Comments on: Virgin Media to Throttle BitTorrent Users

By: Intimidated

Intimidated — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:15:55 +0000

There are a few issues with this posting.

First of all, it should be noted that US ISP's are in the stoneage compared to the UK and the rest of europe (particularly sweden). It's common in the UK to have a 24mbit connection, in the US you don't often get above six.

Also, Eclipse, Freedom2Surf and TalkTalk are all owned by Pipex (Freedom2Surf used to be a reputable ISP before the takeover).

It is, however, true that some ISP's throttle traffic. But then, only stupid people become customers of these ISP's. If my ISP throttles my traffic, I move.

Right now, i'm with BeThere.co.uk, i get 24mbit speeds and no traffic shaping or traffic limits.

What this all boils down to: The average net user in the USA will have an inferior bittorrent experience than those in the UK. And, comcast are STILL throttling traffic, regardless of the ruling.

By: Sneakyfcknrusky

Sneakyfcknrusky — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:29:35 +0000

Bandwidth my arse, They have been advertising that they have super fast fibre optic cables and say they don't have enough bandwidth. For example I have 20mb internet from VM and I am the only person in my street with a computer connected to the internet and they are saying that if I download whatever i'm downloading I'm hurting these people with no internet anyway …

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 03:55:00 +0000

Sky Broadband is fantastic. Cheap, fast and they really do not give a shit as all their money is for the telly service.

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By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:42:50 +0000

Ask yourself the question would you purchase 50mb BB for just surfing the internet?

The obvious answer is no so that leaves 3 types of customers

The Downloader who is being throttled

The Gamer & those who do both

Only Gamers will benefit from 50MB BB

Virgin have no clue if they are going to throttle any of its downloaders as they will just move onto another ISP

UK Online are a fantastic ISP with no throttling of its customers

Go get it

By: Pissed off Virgin Media Customer

Pissed off Virgin Media Customer — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 11:14:14 +0000

How could Virgin possibly impose any more restraint on their customers? Their “Trafffic Management” policy is already complete bull shit, and now they want to futher the already-massive number of complaints they are getting from slow speeds?

I have a 10Mb connection with VM, and I can tell you that I RARELY ever get my full bandwidth. When downloading, I have NEVER been able to break the barrier of a 1Mb connection. Its PATHETIC that a paying 10Mb customer is reduced 10x of their actual speed.

I’m stuck with this arsehole of a company and I will be forced to until about mid 2009, which is when I’ll be leaving them for good. Not to mention their maniac of a CEO who cares nothing for his customers but the dow that is stolen from their very pockets. Fuck You.

By: BeBroadband

BeBroadband — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 02:38:42 +0000

#58
Aol we had b4 and it was terrible(expensive and slow+ their browser and emailsystem is auful).
Also it was almost impossible to cancel their service(they kept saying “Ok, wait a few days..”,
we had to take them to court !

By: BeBroadband

BeBroadband — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 02:34:38 +0000

I’m so glad I convinced my friend in London to choose BE over a year ago. There was no issue with them since at all. Wooping 8Mega down/3Mega up+ telephone, all 17 Quid(pounds). Virgin was always a pain in the a…

By: Miro - Internet TV Blog » Blog Archive » Google Affirms Net Neutrality, Britannia Doesn’t

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:17:28 +0000

[...] has been quoted as saying, “This net neutrality thing is a load of bollocks.” Torrent Freak reports that Virgin Media, along with a slew of other British ISP’s, have opted to filter, throttle, [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:11:51 +0000

