UPC Ultra changed to Extreme due to unfair usage

L31mr0d

Rulmeq wrote: »

Someone needs to make an example of these guys with their use of "unlimited" It either is or it isn't it can't be both.

"Man, that is flagrant false advertising!"



Don't even get me started on "The NeverEnding Story"


.

serarra

Jumpy wrote: »

I am on DSL, so its not the same, but 10% of the line use is assuming only 10 other people are using the same segment. You might find in some areas it is a lot more than that.
My Smart account is apparently uncontended, however assumptions are that it is about 24/1.
Try recalculating at a similar contention. Its a standard a lot of the ISPs use.
I dont think cable contention can be calculated like that though, I assume every segment is different, but there certainly isnt only going to be 10, unless you are lucky.

Cable is normally 20:1
Still, that would modify the maximum speed, not the bandwidth.
If more people share the same node, and all of them download at the maximum speed allowed on their contracts, the speed will be lower, as it has to be shared between all of them. Even so, the amount of data transferred at the end of the month would be MUCH higher than the 250gb (My calculations were done with a 10%. If you do it with a 1% (And that is below the legal limits, as it would be a contention ratio of 100:1, up to 50:1 is tolerable, less than that and you are better of with dial up) it would still be over 250Gb, it would be around 400Gb
And that only download.

vibe666

serarra wrote: »

In any case, I already downloaded tomato firmware and will install it in my router...

just out of curiosity what router do you have?

sorry, i'm just a curious geek.

angel01

What the hell are you guys downloading to be using so much? I have 15mb from UPC and have never had a problem, I guess I don't d/l a lot but I think their caps are quite fair bearing in mind the rest of the users.

vibe666

angel01 wrote: »

What the hell are you guys downloading to be using so much? I have 15mb from UPC and have never had a problem, I guess I don't d/l a lot but I think their caps are quite fair bearing in mind the rest of the users.

:rolleyes:
one more time for the self appointed internet police...

vibe666 wrote: »

there seems to be a bit of a problem here with people making the assumption that because THEY only use 'x' amount of bandwidth in a month that everyone else should too.

There are only two types of people here on this thread right now who have the 20/30mbps package with UPC. those who monitor their usage closely and keep it within the 250gb per month FUP on the ultra package and those who exceed it and are upgraded by UPC to the extreme package (without the 250gb FUP) at extra cost.

BOTH these types of user are paying for what they are using, so I don't see any legitimacy to any claims of bandwidth hogging here at all.

angel01

So why should my internet suffer because of people who can't stay within the designated caps??

cbr954

bastiges !! 120mb, 30mb, 20mb.. blah blah.. I'm in Bray and can't get upc. I'm sharing a crappy 3mb (2.4 according to speedtest) between 3 computers, xbox and ps3.

When / if upc is available, my landline, and tortoise slow dsl are gone. :mad:

vibe666

angel01 wrote: »

So why should my internet suffer because of people who can't stay within the designated caps??

who says it is?

i'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but if your speeds are suffering it is because of the way UPC run their network, not because of some misguided notion that you have that you are being robbed by your neighbours.

i'm going to spell it out again, so we're ALL clear.

broadband ultra = 250gb FUP €40+ quid a month

broadband extreme = no FUP* €80+ quid a month

picture these two scenario's:

• your next door neighbour could decides he wants to run an internet business tomorrow using 1tb of bandwidth a month and signs up for the BB extreme package, UPC will happily take is money and give him a connection on the same node as you.
  
• your next door neighbour develops an interest in every tv show and movie ever made and buys himself a giant 12tb NAS and wants to fill it ASAP so he downloads every single torrent he can find and consistently downloads 1tb per month for 12 months and is immediately moved onto the extreme package by UPC.

both of these scenario's have exactly the same effect on your connection because UPC is happy to take money off people at your expense and in both of them the user is working within the limits given to him by the ISP (i.e. no FUP on the extreme package).

