Ntl:home Users (uk)

[Xanex]

I think they increased their 128 to 150 as you put it is to make it so all tiers can now dl more than 1 gig, so they can see which people are "abusing" the service. They are forcing people into a hole.

Think about it for a bit and u might see what i see

Xan

[Xanex]

God im on fire, sry for triple post but this is a new thing i just thought of dont want to edit a post:

NTL users the only way is to voice your disgust at the capping a friend who works tells me the more complaints the more they consider dropping it, i mean i took on broadband as unlimited so it should mean that they said it equates to 2 film d/loads a day or 50,000 pictures

10,000 pictures they reckon = 1gig, of that what of those are pictures that u actually want. Popups and banner ads and builtin ads on webpages count aswell and some are quite large. or if a site uses funky flash thingys. what next going back to text interfaces just to read your email.

[south-paw]

Xanex I "enjoyed" your post before, discussing "mid-band" "narrow-band", which is basically what UK "broadband" really is. What saddens me is that the companies taking the initiative to offer better value services are either limited geographically, or aren't willing to risk the investment necessary.The demand is so obviously there, I feel the government should really give more support.After all they struck gold selling those 3G licences to the mobile co.s!
Have you seen the www.hydro.co.uk/broadband? Scottish Hydro-Electric trialling bb services over electricity power lines. Users pay £25 a month to surf at speeds of 2Mbps.Nothing more promising than that eh?

[Xanex]

Over power lines? wow i'll have to look into that! seems cool

price is good too, wonder what its called, cant be the new xdsl ive heard about can it? wonder what technology it uses, oooh the physics behind it are puzzling

[south-paw]

Originally posted by Xanex@6 April 2003 - 20:41
Over power lines? wow i'll have to look into that! seems cool

price is good too, wonder what its called, cant be the new xdsl ive heard about can it? wonder what technology it uses, oooh the physics behind it are puzzling

Yeah sorry for the lousy url, aint seen any info on the technology on that site.Which is what I was curious about too...int it a bit late to be an Aprils fool j/k??

[BROCKSTER]

any one know the download/upload limit on blueyonder??

[davy1shoe]

In Glasgow the cap isnt up and running yet but with the retards that work with ntl it will be a fuck up if they try it

[The Knife Thrower]

NTL are losing shitloads of money so why would they do this.

[nahan]

Simple bandwidth costs lots of money for service providers.

And with your run of the mill cable broadband internet service your sharring your bandwidth with your whole neibourhood.

So if everone in your hood was downloading a couple of gigs each day the connection would be slowed down in the whole block.

Therefor the sudden appearance of restricted downloads and uploads.

Thats the benefit of dsl you dont share your connection, its like a phone line.

I don t know what type of service you guys use ,but ive had similar restrictions placed on my uploads and downloads.

Luckily for myself my isp provided me with an external modem
(I live in British Columbia, Canada)
And my downloads are something like 50gigs roughly, uploads like 9 or 10 gigs, and my limit is 2-3 gigs downloads and about 1 gig upload :per month

I also got nagging phone calls to reduce my downloads or my service would be suspended ,iI tried but its too dam hard to do only 2 or 3 gigs a month.
But one day i got a call from Shaw (my internet provider) about the subject,
and to my suprise the cutomer service rep sounded to be about my age(21 to 30).
He asked what i downloaded i said "mostly movies "he then proceeded to tell me that if i unpluged the power supply for my external modem every once and a while that it erasses the download history at the
company.

That was a few months ago now i dont get calls from the isp any longer.
And i probablly download more than ever before.

hopefully you guys can use the info ,because i hate typing long ass posts

[Tempest]

Ok i heard about this sometime ago there is a petition somewhere on the net with about 58,000 sigs. After I emailed NTL about it so here are the emails.

!Read below for the online petition!

My email - [email protected] - If you dont want to read now, email me and I will forward the emails to you!

----------------What I Sent----------------

Fri, 28 Feb 2003 17:50:58

Hi, I would like to know, what caps are in place for your cable
internet
services?
Why there are caps?
Why do I pay for unlimited internet access but cannot get unlimited
access because of capping? Is it you or BT that has placed these
restriction?

Simple questions, simple answers please. No politician answers.

Thanks,
Dave Coles
Post Code CF** ***

------------What I Got------------------

Email No.1

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thanks for your e-mail. This is an automated acknowledgement to confirm receipt and advise that investigation of the issue raised in your email has commenced.

Listed below are a number of websites that might help answer your question.

First of all, why not visit our comprehensive help section at http://www.ntlworld.com/help

To see if we are currently experiencing any server problems please visit our status page at http://www.ntl-isp.ntl.com/lookup/default.asp

or call our status line free on 0800 052 4315.

If you subscribe to our ntlworld TV-Internet service or our Digital Plus service then you can find help and advice by pressing the HELP button on your remote control or keyboard.

