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allieb
new user
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 1
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After having noticed for a few days a slow connection to the internet I called Virgin Media who sent an engineer round. Everything worked fine the modem the PC - I was told that in some areas they reduce the access speeds after 4pm in the evenings and weekends. It was less than 3mb and I pay £37 a month for 20mb. After calling their customer services they have now reduced my bill to £25 and offer me an upgrade on my TV package. I get an awesome speed of 20mb during the day. I looked on the website and found nothing to say that they reduce the speeds at peek times.
Have any other Virgin Media customers noticed this. I use http://www.speedtest.net/ to check my speeds.
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greysts
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17983
Loc: Colchester
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I don't have the 20mb package but I don't believe that VM do anything of the sort unless they have identified a customer as breaking their 'fair usage' policy. The problem in your case is far more likely to be the fact that they've got too many customers in your area and the contention ratio is now far too high. The fact that VM have dropped your bill to £25 and offered you a better TV package suggests to me that they, too, are aware of what they've done and are trying to keep you sweet.
Can you get a better deal with a telephone line based ISP? The only one that does both TV and BB is Sky so it might be worth asking the question but I doubt if Sky could offer you anywhere near 20mb.
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Do you know that we're all in line for succession to the throne? Really?
Well, if forty-eight million, two hundred thousand, seven hundred and one people died I'd be Queen.
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JaneMac
new user
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 2
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Hi Allieb,
I came across this problem this myself, what they say on their website is that usage is subject to a "fair usage policy"- I didn't really understand what this was but found the "what is a fair usage policy" guide on Top 10 Broadband to be helpful.
It explains it all, worth taking a look.
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rayinski
regular
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 198
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Quote:
After having noticed for a few days a slow connection to the internet I called Virgin Media who sent an engineer round. Everything worked fine the modem the PC - I was told that in some areas they reduce the access speeds after 4pm in the evenings and weekends. It was less than 3mb and I pay £37 a month for 20mb. After calling their customer services they have now reduced my bill to £25 and offer me an upgrade on my TV package. I get an awesome speed of 20mb during the day. I looked on the website and found nothing to say that they reduce the speeds at peek times.
Have any other Virgin Media customers noticed this. I use http://www.speedtest.net/ to check my speeds.
Hmm, I might ask if I can get a similar deal as my 4mb service goes down to a paltry 512k in the evenings, as vm's tech support say they don't know what's causing it  I reckon if they give me the 20mb service for the same price as my current 4mb and if it goes down to 3mb of an evening, then I won't complain 
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Egg
regular
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 102
Loc: UK
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have a look at this, Tiscali group of companies are coming in for some horrendus coverage too of their similar software.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/10/virgin_media_throttling_update/
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Brisy
new user
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 8
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Virgin have throttling on their network in the way that if you download over a certain amount between the hours of 4pm and midnight then they will reduce your speed for the remainder of the time period (4pm - midnight).
I am not sure what the cap is for the 20mb package but I have the 2mb and it is 300mb for me, if I go over this then I will drop down to 1mb until midnight when the profiles are supposed to be reset and you go full throttle agan.
This would explain why you are getting a speed reduction between those times.
Regards
Brian
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Deanbed
new user
Reg'd: Sat
Posts: 1
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Virgin Media has confirmed that it will introduce a range of speed capping measures for those who download large amounts from the Net during peak hours.
Peak hours count as 4pm to midnight, and Virgin claim that only the top 5% of downloaders on each tier will be affected.
Those on tier M who download over 350MB during peak hours will have their downstream speed restricted to 1Mbps, and upstream to 128Kbps, for four hours.
Those on tier L who download over 750MB during peak hours will have their downstream speed restricted to 2Mbps, and upstream to 192Kbps, for four hours.
The top rung service, XL, will see users downloading over 3GB in peak hours having their downstream speed restricted to 5Mbps, and 256Kbps upstream
I have also noticed a drop to 5 mb at weekends and I am not a heavy user, in fact have not used it some nights so they set an automatic cap heavy user or not.
Would you go to Tesco and buy a dozen eggs but when the tills are busy they only give you 3 for the same price?
Its time Trading Standards stepped in. 
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greysts
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17983
Loc: Colchester
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Then clearly you can vote with your money and take your business elsewhere. That, of course, assumes you can find another supplier who doesn't have a 'fair usage' policy. Trading Standards won't help you, they will just point to the terms and conditions imposed by Virgin Media.
--------------------
Do you know that we're all in line for succession to the throne? Really?
Well, if forty-eight million, two hundred thousand, seven hundred and one people died I'd be Queen.
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