Re: Virgin (late NTL) Cable Broadband
- From: "pmj" <post@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:46:51 GMT
"Organic Icecube" <non@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:FbS8i.11435$I55.5168@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Some of this may be familiar to other Virgin (NTL) users and
I would be interested to hear any feedback:
I've been with NTL (now Virgin Media) broadband for about 5 years
now.
Same here - I signed up for a Telewest (originally Cableinet, then
Blueyonder & now VirginMedia) Cable Modem Internet Connection in
2002 - I had been with various different Dial Up ISPs, before that,
since 1998, including (in 2000), the *diabolically* awful Telewest
"SurfUnLimited" Dial Up.
I'd tried various ISP before that, all using the existing BT wired
connection, and wasn't very satisfied with reliability or speed.
Yep - the Dial Up Services (& now the ADSL Services) available over
ordinary Telephone Lines *do* seem to be very variable.
But I have found that the (Telewest/Blueyonder/VirginMedia) Cable
Modem Internet Connection is *very* good.
It's rock solid & reliable & I have very rarely had any probs at all
with it.
The only times it has ever failed have been when I have Fiddled with
something my end & made it Brokted.
:-)
It's also very stable & consistent.
I find I usually get a consistent, steady Download Speed (on my 4mbps
rated Connection) of about 475 - 490 (& occasionally even 500) KBytes
Per Second.
Obviously the actual Download Speed does vary with some Servers,
due to the Location of them & Routing to/from them, but generally
(provided the Server doesn't Throttle the Download Speed & the Routing
to the Server is OK), my Download Speeds are as above.
I've stayed with NTL largely because there was no other cable
service provider here
LOL!
Yep - where's the (so-called) "Competition"?
Yes, the Cable Networks do have to compete with the various ADSL
ISPs, so we have a choice between ADSL & Cable Modem Internet
Service Providers, but there's no choice of *which* Cable Modem
Internet Service Provider (in any given area), is there?
:-(
and because I felt that fibre-optic was the way to go. Early on,
I dispensed with their telephone and set-top box TV (because I don't
need either) and now just have a cable modem.
I do still have their telephone Line & the (basic) Cable TV Package,
but I don't use either very much.
Also, the Price they charge for the Internet Connection is more,
if you don't have any other Packages.
Over the period I've been with them, there have been long periods
when the service has been fine, but there are also times when I get
regular service interruptions lasting from minutes to hours.
Oh dear!
:-(
When these outages start occurring, I ring their cable modem help
line and invariably they run a line test. Following this, the
problem always seems to magically cure itself, though they insist
they haven't done anything. Engineers have been sent on several
occasions but found no connection problems and the modem has been
changed twice (once to upgrade speed and once to eliminate it
from causing the problems).
Oh dear.
It does seem that in general Cable Modem Internet Connections are
very reliable, for most people most of the time, but if you happen
to be one of the people who do have probs, they can be awkward to
sort out.
I recently received a letter advising me that my monthly bill was
going up (it is now £37)
But wouldn't it be cheaper, if you had another of their things?
I know they do (or at least did) charge extra, if you don't have
any other Services from them.
... but the good news was that I was to be upgraded from 10 Mb/s
to 20 Mb/s.
Lucky you!
:-)
I'm only(?<g>) on their 4 mbps Service (not the 10mbps one) & that
*isn't* being Upgraded.
:-(
I never felt the need to pay extra for their 10 mbps Service, (since
it's only(?<g>) about twice what I'm already getting), but now that
it's going to go up to 20 mbps, I might look at that.
having suffered more outages and crawling speeds over the weekend,
I called them yet again and explained that I still had ongoing
connection problems and that I clearly wasn't getting the promised
20 Mb/s.
Also, I think you'll find that that figure will depend on your usage?
If you regularly & continuously Download very Large Files (from outside
their own Network), they (apparently) will gradually reduce the
Download Speed of your Connection - in other words they use "Traffic
Shaping" on it.
They told me that the upgrade was ongoing nationwide and would be
completed 'during the summer', yet a friend living less than 200
yards away is getting 20 megs from them already.
Lucky him!