Please be assured that we treat your enquiry with maximum priority and

will be in touch as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

ntl:home customer services

--------------------------------------------

Email No.2

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hi,

Thank you for your e-mail. Apart from the speed limits of your tier of service (i.e. 128kb, 600kb or 1Mb) there is an acceptable use level of 1 gigabyte of data downloaded per day. This is to prevent a minority of users from using the service so much that is causes detriment to other customers. The ntl user policy has always stated that it is not acceptable to use the service in a way that causes a reduction in service to others, the new rules simply put a quantitative value to what is acceptable or normal use. BT also has a similar 1 gigabyte per day transfer limit on its wholesale broadband product and always has.

More information is available at:

http://www.ntlworld.com/legals/user-policy.htm

and more specifically:

http://www.ntlworld.com/service_update.html

I hope this answers your questions. If not, please don't hesitate to contact us again.

Foeh

ntl:home Technical Support

On Fri, 28 Feb 2003 17:50:58 -0000 you wrote:

>Hi, I would like to know, what caps are in place for your cable
internet
>services?
>Why there are caps?
>Why do I pay for unlimited internet access but cannot get unlimited
>access because of capping? Is it you or BT that has placed these
>restriction?
>
>Simple questions, simple answers please. No politician answers.
>
>Thanks,
>Dave Coles
>Post Code CF** ***
>
>[Inline text/html]

----------------------------

Email No.3

++++++++++++++++


Hi

Thanks for your email

I presume that you are talking about the 1GB cap

I shall attach an email to you with common question and answers for you to read through

Hope this answers your queries

Richard
Cable Modem Technical Support

Q. I understand that you’re calling customers to demand they reduce their usage. Why and what’s your policy towards people who use the services extensively?

A. ntl: home's broadband network is a shared network. There is a tiny minority of exceptionally heavy users whose continuous or prolonged data downloading may cause network congestion and affect the enjoyment of others. ntl has published 1 gigabyte of data downloaded per day as a guideline to give customers guidance on what constitutes normal network usage and to help customers avoid inadvertently causing network congestion. Over the next 60 days, ntl will contact customers and ask them to moderate their usage of their broadband internet service only if they exceed these guidelines on 3 or more days in any 14 day period.

Q. What activities could result in exceeding the daily download limit?


A. Downloading very large video files or audio files continuously from newsgroups or file-sharing services like Kazaa, is the most common cause of very high data usage.


Q. What does 1 gigabyte offer?

A. As a rough guide, 1 gigabyte of data per day is approximately:

100 large software programs
200 music tracks
650 short videos
10,000 pictures
20,000 web pages
And should not impact gaming applications at all

For a more specific guide, there are a number of freeware applications that approximately monitor data download. We will be looking to distribute and ntl-approved monitor shortly. In the meantime, however, customers need not be too concerned: NTL will be in touch and able to provide advice if you regularly exceed the limit for your speed of service.


Q. Why are you starting to call customers now - are you running out of bandwidth?

A. It’s a responsible action to take in order to maintain the overall performance for the vast majority of our customers. Customers who use the services more heavily than a normal home user will potentially reduce the performance of the network for other customers at peak times – and in the long term, they’ll drive up prices for all users, which we’d prefer to avoid. We’re very proud of our internet services – they regularly win awards for performance and reliability – and we have no wish to allow misuse by a minority to affect the overall performance for the majority

Q. Have you noticed the products slowing down/performing badly?

A. No – and by taking preventative action we don’t expect to. We monitor our network and product performance very carefully. We’re very proud of our internet services – they regularly win awards for performance and reliability – and we won’t allow the misuse by the minority to affect the product enjoyment for the vast majority.

Q. How many customers are affected?

A. It’s a small minority.

Q. Surely a small minority can’t affect your network performance so badly. Is your network capacity so limited?

A. This is an issue that all internet service providers have to face – we’re not alone. And in fact, we have one of the most modern networks in the world, but our services are intended for normal recreational or educational use by individuals and families and our pricing - and network architecture - have been designed accordingly.

Q. Can you really change the terms and conditions of an annual contract mid-term?

A. We’re not. This is a clarification of the existing terms of our Acceptable Use Policy, which states that you must not use the Services in any way that is unlawful or illegal or in a way that affects the enjoyment of other users of the Services.

Q. Surely you’re doing this because you don’t want to invest more capex to maintain/upgrade the network?

A. Not at all.

Q. Aren’t you just trying to squeeze more cash from your customers?

A. No. We’re very proud of our Internet services – they regularly win awards for performance and reliability – and we have no wish to allow misuse by a minority to affect the overall performance for the majority.