*or FUP so high it's irrelevent, nobody actually seems to know for sure.

hightower1

vibe666 wrote: »

who says it is?

i'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but if your speeds are suffering it is because of the way UPC run their network, not because of some misguided notion that you have that you are being robbed by your neighbours.

i'm going to spell it out again, so we're ALL clear.

broadband ultra = 250gb FUP €40+ quid a month

broadband extreme = no FUP* €80+ quid a month

picture these two scenario's:

• your next door neighbour could decides he wants to run an internet business tomorrow using 1tb of bandwidth a month and signs up for the BB extreme package, UPC will happily take is money and give him a connection on the same node as you.
  
• your next door neighbour develops an interest in every tv show and movie ever made and buys himself a giant 12tb NAS and wants to fill it ASAP so he downloads every single torrent he can find and consistently downloads 1tb per month for 12 months and is immediately moved onto the extreme package by UPC.

both of these scenario's have exactly the same effect on your connection because UPC is happy to take money off people at your expense and in both of them the user is working within the limits given to him by the ISP (i.e. no FUP on the extreme package).

*or FUP so high it's irrelevent, nobody actually seems to know for sure.

You have to see that UPC dont actively sell nor advertise this and the only explanation they would not want to do this as they dont want people on this pack. i am pretty sure its not the extra money they wouldnt like but the use. Its a punishment plain and simple for yes.... being a bandwidth hog.

vibe666

hightower1 wrote: »

You have to see that UPC dont actively sell nor advertise this and the only explanation they would not want to do this as they dont want people on this pack. i am pretty sure its not the extra money they wouldnt like but the use. Its a punishment plain and simple for yes.... being a bandwidth hog.

NO, NO IT ISN'T and yet again you're just pulling stuff out of thin air to try and support your completely baseless arguments.

i can ring them up tomorrow and ask to be put onto the broadband extreme package and they'll do it, no questions asked.

it's not advertised because of the simple fact that the overwhelmingly vast majority of people wouldn't need it. therefore it's a waste of time advertising something that is only of use to a tiny minority of their customer base.

yet again, having to keep it simple for the people who yet again don't get it, if they didn't actually WANT people to use it THEY WOULDN'T SELL IT. :rolleyes:

if they didn't WANT people to wander over their invisible 250gb FUP from time to time they'd have a way for people to track their usage like every other ISP on the planet does so they can make sure they stick within those limits. it's very easy to do, even eircom can do it. :rolleyes:

there are many ways they could do it differently if they wanted to, with throttling, warning emails and/or cutting people off who repeatedly break the limits on the broadband ultra package but they don't do that, instead they upsell them to a higher priced product that makes them MORE MONEY from that customer, something which I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear ALL businesses consider a pretty high priority. :eek:

when I was with BT, they had a FUP of 100gb (download only, rolling 30 day limit) on their 7mbps broadband package and if i got close to that cap they would throttle me severely (to dialup speeds) and any time I went significantly over that cap they cut me off until my average usage dropped below that.

THAT is what you do if you don't want people to use more than the limits of the package that they have set out.

if on the other hand you create a whole new package especially for those people who do go over those limits and upsell them at the drop of a hat, you're just looking to make money.

incidentally, you'll see from the post on the previous page with my usage stats in it, I'm only downloading around 50% more on average per month than I was on my 7mbps (actually 4-5mbps was all I was getting) connection than I am now with a 30mbps connection, but since UPC count uploaded data as well as downloaded, it skews the stats significantly.

i'm going to say it again because certain people here REALLY do seem to have a lot of trouble understanding this despite how very simple it is.

upc are selling me a broadband package that allows me to use up to 250gb of bandwidth per month. that is what I am paying for. I'm not 'hogging' anything.

likewise if I was consistently using over 250gb per month on the extreme package, i would be using what I was paying for.

there are NO (none, zero, zilch, nada) bandwidth hogs with UPC, only paying customers using the bandwidth provided to them by the company, anyone stating otherwise is either a flat out liar or just totally ignorant of the plain and simple truth of the matter.

if anyone has a problem with that then take it up with UPC, it's THEIR policy.

hightower1

chill......out......breath.

serarra

vibe666 wrote: »

just out of curiosity what router do you have?

sorry, i'm just a curious geek.

