Topic: 2Mb or not 2Mb - that is the question!

[Simon]

I recently upgraded my Pipex connection to the unlimited 1Mb service, which is at no extra cost to the original 512Kb service I had previously.  However I was delighted when I rebooted my PC, and when it connected, the bubble in XP showed that I was connected at 2.2Mbps!!  It also states this in the status screen for the connection, so I have been duely gloating about this, especially as I was only paying for a 1Mb connection.  

However, I have just done a speed test with ADSL Guide, and it came up thus:-  

Downstream     1084 Kbps (135.5 KB/sec)     1170 Kbps (inc. overheads)
Upstream           241 Kbps (30.1 KB/sec)        260 Kbps (inc. overheads)

It therefore seems that I do only have the 1Mb connection that I asked for, but why am I being told by Windows that it's connected at 2.2Mbps?

[Camstop]

I don't think you can go by the 2.2 in the box as i'm sure that means not higher than  :?


My router says..>>>

DownStream Connection Speed     2272 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed    288 kbps

The best speed i can get this morning is..>>>

Speed Achieved (kbps)    1916.1

But the funny thing is, yours would not be that fast if it was only 1Mbps     :wink:

[Clive]

Hold on whie I savour this moment Simon.  Am I to believe that your 2.2Mb connection was merely a mirage after all?   :bad:

[Camstop]

Can someone pass Simon a piece of that humble pie  :heehee:      :twisted:












Just teasing Si  :wink:


As i say, you shouldn't have got as good a result as that if you were on 1Mbps  


Did you try it a few times and what were the results range ?

[Simon]

Hold on whie I savour this moment Simon.  Am I to believe that your 2.2Mb connection was merely a mirage after all?   :bad:

I was waiting for that!!    :grin:

I sent Pipex the same question that I posted here, and this was their answer:-

Dear Simon,

Thank you for your email,

This is due to the fact that the line card in your exchange is a 2MB board. You are throttled to 1MB by us at this end. Therefore it is not possible to get the Windows connection to show the speed that you are throttled to.

I hope this helps with your query, if you would like any further assistance, then please feel free to get back to me.

I assume that means that if I wanted to upgrade to the 2Mb service, which is only another £4 per month, for the 15Gb (!!) capped option, it would merely be a question of them un-throttling me, :shock:  which I will give some consideration to.  I just don't like the idea of being capped at all, but I suppose I would seriously be taking the pi$$ if I were to go over the 15Gb limit!

[Clive]

Even BT allow 30 Gb a month Simon, but then they charge a whopping £27 a month for the privilege.     How much is the Pipex deal again?

[Simon]

It would be £27.99 per month, Clive, but the other problem would be the limit of only 3 mailboxes, which would be prohibitive for me.  The unlimited 2Gb service is £33 per month, but that is bound to come down as competition increases, so I think I'll hang on to what I've got for now.  I can't fault Pipex for their service and support, so although they may not be the cheapest, I think you get what you pay for.

[Lona]

It would be £27.99 per month, Clive, but the other problem would be the limit of only 3 mailboxes, which would be prohibitive for me.  The unlimited 2Gb service is £33 per month, but that is bound to come down as competition increases, so I think I'll hang on to what I've got for now.  I can't fault Pipex for their service and support, so although they may not be the cheapest, I think you get what you pay for.

You should get what you pay for Simon and by paying the £15 you are not helping me in my quest to give existing members priority over new members to the 1mb connection.  

On principal, why should existing members pay £15 when Joe Bloggs can come in from the street and get it for £23.49. :evil:

[Simon]

Well, I didn't know anything about your quest, Lona, and I can't disagree with what you're saying, but I did get an e-mail from them saying they would automatically upgrade me sometime in the next few months, for free.  I chose to pay the £15 to get it there and then.  Most businesses will offer special deals to attract new customers, which is why I went with Pipex in the first place, for the free set up and modem offer.  I have to agree though, they appear to have given existing customers a lesser priority in this case.

[Lona]

Well, I didn't know anything about your quest, Lona, and I can't disagree with what you're saying, but I did get an e-mail from them saying they would automatically upgrade me sometime in the next few months, for free.  I chose to pay the £15 to get it there and then.  Most businesses will offer special deals to attract new customers, which is why I went with Pipex in the first place, for the free set up and modem offer.  I have to agree though, they appear to have given existing customers a lesser priority in this case.