This happens everywhere in society. They will sell you a car that goes at 200 mph , then limit you to max. 70 mph and fine you if you go more than 73mph. They like to give us the capability but restrict us to the point of never using it.
There are not many other things you can get on the internet which require super fast connections, movies and media etc is about it really. An 8meg connection is not at all needed if all you are going to do is read emails and do your shopping. But its not just torrent traffic that gets throttled. Knapster, itunes, Last fm and many other legal services also get restricted. They call it a fair usage policy which translated means:
*We (isp) will let you download all you want at superfast speeds until we have got you to sign at least a 1 Year Contract (18 months even better), once we have you in our grips then we are then free to f+[k you around as much as we deem fit because our fair usage policy is completely down to OUR discretion and extremely vague to say the absolute least(might be 0.5 gigs per day for one person and 2.5 gigs for somebody else).
*We the isp will take the money you give us on a monthly basis and will NOT at all spend the money on improved services but instead we will spend a fortune on technology that restricts you usage so we can then freely breech the contract we have made with you (The Client)but make it impossible for you to complain by simply putting the customer call centre somewhere on the other side of the world leaving our Head Office free to do whatever it likes

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:47:19 +0000

AOL UK throttle torrent traffic as well as tv streaming sites. They will not admit that openly but an inside source says they are using equipment known as SANDVINE.
Virgin Media on the other hand is a complete waste of space anyway, all they did was take over the old NTL cable service which also was a waste of space. If virgin actually started throttling connectings I doubt many people would even notice. Maybe othere areas are better but here where I live they along with aol are about the worst.

By: virginmedia4n00bs

virginmedia4n00bs — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:04:37 +0000

Good news!

Now all you n00bs on Virgin leave!!!

By: Count Alucard

Count Alucard — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:10:51 +0000

Virgin Media = The epitomy of the WORST company in (formerly Great, now bankrupt) Britain. Ex 13 years Comcast, ntl: then Virgin Media Customer. A family of baboons would be preferrable to their “customer service” call centre. I just wish it was them going to the wall instead of Woollies.

Don’t expect any change – I’m sure Nu Labour are fully in bed with them and trousering some palm greasers as we speak.

Branson is a charlatan.

By: Madcelt

Madcelt — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:56:19 +0000

The Sky MAX package is also unlimited and has no FUP

By: Jack Sparrow

Jack Sparrow — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 10:51:36 +0000

It does apply to cable customers as im sure the vast amount of VM users are, it is to be implemented next year, when they’ll try to throttle piracy. B*stards

By: Ric

Ric — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:55:06 +0000

Is it right that this doesnt apply to cable customers? I am a vm cable customer and speeds usually slow down at peak times but this has recently improved.

By: Ric

Ric — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:46:48 +0000

Post 48 says this hardly applies to cable customers. Is that right? I am a vm cable customer but usually experience slow speeds at peak times although this has recently improved.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:48:30 +0000

P2P will evolve to cope with ISP’s bull****.
(New p2p protocol) freak.com
I believe they know that!
Capping my bandwidth so they can afford the bandwidth to market 50mb or 20mb is one thing.
But filtering my traffic is another!
Shame on you Virgin Media!

By: mehearty's

mehearty's — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:05:20 +0000

There exchanges are not concealed behind armoured fences,

If you want a better service make them pay, remember water and electricity does not mix….;0)

By: pyro

pyro — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:52:46 +0000

blah blah blah
“3 Dec 16, 2008 at 19:50 by anon

No point having 50mbit when you’re limited to 512k during peak hours. I’m with VM and they have been limiting my b/w during peak hours for months now. 300mb an hour is nothing!

“These customers will be limited, on a one-off basis, to a 512Kbit/s limit for the rest of the peak period for that day and we’ll do this after they’ve downloaded over 300Mb during a single one-hour period. Peak time is from 4pm to midnight during the week and 10am till midnight at the weekend.”

What does THIS say?

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

By: Crandom

Crandom — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:19:38 +0000

You need to remind people this ONLY applys to non-cable customers.

Cable Virgin Media Customers are hardly throttled at all!

50meg is only for cable customers. See: http://www.kitz.co.uk/isp/caps.htm

By: pinshot

pinshot — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:37:17 +0000

hi guys…i would love more support for my petition i set up last night against this.