Asus WL-500Gp

Moriarty

vibe666 wrote: »

NO, NO IT ISN'T and yet again you're just pulling stuff out of thin air to try and support your completely baseless arguments.

i can ring them up tomorrow and ask to be put onto the broadband extreme package and they'll do it, no questions asked.

it's not advertised because of the simple fact that the overwhelmingly vast majority of people wouldn't need it. therefore it's a waste of time advertising something that is only of use to a tiny minority of their customer base.

yet again, having to keep it simple for the people who yet again don't get it, if they didn't actually WANT people to use it THEY WOULDN'T SELL IT. :rolleyes:

if they didn't WANT people to wander over their invisible 250gb FUP from time to time they'd have a way for people to track their usage like every other ISP on the planet does so they can make sure they stick within those limits. it's very easy to do, even eircom can do it. :rolleyes:

there are many ways they could do it differently if they wanted to, with throttling, warning emails and/or cutting people off who repeatedly break the limits on the broadband ultra package but they don't do that, instead they upsell them to a higher priced product that makes them MORE MONEY from that customer, something which I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear ALL businesses consider a pretty high priority. :eek:

when I was with BT, they had a FUP of 100gb (download only, rolling 30 day limit) on their 7mbps broadband package and if i got close to that cap they would throttle me severely (to dialup speeds) and any time I went significantly over that cap they cut me off until my average usage dropped below that.

THAT is what you do if you don't want people to use more than the limits of the package that they have set out.

if on the other hand you create a whole new package especially for those people who do go over those limits and upsell them at the drop of a hat, you're just looking to make money.

incidentally, you'll see from the post on the previous page with my usage stats in it, I'm only downloading around 50% more on average per month than I was on my 7mbps (actually 4-5mbps was all I was getting) connection than I am now with a 30mbps connection, but since UPC count uploaded data as well as downloaded, it skews the stats significantly.

i'm going to say it again because certain people here REALLY do seem to have a lot of trouble understanding this despite how very simple it is.

upc are selling me a broadband package that allows me to use up to 250gb of bandwidth per month. that is what I am paying for. I'm not 'hogging' anything.

likewise if I was consistently using over 250gb per month on the extreme package, i would be using what I was paying for.

there are NO (none, zero, zilch, nada) bandwidth hogs with UPC, only paying customers using the bandwidth provided to them by the company, anyone stating otherwise is either a flat out liar or just totally ignorant of the plain and simple truth of the matter.

if anyone has a problem with that then take it up with UPC, it's THEIR policy.

vibe666

hightower1 wrote: »

chill......out......breath.

so no argument then?

glad we got that sorted finally.

slave1

eek, although there are some arguments from both sides - and I consider vibes point the most relevant - is this not all academic?

UPC have their terms prior to signup, we all know from secondhand knowledge that their limit is 250gig a month up/down.

Stick to the 250gig and you're fine, it's as simple as that really.

Be thankful we have the functionality to reach these limits, there are multiple posts here on poor guys stuck with woeful download speeds.

I take the simple approach of tracking my utorrent statistics and leaving myself 10gig for surfing and this works for me, if in doubt phone them.

If pissed off, then leave, although if you take the time to read through this forum I very much doubt the grass is greener, they're all variations of the same.

RangeR

slave1 wrote: »

eek, although there are some arguments from both sides - and I consider vibes point the most relevant - is this not all academic?

UPC have their terms prior to signup, we all know from secondhand knowledge that their limit is 250gig a month up/down.

