• #125
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    By: haiku This person is cool! x Show Full Post
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    Virgin just launched this campaign 5 minutes ago http://www.stopthebroadbandcon.org/

    This mostly pertains to UK internet users, but I think they are going to try and make a bigger thing of it. It comes down to how broadband speeds are advertised, as a lot of companies use "up to" and then can't achieve anywhere close to their "up to" speeds.

    It's also particularly interesting from an advertising standpoint. Virgin wants to get all ISPs to fundamentally change how speeds are advertised. Obviously, they can actually fulfill on what they offer so this would benefit them more than any other ISP.

    Of course all I care about is that they linked to my dumb website, but this will start showing up in the tech news world and it could impact what you actually pay for.
    Nov 17, 2010 5:20pm PST
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    Virgin just launched this campaign 5 minutes ago http://www.stopthebroadbandcon.org/ This mostly perta... : haikuThis person is cool!

    Thread Truncated. Click to see all 160 replies.

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      Isn't this the same group pushing for tiered internet? : Robotic Puppy Eater
      • Virgin Broadband? Not that I know of. They seem to be all about getting the UK to 100mbit with no caps. : haikuThis person is cool!
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      my coworker was just bitching this week that he got a 3rd party ISP (here in Toronto, you can choose from... : boring gegtik
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        I've been overseas and have bought a bunch of those mobile broadband USB keys from a few providers like S... : haikuThis person is cool!
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          so what's speedtest's biggest competitor? : boring gegtik
          • We don't have any, really. You could say the Speakeasy Speed Test is the 2nd most used test on the web, b... : haikuThis person is cool!
          • dancing with the stars : MorginThis person is cool!
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        My friend here in TO used to have Bell 5mbps service. It only achieved 3mbps. Being an EE he borrowed som... : terath
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          Teksavvy is going to get mucho expensive in the near future. : Super Sparker
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            Why is that? : terath
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              The CRTC ruled in favour of Bell and Rogers in charging for bandwidth usage caps for ISPs that resell the... : TwiLyghtThis person is cool!
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                I thought that ruling only affected Bell. Sad to hear that rogers in included too. :( : terath
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                  The CRTC UBB ruling is only for Bell and its resellers. Teksavvy cable is safe (for now). : JarEme
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                    Teksavvy is a Bell reseller basically everywhere except Toronto though. : JarEme
                    • ^^ This. They'll still have some leeway as their 'unlimited' plans will get grandfathered in, but Bell w... : Haxim
      • Yeah they "cleverly" get by this by saying speeds "up to" xxMBps. : gokwyjibo
    • Wow, go Virgin. I'd love to see the companies have to actually be up front as far as what the speeds you'... : ColoradoCNC
    • fuck bandwidth, kill metering. : yakzThis person is cool!
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      the ISPs that I've had dealings with always tell me as long as your getting up to 80% of the advertised s... : redfiveThis person is cool!
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        Expecting 80% of target speed is acceptable, but making that a policy for support is pretty unacceptable.... : haikuThis person is cool!
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          well they would go through the troubleshooting steps but they wouldn't roll a truck : redfiveThis person is cool!
          • so basically unplug modem and ensure you are computer -> modem with no splitters in the way : redfiveThis person is cool!
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            That is probably reasonable though. At some point, what else can they really do but bring in new fiber to... : haikuThis person is cool!
            • yeah I had no problems with it because I was just calling to make sure that they had no known issues befo... : redfiveThis person is cool!
        • Why don't they just do the most logical thing, and make that 80% value the advertised speed? Marketing, : JozhGoober
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        Hmm, I do support for a DSL company and ... well, first of all I completely agree with your stance on tha... : raijaThis person is cool!
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          It could be the Speed Tests being over HTTP* and having the overhead of a TCP window, and of course they ... : haikuThis person is cool!
          • Sorry got lazy and left. I think you pretty much nailed it with the TCP window. The company I work for do... : raijaThis person is cool!
    • I had to sell Broadband when I used to work for O2 in the UK. We always advertised speeds as up to 8meg o... : -JLN-
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      Could we also get a campaign to force hard disk manufacturers to use 1024 bytes to a MB, instead of this ... : JozhGoober
      • Seriously, I hate that shit. : EcksThis person is cool!
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      Are all ISPs priced similarly in the UK? Virgin offers some awesome prices: $40 for 50Mb down. I have : FlamingGimp
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        my take on the 50mb down is useless when you have a cap in place. That's like having a Ferrari in rush h... : redfiveThis person is cool!
