I notice some advertising spiel that Virging were offering the "UK's fastest broadband" yet the fastest product I can find is 20meg broadband. Be broadband is 24 meg and my exchange has just recently been upgraded. I also notice Be broadband is a fraction of the price (even for their "pro" product).

So 2 questions.

1 - How do Virgin get away with this blatant falsehood?

2 - Is this the death knell for cable broadband and all its traffic shaping crapness?

No doubt they will be referring to an obscure survey or test that involved about a dozen people.

I've seen some surveys for other products based on little more than a handful of people but passed off as representitive of the whole country.

Because everyone other than Virgin, or other cable provider, is basically a re-seller for BT, & with anything other than fibre connection you get slower the further you get from the exchange.

If you get a 20M connection from Virgin you'll generally get 20M, get "20M" from anyone else & most people would be lucky to realistically get half that.

So to answer...

1: It's not.

2: Errr... Virgin don't do "traffic shaping", as I understand it to be, ie as Comcast are implementing in the USA.

Don't like Virgin then eh?

Because everyone other than Virgin, or other cable provider, is basically a re-seller for BT, & with anything other than fibre connection you get slower the further you get from the exchange.

If you get a 20M connection from Virgin you'll generally get 20M, get "20M" from anyone else & most people would be lucky to realistically get half that.

So to answer...

1: It's not.

2: Errr... Virgin don't do "traffic shaping", as I understand it to be, ie as Comcast are implementing in the USA.

Don't like Virgin then eh?

Mate if you dont know what you are on about then please don't post. Be broadband have used LLU to put their own equipment in the exchanges.

Mate if you dont know what you are on about then please don't post. Be broadband have used LLU to put their own equipment in the exchanges.

Still have to use BT lines to the house - that's where the speed problem is, not in the exchange.

We've stuck in a few 'be' connections around.

I've been quite impressed, had one, a 1km or so from the exchange genuinely getting 23.6Mb on a speed test!

...a 1km or so from the exchange genuinely getting 23.6Mb on a speed test!
:o
Right, maybe I wont be going with cable when I move :)

my dad has sky broadband and the speed is very impressive,

I'm currently with nildram and just a couple of houses down and the sky broadband is about 6 times fast and a lot cheaper if you have sky subscription.

Cable though is fast, i've had ntl and telewest in the past and both were impressive.

Mate if you dont know what you are on about then please don't post. Be broadband have used LLU to put their own equipment in the exchanges.

Excuse me?!? For someone who obviously hasn't got a clue you seem very sure of yourself.

Yes it (Be) runs off ADSL2, so top rates are quicker, & therefore noticed drop off in speed is slightly less per km. But the last couple of connections I put in, both around 1.8-2km away from the exchange, were getting 10-11 max. As most people don't live within 2k of their phone exchange then, like I said, "get "20M" from anyone else & most people would be lucky to realistically get half that." Be won't even sign you up if you're over 6km away from an exchange if I remember rightly?

Just because someone responds to you spouting incorrect crap with an abrupt correction doesn't mean you're the expert. Evidentally far from it in your case...

Excuse me?!? For someone who obviously hasn't got a clue you seem very sure of yourself.

Yes it (Be) runs off ADSL2, so top rates are quicker, & therefore noticed drop off in speed is slightly less per km. But the last couple of connections I put in, both around 1.8-2km away from the exchange, were getting 10-11 max. As most people don't live within 2k of their phone exchange then, like I said, "get "20M" from anyone else & most people would be lucky to realistically get half that." Be won't even sign you up if you're over 6km away from an exchange if I remember rightly?

Just because someone responds to you spouting incorrect crap with an abrupt correction doesn't mean you're the expert. Evidentally far from it in your case...

Absolute rubbish, maybe they are only getting those speeds because you installed the kit. I'm 1.9k from my exchange and regularly get over 20meg. Maybe your just incompetent?

As for ranges from exchange its all moot if your not in cable area but even if I was what kind of idiot would pay 37 quid for virgin to traffic shape. Id love to see the speed tests constantly showing anything close to 20meg.

Phone lines don't necessarily run from property to exchange as the crow flies. You might be next door to the exchange and still have a 3 mile line, which would undoubtedly lower the connection speed.

Phone lines don't necessarily run from property to exchange as the crow flies. You might be next door to the exchange and still have a 3 mile line, which would undoubtedly lower the connection speed.

No *beep* sherlock. Good to see that plusnet training come in handy. Any other pearls of wisdom?

Yeah, don't eat the yellow snow, and stop biting the heads off anyone who tries to help. Just a thought.

We've stuck in a few 'be' connections around.

I've been quite impressed, had one, a 1km or so from the exchange genuinely getting 23.6Mb on a speed test!

Was it ADSL2 ?

It's just typical marketing - there's probably some really small print somewhere that clarifies exactly what they mean or refers to some survey or similar. We offer 25mbit/25mbit to residential customers at some of our sites and 25mbit/5mbit at some others - all with no download caps. Due to the way we operate our service they are achievable speeds - we're not stuck with the problem of speed drop off like you are with ADSL. Unfortunately it's only available in select developments.

Yorkshire is getting a nice broadband overhaul in the nearish future anyway with FTTC (fibre to the cabinet/curb) being installed in Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham. It'll service about 1.3 million homes + businesses with speeds of 50mb+. The service will be a VDSL (very high data rate DSL) one. The contractor chosen has just been publicly announced.

2: Errr... Virgin don't do "traffic shaping", as I understand it to be, ie as Comcast are implementing in the USA.

Actually, they do now.. and have done for some months...

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/internet/traffic.html

Absolute rubbish, maybe they are only getting those speeds because you installed the kit. I'm 1.9k from my exchange and regularly get over 20meg. Maybe your just incompetent?

As for ranges from exchange its all moot if your not in cable area but even if I was what kind of idiot would pay 37 quid for virgin to traffic shape. Id love to see the speed tests constantly showing anything close to 20meg.

So what you're saying is you can make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.