time allowance of course. Unlimited off-peak.

Should be totally unlimited by now. Scrap the 40GB.

Edited by adslmax (Mon 11-Nov-13 14:54:25)

In reply to a post by adslmax:

Should be totally unlimited by now. Scrap the 40GB.

Why? A limited product may be all some users need, and the price saving may be very welcome.

PlusNet offer a clear choice between a limited product on the cheaper 40/10 wholesale product, and a more expensive unlimited product on the more expensive 80/20 wholesale product.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

Should be totally unlimited by now. Scrap the 40GB.

It is, if you opt for the unlimited product. Pretty pointless comment.

Just what I needed to know. Thanks to everyone who responded.

I will definitely still go for an unlimited deal, but some suppliers can offer deals on new sign ups that are unlimited in terms of data but are cheaper on the "up to 38mb" services. Now its clear that the "up to" distinction won't affect my speed, I can hopefully save a few bob.

I should add that its all about the cash - Plusnet service and stability have been excellent.

what happens if you want 40/10 unlimited?

We can provision on 40/10 on the Unlimited service (and indeed do if the line estimate is some way below 40Mb/10Mb).