While those figures are closer to what might work experience with ADSL providers suggests that any limit imposed on a previously unlimited service will send the heaviest users running away even if inside the limits, as many have no clue how much they use, and hate limits with a passion

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

While those figures are closer to what might work experience with ADSL providers suggests that any limit imposed on a previously unlimited service will send the heaviest users running away even if inside the limits, as many have no clue how much they use, and hate limits with a passion

its not about keeping unprofitable heavy users happy.

Its about doing limits that the infrastructure can handle, if marketing are to choose such limits then there is no point in having them.

Well at least thats my view, obviously with VM it is about marketing.

Ultimately tho if the limits are too high connections will noticebly feel slower and in severe cases stop mainstream apps from working.

As shown with the STM even tho the STM only reduced to previous level of speeds, it had a bad negative impact on the heavy users, those guys are not happy with anything but unlimited so they would still complain with 'any' limit.

And so they should move to a provider with suitable infrastructure to supply them with the service they desire.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

Although remembering they narrow pipes my proposed limits would be nearer.

20/30mbit - 50gig
60mbit -110 gig
100/120mbit - 250gig

The problem with those limits is that if they were in place there would be absolutely no point it having the high speeds as that would only be a quarter of an hour daily flat out.

VM are between a rock and a hard place - all that cable can offer over FTTC is headline speed but the only reason you need high headline speeds is for heavy duty downloading and as soon as people start doing that the low capacity local pipes can't deliver the goods.

I still firmly believe that widespread FTTC is the kisss of death for cable broadband in the UK. It may survive but only as the poor man's option.

Dunno about that, the upload cap is 12,000Mb which at 10Mb upload speed will allow constant seeding at max rate for only approximately 2 and a half hours.

The caps are certainly very generous but the products are really fast as well which means you hit them quickly, it's not like you have a whole load of people seeding at full speed all day, every day, you just can't do that.

Congestion sucks, I don't have it in my area thank god and hope I never have it but it's the same as anythign else really it's never going to be expanded before the need is there so there's going to be periods of

yep it isnt high in terms of the overall possible usage but what is the typical usage?

I tend to my downloading in bursts so STM and the proposed comcast shaping would punush me disproportionally.

eg. I might download nothing all week except generic usage like some streaming browsing email etc. Then download 10 gig in one day. STM only looks at short term usage. a 50gig limit would be enough for that although only just. But imo the price of 30meg now (the new bottom tier) is still very good for that speed and usage. Burst speed should not be undervalued. People forget its not just high usage that costs money.

Edited by Chrysalis (Wed 25-Apr-12 15:51:14)

In reply to a post by anon123456:

The caps are certainly very generous but the products are really fast as well which means you hit them quickly, it's not like you have a whole load of people seeding at full speed all day, every day, you just can't do that.

You can't at 10Mbps but you can at the STM limited rate until the cows come home and even 2.5Mbps takes a sizeable chunk of the local pipe.

Anyway the number of complaints about congestion strongly suggests that either many do just that or VM are cramming even more modems per node than they should for acceptable performance.

My download habits are similar to yours then. I've no idea what the norm might be but judging by the forum bragging I'm sure we've both seen there are certainly people approaching or even exceeding a terabyte a month. Lord only knows what they do with it all.

I'm still convinced that the major problem is torrent seeding which somehow evades shaping though as that doesn't cause the perpetrator any inconvenience such as constantly buying hard drives or blurays and transferring the data.

Hi, i am also a disgruntled VM customer on the 100Mbit line, what you see on you monitor is MASSES of over usage on you're local exchange contact VM BB services during day time hours to speak to an English rep who can get things done, explain that you have had the issue for some time, also check on the VM customer forums for others with issues in the same area as you, if they fail to do anything after 1 week contact the OFFICE OF THE CEO of virgin media and explain that there is an issue and that it is unacceptable, include links to the BBM pics that you posted so they can see, run pings to bbc.co.uk through CMD and record you're results. They will fix the issue, you have a connection that is way worse than mine has been, They may take a while(ive beeb having issues for a year) and tell them that unless they fix it you will go to another provider as there are always other options, especially with SKY release fiber speeds, and BT to.

John