AOL CAPPING SPEED

Every night at 18:00 my 8mbit connection drops down to 74KB/S this is very poor and is about the only time of day I use my computer due to work. After many calls to AOL they said no they do not cap user

I have noticed this too. Was wondering why...

AOL was good until this...

I think this is a great post. How can companies advertise, saying unlimited. They do have restrictions and the capping of speeds is just one of them and times can be any time, not just at 18:00 hours.

AOL's traffic shaping has been in effect since the beginning of February, and during January you should have had an email from AOL saying this is the case, and offering you the option of getting out of your contract for free (the deadline for that was February 1st IIRC)

Ref: WelshBluebird post

I am with AOL and I got no email

As one of the other posters said, contact them and asked to be released from your contract and move on - it's just not worth the hassle. If you have an email address with them, get an independent one so you won't be in the same position again.

Use Compare and make your own informed decision.

HTH - Blue

Edited by deleted (Wed 07-Mar-07 13:37:21)

IDnet do not impose speed or other restrictions, check them out at www.idnet.co.uk

IDNet Studio, The Spirella Building, Letchworth, Herts SG6 4ET. UK
T: 08000 267 237 | E: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>

Caps start at 2Gb though. You just get billed the next service up.

Im begining to wonder why in the hell i bothered with aol recently there throttling sucks.

I'd like to correct that, I'd been reading too many ISP details too close together for far too long without a break, they don't bill next one up they add

I have just been released from my contract! After weeks of endless telephone conversation i eventually cracked.....started f'ing and blinding at them until they eventually gave in and cancelled my contract without buying out!

DO NOT USE AOL!!

i agree if you thinkin about changing to AOL.........DONT!!!!!

there cons and have worse customer support ever

just 2 weeks ago they took 5 payments out of my bank for no reason at all so rang them up and they wouldn't give me any answers to why they did this so ive just cancled my direct debit with them from my bank

they say you get unlimited speeds which is a lie i could use download up to 25-30gb's a night but now i can only do this once or twice a month which is a joke they cap my download limit from 1.2mbps to 60kbps after that

and im constantly getting cut off from aol and always ringing them up about it and every time they saying my account has been blocked by accident because of new stuff there using over there (same reason every time)

so what im saying is that there full of B0LL0X

Rybo89CFC

i am with AOL, i am happy i can live with capping for 4 hours out of 24. is a lot better than being with a provider that gives you full speed but says no more than 60GB a month

From talking to them today I have learned:

AOL now monitor usage based on "time" online and not by bandwidth usage. They say Ofcom told them they had to do it this way.

Everyone is being capped at this time from what i was told in online help just now to make sure service is good for people with a large distance from their exchanges.

Apparently we were all informed of these changes in december.

I disagree,
At least with a solid cap you know where you stand. E.g, using your example, with a 60GB cap you can only download 60GB. However, with FUP's, you do not know the terms the ISP defines as "fair", so what I would think is fair, may not be what the ISP thinks is fair, and so you could be having download speed issues, and think its a fault, while actually its just your ISP being "fair".

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i am with AOL, i am happy i can live with capping for 4 hours out of 24. is a lot better than being with a provider that gives you full speed but says no more than 60GB a month

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How absurd.

How do you know you will be capped 4 out of 24 hours tomorrow? Or the day after? How do you know it won't be 24/7 going forwards?

At least with a clearly specified hard cap you have some idea of what to expect for your money.

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How absurd.

How do you know you will be capped 4 out of 24 hours tomorrow? Or the day after? How do you know it won't be 24/7 going forwards?

At least with a clearly specified hard cap you have some idea of what to expect for your money.

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With all due respect that is absurd also.... How do you know the provider with a hard cap wont lower it the next day???

I agree with the poster, if AOL are only throttling for a few hours in a 24 hour period and your use is heavy, stay with them, you wont find better for heavy use for the price unless perhaps you start to look at LLU or cable options.

Edited by deleted (Mon 16-Apr-07 17:05:26)

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How do you know the provider with a hard cap wont lower it the next day???

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Because to do that they need to change the T&C's, meaning customers can leave if unhappy.

You can't do that if tied into a long term contract with an invoked FUP, as the T&C's always contain a clause which allows for this to be changed as and when the ISP sees fit.

You simply cannot trust any ISP once they start traffic shaping, as it gives them a licence to pull on the throttle more and more at any time. Its fine if you're on a 1 month contract but if not then its a death trap for any moderate/heavy user.

I just contacted aol today as my download speeds were reduced from 6000kbps to 170kbps.

I have had this ultra-slow speed for just under a month, i didnt know anything about aol capping speeds, when i told them my problem they said i had went over my monthly limit of 60gb and my internet speed had been capped.

I was furious, i have never recieved any emails,letters or telephone calls about this but they are saying i agree'd to their terms and conditions, which i never. today is the first i have heard about this motnhly usage.

I spoke to another person who said i only used 17gb in the last month, and when i asked why my speed had been capped she just kept saying its aol's policy.

After spending an hour talking to people who had no clue as to what excatly was going on, i asked to speak to a supivisor i was put on hold for twenty mins and then the phone went dead they just hung up on me.

They said i couldnt cancel and my speed would come back on within a month.

I signed up to a twelve month contract on the platinum package which stated speeds of up to 8mb and unlimited usage.

