[Gllug] ADSL providers

[Christopher Hunter]

On Wed, 2008-10-29 at 08:09 +0000, Peter Childs wrote:

> I'd always been quite impressed with Cable, Got Virgin 10Mb service at
> home (Just upgraded from the 2Mb) and it mostly actually does get
> that,

Just try downloading a distro CD ISO - you'll find that you get speed
capped when you're about three-quarters done, and the cap will remain in
place until either 9pm or midnight (it varies by area).

>  Its runs circles round the apparent 8Mb service at work. Even
> the 2Mb service ran circles round our office 8Mb! However virgin are
> not cheap to businesses.

I had VM's "20 Mb/s" service.  On a good day, with the wind in the right
direction, and the sky just the right shade of blue, I could get as much
as 12 Mb/s - for a while - NEVER anything approaching 20 Mb/s!  The
reality was that the "service" was mostly around 2 - 4 Mb/s and when the
capping kicked in, that would often fall to < 1 Mb/s.  

VM refused to acknowledge that there was actually any fault, despite
innumerable "engineers" visiting both my home and my office (we got
exactly the same sorts of results at my office in Cambridge).  Their
final tactic was to point to the "subject to network capacity" clause in
their paperwork (which was added long after I'd signed any contract).

VM persistently move their goalposts - first by amending the terms of
their contract (which existing customers didn't get to see) so that they
could change their terms on a whim, then by downgrading and capping
their "services" to the point that they became entirely useless.

> What always irritates me is how business services are hidden and you
> nearly always need to talk to a sales person and usually cost a lot
> more than the equivalent home offering (which is usually identical)

If you want a proper business service, those ISPs who mostly deal with
clueless domestic customers are probably not your best bet!

Chris

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