Stick to the 250gig and you're fine, it's as simple as that really.

Be thankful we have the functionality to reach these limits, there are multiple posts here on poor guys stuck with woeful download speeds.

I take the simple approach of tracking my utorrent statistics and leaving myself 10gig for surfing and this works for me, if in doubt phone them.

If pissed off, then leave, although if you take the time to read through this forum I very much doubt the grass is greener, they're all variations of the same.

The crux of the problem is, if it's not in the contract, it's irrelevant. It doesn't matter if you know the FUP is 250GB, if it's not in the contract, how can you legally be bound by it?

The usage limit wasn't originally a usage limit, it was a download limit/ UPC then arbitrarily changed EVERYONE's contract at the drop of a hat. You can't just change a contract without agreement from both parties. UPC act with impunity.

matt-dublin

upgrade to their no fibre broadband.
http://www.upc.ie/broadband/

i don't see anything there about FUP and the usage limit on the 15 & 30Mb lines is none.

and i can't remember who posted earlier saying the max download on a 20Mb line was like 1.5Mb -> last night was pulling from microsoft @ approx 14.3Mbps (1.7MBps) so you're wrong.

UPC.ie wrote:

Section 3: Data Transfer Allowances, Excessive Use and Other Limitations
UPC broadband services are intended for normal recreational or educational use by individuals and families and our pricing and network architecture have been designed accordingly. The Services are strictly for residential use only - commercial use of any kind is prohibited. Customers who use the services more heavily than a normal home user will reduce the performance of the network for other customers.

Your monthly data transfer allowance depends upon which broadband package you have selected. The data transfer allowances for the various packages can be found at www.upc.ie. All monthly data transfer allowances refer to the cumulative amount of data uploaded and downloaded per month, unless otherwise specified in your particular package. For purposes of illustration only, 1 gigabyte downstream of data transfer equates to approximately 200 music tracks, 650 short videos, 10,000 pictures or around 100 large software programmes downloaded.

“Excessive use” of the Service is defined as usage exceeding your monthly data transfer allowance.

If you exceed your monthly data transfer allowance as determined by UPC, in our sole judgment, UPC may take any of the following actions, or any combination thereof:

Impose a charge of 3 cent per megabyte or part thereof for exceeding your data transfer limit; and/or Upgrade your package to a package with a higher data transfer limit with the corresponding higher monthly fee; and/or Downgrade your upload and download speed for a period of one month to dial-up speed, with your monthly fee remaining the same; and/or Suspend your access to the services for one month, with your monthly fee remaining the same; and/or Terminate your account as per the terms of the User Policy and UPC Terms and Conditions

no specific numbers there so they're tidied up their policies i think

vibe666

matt-dublin wrote: »

upgrade to their no fibre broadband.
http://www.upc.ie/broadband/

i don't see anything there about FUP and the usage limit on the 15 & 30Mb lines is none.

it's all still there in black and white (but mostly grey).

if you look at their conditions, it says "All broadband services are subject to our acceptable usage policy" and the AUP says they can basically do whatever they like with you, same as always.

their policy does appear to be getting more ambiguous though, stating that "there is no monthly usage cap for Fibre Power Broadband 15Mb or 30Mb"

Capt'n Midnight

dub45 wrote: »

One would expect that a company of integrity would ensure that all potential costs were made known to the customer - there are a number of areas in which UPC notably fail to do this - the present instance being a good example.

RyanAir taxes and charges ?
Every mobile phone company ?
Every contract offered as 3 months free like SKY ?
Per person sharing pricing for hotel rooms ?

A huge amount of advertising/marketing is geared to ensure that all potential costs are NOT clearly presented to the customer

IHMO ads must include the minimum cost of the minimum term of the contract in the same font and at least half the size of the headline cost (also colours must be just as visible)

dub45

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

RyanAir taxes and charges ?
Every mobile phone company ?
Every contract offered as 3 months free like SKY ?
Per person sharing pricing for hotel rooms ?

