Bad Three congestion

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Ben_Fisher

05-05-2014

Originally Posted by maverickjesus:
“I doubt Three will lose many customers by restricting tethered usage - its not like there is another provider with a broadly comparable offering even with the tethered cap.

Fully unlimited tethering is infeasible now there is a technology (4g) which provides data rates that beat traditional landline setups (ADSL) consistently.

I'd also expect Three to exercise the right to change existing One Plan customers package terms once their contracts expire, to force them off the unlimited tethering tariffs (despite what they have been saying/customers want to believe).”

My GF has an iphone 5C on EE with 10.7GB of "double speed" 4G for £28 p/m.

That's a fantasic deal if you ask me, and she can tether that if she wants too. I'll still stick with three as it's amazing having no caps at all, not even thinking about it.. Last month 2GB was enough, this month i've used 8GB so far.

Three

05-05-2014

Originally Posted by thebennyboy:
“Having just got off the phone to Three (they called me). I was told that they were called in after i complained on twitter about the really poor data speeds. The lady on the other end was lovely so couldn't loose my temper, but i got told the same rubbish again "It's congestion" and "it will be fixed within 3 months".

After being told that last time i really don't hold my breath, i did however tell her that if the issues were not resolved i would be moving to another provider. All she could do was apologise and repeat that the problem would be resolved within 3 months.

Needless to say i'm getting quite pissed off with the constant BS i'm being fed (even if with good intentions of the overseas support). Just feel i'm getting nowhere. Is there nowhere else i can go? I contacted them on twitter, only to end up talking to their overseas support again. Is there a way i can contact the executive office?”

You can email an office in Glasgow but you'll get the same response.

qasdfdsaq

05-05-2014

Originally Posted by wavejockglw:
“I think that would have been the case up until recently but with Sky boxes now connected to the Internet for catch up, games consoles connected and more people using devices like Google's Chromecast and Amazon Prime TV the average data consumption is bound to be rising fast.”

Data usage amongst those already using a lot and on fast connections is rising fast, data usage among the many technophobes and light users out there is not rising much at all. You give good examples with Sky and consoles, but less than half the population have Sky and only about half have games consoles, on the other hand there are plenty of people who use neither, as well as many people who don't even know what Youtube is.

Not everyone is as tech-savvy or heavy consumers of connected media as some of us are.

Thine Wonk

05-05-2014

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq:
“Data usage amongst those already using a lot and on fast connections is rising fast, data usage among the many technophobes and light users out there is not rising much at all. You give good examples with Sky and consoles, but less than half the population have Sky and only about half have games consoles, on the other hand there are plenty of people who use neither, as well as many people who don't even know what Youtube is.

Not everyone is as tech-savvy or heavy consumers of connected media as some of us are.”

Most of those tecnophones are on networks like O2 though, where 12 million of their customers are using a 2G phone and the remainder are on much more restrictive data tariffs. The kinds of customers that want more data sign up to the likes of EE & Three.

Aetnla

06-05-2014

The speeds I get around lunchtime are absolutely horrendous. I have reported it several times but 3 can't be bothered to improve it. It only gets worse. The connection has also been stalling all the time today and keeps timing out. http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/818917842

thebennyboy

06-05-2014

Originally Posted by Aetnla:
“The speeds I get around lunchtime are absolutely horrendous. I have reported it several times but 3 can't be bothered to improve it. It only gets worse. The connection has also been stalling all the time today and keeps timing out. http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/818917842”

I feel just how you do. Feel as though i'm being given the run around and not actually getting anywhere. I have lodged an official complaint now and hope to get a bit further with it.

qasdfdsaq

06-05-2014

Pah.

Last November:
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3107562207

This February:
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3275697633

We'll fix it in 3 months my arse.

Though to be honest, the speed did triple, to a whole 0.35Mbps... Perhaps that's what they call "Fixed"?

thebennyboy

06-05-2014

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq:
“Pah.

Last November:
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3107562207

This February:
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/3275697633

We'll fix it in 3 months my arse.

Though to be honest, the speed did triple, to a whole 0.35Mbps... Perhaps that's what they call "Fixed"?”

September: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/570947610

Today: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/819022711

As you can see, my speed too has nearly tripled.

Ben_Fisher

06-05-2014

Originally Posted by thebennyboy:
“September: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/570947610

Today: http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/819022711

As you can see, my speed too has nearly tripled. ”

Mine has tripled too!

March - http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/765070970

2 days ago - http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/815529673

All HSPA+

thebennyboy

06-05-2014

Originally Posted by Ben_Fisher:
“Mine has tripled too!

March - http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/765070970

2 days ago - http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/815529673

All HSPA+”

Seriously wish i was getting those speeds. Send some of the capacity down here!

Ben_Fisher

06-05-2014

Originally Posted by thebennyboy:
“Seriously wish i was getting those speeds. Send some of the capacity down here! ”

I think it's a case of me living in a fairly small city.
Not too much congestion apart from at work (2000 employees) at dinner time.

qasdfdsaq

06-05-2014

See, they totally did fix it!

To be honest I saw similar issues on Virgin Media HFC broadband when there were capacity issues. A long time to plan upgrades, by which time my 10Mbps service was doing 100Kbps most days, and by the time they actually implemented the "fix" it was only enough to increase capacity up to 500Kbps out of 10Mb... But that'd still have been a five-fold increase in capacity.

Sometimes they do in fact implement upgrades and fixes that you can't tell they've done because percentage increases from a small base still results in a small end result. After all, few people would consider it a "fix" if increased speeds from 0.1Mbps to 1.0Mbps, but would if it went from 1Mbps to 10Mbps - yet both require the same, ten-fold increase in capacity. Going from 0.1Mbps to 10Mbps would require the same amount of work as taking a 1Mbps connection to 100Mbps!

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