I exceeded the download limit between March & April this year. Received a letter about it in June. Apparently I used an average of 37.7Gb per month during peak times. I thought the limit was 40Gb, though they don't seem to actually specify a specific limit ANYWERE, but that is beside the point.
Point is, they implied (it was vaguely worded) in the letter that if I reduced my usage then service would continue as normal and if I kept up the high usage, I'd be capped. So since I received the letter I've been using much, much less, probably about half on average. Yet I appear to have been capped to 0.5mb at peak times, not that they bothered to notify me of this change of course. They are supposed to send a letter to tell you, right?
I'm not sure when the cap was put in place, since my connection often dips anyway, it was only when I noticed that the speed tests I ran consistently topped out at exactly 0.50 that I knew. Well I assume I know, seems pretty obvious right? Unless I'm missing something.
So the way I see it, I crossed an invisible line and they said they would give me another chance to stay behind it, but they didn't. Hardly seems fair.
If I call them and ask them to remove the cap, is there much chance of that happening? Or will they claim that I deserve to be capped for exceeding the limit despite the fact that they gave me no chance to change?
And these caps are intended to be permanent right? They honestly expect me to pay £18 a month for a 0.5mb service? Crazy.
I'd like to change ISP, but they all seem so overpriced. No LLU at my exchange so I can never take advantage of any of the decent packages on offer. No wireless, no cable...
On top of that, other isps claim I can only attain a speed of 0.5mb because that's what the stupid line checker tells them, even though I have a perfectly stable connection running at around 4mb, at least I did, until I was capped. So I'm worried they are going artificially limit me because of that...
The same has happened to me. I had the standard "nice" letter asking me to reign in my downloading or they might cap my line, they said I downloaded 26.2gb on average over the last 3 months.
For the past few nights I can only get .5 on the speedtests but if I try in the morning I get my usual 2.9.
I wonder what they would do if I "capped" my Direct Debit, the dishonest sods!
This seems to be happening to a lot of people lately. I noticed an e-mail exchange in another thread, where Orange stated the average monthly limit is 50Gb, though they neglected to mention peak times.
So I sent them an e-mail demanding them to state exactly what the fair usage limits actually are and to remove my cap, otherwise I'll be switching to another ISP. Now we play the waiting game...
I'm certainly not paying £18 per month for 0.5mbps, because that's really not a suitable speed for using the internet in this day and age.
This is very strange, its happening to loads of people. My download speed is fine, however I cant run iplayer at peak times as Orange just throttle the connection.
Oh great, I just got a letter from Orange, not to tell me that I've been capped, but to tell me that my old broadband package is no longer available and they are switching me to a new one, which they claim is better, but it actually has EXACTLY the same features as the old one and costs MORE (£19.99) Well this just keeps getting better.
It states "in addition, you'll now have access to unlimited downloads (although our fair usage policy does apply)"
What do they mean I'll 'NOW' have access to unlimited downloads? But I ALREADY HAD an unlimited package. They make it sound like I'm actually going to get something out of the exta money they are going to charge me, but in fact they are not giving me anything more.
The new package they tell me they'll switch me to in the next 30 days is apparently called Broadband Max (Off Net). What the hell is off net?
And oh look, I'm already on broadband max, so this is just stupid.
"Your currenthome package is:
Broadband Max (Up to 8 Meg speed, unlimited downloads with fair use policy, including Wireless & Talk, £17.61 a month)"
I received an e-mail reply stating that I have not been capped.
"I can confirm that your account has not been subjected to End User Speed
Control."
Then why do my speeds dip to exactly 0.5mb soon after 6 in the evening and then rise back up to 3 or 4mb soon after 12? Surely it must be a cap?
Now they want me to run speed tests and call up their tech line. Then they will probably waste my time by running line checks and all that crap.
What should I do now? Is there any chance that they are right and I'm not being capped and if so, why do my speeds drop to such a specific amount in peak times? Or are they just trying to waste my time here and fob me off?
If you are out of contract , migrate asap - they mucked me about no end last year and I went to PlusNet.
I'm perfectly happy with the package I got but since then PlusNet have changed whats available to new customers and introduced 18 month contracts so I can't recommend them but I'm sure there must be an ISP who will give you better service than Orange for £19.99 !!!!
_________________ Formerly Orange and sad
Now PlusNet and glad!!