I am not quite sure what your point here is? The thread is about UPC and I never inferred they were the only guilty ones. Given the rest of your post you are hardly subscribing to the sycophantic irrational nonsense that is regularly perpetrated on here where the lousy behaviour of one company is used to justify the lousy behaviour of another?

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

A huge amount of advertising/marketing is geared to ensure that all potential costs are NOT clearly presented to the customer

Again that is not news to anyone that has half a brain and is a sad reflection on the Companies concerned and the supposed regulatory authorities

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

IHMO ads must include the minimum cost of the minimum term of the contract in the same font and at least half the size of the headline cost (also colours must be just as visible)

Again I would agree totally with you and add in a lot more too (for example I think that UPC's behaviour in relation to upgrading people to the so called punishment product is highly questionable to put it as charitably as possible)

However you could have the most benign and customer friendly Terms and Conditions in the world but they would be useless if the company concerned doesnt practise them and if there is no external authority to enforce them which is exactly the situation we find ourselves in.

Even where their own Terms and Conditions are explicit UPC ignore them, as it suits. as in their behaviour in relation to the notification of the recent price increases. And not only their own T&C's - they also ignore the most basic terms of the Direct Debit scheme.( in my direct experience.)

They know that they can do what they like because there is no one to take them on.

It is appalling that so few people are concerned that this shower have accumulated so much power in relation to the future of the internet in the main cities of Ireland.

dub45

RangeR wrote: »

The crux of the problem is, if it's not in the contract, it's irrelevant. It doesn't matter if you know the FUP is 250GB, if it's not in the contract, how can you legally be bound by it?

The trouble is there is no one to take them on and they know this.

RangeR wrote: »

The usage limit wasn't originally a usage limit, it was a download limit/ UPC then arbitrarily changed EVERYONE's contract at the drop of a hat. You can't just change a contract without agreement from both parties. UPC act with impunity.

Indeed!

AlmightyCushion

RangeR wrote: »

The crux of the problem is, if it's not in the contract, it's irrelevant. It doesn't matter if you know the FUP is 250GB, if it's not in the contract, how can you legally be bound by it?

The usage limit wasn't originally a usage limit, it was a download limit/ UPC then arbitrarily changed EVERYONE's contract at the drop of a hat. You can't just change a contract without agreement from both parties. UPC act with impunity.

This is the problem I have. There is nothing legally stopping them from changing that 250GB to 20GB or even less that that if they like. And for anyone who says people will see it as a target, eircom advertise their limits and don't have this problem and they don't even bother enforcing them.

dub45

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

This is the problem I have. There is nothing legally stopping them from changing that 250GB to 20GB or even less that that if they like. And for anyone who says people will see it as a target, eircom advertise their limits and don't have this problem and they don't even bother enforcing them.

Comreg actually have a clear policy on this but of course it is not enforced!!

http://www.askcomreg.ie/home/my_service_provider_has_advertised_an_%22unlimited_package%22___what_does_this_mean_for_me.5.154.LE.asp

Internet

My Service Provider has advertised an "unlimited package" - what does this mean for me?

A number of telephone and broadband packages being offered are described as ‘unlimited’. In this context the word ‘unlimited’ would normally be taken to mean that a subscriber, having agreed to pay a set price, may make as many calls or spend as much time online as he or she wishes. However, some service contracts qualify the meaning of ‘unlimited’ by stating that it is subject to an ‘acceptable’ or ‘fair’ level of use by the subscriber. This is referred to as a “fair usage policy” in some advertising.

ComReg would like to advise consumers that any provision of a contract which sets usage thresholds, or describes what constitutes ‘fair’ or ‘acceptable’ use, should be clear and unambiguous, particularly where the service is described as being ‘unlimited’.

Usage thresholds or limits should be clearly set out, as should the manner in which they may be updated or amended.

