30mb Fibre deal. Should I join?

Hi. Im currently on a Talk Talk up to 16mb unlimited broadband and phone deal, getting between 5 and 6mb. I was thinking of joining Virgin with the deal they have at the mo for 30mb fibre but I see that, unlike Talk Talk, Virgin have traffic shaping.
So, my question to you guys that already have Virgin fibre is..... is it worth joining? I have no idea how the traffic shaping really effects usage and if I would notice it from a 30mb line when Im used to 5-6mb anyway. Im online all day with occasional on-demand tv or movie download, nothing serious. How reliable is the signal? Im getting fed up with lights blinking on my router and having to wait for the signal to come back, hence looking to migrate. I was also thinking of recommending this deal to my son how has just moved into his first place and is looking for a broadband connection for his intensive xbox Halo online gaming.
Any advice welcomed. Thanks

I get 33Mb on my 30Mb line at all times, if the STM kicks in it slows you by 10% which means I'm still getting 30Mb

In reply to a post by BuckleZ:

I get 33Mb on my 30Mb line at all times, if the STM kicks in it slows you by 10% which means I'm still getting 30Mb

Nice! Thanks for that. Looks good.

If your area isn't affect by high utilisation, don't bother to join because they taking so long to fixed it, could be 3, 6 or 9 months! http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Up-to-30Mb-Speed...

Edited by adslmax (Wed 12-Feb-14 22:27:23)

I think adsl meant if the area is affected by high utilisation do not join

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

I think adsl meant if the area is affected by high utilisation do not join

how would I find out? Cheers

Best method is to talk to friends who use Virgin Media in the few streets around you, otherwise generally a lottery, and just like shares, current or past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

All that said, unless you are an avid gamer, the latency issues that congestion causes and reduced throughput even on the 30 Mbps product should still beat a 5 Mbps ADSL service.

I am quite lucky that in Belfast I see no congestion issues.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping/share/efda67ef1d5...

The connection is almost always used for streaming media.

Edited by BuckleZ (Thu 13-Feb-14 12:37:52)

VM offer a 28 day money back guarantee. Their service is very hit-or-miss, down to the street cabinet level, your neighbour could get good service and you terrible service. So try it, that's the only way to know for sure how good it is in your area for your home. Make sure you do some speed tests in the evening 6 - 9pm and try streaming some HD videos off YouTube. If you get any issues at all then run-away quick because it could indicate that your area is already or is heading for over-utilisation and it takes VM years to fix that.

In reply to a post by Daemon66:

VM offer a 28 day money back guarantee. Their service is very hit-or-miss, down to the street cabinet level, your neighbour could get good service and you terrible service. So try it, that's the only way to know for sure how good it is in your area for your home. Make sure you do some speed tests in the evening 6 - 9pm and try streaming some HD videos off YouTube. If you get any issues at all then run-away quick because it could indicate that your area is already or is heading for over-utilisation and it takes VM years to fix that.

Thanks! Good point. For less than £12 a month I think I will give it a go, follow your advice on speed tests and see what happens.
Cheers