Cost of upgrading to ADSL MAX - can it be justified?

My good, small, ISP (no names as I don't particularly want to upset them!)
is offering an upgrade to ADSL MAX which involves an increase in monthly
subscription on their 'Light' home user package from £17.99 to £24.99. Do
readers think this is reasonable value for money, taking into account the
following points?

1. Present download limit is 5Gb per month (I don't need any more than that)
and existing download speed is 512Kb/sec on standard ADSL (I could have IMb
for the same price but this is not, apparently available on my line).

2. Limit would be 10Gb under new ASDL MAX 'light' package (maximum speed
8Mb) - however I don't need 10Gb and haven't asked for it (just want a
faster speed than 512 with same download limit).

3. BT line checker says I may be able to have 1Mb download speed under 'MAX'
or possibly more - which is why I'm interested in upgrading. 8Mb clearly
unattainable. (Incidentally, I don't understand why I can't have 1Mb
conventional ADSL in that case). Belkin Router stats are 59 - 60 attenuation
and 22 - 23 Noise Margin, incidentally (quite a long line).

What do readers of this newsgroup think? How can the ISP justify a 40%
increase in monthly sub. when, in my case at least, the amount of data
downloaded will be under 5Gb and the download speed probably no more than
1Mb/sec?

Comments, advice and opinions appreciated (I'm tied to them until November
2006).

Regards

--
Paul

On Sun, 6 Aug 2006 23:56:37 +0100, "Paul" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>My good, small, ISP (no names as I don't particularly want to upset them!)
>is offering an upgrade to ADSL MAX which involves an increase in monthly
>subscription on their 'Light' home user package from £17.99 to £24.99. Do
>readers think this is reasonable value for money, taking into account the
>following points?


No.

Most ISPs are upgrading for free.


>
>1. Present download limit is 5Gb per month (I don't need any more than that)
>and existing download speed is 512Kb/sec on standard ADSL (I could have IMb
>for the same price but this is not, apparently available on my line).
>
>2. Limit would be 10Gb under new ASDL MAX 'light' package (maximum speed
>8Mb) - however I don't need 10Gb and haven't asked for it (just want a
>faster speed than 512 with same download limit).

It sounds like they don't offer the package you want for ADSLMax.


>
>3. BT line checker says I may be able to have 1Mb download speed under 'MAX'
>or possibly more - which is why I'm interested in upgrading. 8Mb clearly
>unattainable. (Incidentally, I don't understand why I can't have 1Mb
>conventional ADSL in that case). Belkin Router stats are 59 - 60 attenuation
>and 22 - 23 Noise Margin, incidentally (quite a long line).
>

I had 22-23 SNR, with Attenuation of 61-63.

I get synch speeds just over 2000, but not enough to get a BRAS rate
of 2000 (you need all connections to be over 2272 for that), so I am
getting 1500 (BRAS rates are in increments of 500Kb). That is with a
Draytek router, after neither my Netgear nor 3Com worked reliably with
ADSLMax (although when it was working the Netgear was getting synch
speeds of 2900+, which meant a BRAS rate of 2500).

So for me the upgrade has been well worth it (Over 3 time the D/L
speed)

>What do readers of this newsgroup think? How can the ISP justify a 40%
>increase in monthly sub. when, in my case at least, the amount of data
>downloaded will be under 5Gb and the download speed probably no more than
>1Mb/sec?
>
>Comments, advice and opinions appreciated (I'm tied to them until November
>2006).
>

They aren't "justifying" it on that basis.

They are only offering an account with twice the D/L limit, regardless
of what you want. And only 40% higher charge.

If they were offering an ADSLMax account with 5Gb limit, then it
*should* cost exactly the same as your current account.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
If ignorance is bliss, you must be ecstatic.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom

On Sun, 06 Aug 2006 23:56:37 +0100, Paul wrote:

> My good, small, ISP (no names as I don't particularly want to upset them!)
> is offering an upgrade to ADSL MAX which involves an increase in monthly
> subscription on their 'Light' home user package from £17.99 to £24.99. Do
> readers think this is reasonable value for money, taking into account the
> following points?

Not that good then are they?. Name and shame!!

Dave

"Paul" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) t...
> My good, small, ISP (no names as I don't particularly want to upset them!)
> is offering an upgrade to ADSL MAX which involves an increase in monthly
> subscription on their 'Light' home user package from £17.99 to £24.99. Do
> readers think this is reasonable value for money, taking into account the
> following points?
>
> 1. Present download limit is 5Gb per month (I don't need any more than
> that) and existing download speed is 512Kb/sec on standard ADSL (I could
> have IMb for the same price but this is not, apparently available on my
> line).
>
> 2. Limit would be 10Gb under new ASDL MAX 'light' package (maximum speed
> 8Mb) - however I don't need 10Gb and haven't asked for it (just want a
> faster speed than 512 with same download limit).
>
> 3. BT line checker says I may be able to have 1Mb download speed under
> 'MAX' or possibly more - which is why I'm interested in upgrading. 8Mb
> clearly unattainable. (Incidentally, I don't understand why I can't have
> 1Mb conventional ADSL in that case). Belkin Router stats are 59 - 60
> attenuation and 22 - 23 Noise Margin, incidentally (quite a long line).
>
> What do readers of this newsgroup think? How can the ISP justify a 40%
> increase in monthly sub. when, in my case at least, the amount of data
> downloaded will be under 5Gb and the download speed probably no more than
> 1Mb/sec?
>
> Comments, advice and opinions appreciated (I'm tied to them until November
> 2006).
>
Leaving aside your cap and the costs and all of the rest of it, don't do it
I have had nothing but trouble with a long line such as yours I was given to
expect 3.5 mbs and I now sometimes don't get 512K. I would decline their
"kind" offer and steer clear!

Roger

Alex Heney <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Most ISPs are upgrading for free.

Though there are charges applied for some upgrades from BT Wholesale, but
only a one-off 5.00 fee.

>They are only offering an account with twice the D/L limit, regardless
>of what you want. And only 40% higher charge.

Agreed, and presumably because they assume that with more "online" content
(TV shows etc, available for download), people will be likely to use more.

Iit seems quite an uncompetitive fee, however, given some other ISPs have
more generous limits at under 20 pounds.

"gort" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Sun, 06 Aug 2006 23:56:37 +0100, Paul wrote:
>
>> My good, small, ISP (no names as I don't particularly want to upset
>> them!)
>> is offering an upgrade to ADSL MAX which involves an increase in monthly
>> subscription on their 'Light' home user package from £17.99 to £24.99. Do
>> readers think this is reasonable value for money, taking into account the
>> following points?
>
> Not that good then are they?. Name and shame!!

OK then - Surfanytime (aka Firefly) - hope they aren't upset as I like the
people there!

>
> Dave