ComReg expects each service provider to implement a clear, transparent and policy for dealing with customer usage above any set thresholds. The policy should set out the rules for contract termination, including penalties, the charges that shall apply for any use above the threshold/limit, and the policy regarding migration of the customer to other packages, if applicable.

ComReg advises consumers to carefully read the terms and conditions of their contracts and to be aware of the particular limits or thresholds that apply before purchasing.

The bold emphasis is mine. This policy effectively rules out a limited 'unlimited' package as it explicitly requires 'thresholds or limits' to be 'clearly' set out.

dub45

matt-dublin wrote: »

upgrade to their no fibre broadband.
http://www.upc.ie/broadband/

i don't see anything there about FUP and the usage limit on the 15 & 30Mb lines is none.

and i can't remember who posted earlier saying the max download on a 20Mb line was like 1.5Mb -> last night was pulling from microsoft @ approx 14.3Mbps (1.7MBps) so you're wrong.



no specific numbers there so they're tidied up their policies i think

Not so!

From http://www.upc.ie/broadband/thirty/ under the Conditions tab.

there is no monthly usage cap for Fibre Power Broadband 15Mb or 30Mb. All broadband services are subject to our acceptable usage policy

From http://www.upc.ie/termsandconditions/acceptableusagepolicy/ section 3

Your monthly data transfer allowance depends upon which broadband package you have selected. The data transfer allowances for the various packages can be found at www.upc.ie.

The last sentence is of course untrue. As the 250 figure is not mentioned anywhere and a user must presumably guess what it is to comply with the acceptable usage policy.

The acceptable usage policy declares itself to be part of the Terms and Conditions:

This User Policy has been created to promote the integrity, security, reliability and privacy of the UPC systems and networks and form part of the legally binding Terms and Conditions,

Interesting that they are 'legally' binding - I wonder how that would stand up to scrutiny?

Further on then you have this nonsense:

Section 2: Modification of User Policy

UPC retains the right to amend, modify or substitute this User Policy at any time and we will notify you in writing 30 days in advance of doing so if the modification, amendment or substitution constitutes a material change to the Terms and Conditions of the Services.

rapidly contradicted within a few lines by this!

you should check this User Policy regularly as we may change it to take on board new issues that may arise in connection with your use of the Services or the way we provide the Services. The most up to date version of the User Policy will apply to your use of the Services, even if you have not read the updated version.

So on the one hand they are stating that they will inform customers of any changes and on the other hand they are requiring you to visit the website regularly to check for changes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Given that they do not date these terms and conditions how would anyone note any changes unless they printed off a copy and regularly check against what is on the website at any particular time?

How can anyone take a company like this seriously?:rolleyes:

vibe666

dub45 wrote: »

The last sentence is of course untrue. As the 250 figure is not mentioned anywhere and a user must presumably guess what it is to comply with the acceptable usage policy.

do we even know if they're still sticking with the 250gb FUP since the 30mbps upgrades?

obviously, given that I've gone out of my way to keep within their 250gb FUP myself, I don't want to be the one to break it.

Anti

angel01 wrote: »

What the hell are you guys downloading to be using so much? I have 15mb from UPC and have never had a problem, I guess I don't d/l a lot but I think their caps are quite fair bearing in mind the rest of the users.

24/7 torrenting, rapidsharing, megauploading etc etc.

And this whole attitude to people going over 250gb a month is a load of bollocks. If UPC are happy for me to average out over 700gigs a month then the internet police can stfu.

angel01

Anti wrote: »

24/7 torrenting, rapidsharing, megauploading etc etc.

And this whole attitude to people going over 250gb a month is a load of bollocks. If UPC are happy for me to average out over 700gigs a month then the internet police can stfu.

