VirginMedia 10MB BB

nofear01

Prominent Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2006
Messages
2,291
Reaction score
124
Points
564
Has anyone tested the speed of this? I just checked mine and instead of being anywhere near 10MB it is only 6.5MB

Is this right?
 
they have quoted me for 10MB though.

Why advertise it as 10MB then it actually isn't?
 
they have quoted me for 10MB though.

Why advertise it as 10MB then it actually isn't?
They can still cover their backs as it says "upto 10MB".

Isn't cable different from ADSL? I assumed with cable you would be always going at top speed.
 
Thats why I was asking? As I assumed a DSL line ran smoothly and at top speed
 
Thats why I was asking? As I assumed a DSL line ran smoothly and at top speed

If only. Many factors affect the actual speed possible on a broadband line. This is true for DSL and cable (Virgin Media 10Mb is cable, not DSL).

You will find all ISPs adverts, marketing & contracts state "up to" as it would be impossible for any provider to give any assuarance of actual speed that their customers will get. Broadband is a very dynamic thing too. It will vary depending on time of day and by other extrenal factors such as electrical inteference affecting the line and how many other users are on the circut etc etc.

To be fair the ISPs are pretty clear cut about this fact, but people only tend to absorb that headline speed.

Some ISPs customer service reps dont always make the facts clear. But I think this is more to do with ignorance than deception most of the time.
 
Thanks Rygar
 
I have 10 Mb broadband from VM...

When I had it installed I ran the speed test at www.thinkbroadband.com using my laptop over my 802.11g wireless connection and only got 2Mb.

I phoned CS and was told to connect directly to the modem and try again.

When I did this I got 9.2Mb...It turned out my router wasn't capable of handling 10Mb...I bought a new router and ran the test again...This time I got 5Mb.

I then connected to the router using ethernet instead of wireless and tried the test again...Voila 9.2Mb.

Are you using wireless to test..? Can your router handle 10Mb..?
 
Hi nofear,

I don't know when you had this installed, but one other thing that may be worth considering if you have covered the router suggestion of Blandhino is the modem.

I used to be on TW 4Mb and upgraded to 10Mb and had to have my modem replaced also as it was an old SB3100 which isn't capable of the full 10M speed. I also find that my downloads vary from site to site, but if you download a large file from the Microsoft site, that may give you a better indication of top download speed. Full speed would give you around 1.2MB/sec download.

Example link below, took me just 19 seconds for a 22.4 MB download. :)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...cb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en
 
I have 10 Mb broadband from VM...

When I had it installed I ran the speed test at www.thinkbroadband.com using my laptop over my 802.11g wireless connection and only got 2Mb.

I phoned CS and was told to connect directly to the modem and try again.

When I did this I got 9.2Mb...It turned out my router wasn't capable of handling 10Mb...I bought a new router and ran the test again...This time I got 5Mb.

I then connected to the router using ethernet instead of wireless and tried the test again...Voila 9.2Mb.

Are you using wireless to test..? Can your router handle 10Mb..?

im exactly the same 10meg=wireless router=5.5mb
 
Hi nofear,

I don't know when you had this installed, but one other thing that may be worth considering if you have covered the router suggestion of Blandhino is the modem.

I used to be on TW 4Mb and upgraded to 10Mb and had to have my modem replaced also as it was an old SB3100 which isn't capable of the full 10M speed. I also find that my downloads vary from site to site, but if you download a large file from the Microsoft site, that may give you a better indication of top download speed. Full speed would give you around 1.2MB/sec download.

Example link below, took me just 19 seconds for a 22.4 MB download. :)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...cb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en

I did it in about 15 seconds, but some sites still seems really slow. I am still running a speed of about 6.5MB.

I have the standard blue modem they supply, I dont see why I should have to buy another one for a service they provide.
 
If only. Many factors affect the actual speed possible on a broadband line. This is true for DSL and cable (Virgin Media 10Mb is cable, not DSL).

You will find all ISPs adverts, marketing & contracts state "up to" as it would be impossible for any provider to give any assuarance of actual speed that their customers will get. Broadband is a very dynamic thing too. It will vary depending on time of day and by other extrenal factors such as electrical inteference affecting the line and how many other users are on the circut etc etc.