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          Why do you say that? A cap is only relevant over a long horizon of time. If you hit 250gigs of transfer f... : haikuThis person is cool!
          • I guess I'm saying that you will really only realize the full 50mb when you are downloading and staying a... : redfiveThis person is cool!
          • I'd say it depends on how the cap is enforced as to whether the rush hour or finite tank metaphors are ri... : scanlineThis person is cool!
        • Virgin don't have caps in the normal sense. Instead if you download a certain amount during peak times yo... : BeadyThis person is cool!
    • haha. i've never even looked at this kind of thing before. i get about 12.28 down, and 1.87 up. That....d... : mindmannThis person is cool!
    • Thank god for fios. On a 25/15 plan I always get 25.5 down and see 23-24 up with the extra fluff they gi... : ant_hillbilly
    • Isn't Virgin the most complicit UK ISP in handing over their users' data to the government and media mono... : Albemuth
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      How many people here actually get (or get close to) the advertised speeds for their plan? I seem to be... : FlamingGimp
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        Up to 8mb advertised but is 1 - 1.5mb on O2 UK ISP. They wont/cant do anything about it and use the excus... : Viprime
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          Is there anyone else to switch to? That is just fucked. : MacemanInTW
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            Yeah, access to 3-4 other ISPs but they all give the same 1.5mb speed :( : Viprime
            • :( indeed : MacemanInTW
      • 97.5% of advertised speed, up/down. : memThis person is cool!
      • Speedtest tells me I get the speeds I pay for with uverse. : twifosp
      • Advertised: 25/25 Actual: 30/25 Mood: booyaw : delataurThis person is cool!
      • Pretty much 95-100%. : headbone
      • Advertised: 20/20 http://www.speedtest.net/result/1034890541.png Although I can guarantee that a lot ... : nakedsavageThis person is cool!
      • 15/5 advertised.. getting 30/25 : wurt
      • I get with in half a mpbs of the 12mpbs rated. : NexusOneThis person is cool!
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        I do, with FIOS. : GoncynThis person is cool!
        • Well, I used to. I just ran a speed test and things are out of whack. Download is faster than I'm paying ... : GoncynThis person is cool!
      • 15/3 advertised, i get 12.8/1.87 : mindmannThis person is cool!
      • I regularly get my cap. : spazzium
      • I signed up for 6/1 and I pretty much get 6/1 : PointlesS76
      • I wasn't for the longest time, but the day the government rolled out their speedtest site my stuff jumped... : riptydeThis person is cool!
      • I do with Comcast, though not very populated area. : sanchezThis person is cool!
      • I get more than I pay for. : edgewiseThis person is cool!
      • On At&t DSL I always got less (1.5 vs 2.0). On comcast cable internet, I always get more (21.0 vs 18.0) : IHATEDUST
      • 100% I'm on Virgin : BeadyThis person is cool!
      • 20/10 all the time : synapse19
      • Yep I have no problem reaching 99.99% of my speed, though there are times where sites obviously don't giv... : ovrlrdThis person is cool!
      • I'd say I generally get between 10 and 50% of my advertised speed. : BlackCat9This person is cool!
    • I had Virgin broadband for about ten years and it was pretty much faultless. Speeds attained were those a... : ShekkyBoyThis person is cool!
    • I just used your stupid website and it told me 16.45/4.9, not too shabby since this computer is on a piec... : gmdThis person is cool!
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      I don't think your site is dumb. : not work safeThis person is cool!
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        what a good friend : haikuThis person is cool!
        • I have my faults as a friend, but I have always believed in Ookla. : not work safeThis person is cool!
    • I honestly don't know what I am paying for anymore with charter. The service is pretty good and they u... : stgdzThis person is cool!
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      It slays me how many people think speedtest.net is a reliable indicator of their internet speed though, i... : abrasionThis person is cool!
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        How isn't it? : haikuThis person is cool!
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          People should first of all be finding the sync speed of the modem (which the ISP can provide) They shoul : abrasionThis person is cool!
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            hahah, wtf abrasion, you kill me. The average person doesn't want to run metrics on their modem + 20 w... : MagicWishMonkey
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              Well yeah that's right, it does give a good rough indication overall but it's certainly not fucking scien... : abrasionThis person is cool!
