[rockmonkey1973]

yes seriously.

i have just checked my speed and it is now 15Mbps and before it was about 6-7Mbps. The upload speed remains the same at a pretty measly 1Mbps. I am actually noticing the speed jump as well. Opening twenty tabs at once takes a lot less time for them all to be displayed and ready to use than before.

The curious thing is i got a text a few days ago to say they were doing some work. I simply thought they meant some sort of maintainance. My internet connection was down for a few hours and since then i have been surfing at twice the speed.

I was going to call them soon as my contract is drawing to a close and i was tempted to leave and find another company. However i am still on one of the old legacy packages and i only pay 9 pounds a month even though i dont have an o2 mobile.

so i guess for the money i am paying and for the speed i am getting i wont be going anywhere and the call will be put on hold. Have to say my hats off to o2. I have never ever had any cause for complaint (except once when i went through a period of a about a week getting absolutely awful speeds at peek hours).

My only wish is i could get the phone line with them as well but i cant if i want to stay on the package i am currently on. Quite strange that they failed to tell me though. I mean you would have thought they would at least send out an email or give me a call just to big themselves up or at the very least wish me well with my faster connection but no... total silence left to figure it for myself.

not that i am grumbling i simply find it quite strange. anyways enough rambling... has anyone else had this happen to them recently?

Of course being cynical... with my contract just about to end one could argue they have done it just so i stay put. Even if this is true i will say it is a damn good tactic to employ. it has certainly convinced me to remain where i am once again.

tell you what though. it does make me realise how much of an improvement having a faster connection brings to the table and in reality makes me slightly greedy. i want more.

[walleee]

Originally Posted by rockmonkey1973

not that i am grumbling i simply find it quite strange. anyways enough rambling... has anyone else had this happen to them recently?

No

[rockmonkey1973]

Originally Posted by walleee

No

ah i notice you live in ireland. maybe you could file a complaint for discrimination. seriously though how long have you got to run on your contract? are you still on the old legacy ones like myself? are you even able to get a faster connection? how about giving them a call just to see where you stand?

honestly i am quite frankly amazed and keep testing the speed every few minutes just to make sure i aint dreaming! it is a very nice gift and is maybe a reward for being a loyal customer (between o2 and be i have been using there service for about 6 years now). most likely though it is simply a ploy to keep me with them. thing is i dont pay that much though but i guess every little helps and it all adds up. it may simply be something is broken and i am getting something i shouldnt?

the speed jump has prompted the geek in me to look around to see what is possible where i live and have found that if i so desired i could jump ship and go with BT's Infinity broadband. It does cost two and a half times as much but is about two and a half times faster at a whopping 76 Mbps. Hmm nice. The upload speed gets a right jump as well to 20Mbps handy for sharing my stuff with my family and friends.

However i like paying £9 a month it sits well with my bank. Together with a mobile package from 3 for £11 a month for unlimted 3g 500 minutes and unlimited texts the bulk of my communication utility bills costs a very reasonable 20 quid a month. If only i could find a cheaper landline phone rental deal i would be all set.

[spinaltap]

I'm with o2, and have typically enjoyed 14mb download speeds since I replaced my wall socket face plate and discarded all filters.

Be advised that BT's quoted 76mb download speed is an ideal speed in perfect circumstances.

Given that the connection between the street cabinet and your home is via old fashioned copper cable, and dependant on the distance between cabinet and your home, you might possibly achieve significantly lower speeds than those advertised.

Virgin fibre, if available in your area, is more likely to deliver advertised speeds. Unlike BT, Virgin utilise coax cables between the cabinet and your home.

[EndlessWaves]

Originally Posted by rockmonkey1973

It does cost two and a half times as much but is about two and a half times faster at a whopping 76 Mbps.

75Mbps is five times faster than 15Mbps.

Originally Posted by spinaltap

Given that the connection between the street cabinet and your home is via old fashioned copper cable, and dependant on the distance between cabinet and your home, you might possibly achieve significantly lower speeds than those advertised.

Virgin fibre, if available in your area, is more likely to deliver advertised speeds. Unlike BT, Virgin utilise coax cables between the cabinet and your home.

Virgin halve your speed as soon as you start using it at it's full speed for any length of time though.

IIRC it's something like 500m distance from the cabinet before the speeds start to drop below the advertised amount for 80Mbps fibre so a lot of people will get full speed.

[rockmonkey1973]

So it is. Well spotted Einstein.

[rockmonkey1973]

well something strange must have been going on because the speed is back down to 8Mbps (well actually less but that is the package).

I aint sure but it may have got slightly screwed up somehow after i installed spotflux (so i could sign up to google play and it is also useful for the few times i would like to surf anonymously).