Regards Dave
Hi there i am out of my contract by 1 and half years at least and am on the same package broadband max at £17.61) and all that crap but i hav;nt no letter and they have'nt cut my speed down for downloading to much but did have probs with general speeds,as they were stating i was getting 7.0mbps but i only get 2.5mbps at the most all the time,many hours of complaing they sorted it out told me the truth that my line can only handle that speed,but i knew that with BT checker at 3.5mbps max.
Point is tell them your reporting them to Ofcom and newspapers and by sharp they sort things out!!!!
They probably haven't actually capped you, its more that their equipment at the phone exchange cannot handle the traffic at peak times.
I used to be with Orange and for year or so it was fine. Then I suddenly started having problems at peak time. I was low usage, only about 1-2gb per month, for online gaming, so I knew that wasn't the problem.
They told me it was a fault with the line, it was BT's fault, all the lies came out, they even told me if I switched provider I would have the same problem.
In the end, after giving them endless chances, I switched to Sky. I now have a consistent line speed and don't get the mega slow speeds I had with Orange. At some points, at peak times, it was down to 17kb/s.
Take my advice and leave Orange, there are other providers out there that will look after you better, and will actually talk to you properly and not just read a script ..
To see how bad Orange can get, see my thread on link below :
http://www.orangeproblems.co.u...php?t=5990
Take my advice and leave Orange, they are better providers out there that won't lie to you about what the problem is.
They probably haven't actually capped you, its more that their equipment at the phone exchange cannot handle the traffic at peak times.
Really? Would it automatically limit me to 50kbps? I'm not sure I believe that the exchange can't handle things, I live in a small village full of old people who don't even own computers. If the equipment can't handle things here then that doesn't say much for the equipment.
And besides, llu isn't available at my exchange so doesn't that mean that Orange don't have any equipment at my exchange?
It sounds like you're on a BTw IPStream connection rather than Orange LLU....that's why they've increased the price.....it is the same package just that BT increased their charges to IPSs who buy in IPStream.
www.speedtester.BT.com >>>> if you click on this and can connect, log in and post back the results.
I don't know why there is any doubt about what service I am on. I clearly stated in my first post that llu service is not available at my exchange.
I've just ran that BT speedtester, bear in mind that I am running it during peak times, approx. 11pm right now.
Code:
Best Effort Test: -provides background information.
Your DSL connection rate: 5536 kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 448 kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP profile for your line is - 500 kbps
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 449 kbps
2. Assured Rate Test: -provides background information.
Assured Rate IP profile on your line is - 600 kbps
Actual IP throughput achieved during the test was - 538 kbps
As you can see, ipprofile is 500kbps, obviously it must rise as soon as peak times end as my download rate always reaches a healthy 2.5Mb - 4Mb shortly after 12pm.
Well, whatever. Anyway, I got an e-mail reply from 'Ashish' for the e-mail I sent to customer service TEN days ago. Well, better late than never.
Unfortunately it makes little sense.
Quote:
As per our records, you have exceeded the usage download limit to your
account hence your account account id is under monitoring.
We would like to inform that we are sending out letters to customers who
have used in excess of 5GB of data in two consecutive months at peak
times.
My 'account account' id (sic) is under monitoring. (so they are monitoring my psyche now are they? brilliant) So what precisely does that mean? In excess of 5GB? I assume that is a typo and he means 50GB. Of course, I did NOT use more than an average of 50GB at peak times, I did not even use more than 40GB. Then again it does not specify whether this is an average or a total of the two months. Far too vague.
Quote:
Due to the monitoring happening on the line your Broadband speed will be
reduced to 512kbps during peak hours (6PM to 12AM, 7 days a week).
Why am I being capped because they are 'monitoring' me? WTF? The other e-mail I had said that 'end user speed control' was not active on my connection. Yet I'm still obviously being capped. How does capping me help with their monitoring? If they are monitoring my usage, the cap will obviously affect the results, since I can't d/l a damn thing at this speed. So what use is this monitoring exactly?
Is 'monitoring' a euphemism for cap maybe?
Quote:
In regards to you another query Orange broadband packages are network
based .
As you can see, poor Ashish has a poor grasp of the English langauge.
Quote:
Due to supplier costs outside of our control, were now no longer able
to provide our lowest prices in areas where we dont have our own
network. We apologise for the inconvenience this move may cause, and
would like to reassure all our customers that we remain committed to
providing quality Home broadband products and services across the UK
That would be fair enough if I weren't restricted to 0.5mbps.
So what exactly are they doing? Why are they doing it and what options do I have? This e-mail was just ridiculous. It tells me nothing, other than that they are causing my speed to drop at peak times, which was obvious. But I still don't see how their actions match up to their 'rules.'
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Hardly seems fair.
