UPC: 20mb or 30mb?

Elessar

I'm going to sign up to UPC broadband soon and am wondering if I'm better off going for the 20mb package. I was on the 30mb for three years without problem but cancelled this month after problems with their TV service. I'm going back to them for broadband only but am wondering if I'm better off on the 20mb.

Do 20mb UPC users generally get the advertised speed?

Last time around, when I was on their 25mb line I was getting the full 25mb 90% of the time. We added the TV and they upgraded me to the 30mb but once that happened, the speeds were all over the place. I never got 30mb and usually had only 15-20mb anyway.

I download a fair amount, not much, maybe 20-50GB per month, sometimes more. I game somewhat too with Left 4 Dead 2.

My main concern is transfer speeds since I often max the connection. If the 20mb is going to leave me with 10-15mb most of the time it's no good to me.

The difference in price is small. €45 for the 20mb and €53 for the 30mb.

roast

Elessar wrote: »

I'm going to sign up to UPC broadband soon and am wondering if I'm better off going for the 20mb package. I was on the 30mb for three years without problem but cancelled this month after problems with their TV service. I'm going back to them for broadband only but am wondering if I'm better off on the 20mb.

Do 20mb UPC users generally get the advertised speed?

Last time around, when I was on their 25mb line I was getting the full 25mb 90% of the time. We added the TV and they upgraded me to the 30mb but once that happened, the speeds were all over the place. I never got 30mb and usually had only 15-20mb anyway.

I download a fair amount, not much, maybe 20-50GB per month, sometimes more. I game somewhat too with Left 4 Dead 2.

My main concern is transfer speeds since I often max the connection. If the 20mb is going to leave me with 10-15mb most of the time it's no good to me.

The difference in price is small. €45 for the 20mb and €53 for the 30mb.

Where are you based?

I was on the 15mb package for about a year before I was automatically upgraded to the 20mb line. I was only on the 20mb for about a week before I upgraded to the 30mb myself. I have always received the correct speeds, with the exception of one week where there was an issue in the area.

Elessar

I'm in North Dublin/Swords.

roast

You'll probably get a good connection in that area so.

Elessar

But that's the thing, I didn't when I got upgraded to 30mb the last time. Maybe I'm better off going 30mb considering the small difference in price....

Does anyone know what contention ratio UPC have on their fiberpower?

Skerries

i'm on the 20mb in D13 and i would d/l a lot of tv shows and they are usually downloaded in about 10 min each so i start to watch a programme and 4 or 5 more have been downloaded in the background

F S

i wouldn't get a 30mb connection cause i'm not getting full speed on my current connection. I get full speed on the speed test sites but not on downloads from fileserve.

@ Skerries, are you doing something different? my dl speed from fileserve has reduced after christmas and im not getting full speed anymore.haven't tried torrents. I know its my upc connection because if i use a friends connection on a different isp its not a problem.

roast

F S wrote: »

i wouldn't get a 30mb connection cause i'm not getting full speed on my current connection. I get full speed on the speed test sites but not on downloads from fileserve.

@ Skerries, are you doing something different? my dl speed from fileserve has reduced after christmas and im not getting full speed anymore.haven't tried torrents. I know its my upc connection because if i use a friends connection on a different isp its not a problem.

Best way to get an accurate speedtest is to dl a file from a local FTP.

ftp://ftp.heanet.ie/

download a large ISO file from this (on ethernet) and wait 3-4 minutes. post back with what speed its downloading at. No need to DL the whole file by the way.

Ronan

I'm on 20mb in Portmarnock and getting full speed on wireless. I do most of my downloading via hotfile and find I am usually getting between 2mb - 2.5mb per sec so no complaints. I find if I am downloading multipe files I tend to ge a faster overall speed.

F S

tried heanet dl and i got full speed.

Bebop

UPC 20Mb line Dublin

Beefy78

I'm in the same boat. I've been using a 3G dongle for the past year because for some reason UPC weren't covering my building and a couple of others nearby in D4. I've got a letter this week saying that it's now fine so I think I'm going to sign up. The guy next to me at work was saying that he downloads loads and recommends the 20mb service, even though the 30mb is only a few quid more.

I'm inclined to go for the 30mb, but is there any difference in the service other than the speed?

RichieC

I have the 30, always pretty much bang on too, though it's been dropping off the past few nights. I find it a decent service, though.

Honestly I wouldnt notice any difference at all browsing on the 20mb line, but games on steam and stuff like that just hockey in in 25 minutes.

Beefy78

Sod it let's go for 30mb!

Thanks