              • Do you really think edge cases that happen .0001% of the time are worth worrying about? : MagicWishMonkey
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            I didn't know what I was expecting when I asked you to clarify. It's like I just signed up for this websi... : haikuThis person is cool!
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              You asked - you got an answer, the correct one. I think your site is very good, I don't think it's a ... : abrasionThis person is cool!
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                if speedtest.net is quick and rough, holy shit, we'll need NASA to develop and implement an accurate one : DownforceThis person is cool!
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                  I'm not complaining it's bad, are people putting words in my mouth again? I'm just more surprised at ho : abrasionThis person is cool!
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                    I like how your argument went from "many people" to "seemingly technical nerd types" so quickly, and sudd... : kill9This person is cool!
                    • It slays me how many people}b on this site think speedtest.net is a reliable indicator of their internet : abrasionThis person is cool!
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              I mean... motherfucking god damn abrasion. MIT, Stanford, Cambridge, and a ton of other top schools a... : haikuThis person is cool!
              • this is probably my favorite post on shacknews. : jipeyThis person is cool!
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                Speedtest needs more science, if he's going to take it seriously. Maybe you should put a hamster in a ... : MagicWishMonkey
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                  I demand pictures of Ookla in a lapcoat. : mindmannThis person is cool!
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                    It would be physically impossible to get something like that on the cat without wearing Kevlar and tranqu... : haikuThis person is cool!
                    • a photoshop would do. =( : mindmannThis person is cool!
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                Haiku is an OG abrasion, don't fuck with him. : h o s t i l e
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                  I'm not fucking with him, I'm telling him how it is, he has his opinion I have mine. I'll be ridiculed a... : abrasionThis person is cool!
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                    I don't really have an opinion so much as I have an international brand that is backed up by world class ... : haikuThis person is cool!
                    • but, that's just like, your opinion, man. : mindmannThis person is cool!
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                      It has limitations on what it can do reliably if it's not hosted directly at the ISP. For example speed... : abrasionThis person is cool!
                      • So what you're saying is that someone should test the speed of your internet connection by testing the sp... : sgtsanity
                      • Testing your connection speed in a "real world" environment is the only useful measurement of your connec... : ArBThis person is cool!
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                        What test other than speedtest.net are you using to determine this 10 to 18 number? : nakedsavageThis person is cool!
                        • 14 to 18, rather. : nakedsavageThis person is cool!
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                        Speed test tells me exactly what my bottlenecks are, so turns out your 1 data point is canceled out by my... : twifosp
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                          http://www.speedtest.net/result/1034949286.png I pay for 18/1.5 and this box is on a shitty usb wirele... : twifosp
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                            http://www.speedtest.net/result/1034952366.png Even better is that I get 95% of that on a server half ... : twifosp
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                              sorry, did you write down the sync speed of your modem first? : haikuThis person is cool!
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                                Yes, but I'm stuck on the conversion rate, I'm having trouble dividing by the square of the cosine : twifosp
                                • Ok fuck this speedtest thing, I'm only getting 4/1.5 from Australia. http://www.speedtest.net/result/... : twifosp
                              • He needs the modem with the bigger GEE BEES. : spazzium
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                      If I didn't think you had a thicker skin, I might think that you were on the verge of a Mr. Longhair mome... : Stoned Gargoyle
                      • Please. This isn't about my ego. I have nothing to do with how good the tech is. It's not like I engineer... : haikuThis person is cool!
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                      Haiku, why are you engaging in this? Honestly. :[ : jessipooThis person is cool!
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                        Oh that's easy, it's because I'm a fucking idiot. And I'm having a hard time figuring something out and s... : haikuThis person is cool!
                        • That's a really bad reason. Next time try drugs. Words about words about words about words. Bytes. : jessipooThis person is cool!
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                          i think a haiku/abrasion boxing match/ make out session is in order.....followed by the finest wines know... : BorzoiThis person is cool!
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                            I'm not joking when I say most of the girls here could beat me - I've already encountered Alice and I wou... : abrasionThis person is cool!
                            • i bet Alice is a strapping lass. : BorzoiThis person is cool!
                  • OPINIONS. You know who else had an opinion? Hitler people who thought that the heat would beat the bul : MorginThis person is cool!
                  • never change : acheronThis person is cool!
                  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9DCafQqHJA : RyDogg1This person is cool!
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                I'm surprised Cisco would even consider that, it's a third party site. Unless speedtest is your actual ... : abrasionThis person is cool!
