Not really as although the throughput may increase the coverage area decreases unless a service provider puts up lots of transceiver points (installing the masts would get the NIMBY and tinfoil hat wearing 'mobiles and wireless is damaging our health brigade out in force) and then theres the issue of backhaul capacity from the sites into the core network to ensure everyone had a good experience, at the moment this would mean either trunked 10 Gbps connections until at some point in the future a 100 Gbps connection.

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Attempting to answer the unanswered
Interest: PCs, servers and networks

Currently paying £35 a month for the Zen 800 Pro account, though I have been considering one of the Office packages, either Zen Office or Zen Office Max. The reason for considering the Office packages is due to the higher traffic prioritisation, not the additional download allowance. The last few months have seen overall performance go downhill considerably and short of buying a new router there's absolutely nothing else I can do at my end to improve it now. I am assuming that the poor performance of late is due to contention or traffic prioritisation given both my personal experience and the experiences of people posting on these forums.

If I was given a guarantee that the Office Max package ensures that I can get the full bandwidth available to me in consideration of the line stats I have, then I'd subscribe to it instantly. Over the last year as we've seen the move to the 21CN network take place we've all seen the hints to indicate that BT are turning the broadband infrastructure into a major cashcow and whereas previously suppliers like Zen were able to offer a better quality of service, we've seen that quality eroded because of BT's actions. The reason I am frustrated as a Zen customer lately is because Zen seem to be powerless to stop BT damaging Zen's own reputation.

> I can get the full bandwidth available to me

If you are the only one from the pool of users assigned to your particular resource then you will get the full bandwidth allocated to your user group.  between about 2 and 4 am you might, but probably won't, get it.

The key thing is the number of other users in the same pool (contending) the resource you are using.

Which means you get what you pay for. The more you pay the lower the number of users in the same pool as you are. Unless BT cheats, of course.

So, on an 8MBS possible speed line I usually get between 600 bps and 1200 bps.  I've never seen it below 600 bps so I guess there are 12-14 other users using the same resource as me; and most of the time we are all using it all of the time.  So my service ought to be sold as up to 1200 bps, average 800 bps.

I've probably got the MBS and bps confused, but you likely understand what I'm saying.

pwhyles:

> I can get the full bandwidth available to me

If you are the only one from the pool of users assigned to your particular resource then you will get the full bandwidth allocated to your user group.  between about 2 and 4 am you might, but probably won't, get it.

The key thing is the number of other users in the same pool (contending) the resource you are using.

Which means you get what you pay for. The more you pay the lower the number of users in the same pool as you are. Unless BT cheats, of course.

So, on an 8MBS possible speed line I usually get between 600 bps and 1200 bps.  I've never seen it below 600 bps so I guess there are 12-14 other users using the same resource as me; and most of the time we are all using it all of the time.  So my service ought to be sold as up to 1200 bps, average 800 bps.

I've probably got the MBS and bps confused, but you likely understand what I'm saying.

All references to contention ratios have been removed from Zen's site, but last time I saw them the contention ratio for the office accounts were listed as 10:1 (as opposed to the 50:1 that used to be quoted for residential accounts). I'm reckoning that something has changed in relation to contention ratios, maybe some sort of dynamic contention handling at the exchange is in place now because Zen sales are unwilling to comment on contention ratios for any type of account, home or office. Shame really because if Zen had said "Yes sir, you will be on a much more favourable contention ratio by switching to the office accounts" then I would have submitted my regrade order today.

To back up my claim that contention ratios are no longer a clear-cut value to be compared, here is a page from the BT web site that pretty much declares that BT came up with a new, more ingenious way of obscuring the potential capabilities of a broadband connection:
http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11594/c/426,427,1948/?s_intcid=btb_endecca_KR_contention_ratio

If anyone from Zen would like to comment on this matter and clarify how an office account is better than a residential account (other than increased monthly download capacity and a slightly higher upload speed) then I'll be happy to regrade to an office account.

FWIW I'm on ZEN Lite, a business account.

 

Around £30 per account is the most I would be willing to pay.

I currently have to have three accounts - one for work, one for home and one for our holiday apartment.  It starts adding up. 

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Kendal Cottages - luxury riverside self-catering apartment between Lake District & Yorkshire Dales
Kendal Mint Cake

Late comer to this thread, but the maximum I would pay for an internet Connection irrespective of provider is,

£92.83 and not a bloody penny more.

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I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In.

Much more generous than me then, Evil

 

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Attempting to answer the unanswered
Interest: PCs, servers and networks

I shouldnt of said anything, cuz tomorrow VAT is going up, so my BB will probably go up to about £94, so in respect to VAT at 20% and the original question, £94 is it, no MO

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I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In.

You've got until January to enjoy our low rate of VAT.

Honestly what are our politicians thinking of.

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Attempting to answer the unanswered
Interest: PCs, servers and networks

technical chap:

You've got until January to enjoy our low rate of VAT.

Honestly what are our politicians thinking of.

 

I think they were thinking of SEX at the time, because no matter how you look at it, we all got screwed...

 

 

 

Thats as polite as I can put it, as when a bunch of DIL  S go about there work, in the end somebody always ends up getting f'ked.

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I Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In.