I was going to cancel my account in dec 06 after 4 years because of inconsistent speeds, the women offered me the platinum package and unlimited broadband for 24.99 plus a wireless router since aol was the only service i could get in my area with unlimted usage i accepted. surely that person knew aol were going to be capping there users when she offered me the new contract.


And now BT have just started a new unlimted package of speeds up to 8mb for 22.99 a month, typical.

Im really sick to death of aol, i knew back in december i should not sign a new contract.

sorry your completely wrong. An ISP will only throttle during peak hours.. if they done any longer periods of time it would be suicide for them and they know that. 4 hours out of 24 is nothing, after all why would u want it unlimited all day.. well unless ur some1 who doesnt go outside then i see why.

i would rather have a throttle than a monthly cap.

by the way there is NO SUCH THING as unlimited, they do put a limit on it although it is higher than other providers and most of their customers do not reach it

If there is no such thing as unlimited then why do they offer unlimited usage when you sign up.

I really have no clue as to whats going on, and have just stated what i was told today on the phone that i went over my monthly limit of 60gb and my speed has been capped.

it says unlimited with usually a * at the end of it, then it will say subject to fair use policy

i dont know why you got told you went over a limit of 60GB, i have done twice that since there is 4 computers using this internet connection and no warning, check the package that you have signed up to and remember that if you signed with after feb 07 then you are subject to a different contract than those who joined before

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it says unlimited with usually a * at the end of it, then it will say subject to fair use policy

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If AOL said "Unlimited Broadband *(not really unlimited)" I doubt they would get away with it, but I fail to see the difference with what they are doing now...

Yes, they say that "downloads are unlimited, but we may limit your speed at peak time". Technically by reducing your speed they are reducing the amount that you would normally be able to download under normal circumstances, so they ARE actually placing a limit on your connection.

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I was going to cancel my account in dec 06 after 4 years because of inconsistent speeds, the women offered me the platinum package and unlimited broadband for 24.99 plus a wireless router since aol was the only service i could get in my area with unlimted usage i accepted. surely that person knew aol were going to be capping there users when she offered me the new contract.

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The T&C's changed in Feb. AOL said they emailed all customers but some like you claim they were not aware of this so you can draw your own conclusions from that.

This is why with any ISP these days you should:

a) avoid long term contracts;

b) check the forums regularly to ensure you are in the loop on any changes

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And now BT have just started a new unlimted package of speeds up to 8mb for 22.99 a month, typical.

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Its not unlimited. Its subject to a FUP and there's no way BT will allow customers to download hundreds of GB's a month for

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If there is no such thing as unlimited then why do they offer unlimited usage when you sign up.

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Because they want to sign up customers who believe it and then lock them into long term contracts so they have no escape.

Also because they know the regulators don't care about ISP's lying about unlimited. You can't blame them for pulling a fast one if the watchdog isn't bothered.

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sorry your completely wrong. An ISP will only throttle during peak hours.. if they done any longer periods of time it would be suicide for them and they know that.

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How do you know their definition of peak hours won't change? The ISP won't tell customers what the limits are so it beggars belief that you would trust them not to move the goalposts over time. The amount of traffic shaping could get worse, the peak time hours could be reduced and certain protocols could grind to a halt. They can do whatever they like due to the FUP - there's nothing you can do about it.

Anyway I can't really see the point of having broadband if you only get the speed you pay for at 3am.

Edited by deleted (Wed 18-Apr-07 09:34:31)

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check the package that you have signed up to and remember that if you signed with after feb 07 then you are subject to a different contract than those who joined before

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Not true.

The T&C's changed in Feb for everyone. You were deemed to have accepted it if you chose not to migrate.

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Not true.

The T&C's changed in Feb for everyone. You were deemed to have accepted it if you chose not to migrate

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To be fair NEARLY any ISP at anytime can do that, most including bethere have a little clause that says they can change the terms at any time.
When i was with Freeserve many moons ago they changed their terms, Pipex who i was with more recently changed their terms so many times i cant even remember lol
An ISP can be "unlimited" or whatever you want to call it one day and the next have fairuse policies and throttles coming out of their ears, it could even happen with bethere, so dont think it cant.

The real point to others is there is no point whinging, the easiest way is just move if you dont like what usage limits are being placed on your connection.

If AOL were capping on time used. This is what they told me also. Then surely everyone that used a router to connect to the internet would also be capped. My router is on 24/7. Its on all day because ADSL is an "always on" service. On Demand as it were. I asked about this when requesting a MAC code and Brian at AOL informed me that this was not the case. So why do they give away routers?.

It is possible to get out of the contract. It will take a few well worded letters and a threat of small claims court (remember you are not liable for costs at small claims). You could subscribe to a service that is bandwidth intensive (sky by broadband etc) and then claim that the service AOL is providing is "not fit for purpose". Theres many ways to approach this. A good place to start is the BBC watchdog website.

regards

m

If you're still in a contract, just quit anyway, instruct your bank not to allow any payments to them and refuse to pay. There isn't a lot they can do, they won't take legal action as it's not worth it to them.

If they claim you signed an agreement, tell them you didn't, clicking an "I Accept" button on a web form is not a legally binding contract. Even if it was, it's not worth it to them financially to take legal action, especially if you've only got a month or two to go.

I've done it, ISPs only say it to scare you.

negative, u can cancel with them if in a contract from BEFORE feb 07, all u hav to do is claim u never got an email or were not informed of the newT&C, which has happened.