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                  Abrasion, let me try to help. Haiku's stuff isn't there to tell you exactly where the bottleneck in your... : spazzium
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                    Jesus christ lord almighty fucking god in heaven jesus ( lmao) Abrasion, let me try to help. Haiku's s : abrasionThis person is cool!
                    • haha "cronies" : EvilDolemiteThis person is cool!
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                      Your original post: It slays me how many people think speedtest.net is a reliable indicator of their inte : haikuThis person is cool!
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                        Forget about that guy for a second, I have some questions kinda related, but less hostile that the Aussie... : Goto10
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                          Most ISPs host their own speed test (a licensed version of the speedtest.net testing engine, but hosted o... : haikuThis person is cool!
                          • Yeah I just remembered that some ISP's do use your tools, just not my podunk one which is actually decent... : Goto10
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                        See my first response to him which better clarifies what my initial point was. If you want to jump all ... : abrasionThis person is cool!
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                          If your first post was a clarification, then it was a really shitty one abrasion. We're talking about the... : haikuThis person is cool!
                          • /me goes to register localsyncloop.net : das_runtThis person is cool!
                • I think you're missing the point, abrasion. Speedtest is a real world measure of performance. I couldn'... : twifosp
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                  They must know something you don't. : not work safeThis person is cool!
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                    they know the entire internet is not one hop away, so why test as such. GG : DownforceThis person is cool!
                    • The speed you experience browsing crudely depends on your connection into the local backbone, the hops ac... : jcupittThis person is cool!
                • So it's your opinion that some of the largest research institutions and networking corporations in the wo... : nakedsavageThis person is cool!
              • Don't argue with abrasion, he is an IT Professional. : DianeOfTheMoon
              • CLEAR is rolling out in NYC right now and they have a bunch of little CLEAR trucks set up at major stops,... : yoonixThis person is cool!
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            You're making some assumptions about last mile that isn't always true. Second, what good is a connection... : xylothan
            • Hahaha, I remember one of the local dial-up ISP's we were using back in the old days. Half the time we w... : spazzium
          • tee hee heeeeeee :D What are you doing? : Goto10
      • no it's not abrasion. : moshmanThis person is cool!
      • i speedtest with localhost. my internet is fucking awesome! : synapse19
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      So there is a big hole in the map right of St. Paul/Mpls, MN. I work at a datacenter/isp. Going to check ... : NexusOneThis person is cool!
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        That hole in the map might only be temporary. The servers are checked constantly and if they aren't perfo... : haikuThis person is cool!
        • Cool, 10 megabit would not even register on our regular sustained throughput graph (between 500 and 800MB... : NexusOneThis person is cool!
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      internet companies have been struggling for years how to explain speeds to customers. they've been using ... : rtrson
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        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNaR6FRuO0 : Serpico74This person is cool!
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          I've been trying to get that sound out of my head for a decade now : ColoradoCNC
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            Here's for another ten years! : Serpico74This person is cool!
            • As have I. Sadly we now have a peice of equipment here that makes a nearly identical sound...for no reas... : MacemanInTW
      • Because "speed" isn't the only variable. Hell, I've never actually seen an ISP advertise speed, only band... : InfoBiterThis person is cool!
      • Struggling? More like confusing customers. Most people wont understand the difference between bits and by... : sanchezThis person is cool!
    • just curious, does speednet take in any consideration for "burst" speeds? my isp always comes out much ... : crustThis person is cool!
    • Congrats : Godhatesfatpeople
    • Speedtest always underreports my speed, but if I do a multithreaded download I'll max the connection easi... : BeadyThis person is cool!
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      Why isn't there an Amsterdam speedtest.net server? At least as far as I can see - the closest option is U... : Maarten GoldsteinThis person is cool!
      • the closest (good) one to me is in Austria. Rubbish! Haiku should quit : moshmanThis person is cool!
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      I would say in defence of other UK ISPs that while they use "up to" in their advertising, they always run... : peanut-This person is cool!
      • Didn't the test become best practice though because so many were being over sold on the possible speed? : scanlineThis person is cool!
    • fios, dc area. http://www.speedtest.net/result/1035202200.png not too fucking bad. 30/15 : xxiv
    • 15.7 Up 8.79 down. Is that good? : theghostofsmdever
    • 18.72mpbs download 3.03mpbs upload paying for 30mbps download speed at 65 euro a month 200gig cap ... : okellycThis person is cool!