I really don't want to jump ship but please look at your Caps

[Baz]

dont know about that as its not my package but I was just saying that they have done something, also is the original poster asking about FTTC or just general allowances 

[Bill]

is the original poster asking about FTTC or just general allowances 

Well, it's in the FTTC forum not the general one...

[Steve]

True .

What I'd like to know are ISPs like ADSL24 and NewNet for that fact using BT backbone for their off peak FTTC unlimited usage? I believe ADSL24 use the Daisy wholesale network (formally Murphx) for their adsl offerings which I think uses the TT LLU backbone.


FTTC providers such as AAISP,Zen and IDNet do  not have unlimited off peak downloads but they have always had an association with BTw and its backbone. Is this perhaps one reason for the potential difference in allowances.

[Bill]

What I'd like to know are ISPs like ADSL24 and NewNet for that fact using BT backbone for their off peak FTTC unlimited usage? I believe ADSL24 use the Daisy wholesale network (formally Murphx) for their adsl offerings which I think uses the TT LLU backbone.

Good questions... as far as I can discover with a (not particularly thorough) search on tbb, ADSL24 use Daisy but in turn I think Daisy use BT's WBC for fibre, not TT. I stand ready to be corrected however.

FTTC providers such as AAISP,Zen and IDNet do  not have unlimited off peak downloads but they have always had an association with BTw and its backbone. Is this perhaps one reason for the potential difference in allowances.

It could well be but, with no intended disrespect to IDNet, I'm more interested in my allowances than their associations!

[kerrso05]

also is the original poster asking about FTTC or just general allowances 

I don't mean to be cheeky but why would I be on this part of the Forum if I was talking about general allowances. Just to make it right and keep everybody up-to date (because somebody else asked this) I am on Fibre Optic and my package is:-
Package: Home Plus Fibre
Bandwidth Allowance: 120GB Total (Peak: 30GB / Off Peak: 90GB )
Package Monthly Cost: £28.58 (£23.82 ex vat)

As far as I am aware this hasn't changed since I took it up nearly a year ago

The best deal so far has been Bills suggestion which is ADSL24 http://adsl24.co.uk/broadband/home/  but I'm still holding up for Idnet to come to the rescue. There's an old saying in Northern Ireland which is always very true "Better the Devil  you know than the Devil  you don't"

Yes I could move up to the next level and pay £35 but I have been paying in the 20s for the last number of years and I really don't want pay any more than I am doing..........yes I know everything is going up with austerity but I don't have to follow that trend.

What I have noticed about this discussion (good to talk) is that most people on here want the same thing as me they want Idnet to re-look at the caps and see if there is some way to raise them and I don't mean go the way of BT, Sky and Plusnet etc and gives us unlimited.....that would probably bankrupt them....there must be room for movement

[kerrso05]

It could well be but, with no intended disrespect to IDNet, I'm more interested in my allowances than their associations!

Totally agree Bill, I'm not interested in their associations, they could be with the mafia for all I care, it's the allowances, that's what I am on about here, the Allowances......they are too small

[Ardua]

In fairness to IDNet, they are willing to upgrade 40/10 FTTC to 80/20 FTTC on request. That said, like most things to do with Broadband, it is only of benefit to customers on a short copper link to their FTTC cabinet.

[Bill]

What I have noticed about this discussion (good to talk) is that most people on here want the same thing as me they want Idnet to re-look at the caps and see if there is some way to raise them and I don't mean go the way of BT, Sky and Plusnet etc and gives us unlimited.....that would probably bankrupt them....there must be room for movement

Interpreting "caps" a different way, and bringing in the peak/off-peak times... my total allowance is 150GB. That's more than plenty for me, it's the peak times that are beginning to be a concern- for the first time since I've been online I'm having to think before I download a film or watch a catch-up.

And I don't have children around, let alone teenagers!

Even the ADSL24 hours aren't ideal- being retired a lot of my catching-up is done during the day, ie office hours, so off-peak starting at 8pm is better than midnight but...

OTOH the off-peak all weekend would definitely be a plus.

