Jasper
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:09 AM |
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Virgin Cable Broadband, any good?
I'm getting crap speeds from my usual ISP 'cos of where I live.
What are Virgin Broadband like? Thinking of switching to cable broadband for nice high speeds, but a bit worried about their customer service. Not
intending to use them for phone as I've just signed up with BT for 12 months ....
If you're not living life on the edge you're taking up too much room.
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:11 AM |
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my BT broadband is soooooooo crap
bought a new modem thiing off the them as they said it would be faster and it just as bad 
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BenB
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:17 AM |
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Mine is pretty good 
Been with them for 5 years.
One thing they tend to do, however, is when a cheaper package comesout they keep you on the same price package but uprate your line.
At one point I think I was on 10Mb!!! Then I realised and down-sized it again....
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Richard Quinn
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:17 AM |
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We get TV, phone and broad band from Virgin. We were an original Cable & Wireless customer and have been through the transition to NTL and now to
Virgin. Overall Virgin aren't brilliant and the telephone support is no longer free (and it's in Delhi - I had quite a nice chat with the
last guy I spoke to there. I think he was quite taken aback!). All in all the broadband is fine but I really don't have anything else to compare
it against other than the service at work and I would say it's on a par with that.
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nitram38
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:17 AM |
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Virgin are supposed to be fast, but I have heard that if you use P2P downloads that they restrict your download speed and pass on your IP ! 
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UncleFista
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:19 AM |
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Richard Quinn, their helplines ARE free now (since June 1st), and you can speak to a real native Brit ! 
Nitram, Virgin don't touch P2P traffic, including torrents etc. they leave their STM to "deter" people
I've been with Telewest/Blueyonder/Virgin for years, cracking service and speeds, not the cheapest though, and their new "STM"[1]
rules stop you downloading/uploading[2] at full speed between the hours of 10am and 9pm.
Check out this site to see if you can live with the restrictions
[1] Their Traffic Management scheme
[2] It doesn't stop you downloading, but when you download/upload more than they say, they cripple your connection for 5 hours. It sounds
draconian, but works, it'll only be an issue really if you leave your torrents on all day
[Edited on 21/7/08 by UncleFista]
Tony Bond / UncleFista
Love is like a snowmobile, speeding across the frozen tundra.
Which suddenly flips, pinning you underneath.
At night the ice-weasels come...
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gingerprince
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:21 AM |
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I think it depends where you are. A lot of people get really good connections. Some people complain of inconsistent speeds. I think these are
people in areas that have a lot of broadband subscribers.
I have never had any issues with mine. I currently have 4Mb which will be upgraded to 10Mb this month - I can have up to 20Mb if I pay for it.
The one big downside is if you do a lot of downloading. They use traffic shaping during core hours (like 5-9pm) such that if you download more than
about 1Gb during that period then they limit your speed to 1/4 for 5 hours. The theory being that if you've downloaded so much then you must be
doing illegal things and abusing the system. They ignore the fact that most game demo downloads are >1Gb, and that TV on demand uses lots. It can
be very annoying. But if you can time your downloads to happen e.g. overnight or during the day then it's not an issue.
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Jasper
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:26 AM |
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If I get a 10Mb line and it's throttled by 75%, that still gives me 2.5Mb which is considerably better than I currently get.
And they have a deal on for ther 20Mb line, £20 a month for 6 months, then £30 a month for 6 months, only works out £30 more for the whole year and at
full restriction will still give me 5Mb.
So, is there a decent service provider that will give me good speeds (when I live in a crap area for regular phoneline broadband) and not throttle my
torrent downloading?????
[Edited on 21/7/08 by Jasper]
If you're not living life on the edge you're taking up too much room.
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UncleFista
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 10:30 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by gingerprince
They use traffic shaping during core hours (like 5-9pm) such that if you download more than about 1Gb during that period then they limit your speed to
1/4 for 5 hours.
They don't half keep quiet when they change things to their advantage though.
Most people don't have a clue that the STM times have changed to cover 11 hours of the day ;(
Check out the new STM rules
But, having said that, if you time your big downloads so they download during the night, you'll have no problems. I downloaded over 9Gb last
night on my 4Mb line
[Edited on 21/7/08 by UncleFista]
Tony Bond / UncleFista
Love is like a snowmobile, speeding across the frozen tundra.
Which suddenly flips, pinning you underneath.
At night the ice-weasels come...
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Jasper
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 11:09 AM |
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Thanks for the help chaps - I've just signed up to the 20Mb service, £20 for 6 months, then £30 for 6 months. (Currently pay £25 with Eclipse
for a slow crap service)
And in a few weeks it'll be upgraded to 50Mb 
If you're not living life on the edge you're taking up too much room.
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donut
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 11:19 AM |
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quote:
And in a few weeks it'll be upgraded to 50Mb
Andy
When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andywest1/
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 11:45 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Jasper
Thanks for the help chaps - I've just signed up to the 20Mb service, £20 for 6 months, then £30 for 6 months. (Currently pay £25 with Eclipse
for a slow crap service)
And in a few weeks it'll be upgraded to 50Mb
you'll probably find a 'up too' somewhere
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Jasper
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| posted on 21/7/08 at 12:52 PM |
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Apparently not - 'cos it cable not down the phone line, I asked the Virgin guy the same question. But lets be honest, if I got half that it
would still be over 25 times faster than what I have now......... for the same money, no brainer really.
If you're not living life on the edge you're taking up too much room.
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