New Throttling from Virgin Media

[masur123]

Virgin Media have changed the way they target their customers. Previously you were throttled under a fair usage policy, this has now slightly changed, and when I say slightly, its actually fundamentally...

Traffic Management | Virgin Media Help & Support - Virgin Media Shop

Specifically they are targeting file sharing, newsgroups and streamers. However services such as iplayer, spotify etc are not included in this! Normal web surfing is unaffected

I thought my internets was going slow, and thought it was my VPN service. When I checked with them they said that Virgin had also targetted specific VPN providers and was throttiling their speed!

This throttling can slow your internet down by as much as 75%, and I am paying for the top package, but losing 75% of it as I watch a lot of footie and various files from newsgroups.

Now, sitting behind a VPN and suffering from throttling, how do Virgin Media know that I am not using a legal service, or are they monitoring the traffic and making a judgement and throttling me anyway!

Is this even legal to change terms and condition on an unlimted package?

[smirnoff_rules]

glad l stayed with 20mb now l was going to up to 50 .. they have lost a new customer there

[larryoke]

Just tested my 'alledged' 20mb & it came back as 6mb!! ironically I was then asked to sign up to a petition to stop the broadband con, which is being run by virgin & even has a letter from Branson, ~~~~ing brass neck if you ask me.

[aftermath]

not only have they lost thousands of cable TV customers to sky, now seems people will do the same with broadband.

i will not be ripped off by virgin, ive noticed my internet connection has been shit the last few days, and i only use it for web browsing and my own network.

so i used to pay them ?50 a month, then i went to sky, now pay VM ?25 a month for phone, basic tv , and broadband, they can ~~~~ off and i will go elsewhere again and virgin will get ~~~~ all from me..

[cunny]

I had the 50mb service, and after an argument with them about the monthly cost (was supposed to get it cheaper for 6 months than 20mb) we went back to 20. They then capped the 50.

When the 100mb service is released it will more than likely be uncapped until the 200 is due for release ect to try get people onto their top service. I cant see a need for 100mb + service if they gonna throw caps on services so whats the point?

I do all my downloading over night now and it dont struggle at all

[Cronus]

glad l stayed with 20mb now l was going to up to 50 .. they have lost a new customer there

Why?

Change to port 443 and no capping. Simple.

[Canker_Canison]

VM have been using DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) on 60% of their customer base, if you can believe it's only on 60%.

With this they can see exactly what everyone is doing. So they are now specifically looking for anything that can be used for illegal activity, & throttling the shit out of it.

Your only other hope is to ensure all traffic is encrypted. With luck that might protect you a bit. VM did state that encrypted traffic would not be monitored on DPI.

[cunny]

So basically SSL 128bit encryption is ok(used on most premium newsgroup services) or will that be detected? Are there specific ports they are snanning? 119? 563?

[masur123]

Well I rang up and dropped my package to 10mb today, rep didnt even seem bothered or ask me why.

The way I see it is, if I am forced to do any of the stuff I want overnight then why pay full whack? 10mb is fast enough for the web experience, and if my other stuff needs to be done overnight I dont care how long it takes as I am in bed!

Maybe this is all part of the master plan.....

[masur123]

When the 100mb service is released it will more than likely be uncapped until the 200 is due for release ect to try get people onto their top service. I cant see a need for 100mb + service if they gonna throw caps on services so whats the point?
l

The Virgin article states that the 100mb service is also affected by the throttling.

[smirnoff_rules]

true@

File sharing

We moderate the total volume of file sharing traffic on our network between 5pm and midnight on weekdays and midday and midnight on weekends. This policy, which applies to all broadband packages, is restricted to Peer to Peer ("P2P") applications and Newsgroups (which are commonly used to distribute large amounts of data)

This policy does not impact any applications other than Peer to Peer and Newsgroups, so things like watching iPlayer, online gaming, making calls via Skype, downloading music tracks from iTunes or streaming them from Spotify and sending an email or normal browsing are unaffected.

It's important to remember that these traffic management policies only apply at peak times when speeds are most likely to be affected by people using more than their fair share. Outside of peak times we do not manage traffic.

[alec]

I found that 10MB is no faster than 4MB for most sites, because you are restricted by traffic. The only reason I can see for for using above 4MB's is if you are sharing in a house, or downloading from a number of sites at the same time. Some of the speeds the ISP's claim are pure fiction.

[masur123]

Is anyone else having real difficulty getting speeds they are paying for, even in off peak times?

My story is this:

I pay 50Mb line, wireless speed is running at between 5Mb and 20Mb at any time of day. Before I have done any downloading etc, this is direct from speedtest.net.

Virgin say connect via wire, magically on the phone this now reaches 50Mb. Try this again 2 days later, wireless and wired now reach the same speed.

Virgin say you lose 20% of speed over wireless network, I said this has never been a problem before this... so why now, and if this was the case why isnt upload speed a problem?

Virgin are oot the door as soon as I can get BE in. May not be as fast, but at least they are up front about it, and will say not gaurenteed to get that speed, rather than Virgin who can give the speed, but choose not to and still charge me full price.

****ers

[Mjolinor]

I pay for 20 (I think) and have never ever had over 6. I have had VB since NTL started selling it. Most time in the evening it is less than 2Mbits down and less than 100k up. 6 Is enough for me so I don't care. What I do like is the fixed IP and the reliability of it. I think when compared to DSL it's a real luxury having Internet when you want it.

[Cronus]

I pay for 20 (I think) and have never ever had over 6. I have had VB since NTL started selling it. Most time in the evening it is less than 2Mbits down and less than 100k up. 6 Is enough for me so I don't care. What I do like is the fixed IP and the reliability of it. I think when compared to DSL it's a real luxury having Internet when you want it.

Fair do's mate but paying for 20mb and what you're getting is a bit much. Threaten them,tell them to ~~~~ off and you're cancelling. Stick to your guns and do it. You may suddenly find your bb connection gets better,its magical the way it works!

I shelled out for the 50mb...?38 a month because I don't want the phone line with them. Horrendously expensive but thats another matter.
?38 a month for broadband...utter shit. Then they want to cap me as well...think not.

Anyone on newsgroups,change to 443. 569 is being capped but since swapping I've had no slowdown.