PLEASE GO TO :

http://www.petitiononline.com/VM1/petition.html

and sign,

thanks!

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:51:29 +0000

Well they are simply retarded at virgin thats all I gotta say.

Bethere FTW

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:55:33 +0000

well we all hate virgin media dear!!!

By: The Russians are coming

The Russians are coming — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:28:29 +0000

np go web based. Softarchive.net

Lovely Lovely, virii.

Then net is ban.

Result.

bigger pcture than torrent.

By: An average UK broadband user

An average UK broadband user — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:49:46 +0000

Hell, am I glad I told VirginMedia where to stick it! Already changed to an ISP that doesn’t piss about with the connection, just gives me exactly what they advertised, no pansying about with any throttling bullsh!t. HINT: most normal people buy their broadband wanting the service at the speed advertised 100% of the time, hell it’s what we’re paying the hard earned cash for. Virgin’s marketing looks all pretty, amazing, promising all you’d need… but naturally it doesn’t tell you that as soon as you hit these draconian download limits (try browsing youtube for 30 mins, or watching a couple of shows in bbc iplayer) the connection speed suddenly contracts like a constipated ANUS. You gotta be a total fool to buy their 50Mbit line. I’m surprised the advertising watchdog hasn’t utterly spanked them for their misleading marketing campaigns.

#34 Darth_yoda is wise indeed

By: splitice

splitice — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:26:51 +0000

i myself am from aus and with tpg and never had any bt throttling :) only over quota throtling (18gb) :(

By: DudeMeister

DudeMeister — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:36:59 +0000

If you’re in the UK sign up to Be (www.bethere.co.uk)

They offer up to 24 Mbit/s download, up to 1.2 Mbit/s upload for £17.50/month with NO restrictions and NO fair usage policy (and a static IP address too although they don’t tell you this is included in the cheaper deal)

I’ve been with them for over 2 years now, have connections in two houses each downloading gigabytes every day and seeding for most of the year

The actual speeds I get are something like a constant 6.4 Mbit/s in on location and 1.9 Mbit/s in the other but that’s pretty much the best that the phone lines can handle

By: spiderman

spiderman — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:27:12 +0000

No Freedom. No Love. Screw em. Hey, to make some very Good Money Online, check out
www dot thespidersystem dot ws

By: UpRight

UpRight — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:47:11 +0000

ISPs lie everywhere. In Russia (South Urals) “2Mbit/s unlimited internet” is throttled down to 64Kbit/s if you download more than 30Gb, and kind of traffic doesn’t matter… Damn it.

By: Virgin Media to Throttle BitTorrent Users | CyberLaw Blog

Virgin Media to Throttle BitTorrent Users | CyberLaw Blog — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:21:33 +0000

[...] Virgin Media to Throttle BitTorrent Users: “ [...]

By: someone

someone — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:28:47 +0000

Virgin really are the most duplicitous and revolting company on the face of the earth.
Why the fuck would anyone other than us want 50meg broadband? to check their fucking fakebook or emails?
FUCK off Virgin media I wouldnt have you in my home if you where the last ISP on earth I would make do with bean cans and string to communicate with others.
I fucking hate Virgin Media!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:11:28 +0000

In the context of virgin media, bandwidth isn’t their first concern. What they dislike about bittorrent is the availability of free content, which competes directly with their own offerings. Competition would sound like a free market, which is too much to bear for virgin.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:06:40 +0000

There goes Virgin Media customers, wave bye-bye to them VM, you’ll never see them again.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:51:37 +0000

Fortunately the 6 largest ISPs are in bed with the MAFIAA so in time the smaller ISPs who respect their customers privacy and freedom will see increase in their market share.

However due to their size they are unable to offer unlimited bandwidth with out making huge losses to people who use the internet to its full extent. Partly down to the shitty BT infrastructure from which most of the ISPs use.