The 20 mbps Service isn't available (yet) round here, but I gather
it will be soon.
I also learned that the fibre optic cable only runs to a main
junction a few streets away and the remaining run uses conventional
copper wire which seems to defeat the object to some degree,
in my view.
Yes, but the main "Backbone" of the whole System (& as you say, the
distribution to your local UBR) is all done using Fibre Optic Cable.
I normally use the following free speed test:
http://www.broadband-help.com/tools/speed-test/
& what about ones like these as well?
http://giganews.com/flash/speedtest_v3.swf?path=/cgi-bin/config.cgi?hash
http://speedtest.bbmax.co.uk/speedtest.swf
But bear in mind you'll always get different results from different
Speed test things, depending on the various Servers & Networks
involved. (& also the time of day)
The best way to test the *actual* Speed of your Internet Connection
(& to eliminate, as far as possible, anything caused by outside
factors) is to just Download a large File from a Server on your own
ISP's Network & then just see how long it takes...
However, Virgin advise opening the following URL: dnet.notlong.com
Well, that's not actually a URL!
:-)
It's just a Server Name...
It doesn't specify any Protocol or File.
Here's a URL made from it...
http://dnet.notlong.com/
Anyway, that actually ReDirects (using a "£02, Found" HTTP Response)
to...
http://netguard.ntlworld.com/download/client/ntl_netguard.exe
Which is a 30.2 MB (31,771,144) Bytes File, (it happens to be an
Installation File for their NetGuard thingy that they offer) but it
*is* on their own Network, so should Download reasonably fast for you.
& that's prolly why they suggest testing your Speed using that
(also, it doesn't cos them anything in Bandwidth Charges, for their
Customers to Download stuff off their own Servers)
and selecting 'save' (save the file temporarily to your desktop
and cancel before it completes, or just delete it after). As it
downloads, see what download speed you get in the download window.
Yep, that's a sensible way of checking the Actual Download Speed.
You don't really need any fancy Meter type thingy.
Note that 1 MB/s (megabyte per second) is equal to 8 Mb/s
(megabits per second). 1.25 MB/s is roughly 10 Mb/s.
Nope.
It's *approximately* that - cos you need to allow for the overheads
involved in things like Error Connection & stuff like that.
KiloBytes (or MegaBytes) are the Size of the Files, (so you can
fairly easily workout the Transfer Speed in KBytes (or MBytes) Per
Second, simply by Dividing the File Size by the Time taken for it
to Download (which is what is shown in the Download Window).
But Data Transfer Rates are often specified in bps/kbps/mbps
(bits/kilobits or megabits Per Second) which refers to the *total*
amount of data that is transferred, not all of which is part of the
File you are Downloading - some is used for the various Overheads
such as Error Correction
But yes, as a *rough* guide, you can divide the figure for mbps
(or kbps) by 8 to get the figure for MBytes Per Sec (or KBytes Per Sec)
ISP usually state their speeds in bits/second as it sounds better of
course.
Maybe, but also for the reasons I mentioned above.
Anyway, I tried Downloading That File just now (twice<g>)
& I got...
File Size: 30.2 MB (31,771,144) Bytes)
Time: 1 Min 6 Secs
Transfer Rate: 470 KB/Sec
& then...
Time: 1 Min 5 Secs
Transfer Rate: 477 KB/Sec
& then I tried Downloading it twice *again* but this time both at
the same time
:-)
That means that it was using as much Bandwidth as possible (sharing
it between the 2 Downloads).
I got (as expected)...
File Size: 30.2 MB (31,771,144 Bytes)
Time: 2 Min 7 Secs
Transfer Rate: 244 KB/Sec
& ...
Time: 2 Mins 7 Secs
Transfer Rate: 244 KB/Sec
Which is 60.4 MB (63,542,288 Bytes)
Which works out...
Time: 2 Min & Secs
Transfer Rate: 487 KB/Sec
& while it/they was/were Downloading each time I looked in Task
Manager (on the "Network" Tab), to see the Speed - that shows that
it was very consistent - it hardly varied at all during the time it
took to Download.
I do hope that their Engineers can sort out the probs with your
Connection OK.
--
pmj
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