To be fair the ISPs are pretty clear cut about this fact, but people only tend to absorb that headline speed.

Some ISPs customer service reps dont always make the facts clear. But I think this is more to do with ignorance than deception most of the time.
I understand how xDSL lines can be affected by many factors.

But isn't Cable a completely different technology? It is fibre optics, no? It should be able to handle ridiculous amounts of data.

I'm currently with BT Broadband 8mb, been thinking about moving to Virgin 10MB because I thought Cable was alot better than xDSL.

But if it isn't and is affected by the same factors as normal broadband, then I probably won't bother.
 
I understand how xDSL lines can be affected by many factors.

But isn't Cable a completely different technology? It is fibre optics, no? It should be able to handle ridiculous amounts of data.

I'm currently with BT Broadband 8mb, been thinking about moving to Virgin 10MB because I thought Cable was alot better than xDSL.

But if it isn't and is affected by the same factors as normal broadband, then I probably won't bother.
I wont pretend to know a lot about cable because I dont. But here is my understanding....Yes cable is a very different technology, but I dont believe that cable ISPs have excessive amounts of bandwidth to spare.

Bandwidth is a finite rescource for the cable telcos the same as it is for the xDSL ones. From what I gather a lot has to do with the quality of the cable in your area. From what I have read, users who live in bigger cities & built up areas tend to get much better speeds than those in less well populated areas where the cabling tends to be older/poorer quality by comparison.

Another point to consider is that the bandwidth has to be shared with your neighbours. If you are the only cable customer in your street you get all the bandwidth. If 10 other users have cable in your street, you have to share the same amount of bandwidth available on that particular cable with them. xDSL users have a similar problem but on the local exchange/ISP circut level, rather than specifically with their neighbours.

I would also have to ask if cable ISPs have so much spare bandwidth, why are they experementing with TRAFFIC SHAPING? The only reason an ISP will want to traffic shape, is if there is not enough bandwidth to go round all of their customers.

I know you frequent the BBS at Thinkbroadband, so I am sure you will have spotted the posts in the NTL forums etc whith people saying "why am I only getting <low speed here> on 10Mb cable"

I wouldnt let any of this put you off though. The impression I get of most cable broadband users is good speeds, crap customer service! Personally, I can live with crap customer service, provided I dont have to call them too often.

I would suggest you post a question in the ThinkBroadband NTL forum regarding contention on Cable. Someone there will no doubt give you a more technical answer and/or debunk everything I just said :rolleyes:
 
I wont pretend to know a lot about cable because I dont. But here is my understanding....Yes cable is a very different technology, but I dont believe that cable ISPs have excessive amounts of bandwidth to spare.

Bandwidth is a finite rescource for the cable telcos the same as it is for the xDSL ones. From what I gather a lot has to do with the quality of the cable in your area. From what I have read, users who live in bigger cities & built up areas tend to get much better speeds than those in less well populated areas where the cabling tends to be older/poorer quality by comparison.

Another point to consider is that the bandwidth has to be shared with your neighbours. If you are the only cable customer in your street you get all the bandwidth. If 10 other users have cable in your street, you have to share the same amount of bandwidth available on that particular cable with them. xDSL users have a similar problem but on the local exchange/ISP circut level, rather than specifically with their neighbours.

I would also have to ask if cable ISPs have so much spare bandwidth, why are they experementing with TRAFFIC SHAPING? The only reason an ISP will want to traffic shape, is if there is not enough bandwidth to go round all of their customers.

I know you frequent the BBS at Thinkbroadband, so I am sure you will have spotted the posts in the NTL forums etc whith people saying "why am I only getting <low speed here> on 10Mb cable"

I wouldnt let any of this put you off though. The impression I get of most cable broadband users is good speeds, crap customer service! Personally, I can live with crap customer service, provided I dont have to call them too often.

I would suggest you post a question in the ThinkBroadband NTL forum regarding contention on Cable. Someone there will no doubt give you a more technical answer and/or debunk everything I just said :rolleyes:
Alright, thanks for the run down.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom