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Okay, the story so far: Since last Wednesday, my browsing and download speeds have been atrocious, around 4 mins to download 1MB (Usually do 1GB in 30mins, on a 2MBps line). Browsing/loading of pages is just as bad. Games however, seem unaffected, no connection issues, no lag. Tried CoD and it was fine. Now, surely if my connection was slow, games would be affected too ? Phoned Virgin, and all the guy could say was to use a speed tester to log various results, so they could see if there was a fault with the line, and they could get BT on the case. Couldn't explain why games are fine, browsing isn't. Problem is, I've only got my PS3, no PC, to which they replied "Virgin doesn't support PS3s" in a suspicious tone, and that I'd have to get a PC. So, 1) What is the likely cause ? 2)Are Virgin being shady, throttling b******s ? Any help/advice/funny drunken stories appreciated. I'm nae savvy enough with all this  |
Virgin Media AGAIN ?
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oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years ago -
Carlo 21,801 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 16 years agoVirgin throttle. Stop being a dirty pirate. -
oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years agoHeh, no PC, no torrents. .gif)
I have been playing a lot of B:BC, and apart from demos (1-2GB), I don't really download much else. It's because Burnout is sitting here, and I can't go online because of the 400MB Cagney patch, which I can't download because of the low speed........ -
Carlo 21,801 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 16 years agoOutside core hours (4pm to midnight) they don't throttle... Set it to download before you go to work. -
Whizzo 44,810 posts
Seen 4 days ago
Registered 20 years agoThey changed their traffic management a while ago. -
oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years agoI've always downloaded in the AM, where I had brillant speed, and I was aware of the "core" hours and usage.
I have no speed regardless of the time of day now, bar games.
Did I explain my problem badly ?
Everything was fine, brillant speed AM, okay speed PM.
Now, games are weirdly, still fine, but browsing and downloading speeds are terrible at ANY time, AM or PM.
Why ?
EDIT: Better state the obvious stuff,
-I've been switching my router on/off, to get different IPs/connections, to no avail.
-I've been trying at different times of day, slow everytime.
-If I'm being "officially" throttled, why's it been almost a week, rather than 5 hours (even though I very much doubt I've gone over the limit).
-If it's a line problem (as suggested), why is online gaming fine, no problems ? -
SixFootHalfling 205 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 14 years agoPhoned Virgin, and all the guy could say was to use a speed tester to log various results, so they could see if there was a fault with the line, and they could get BT on the case.
I accept that I may be being stupid here, but doesn't Virgin own the cable, not BT as it's fibre optic, not copper wiring, so why would BT do anything?
Also I don't have a PS3 so don't shout at me, but do you have to manually select speeds, (occasional pc game issues), or does it download stuff like ridiculous flash adverts, etc.. when you aren't in game, thereby killing your download speed, as it is splitting the downstream data between multiple figures.
Finally, do you have a wireless router, if so try changing the encryption, or turning the wireless off and using an Ethernet cable, as someone may be stealing your internet from another house nearby.
The other thing to do is to borrow a pc off someone, and see if it is just the PS3 servers on a bit of a go slow for whatever reason by downloading a file from a known good server, e.g. gamershell.com, and comparing the download speed.
I have Virgin Media and generally find them to be problem free, so apart from that I don't know what else it could be.
"Virgin doesn't support PS3s"
I'm going to say they're just covering their ass in the way that all businesses have to now. -
oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years agoAnyone more technologically savvy ? It's painful to browse EG even.......
/weeps a little -
Trowel 24,512 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 18 years agoVirgin own their whole network from what I know, so avoids BT exchanges etc completely.
The only problem I've ever had with my Virgin/Telewest connection was with the router - if you have a Belkin, drop it in the nearest bin asap and treat yourself to some 21st century technology. -
Dirtbox 92,595 posts
Seen 14 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago -
MetalDog 24,076 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 20 years agoWould I be correct in assuming that 'power cycling' is a fancy way of saying 'turn it off and then on again'? -
Dirtbox 92,595 posts
Seen 14 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago -
oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years agoBear with me, it's taking around 1 1/2mins to refresh.....(it's that bad)
-Power cycling (lol), done. Read the above.
-It's ADSL, not cable. BT phone line.
-No "select speed" stuff on a PS3.
-Browsing/Download speed unaffected whether signed into PSN or not.
-Wireless Buffalo router, PS3 connected by Ethernet cable though (more stable)
-No leeching, router LED would be flickering, wouldn't it.
-Haven't changed any router settings.
-Where do you "borrow" PCs ?
Thanks for all the input peeps, I've had absolutely no hassle with Virgin since I joined last October, and I've found them to be pretty good, which is why this has come as such a surprise. I just don't understand what's happened....... -
Dirtbox 92,595 posts
Seen 14 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago -
oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years agoDirtbox wrote:
...just like me.... ;_;
I had no idea virgin did an adsl service.
I'm all out of options then,
sounds like BT are the people to get it sorted.
Sort what though ? That's what I don't understand. -
Dirtbox 92,595 posts
Seen 14 hours ago
Registered 19 years ago -
oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years agoGuarantee you they'll tell me to deal with Virgin......
And it still doesn't explain why games run fine. I was online with GTA over the weekend/tonight, with no problems at all. If it's to do with upload/download speeds, why are online games running fine, even though they use much more data than browsing a website. The router LEDs are flickering appropriately fast too.
Have I entered the DMZ Zone ?
Any more input would be much appreciated, especially from net boffins who understand all this. I'll try BT after work tomorrow, and I'll post more tales of woe and lament shortly after.....
/looks at Burnout on shelf, tear in eye
"Soon my pretty, soon......" -
oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years agoHeh. Like I haven't tried that.
Thankfully, panic over ! \O/
Back to normal this morning, for whatever reason. BT weren't much use, didn't have any maintenance over the past week at our exchange, said they'd have a further look at the line (although now it's OK, I doubt they'll find owt).
Thanks anyways, for the sensible and the stupid comments. Rest assured I'll be back if it happens again.
The games thing still puzzles me though.......
/crosses fingers
/superglues -
hypernova 1,969 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 16 years agoAnyone else having problems with their email? I keep getting an error message saying it can't connect to pop.ntlworld.com -
NBZ 2,425 posts
Seen 3 months ago
Registered 18 years agoJust move to Google Mail - far better.
As for not being able to connect to thing, I have some websites hosted at 1and1 and they have not been accessible to VM customers for over a week now. Everybody busy blaming each other, nobody fixing things. -
DaisyD 11,816 posts
Seen 5 years ago
Registered 16 years agoMine keeps asking for my password which it doesn't usually do. It's also telling me my password's wrong when it's not. -
hypernova wrote:
Anyone else having problems with their email? I keep getting an error message saying it can't connect to pop.ntlworld.com
email has been iffy all day for me. -
Fonzie 3,492 posts
Seen 2 days ago
Registered 15 years agoPS3 downloads are stupidly slow anyway. My xbox 360 will download game demos much quicker than the PS3 will. Updates on the PS3 take the piss - when I first played GT5 prologue, it installed for about 15-20 minutes and then did an update download which took about 30 minutes. Never had this kind of problem on the 360. Don't get me wrong, I love both consoles but the PS3 download times are stupid.
My dad has a 20Mb Virgin connection and even that is slow for game demo downloads on PS3. Strangely, video downloads are fine. -
Whizzo 44,810 posts
Seen 4 days ago
Registered 20 years agoAionic wrote:I ask because my connection has just been capped from 4MB to 800kbs.
They potentially limit during the day as well, full details are here. -
oldschoolsoviet 6,968 posts
Seen 7 days ago
Registered 15 years agoAnd again......
Slow speed for a week (70-120kbps), phoned them to find out what the hell was happening. Seems that BT have set the BRAS profile (or something) to 135 from the 2000 (2MB) I had.
After a bit of Googling, I've found this isn't an uncommon problem, due to some new software BT introduced. However :
-BT won't do anything 'cause the line "works"
-Virgin won't do much because a) BT Wholesale are c**** and b) They cannae be arsed.
After a bit more research, I've found I can request to have my line removed from this BT software and capped at 2MB (which is what I pay for) but there are no guarantees this'll happen. I'm also going to bring up the fact that I'm paying for a speed I'm not receiving (although I'm sure they'll quote some small print).
Anyone else had any experience of this/suggestions ?
PS-Try to keep the PANTIES jokes to a minimum.
EDIT: Should point out that I don't have a PC, just the PS3 & PSP.
Hence the BT Speedtester doesn't work and neither firm "accepts" data from other sources. -
Using Steam with Virgin is shit shit shit. Don't see the point in paying for 10MB connection if I only download at 100 - 250Kb/s, I mean I can browse the net just as easily on a 512k connection so if they are going to stuff me this much what's the point?
Really they should be marketing these lines as 2MB connection with free 10MB connection when you don't need to use it! -
We have to use the term "power cycling" at work. I cringe every time I say it, because the client almost always goes "what?", which ends up with us saying "just turn it off and on again" anyway, making the word entirely irrelevant.
Also, I'm on Virgin and have no issues with Steam at all. It uses the full speed of my connection, pretty much. -
Gremmi wrote:
Also, I'm on Virgin and have no issues with Steam at all. It uses the full speed of my connection, pretty much.
Well thanks for rubbing that in my face, have a biscuit! -
mad_caddy 3,751 posts
Seen 12 hours ago
Registered 17 years agoI've said this before in one of the other virgin threads. I got capped for a week due to downloading. I spoke to a guy on the tech support and he said that i'd been capped because i hit such a high volume and was one of the top 5% it was something like 5 gig. I asked when this was going to be lifted and he said sunday at midnight. I'd be throttled all week at all peak times.
Some other forumites have doubted this. but hand on heart its true. -
Yeah, but this is day 13 
I'd understand if I was being throttled but the Virgin guy would've deserved an Oscar for his puzzlement. Seems it's a problem with BT themselves.
As for the downloading, yes, I'd kicked the arse out of it on the Sunday it went down, around 2GB between 10am-7pm. Virgin guy said it would've led to a 5hr throttle, but the BT exchange decided something else was wrong, and cut my speed down to the aforementioned speed (which is slower than throttled).
Bloody computers.
BT's DataMAX is Skynet AFAIC......
.gif)
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