Can anyone compete

Den · Mar 02, 2013, 19:27:30

I noticed in the last few days BT are now offering unlimited broadband as part of their deals at no extra cost. Can iDnet or any one else compete with this in an age when streaming to the TV is now a reality.

Technical Ben · Mar 02, 2013, 19:33:44

With throttling? Never.

Den · Mar 02, 2013, 19:41:52

But they are pledging no throttling.

•Many other internet service providers put restrictions on certain types of internet traffic or a limit on how much you can download or upload which means that at peak times of day, customers may experience slower speeds.

•We don't think that's a good enough experience for BT customers so we have made all of our unlimited products 'Totally Unlimited'.

•'Totally Unlimited' means that you will be able to enjoy catch-up TV, streamed films, online gaming and other bandwidth-eating applications, without ever being slowed down by traffic management controls.

As I said can any one compete or are BT going to offer this to the resellers such as Idnet?

pctech · Mar 02, 2013, 20:44:46

Unless ofcom compel Openreach and Wholesale to stop metering on their DSL products I think this is unlikely.

I've read ISP staff members (not IDNet I hasten to add) repeat the BT drivel that Openreach and Wholesale are totally separate to BT Retail, if you have a look on the Companies House register you will not find these companies registered separately, they are therefore simply divisions of BT Group.

When you can control the complete delivery path (BT, like other large carriers around the world that were or still are former monopolies such as AT&T, NTT Communications and others) have IP backbones that extend into many countries which means their costs for transit are reduced or they can backhaul and offload traffic where exchange rates make these connections cheaper.

kinmel · Mar 03, 2013, 14:13:54

Quote from: Den on Mar 02, 2013, 19:27:30
I noticed in the last few days BT are now offering unlimited broadband as part of their deals at no extra cost. Can iDnet or any one else compete with this in an age when streaming to the TV is now a reality.

Sky Broadband

Niall · Mar 03, 2013, 14:42:04

Bearing in mind Sky are having problems. They CLAIM that it's their router/modems and/or the firmware. It's more likely that they're over subscribed already and are capping speeds in certain areas (didn't someone mention this on these forums somewhere?). It seems odd, but the speeds being reported within metres of cabinets in my area at least, are far lower than what they should be. My mate that lived near here has just moved a few miles away but is within a few hundred yards of his cabinet and is only seeing 28mb with Sky.

I'm really thinking there's more going on with FTTC than BT are telling people.

Steve · Mar 03, 2013, 15:34:24

Sky have publicly acknowledged that they been too successful in their broadband take up but this is limited to certain geographical areas only.

Den · Mar 03, 2013, 16:39:27

Sky makes me come out in a rash

Technical Ben · Mar 03, 2013, 16:51:45

Quote from: Den on Mar 02, 2013, 19:41:52
But they are pledging no throttling.

•Many other internet service providers put restrictions on certain types of internet traffic or a limit on how much you can download or upload which means that at peak times of day, customers may experience slower speeds.

•We don't think that's a good enough experience for BT customers so we have made all of our unlimited products 'Totally Unlimited'.

•'Totally Unlimited' means that you will be able to enjoy catch-up TV, streamed films, online gaming and other bandwidth-eating applications, without ever being slowed down by traffic management controls.

As I said can any one compete or are BT going to offer this to the resellers such as Idnet?

And O2 promised me that it was my router that was causing the contention issues with their over subscribed network and packet loss. And BT promised to provide their metering service "blind" to the customer, because they knew best when to warn you if you were close to going over the limit. And Sky promise their service is unlimited (limited to 500GB) etc, etc, etc. They all make promises. IDNet are the ones I've found to be honest. I hope others are too, but I go from experience.

pctech · Mar 03, 2013, 17:12:03

Quote from: Niall on Mar 03, 2013, 14:42:04
Bearing in mind Sky are having problems. They CLAIM that it's their router/modems and/or the firmware. It's more likely that they're over subscribed already and are capping speeds in certain areas (didn't someone mention this on these forums somewhere?). It seems odd, but the speeds being reported within metres of cabinets in my area at least, are far lower than what they should be. My mate that lived near here has just moved a few miles away but is within a few hundred yards of his cabinet and is only seeing 28mb with Sky.

I'm really thinking there's more going on with FTTC than BT are telling people.

Therein lies the problem with unchecked unlimited.

if they've not included a clause that allows them to exercise network management measures such as booting off the heavy 24/7 torrent nuts then the equipment and backhaul will simply start to become overloaded (remember CPU overload on a router in a cab can also lead to slowdowns)

Sky own the Easynet network which is well established and has a good reputation so I suspect they are used for transit at least although looking at peeringDB BskyB Broadband is identified as an autonomous system.

Technical Ben · Mar 03, 2013, 22:25:49

My router can be used 24/7 "unlimited". The cost involved in it being on for 1 hour a day or 24 hours a day can probably be said to be pennies. Yet, the company in charge wishes to charge how much to IDNet for the backbone?
The flat rate being high I can understand, the usage, I thought it was par for the course?

pctech · Mar 04, 2013, 18:26:32

BT won't give away what it can charge for and a lot of the upstream providers that provide transit meter the traffic too which is how LINX originally came about.