I have bombarded them with emails saying that there is no excuse for making existing customers wait and that they have proved there is no need to wait if £15 gets you on straight away.

In principal, I refuse to give into this practice.  I have asked them if I can cancel my account and rejoin as a new customer and they don't answer my emails.   It's short of extortion to ask anybody to pay £15 for a service that's available now.

I could afford the £15, but I would be letting myself down by giving into them.  I have had excellent service from Pipex, Simon, but I'll leave them and cut my nose off to spite my face.  

I will never understand why folk in this country just accept things but that will never change in my lifetime I suppose.

[Simon]

Just so you are aware, Lona, I think you'll find there is a £58.75 cancellation fee, if you cancel your account before the 12 month minimum contract term.  Can't remember how long you've been with them now.   :?  For what it's worth, I do think you'll be cutting your nose off to spite your face, but that's obviously your decision.  

[Lona]

Just so you are aware, Lona, I think you'll find there is a £58.75 cancellation fee, if you cancel your account before the 12 month minimum contract term.  Can't remember how long you've been with them now.   :?  For what it's worth, I do think you'll be cutting your nose off to spite your face, but that's obviously your decision.  

I'm well over my year, Simon and I didn't get any free offers when I joined. I had to pay for my modem as well and now they are asking me to pay them a further £15.  I don't call that being loyal to their customers.

The point I was trying to put across is if everybody had refused to pay the £15, cancelled their accounts, Pipex would have had no option but to give into pressure.   With you and others paying their demands, they're not going to bend to one or two disgruntled customers.

If you read the comments in ISPR not all customers think it's right that this levy be applied and don't misunderstand, it's not the money that's the issue.  It's similar to a black man's left leg............neither is it fair or is it right.  :!:

[Camstop]

It's similar to a black man's left leg............neither is it fair or is it right.  

 

[Lona]

This is an update regarding Pipex and this £15 upgrade charge.

After losing count of the number of emails I sent them I decided to phone them.

After hanging on for over 10minutes I got through to customer service.

I asked them to close my account and give me a MAC number.  The girl asked me why I was leaving pipex and I said I was not technically leaving but was going to sign up as a new customer under my husbands name.  She said I couldn't do that as you can't move from the same isp.  

I then asked her why did new customers joining 1mb service receive instant connection while existing customers require to pay £15. She explained that it's easier to hook up new customers than upgrade existing ones and that the £15 was to queue jump.  I then said, is this not unfair to customers who perhaps can't afford this charge and that I didn't agree with queue jumping.  

Not to be put off, I then said that would she give me a MAC code if I were migrating to a different isp for a month then could I come back to pipex and rejoin as a new customer and she said yes I could do that but Pipex would leave me with no service for 7 days until the new connection was available.  

Not one to take no for an answer, I then asked her why 7 days when other providers do the change over during the night and max offline time is under one day.   She couldn't answer that question.   I thanked her for her advice and said I would consider my options and get back to her.

My own personal opinion to all of this is "b******s" and I will continue with my detective work as I just abhor this big brother attitude.

[Simon]

Gawd!!  The ISP Crusader strikes again!!   :wink:

In principal, I agree with what you are saying, Lona.  Personally, I am quite happy to pay a relatively small amount in order to 'queue jump', if I am at liberty to do so, and the decision is my own.  I can't see their argument that it's more difficult to regrade than to set up a new customer.  Surely it's easier if the BT line has already been enabled for ADSL, whatever the speed?  That seems a bit of a cop out to me.

As far as leaving and rejoining, that might be more hassle than it's worth, but if you decide to go through with it, you'll want to make doubly certain that the ISP you join in the interim has a good migration procedure, a mimimum contract term of no more than one month, and doesn't charge for migration.  You may find that by the time you've done all that, Pipex may have upgraded you for free anyway!  Did you actually ask them what the timescale is for free upgrades to existing customers?

Just one other thing - I don't understand why you didn't get the free modem and set up when you joined, as I thought that was an ongoing offer.   :?