Virgin Media: 50Mbits/sec broadband coming soon

[finnrogers]

Just read in this fortnights' ComputerActive (issue 253) that Virgin are currently testing 50Mbits/sec broadband in Ashford, Folkestone and Dover.

It also goes on about how they "need to rethink the broadband traffic-shaping policy" if it intends to offer these services.

[Sinizter]

They cant even deliver sustained 20mbps to places where they advertise it ... 50mbps will be nothing but a marketing gimmic as very few people will actually get it.

IMO of course.

[Lee H]

So whats this then?

50 Mb for the first 10 Gb downloaded then down to 20 Mb for another 10 Gb then all the way down to the slowest speed they offer?

I want my speed to be constant - not throttled when I want to use the line.

[chuckskull]

I want my speed to be constant - not throttled when I want to use the line.

Amen. If I'm going to pay for 50Mb internet I want 50Mb internet.

[BUFF]

& how many servers can offer you 50MB/s anyway (fair enough you might run multiple tasks) ...

[Steve B]

& how many servers can offer you 50Mb/s anyway (fair enough you might run multiple tasks) ...

Precisely.
Half the Servers I used to download from couldn't offer sustained 20Mb transfer speeds. Mind you, I wasn't even getting 20Mb in the first place!

[jimbouk]

I'd be happy with a 2meg connection if it was actually decent...

[Jay]

if it was 50mb / 50mb then I would snap it up!

I have their 20mb service and its not the best.

[chuckskull]

I wouldn't mind 2meg symmetrical, I honestly only bought ADSLmax because I was sick of wanting to put a small file on my FTP and having to wait an hour for it to upload.

If someone would offer me a proper 10meg down 10meg up line I'd happily pay double what I am now, maybe even a bit more, but no, ISP's only want to offer stupid "up to" a gazillion meg download and 512k upload

[Jay]

lol

double!!

I pay just under £10,000 a year for 2mb / 2mb 1:1

Internet services are split between two different sections download and upload. The download section of the exchange is all new and shiny the upload is old and needs a lot of cash to upgrade it. Upload speeds just don't sell in the public like a 1010101010mb download

I think BE give about 1.5mb up IF you live close enough to the exchange.

[chuckskull]

I pay just under £10,000 a year for 2mb / 2mb 1:1

Jesus! I knew it was expensive but

Oh well 21CN is scheduled to arrive here in late 2011, but if I'm still living in Wales by then please shoot me.

[burble]

& how many servers can offer you 50MB/s anyway (fair enough you might run multiple tasks) ...

I can't say I've had many problems getting nice downloads out of the 100Mbit pipe at work. Obviously not every site can give me that throughput, but getting >5Mb/s isn't at all uncommon.

[Jay]

Jesus! I knew it was expensive but

Oh well 21CN is scheduled to arrive here in late 2011, but if I'm still living in Wales by then please shoot me.

Leased lines don't come cheap! £800 a month or there abouts.

I can't say I've had many problems getting nice downloads out of the 100Mbit pipe at work. Obviously not every site can give me that throughput, but getting >5Mb/s isn't at all uncommon.

that must cost a small fortune! You work in a London Data Center?

[burble]

that must cost a small fortune! You work in a London Data Center?

Hmm, I went back and edited my post to add some extra information but that seems to have gone. Oh well.

Nope, not in London. We've got a LES 100 circuit which is rate limited down to 34Mbit but after a new switch was installed at the POP the rate limiting was screwing things up and giving a lot of packet loss so until they've got that sorted they've removed the limiting, in effect giving us 100Mbit to play with.

[Jay]

very very nice.... that is like a £50,000 a year connection!

[Lee H]

I think BE give about 1.5mb up IF you live close enough to the exchange.

Actually it's 2.5 Mb if you switch to the PRO package - but it does knock a few Mb from the download speed to use the frequencies for the faster upload.