Unlimited vs Premium for Usenet/Gaming ?

Currently have 2 lines, one with TitanADSL on the recently crippled Surfwise package and the other on Plusnet Unlimited.

The Pnet Unlimited line is pretty useless for Usenet, if using non-ssl connections it runs (if at all) at around 7K (dial-up speed!), ssl connections run anywhere between 7K and 804K depending on the time of day and what traffic shaping the Ellacoyas are up to, however the only time it runs around 804K is about 6am to 7:30am which is ridiculous as it's supposed to be available at line speed from 00:00 to12:00. It's not exchange congestion as I am on a small exchange with no problems, my second line with Titan (has a lower sync due to an older cable BT won't fix) but used to run flat out at 645K 24/7 before they started traffic shaping.

So, now wanting to move the second line to another ISP, Plusnet Premium looks OK on paper but what's it like in the real world?, is it any beter than Unlimited?.

The other major problem I have with Unlimited is the supposedly 2M capped gaming availability, in reality connection is so bad it causes multiple disconnects for my kids from WOW etc.

Pro is the best for Usenet and Gaming as it's line speed at all times although there is a 20gb peak time usage cap, unmetered after midnight, even this is suffering at the moment though as the have a problem at the moment which is supposed to be sorted soon, I have to say that at the moment it's fine and downloading at full speed but last night after midnight wasn't good, I just hope they get it sorted soon

If my package followed the published specs for speeds I'd be quite happy, but 70Kbps or less is crazy, having said that usenet is supposed to be limited to 256Kbps at this time of day and I just tried it and it's up and down between 3000 and 7500Kbps!, I'm getting better speeds now than when it's supposed to be un-throttled!!

Edited by jeff1106uk (Tue 17-Nov-09 14:46:21)

I don't think there is much difference between Unlimited and Premium at all, except Premium is 80GB cap. A straight replacement.

You can compare the trafman on this Kitz page.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 17-Nov-09 17:00:05)

Yes there are problems at the moment I just hope they get it sorted soon, I usually get between 6.2 and 6.5mbps but it does sometimes go up to 7mbps at all times on Pro, but last night I was only getting 2.1mbps no matter what gateway I went on, a fix is supposed to be in the offing but this has been dragging on for weeks. Pro has only been affected in the last few days so I guess I got off lightly, there has been a problem with the gateway pcl-ago3

Interesting ................. at 4pm my usenet dropped from 824K to .................... 1.2K!!!!!

My speed for surfing looks pretty good tonight how it'll fare when I try to download only time will tell

Well, at 00:37 which is supposed to be Line Speed .........

Usenet from Astra, 20 connections

Crippled O-Bit line,

ssl or non ssl - 478K

Plusnet Unlimited line,

ssl - 110K

non ssl - 18.4K

Web browsing from Speedtest.net

O-Bit line - 530K and that's with a line that is currently crippled by O-Bit and has 2 kids both on WOW and MSN etc at the time of the test
[IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/625840429.png[/IMG]

Plusnet Line - 100K
[IMG]http://www.speedtest.net/result/625834912.png[/IMG]

Edited by jeff1106uk (Wed 18-Nov-09 00:54:34)

I know at the moment it's a nightmare my speed was 2.2mbps and thats on a line that has a 7150 profile. It went up to almost normal line speed at abount 1.16am, frankly the problems have been going on for some time although I have to say I haven't been affected as much as some users on different products, I'll see how it goes next week and decide what to do then

Hi there,

Usenet speeds on Premium are comparable to Unlimited between midday and 10pm.

We are currently having some network issues, which mean that things aren't running to the speeds we would expect.

One thing I am curious about though, when you're getting rubbish Usenet speeds after midnight does changing gateway make a difference?