[Markjuk]

With BT set to launch 300 Mbps next year will Virgin be able to match or beat BT's offering?

Virgin have held the crown for fastest Consumer broadband products for a while now, however do they have the means to compete now we are getting into "silly" internet speeds?

[Marti S]

Originally Posted by Markjuk

With BT set to launch 300 Mbps next year will Virgin be able to match or beat BT's offering?

Virgin have held the crown for fastest Consumer broadband products for a while now, however do they have the means to compete now we are getting into "silly" internet speeds?

I should think they will, although I dont see the need for it, I doubt it would be achievable from most sites.

There will just be more people complaining they cant get 300Mb/s and blaming the ISP.

[mossy2103]

Originally Posted by Marti S

I should think they will, although I dont see the need for it, I doubt it would be achievable from most sites.

People will get the speed for a number of reasons, one will be to acquire the bandwidth in order to allow simultaneous web activity on their home network (downloads, streaming, browsing, uploading etc) without impacting others in the home.

[nobabydaddy]

I, for one won't need anything faster than the 100mb BB already got.

[R410]

I doubt BT will be even able to get 300. It will be an up to figure that is rarely met.

[Magic Torch]

Originally Posted by R410

I doubt BT will be even able to get 300. It will be an up to figure that is rarely met.

300Mbps via BT will be via fibre to the premises (FTTP) connections only. I doubt that BT will have any problem providing 300Mbps to their customers via FTTP, as the copper is taken out of the equation, thus, the advertised speed will pretty much be the speed provided. In the coming years, I would expect speeds of 1Gbps to be offered via FTTP.

Most BT exchanges that already have, or are planned to be upgraded to 'superfast' via BT are receiving fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) only. The BT exchanges that have or are due to be upgraded to FTTP are limited, however, customers within FTTC areas will have the option to pay to upgrade to FTTP next year, when BT start offering 'Fibre on Demand'. Unfortunately, the price of taking 'Fibre on Demand' is not expected to be cheap.

I cannot see too many customers in FTTC areas paying to upgrade to FTTP in the short term, as FTTC speeds should be more than sufficient for most residential customers.

A few years down the line, no doubt we may genuinely have a requirement for the speeds that FTTP connections can provide & the price of fibre on demand may have reduced, so uptake may start to grow. You never know, the ISP's may even choose to pay, or heavily subsidise the price of providing a fibre on demand connection to their customers.

Will be interesting to see how the Virgin offering will evolve in the years to come. The Virgin network is a hybrid of fibre & copper (fibre plus copper coax on Virgin, as opposed to fibre plus twisted pair copper on BT FTTC). Will Virgin have the desire or funds to upgrade their customers to a full fibre connection? Would they need to upgrade their customers to full fibre? I recall they were testing 1Gbps in a small area of London City, so maybe 1Gbps or more will be achievable on Virgins fibre/coax connections?

[BigFoot87]

Virgin have already tested 1.5Gb on the existing network:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-rele...ticleId=474206

[zx50]

I'd be very happy and content with a 40Mbit connection. The higher the speeds go, the more impatient people are. Unless they plan on using it for 5+ computers/laptops.

[Fowl Fax]

I was happy with 10mb and then went and upped it to 20mb with a cheeky price rise.

[Markjuk]

Originally Posted by nobabydaddy

I, for one won't need anything faster than the 100mb BB already got.

People used to say that about 512k

[Donkey]

Originally Posted by BigFoot87

Virgin have already tested 1.5Gb on the existing network:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/press-rele...ticleId=474206

They're welcome to try and test it on my line late one evening, because all I can achieve is 4.5mb/s at times of really high congestion. Joke

[cy_bones]

Originally Posted by Donkey

They're welcome to try and test it on my line late one evening, because all I can achieve is 4.5mb/s at times of really high congestion. Joke

What are you using to test it? I get different results with different online tests, but it never drops below 20 even at 'peak' times...

[Donkey]

I have a gigabit server in the Netherlands. 1gig up and 1 gig down

[lotsobear]

Originally Posted by Donkey

I have a gigabit server in the Netherlands. 1gig up and 1 gig down

Good for you! A pity that I am not in the Netherlands, eh?

[joshua_welby]

Originally Posted by lotsobear

Good for you! A pity that I am not in the Netherlands, eh?

Do not worry Virgin will give you a 1.5 gig service to your home soon, in fact it is already live at the Silicon Roundabout in East London

Not sure what the Upload Speed will be though

[mossy2103]

Originally Posted by joshua_welby

Do not worry Virgin will give you a 1.5 gig service to your home soon, in fact it is already live at the Silicon Roundabout in East London

Not sure what the Upload Speed will be though

Er, that is still a limited field trial though, and as far as I am aware, VM have made no public announcement regarding any possible rollout (if at all). I don't think that it will be any time soon if they do.