By: Darth_yoda

Darth_yoda — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:43:00 +0000

The two best ISP’s in the UK at the moment are o2 and BE.

o2 = http://www.o2.co.uk/

BE = https://www.bethere.co.uk/

A good site for looking at download caps and network performance etc is here: http://www.kitz.co.uk/isp/caps.htm

For those people living in Bournemouth and Dundee, there is a new fibre network being implemented over the next 2 years. Check that out here: http://www.fibrecity.eu/

By: Troc Ster

Troc Ster — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:32:54 +0000

If I can just say. Virgin Media is shit. 50Mbps per second download (if you are lucky) but only 1.5Mbps up ? Virgin Media is a joke. That is not internet that is suck it and see.

By: DAZZA

DAZZA — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 19:16:01 +0000

i’m with VM and need to move somewhere else, anybody got any recomendations – i see be unlimited offer high speeds, any good?

By: Skid

Skid — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:27:44 +0000

I’m on plusnet pro, which doesn’t have any throttling at all, although they do retain the right to I’ve never had them throttle my connection. I expect that most of the ISPs true reasons for throttling connections, they throttle their cheaper packages to get people to buy there premium packages.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:21:11 +0000

Yeah, there will never be any substitution effect to compensate for this. Warez will just shrivel and die overnight after decades of overcoming diversity. Hahaha, no.

I predict that in the end the following will occur:
-more obfuscation in the BT protocol to evade the packet shaping
-switching to things like newsgroup downloading or maybe even rapidshitting/megauploading.
-ad hoc tunneling like VPNs, etc

By: skidz

skidz — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Virgin Media throttle Bitorrent traffic anyway, I ditched them cuz of it, they throttle any download traffic especially filesharing….nothing new there…

By: burris

burris — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:46:04 +0000

Read your contract, if it’s for residential service I can guarantee you it says they can throttle you if you use your service so much that it impacts other customers3

Honestly, the ISPs don’t care if you’re using BitTorrent or infringing on Copyright. They care if they’re losing money on you. The upshot is if you’re an outlier for high usage among their residential customers, they are either going to slow you down, perhaps to the point of cuting you off entirely, or charge you more money. There is no third outcome. Encryption cannot change that at all.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:37:42 +0000

“Pipex, one of the largest ISPs in the UK” and also one the worst. BitTorrent speeds were usually <10kbs. Awful to deal with too. Moved to Tisacli, and found out too late they were the same company lol, with the same horrendous BT speeds. ahh well until, the contracts over :(

By: Putr.si

Putr.si — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:14:02 +0000

This excuse that lots of people using their net connections to it’s max potencial and as such slowing down everything is irevelant.
As i understand my contract betwen me and my ISP he (the isp) is boligated to alow me (in my case) 2Mbps/512 transfer speeds at all times. By throtoling the trafic they are breaking the contract. While they could include(or already have in some contracts) the fine print that you may not use bittorrent, or they could wave the copyright flag…. Throtoling encripted data (as there are loads of other things that are encripted), and sinc this is democracy I have the right to hide my personal information they can not throtle it. My knowlage of the law is limited but the basic princaple stands.
PS: Sorry for my bad english.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:02:50 +0000

yay formula 1 with handbrakes on firmly

By: burris

burris — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:49:01 +0000

@ 23 see the Virgin TM FAQ linked @3

By: www.10ch.org

www.10ch.org — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:40:26 +0000

@18 burris
If you would know any better, you would know that it is definitely not 0.5%. BitTorrent is more popular thank you think.

Roze

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:39:02 +0000

They already “limit” speeds at peak periods as part of an acceptable usage policy. but this is ridiculous

By: burris

burris — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:38:36 +0000

The resources used by THOSE customers is all out of proportion to the price they pay relative to the other 99.5%, even at the “top tier.” If THOSE customers are profitable why is the ISP smacking them down? Anyone with a modicum of business sense knows you don’t chase away profitable customers.