To be honest, I wouldn't have sympathy for usage like that.

vibe666

angel01 wrote: »

To be honest, I wouldn't have sympathy for usage like that.

why would he need your sympathy at all?

if he's using that much bandwidth regularly he's paying UPC for the extreme package which specifically allows him to do that and if he's paying his ISP specifically for the ability to do that who are you to question it?

if you want to have sympathy for someone, direct it towards the poor deluded saps downloading only 10gb a month on the 20-30mbps package because they think they need it. :rolleyes:

a 30mbps internet connection is there for one reason and that is for HEAVY internet use.

if I wanted to, I could download over 250gb in a month (without counting uploaded data) using a 1mbps connection (about 300gb flat out 24/7 for 30 days). with a 30mbps connection, assuming you could get full speed 24/7 that could be as much as 9 terabytes in 30 days.

if you use the internet a lot and actually know what to use it for, 250gb (inc.uploaded data) for an entire household is actually not very much at all.

right now, there are 8 internet connected PC's (desktops & laptops) in my house, a NAS, 3 games consoles and 2 mobile phones that all use my internet connection and 250gb per month up & down is not very much at all.

Moriarty

vibe666 wrote: »

if you want to have sympathy for someone, direct it towards the poor deluded saps downloading only 10gb a month on the 20-30mbps package because they think they need it. :rolleyes:

a 30mbps internet connection is there for one reason and that is for HEAVY internet use.

That's a ridiculous thing to say.

A lot (read: far more than your "no one") of people would prefer that anything they do choose to download gets downloaded quickly. Most people's concern isn't with massive leech queues and how much they can download, it's that whatever they do choose to download comes down quickly.

Quite often these people don't download any more than a regular user of <50gb/month, but they make full use of their 30mbit connection.

Trying to cloud debate around download amounts by somehow trying to tie it to connection bandwidth is facetious and also obviously just incorrect.

hightower1

Moriarty wrote: »

That's a ridiculous thing to say.

A lot (read: far more than your "no one") of people would prefer that anything they do choose to download gets downloaded quickly. Most people's concern isn't with massive leech queues and how much they can download, it's that whatever they do choose to download comes down quickly.

Quite often these people don't download any more than a regular user of <50gb/month, but they make full use of their 30mbit connection.

Trying to cloud debate around download amounts by somehow trying to tie it to connection bandwidth is facetious and also obviously just incorrect.

Lol hold on moriarty I think Vibe could be on to something....

cap is 250....
Using this to the last mb per month causes bandwidth issues for everyone else on that line....
BUT its ok as he's paid for it...
He's doing nothing wrong so the only way to solve things like this is for UPC to lower the hammer on the cap!! Good idea. Lower the cap upc! That way we can still use what we pay for to the last drop getting value for money and not effect other users bandwidth wise.



See what vibe doesnt get is that caps arent easily accessible as they arent very realistic for month to month use, if they are listed for all to see some types then see it as a target to reach every month, this then leads to loss of bandwadth and forces ISP's to drop the cap, word of mouth spreads that something's gone down and regardless of if anyone really got near the cap per month its still negative.


A cap of 250 a month is great, but its not realistically meant to be used month after month, realistically around 100gb per month wouldnt cause bandwidth issues BUT the 250 cap is handy if you need for some reason to use it all in one month then back to normal.

So an ISP has 2 options.... put a high cap, review average bandwidth use on the network and see that 250 is great cause its a good sales line, its good for the customer as it allows a buffer run zone from the average use also.....

Or they have to assume that people start using every bit of the cap per month and then realize that 250 per month is completely unworkable and then have to lower the cap for everyone.


Anyone work their tech salt as it were would immediately realize that if every single subscriber on the upc network started using all of their cap per month for only one month together the network simply could not handle this (let alone the bandwidth being so bottlenecked it'd be impossible to do).No network in Ireland and very few in the world could handle every subscriber doing this. So yup they are breaking no contractual agreement and are truly using a feature of their connection they pay for to the last ..... but they have also screwed their own ISP and will force them to respond by lowering the cap in future. Good idea alright, brainstorm.