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Virgin Business Broadband

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    Virgin Business Broadband

    Anyone use them? Anyone know the prices?

    I have broadband at home through them, but wondered about shifting to a business account. Since I want to upgrade to their 100MB speed, it might become worthwhile to shift it over.

    Website just says to call them to discuss prices,but I thought I'd ask the CUK collective if they have any experience.
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    #2
    I've used them extensively before I moved - no caps and good uptime, but they might want you to sign 2 year contract or something and take phone line.

    Would certainly recommend for heavy usage - experience might not be as good though it you are in NTLhell territory rather than good old Telewest.

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      #3
      Ta.

      Don't mind a two year contract too much, but not interested in phone line, as it never gets used.

      We're too far from the exchange (or whatever it needs to be) to get a decent connection speed otherwise - 4 to 9 Mbps whereas Virgin has just upgraded the area to 100Mbps cable.
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        #4
        Often wondered about cable, checker says im in the area but there's deffo no cable down the street, it's a private road to albeit I'm only a few meters down it.

        They do traffic shape tho, don't they?

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          #5
          Originally posted by stek View Post
          Often wondered about cable, checker says im in the area but there's deffo no cable down the street, it's a private road to albeit I'm only a few meters down it.

          They do traffic shape tho, don't they?
          It depends on what package you are on about whether they throttle or not.

          They certainly throttle P2P traffic, as I found out when I needed to download the latest Linux release and my speed dropped to <0.5Mbps. Killed the torrent and it went back to normal.

          VPN traffic is not throttled, so I connected to VPN and torrented through there with no problems.

          Considering that in 2008 their CEO said that net neutrality was "a load of bollocks" (source), it's hardly surprising.
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            #6
            Business cable that I used up to end of 2010 did not traffic shape when it was rife on all other accounts. Maybe it's changed now.

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              #7
              Originally posted by TheFaQQer View Post
              I have broadband at home through them, but wondered about shifting to a business account. Since I want to upgrade to their 100MB speed, it might become worthwhile to shift it over.
              Depend why you want to switch. Business accounts arent traffic managed, but you still share a line, so an excess of users can still cause issues, although you do have guaranteed limits and sla's.

              If you wanted a truly reliable line, going on the border of excessive or obsessive, you could get a dedicated line but they quoted me £8k pa back in december, BT only wanted half that. The good thing about that though, is you're the only user and have full rights for resale.







              Originally posted by stek View Post
              Often wondered about cable, checker says im in the area but there's deffo no cable down the street, it's a private road to albeit I'm only a few meters down it.
              Sometimes, they may be willing to hook you up if you live near the main road. They might run it along the base of the wall and through your garden from the main road. Call and ask, if they umm and ahh, send a signed list of all the residents on the private road, asking them to service the properties.

              The problem they ran in to years ago, is in many areas, they have lists of people who have petitioned for cable to be installed, ready and waiting customers, but the council wont grant them permission to dig up the roads/pavements at a cost effective price. In my mothers area, they are aware hundreds of people want the service but the council refuses them permission every time they apply.

              Being on a private road eradicates that complication. All they need is the permission of the road owner or the residents if its shared ownership.







              Originally posted by stek View Post
              They do traffic shape tho, don't they?
              Everyone does, so dont be under any illusions some dont. Virgin is actually one of the nicer providers in this retrospect.

              Traffic shaping should never affect anyone, if it does, you cant use the internet properly. All virgin seem to shape is torrenting protocols.

              Traffic management is a different matter. Most providers have a fair use agreement, virgin is no different. On the M, L 10meg, L 20meg, XL 30meg, they all have download and upload restrictions 9am-3pm and 4pm-9pm. If you torrent, then set up the scheduler and limit the bandwith in your torrent client to make sure you dont go over your limit, if you do, your speed gets cut down to a quarter and the ping rate shoots through the roof, making your connection very sluggish.

              On the XXL 50meg, they dont impose any down/up limits during peak times.







              Originally posted by TheFaQQer View Post
              VPN traffic is not throttled, so I connected to VPN and torrented through there with no problems.
              This is what I meant above. If you torrent through a client through your normal connection, you should go back to school and learn how to use the internet, also, you should follow legal developments. Even though in your case, you used it legally, most dont though. Glad to see someone having the common sense to use a vpn though.

              It is perfectly reasonable for any provider, which most do, to shape traffic in the efforts to eradicate torrenting. They have a legal responsibility to make all reasonable attempts to stop illegal behaviour on their network. Why would any individual want their ISP to see exactly what they are doing at all times by not at least making the basic attempt to encrypt your data through their network?

              Since the digital rights bill, a couple of years ago, there has been a bigger crackdown and it will get worse. Everyone should use a VPN provided by a country like sweden or canada that decriminalises piracy. Using one to most other countries is worthless. Otherwise one opens themselves up to infringement letters and later, life ending lawsuits.

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                #8
                Be (my current provider) don't throttle or traffic-shape, been a happy customer for five years, just having a look around, the incessant BT Infinity calls do start to wear you down.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I used Be also since start, very good - moved closer to exchange and getting 6 Mbits from Sky ffs

                  BT Infinity would win my vote though assuming traffic limits are good.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by stek View Post
                    Be (my current provider) don't throttle or traffic-shape, been a happy customer for five years, just having a look around, the incessant BT Infinity calls do start to wear you down.
                    Originally posted by AtW View Post
                    I used Be also since start, very good - moved closer to exchange and getting 6 Mbits from Sky ffs

                    BT Infinity would win my vote though assuming traffic limits are good.
                    My exchange isnt an asdl2 one, no point in dsl at 6meg.

                    So do you guys have an asdl exchange? Are you getting near the 24meg or whatever it is Be advertise?



                    Every sky customer Ive known, tends to find after a while that their equipment (router) starts dropping forcing a power reset or the line drops .... Sounds like a massive pain in the arse ..

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