I'd be happy if my total allowance were reduced to 100GB, or even (maybe ) 75GB, if I didn't have to worry about whether I was in peak time or not!

[kerrso05]

In fairness to IDNet, they are willing to upgrade 40/10 FTTC to 80/20 FTTC on request. That said, like most things to do with Broadband, it is only of benefit to customers on a short copper link to their FTTC cabinet.

When you say short copper link, how short is short? I think our cabinet is about 50 to 75 metres away. Also how do get them to up it to 80/20? Do I have to make a request to them? I honestly thought that would happen immediately when they got that system in place..........again another good saying is "you should never assume anything because it usually makes an ass out of U and me"

[Bill]

I think our cabinet is about 50 to 75 metres away.

I'm about 450 metres away from mine and get profiles of ~70Mbps down and 20Mbps up. You should get full whack.

Also how do get them to up it to 80/20? Do I have to make a request to them?

I think you just email them with your details and the request. I don't think it takes long, mine was done during the trial so may not be typical, and afaik the change is made in the wee small hours.

Go to bed with a 40/10 line and wake up with an 80/20 one

[kerrso05]

Bill........you are right on the BUTTON...I totally agree. I'm also retired and it's the waiting up to Midnight to download or watch anything. I'm just done after I get to bed (nearly every night) at 2.00am just to save on the peak allowance ADSL24 have got the right peak times. Unlike you Bill I do have teenagers and the 120 Gbs of allowance is just about right ..........but I'd always take more if it is going.......LOL

[Ardua]

When you say short copper link, how short is short? I think our cabinet is about 50 to 75 metres away. Also how do get them to up it to 80/20? Do I have to make a request to them? I honestly thought that would happen immediately when they got that system in place..........again another good saying is "you should never assume anything because it usually makes an ass out of U and me"

I think that you have your answers already. I am about 300 metres away from my cabinet and I have IPs of 77.43 and 20 with max attainable throughputs of 98000 and 32000 on my line. A call to Support will get you an upgrade within a working day. From my limited experience of FTTC, a higher speed will though result in more general broadband usage.

[Bill]

From my limited experience of FTTC, a higher speed will though result in more general broadband usage.

I find that's especially true with catchup TV... by the time you've discovered that the hour-long HD documentary isn't as interesting as it sounded from the blurb it's too late- 2GB up the spout

[pctech]

Might be an idea to run a search on ADSL24 reviews before tying yourself into anything

What I have found thus far has been mixed.

[Ardua]

I find that's especially true with catchup TV... by the time you've discovered that the hour-long HD documentary isn't as interesting as it sounded from the blurb it's too late- 2GB up the spout

Which gets this topic nicely back on track

[Bill]

Might be an idea to run a search on ADSL24 reviews before tying yourself into anything

What I have found thus far has been mixed.

Find me an ISP where they're not

They've taken some stick recently about delays to the 80/20 service, but tbh they seem to be at least as open as IDNet about problems, possibly more so.

[zappaDPJ]

I've been watching this thread with great interest because for the last few months I've found my 30/90 fibre package to be woefully inadequate. On-line games that update up to 17 gigabytes by stealth, a F1 weekend via sky Go that consumes a further 10-15 gigabytes, HD movies at 2-3 gigabytes (double or even treble that when the player crashes), YouTube, usage by other family members etc. and the fact that all my income comes from Internet, makes my 30 gigabyte peak allowance laughable.

Even though my finances are currently extremely tight, I have seriously considered upgrading to IDNet's top end fibre package 100/300 but it probably wouldn't be enough to be comfortable, I think I'd need a 150/250 split.

I was going to throw caution to the wind and migrate to Sky FTTC but they will only offer me ASDL+. Zen's 200 gigabyte package is very tempting as it has no restrictions on when that allowance is used and I'm currently researching ADSL24. Their 8pm - 8am unlimited allowance and low costs are very attractive indeed but I know nothing about the company.

To be honest I'd rather stay with IDNet and I've been hanging on in the hope that they would revise their current FTTC packages but unfortunately I can't hang on any longer so it's highly likely I'll be migrating away very soon.