However i should add that when i ran the tests i was not using spotflux.

i will be calling them up tomorrow but it now looks increasingly likely i will be leaving. as the dude above says bts package is 5 times as quick as what i get but is only 2 and a half times the cost. even with my basic maths i reckon that works out a much better deal.

i have no gripe with o2 as such but my average speeds are about 5-6Mbps which seems somewhat tight to me considering i should be getting 8 and my line is capable of 75. I am also on the legacy packages so theoretically should have no restrictions.

however the upload speed has always been very stingy and slow. at the moment my 5500 mp3 songs i am currently uploading will take about 2.5-3 days before it is finished.

anyways i knew it was too good to be true. shame really i did actually notice the bump up in speed. the difference wasnt that great on general surfing (although it was faster) but downloads were certainly affected taking far less time to complete.

[walleee]

that's more like it. I am indeed on a legacy package.

[rockmonkey1973]

Originally Posted by walleee

that's more like it. I am indeed on a legacy package.

you aint gonna like this but it is back. while not quite as fast i am definitely surfing faster than i should be. ignore the appalling upload speeds, i am currently in the process of uploading all my music to googles server (passed the half way mark last night after 3 days non stop!!!).

i have removed spotflux so it has nothing to do with that. like i said earlier they were doing some work on my line and i lost my connection for half a day or so. since then it has been up and down.

still not 75MBps though and i am quite curious what difference that would make in real life. bear in mind i download very little in the grand scheme of things maybe a few tv shows every week and i stream tv from iplayer and 4od for a couple of hours if i am lucky every night but rarely use youtube or anything like that.

so my web useage is actually quite basic really and i just aint sure how having a super fast speed would make that any better than i have already. would it simply be a case of web pages loading quicker... bear in mind they are pretty quick now with maybe a second delay maximum to open.

[rockmonkey1973]

Honestly this is so strange.

I have finally finished my upload of my music collection after about 5 or 6 days and i am now back up to where i was when i started this thread.

it is amazing and very weird. however this time i am sure these are indeed the speeds i am getting down my line and my last bill was the grand total of £9.46 or something daft like that.

pic below for those disbielvers amongst you. dont often get something for free in this world but it appears i have. obviously i will stay but i am still keen to hear the experiences of anyone on bts infinity package.

like i say i think it would be wasted on me. i stream a bit i surf generally a lot and i download not a great deal (although this can change from week to week which is why i like the freedom of an unlimited non shaped connection).

[Deva_STi]

I have just noticed that my speed has had a slight increase too.

My exchange was supposed to be BT Infinity ready last month but has put back to September like many others.
I wander if they have installed the wires to my local cabinet and that's what's me given me the increase?
I think mine has only gone up by 1Mb though, not complaining as every little helps

[rockmonkey1973]

Originally Posted by Deva_STi

I have just noticed that my speed has had a slight increase too.

My exchange was supposed to be BT Infinity ready last month but has put back to September like many others.
I wander if they have installed the wires to my local cabinet and that's what's me given me the increase?
I think mine has only gone up by 1Mb though, not complaining as every little helps

i am almost certain that the same thing happened to the exchange on my road (i live literally 10 houses down from it). my line didnt support fibre optic until recently and i guess that is the work they were doing when i lost my connection a few weeks back. and now i think about it the main road was dug up recently and it may have been fibre that was being laid all the way down the high street?

i dont think o2 have done this out of the goodness of their hearts though. i reckon it is an accident or is an unexpected by-product of the new fibre infrastructure.

i know in the past companies have doubled peoples speed for free and now i think about it being a cynic it may be that once higher quality fibre optic cable is laid there is simply no way to cap lower speeds hence the 'giveaway'.

end of the day it is a loyalty bonus for sticking with either be or o2 for the last five or six years.

[Tonye]

I'm sure O2 have increased the speed limit of all legacy packages. Checking my O2 account page shows my standard package is now upto 16Mb. Unfortunately I can only receive 8Mb due to line length, but I'm sure it's a welcome increase for others.

EDIT: Just found the following o2-standard-now-upto-16mbps

[rockmonkey1973]

yes you are right. dont matter a jot to me anymore because i am off to sky. however the fact that the standard is indeed 16MB is nice for all those customers who are still with them... assuming your line supports it.

[PowerLee]

O2 are also meant to be sending out letters to legacy broadband customers in the next week or 2.

What do we all reckon then?

Price increase or legacy packages being killed of?

Sending a letter out in the post sounds like something official needs to be communicated to the customer.

[rockmonkey1973]

mate i dont care any more. i have jumped ship and headed to sky. the price is considerably cheaper for exactly the same thing.

have to say o2 did intially have a half decent offer on the table but when i called back to buy it no one knew what i was talking about. you know one of those the notes dont say anything like that jobbies.

that and the fact i could save quite a lot of money was enough to convince me to leave.