Q. If a customer wants to move to another supplier will you cancel their contract?

A. No – customers are only entitled to exit their contracts in the event of a change to their terms & conditions. This is a change to the Acceptable Use Policy only. The policy can be viewed at http://www.ntlworld.com/legals/user-policy.htm

Q. Isn’t this short-sighted – as you could lose triple-play customers?


A. No. It’s a small number and we hope that most of those customers affected will simply change their usage pattern.

Q. Are these customers likely to be WIFI customers who are sharing access?

A. It’s a possibility that some are but it’s likely to be a very small number of customers.

Q. Is this a clamp down on Internet porn usage/users of illegal copyrighted material such as films?

A. We’re calling about their usage levels not what they’re using the bandwidth for. We don’t actively monitor what customers choose to download.

Since Friday

Q. Hasn’t this new set of ‘guidelines’ changed since Friday’s original new text?

A. The objective remains the same. ntl: home's broadband network is a shared network. There is a tiny minority of exceptionally heavy users whose continuous or prolonged data downloading may cause network congestion and affect the enjoyment of others. ntl has therefore published guidelines on daily data downloading. We will contact customers and ask them to moderate their usage of their broadband Internet service only if they exceed these guidelines on 3 or more days in any 14 day period.

However, we have taken on board the views of customers and we are reviewing whether it would be possible to allow subscribers to our 1mb service to have a higher data limit.

Q. This is a complete climb-down. Were you so shocked by the response?


A. We knew that a small number of heavy users would be vocal – but that doesn’t stop us from doing what’s right for the vast majority of customers. Our objective remains intact. But we’re also willing to listen to our customers. That’s why we’ve increased the guideline usage for our 1Mb customers.

Q. Why did you plan to do this so secretly?

A. We didn’t. Our aim has always been to make contact individually each customer whose usage might affect the majority. The AUP is as public as it gets.

Q. How flexible will ntl be about these new limits?

A. We will be very flexible. Our objective is only to limit very frequent or persistent heavy network use that can impact other customers. Therefore we will ONLY contact customers who exceed the daily data limit for three or more days in any consecutive 14-day period. If you occasionally exceed your data limit, it will not be a problem. Remember our goal is to give freedom and easy usage to our customers. This rule ensures that you have peace of mind and that we are able to reduce the unfair prolonged usage by a small number.

Q. When and how will the limits be applied?

A. Starting from now, ntl will monitor network usage and contact customers who regularly exceed the data download limit for their speed of service by letter or phone over next 60 days

Q. Will customers be disconnected if they ignore the guidelines?

A. No. Our customers are important to us. We will simply advise customers how to moderate their bandwidth usage. Our research has shown that consumers will be happy with this approach.

Q. Can higher speed broadband customers have a higher daily download limit?

A. In response to the strong customer enquiry we got on this point, we will be investigating whether we can provide variable limits based on service speed. We expect to have an answer soon. It should be noted, however, that some customers confused our 1 GigaByte limit with their KiloBit speeds. 1 GigaByte is equivalent to 8 GigaBits. Also, in practical terms the slower speeds of the overall Internet often cause average speeds to be lower than the maximum speed allowed. Thus users could have several more actual hours of downloads than would be indicated by strictly dividing the limit by the speed.

Q. Is there a plan for very ‘power users’ who exceed the given limits?


A. We are considering a range of new services especially for customers who want or need to download large amounts of data – but which will avoid impacting other, ordinary customers. We will work with a forum of users to design these services.

Q. Tell me more about the ‘power user forum’ mentioned earlier.

A. ntl is compiling a list of customers who are ‘power users’ who are willing to provide feedback on suggested new products and services for heavy users. To join the list of ‘power users’, simply email our Internet Director, Bill Goodland at [email protected].

Other questions

Q. Why do you advertise an ‘unlimited’ service, and yet now seek to limit its use?


A. Our unmetered dial-up Internet service has the trade name ‘Unlimited’, because you can use it whenever you like for a single flat fee. There is no daily download limit on our dial-up Internet products. Our broadband service is no longer called unlimited. Our broadband service has always carried an Acceptable Use Policy.

Q. Does a daily download limit constrain the amount of time I spend online?

A. No, not necessarily. You could surf the web all day and download very little data. The average broadband internet customer downloads less than 100 megabytes (0.1 gigabyte) of data per day.


On Fri, 28 Feb 2003 17:48:27 -0000 you wrote:

>Hi, I would like to know, what caps are in place for your cable
internet
>services?
>Why there are caps?
>Why do I pay for unlimited internet access but cannot get unlimited
>access because of capping? Is it you or BT that has placed these
>restrictions?
>
>Simple questions, simple answers. No politician answers please.
>
>Post Code CF** ***
>
>Thanks,
> David Coles
>
>[Inline text/html]


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So there you go! The usual prepared crap from NTL.

I run my own network I created in my house running 4 PCs with KazaaLite++ 24/7, online games, video confrencing etc etc. Im pretty sure i have gone 10x over the 1 gig cap.

And I have found the NTl Petition so here it is please sign it! http://www.PetitionOnline.com/NTL/ or Remove NTL Caps Now

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the beginning format, It was just to get your attention!