[pctech]

Find me an ISP where they're not

True Bill but am a little sceptical as I think they resell another service provider's service unlike IDNet, Zen or AAISP who have their own network.

[Technical Ben]

Well, I'm holding out till the end of the month when my exchange gets up to 24meg (ASDL2+) upgrade. The extra allowance should just about be what I need. Sadly though, I'll probably sync at the full 22 meg and eat up the extra allowance in no time just through the fast caching of youtube videos (at that speed, it will download before I click the "exit" button to cancel watching the rubbish vids. ).

Thankfully I'm not really playing any online games right now, so that's kept usage down. One of the latest games on Steam is pushing 35 Gigs. Thankfully I have no interest in it, but it shows the sudden increase in size and use of the bandwidth.

[Bill]

True Bill but am a little sceptical as I think they resell another service provider's service unlike IDNet, Zen or AAISP who have their own network.

I take your point, and I always used to swear that I'd never use a reseller, but in these days of VoD, catchup TV etc you don't have to be a particularly heavy user for the generous allowances of a year or two back to start to look positively niggardly

[wecpcs]

Thanks Simon for your reply.....I had already thought of that but I thought that they probably couldn't/wouldn't do anything if there was only one person having this problem whereas I was trying to find out if other people were having the same problem then maybe Idnet might do something.
One person leaving isn't going to have much effect on the situation
Guys.....what do you think of the Caps.....do you think they should be increased?

I really don't want to go to a dodgy company like BT......I used to be with one of their subsidiary's Plusnet and they were the worst in the world

I had the same problem so I migrated to Zen for exactly the same price but with a 100Gb cap without any peak/non peak nonsense. I kept my phone with Idnet though as their call charges are slightly less and also in case I return in the future. So far with Zen my download speed graph is almost a straight line 24/7 at the near maximum possible (6.9Mbps) whereas the graph with Idnet's looked like a range of mountains peaks especially at peak times in the evenings.

Colin

[JB]

I moved to Zen 3 months ago. With IDNet my TBB monitor showed packet loss during the evenings and at other peak times such as early Sunday evening. I was never certain if this was due to IDNet, exchange contention or back-haul overload.

Since moving I no longer see any packet loss at any time unless there is the odd notified fault somewhere.

I still have a soft spot for IDNet and would love to return one day.

[Baz]

So Colin ,did you move to a same priced package with the same allowance.

Ive just had a quick look at Zen site and for the same price i'm on now it is half the allowance and I also noticed that if you go over that allowance Zen charge more than IDNet to 'buy' extra allowance.

does that mean you cant access anything until you  top up your allowance 

[Gary]

I have ben trying to play the MSE3 online multiplayer. Its great fun, but after midnight its hell, so I end up just leaving which is no good when you are in a four person team backing each other up.  If I use it in the day it will eat my bandwidth so quickly, let alone Mac updates, youtube, Netflix, skype,  Sky anytime+ etc.  I really don't want to leave but cost and financial constraints are pushing us that way. I keep putting it off each month, but brand loyalty is less important these days, getting a usable connection after midnight without the peak off peak caps of IDNet so we can enjoy films and back catalogues of programmes early evening is more important.

[Gary]

So Colin ,did you move to a same priced package with the same allowance.

Ive just had a quick look at Zen site and for the same price i'm on now it is half the allowance and I also noticed that if you go over that allowance Zen charge more than IDNet to 'buy' extra allowance.

does that mean you cant access anything until you  top up your allowance 

For myself, Baz Zen active £25 ish would give me 100GB to use at anytime, ok I have 200GB total with IDNet but the off peak 150GB hardly gets touched, and I go over my 50Gb peak each month now, so Zen would be a better choice. As to what happens if you go over

"If you exceed your monthly usage allowance, you will be automatically redirected to a special Zen website when you connect to the Internet which enables you to increase bandwidth allowance and re-enable normal Internet access. When you reach this site, you can select how many extra GB you wish to purchase from 1GB, 2GB, 5GB, 10GB, 20GB and 50GB. Any unused GB at the end of the calendar month will be held in a "bank" for future use"