"Gamer's Broadband"

[Devour]

So, ladies and gents, I've just been offered to test this "Gamer's Broadband" thing by a friend in a service provider company. They are a major business service provider, so their network is pretty busy during the day but completely empty during the night time.

Now, I'm just wondering if I should go through with it. I'd have to drop the service provider I have at the minute and I wouldn't be able to use my connection during the day without paying for "peak hour top ups" (however much they might cost) which is useful because I'm not in like 90% of the time during the day and it's hardly like I get decent download speeds during then anyhow.

Here're the facts about it I've been sent:-
- £12.50 per month on a 24 month contract (works out to £300 total). They've said they're considering lowering it to a 12 month contract, though.
- Broadband useable between 6PM and 8AM and over all the weekend. Unaccessible between 8AM and 6PM without paying for peak time "top ups".
- Unlimited download limits. No fair usage policy apparently.
- No throttling (dear lord, thank you), so no 7PM slowdown.
- Prioritised traffic on their backhaul. ( I have no idea what this means, can anyone tell me? >: )
- Free 10GB of peak-time (that's between 8AM and 6PM) bandwidth on purchasing the service. This is not a monthly allowance.
- Any peak-time bandwidth purchased rolls over from month to month, apparently.
- 8mb/15mb download speeds depending on whether you're an area with an ADSL2+ circuit. (Again, not a clue, it's apparently not available in every area, though)
- Static IP address on request.
- Wireless router on request

Would anyone else get this done? I'm really not sure what to think about it. What do you all think?

 

[coldshadow]

If I where living alone I would probobly get that.

im looking forward to seeing how this improves and changes in the future!

 

[starhaven]

i wouldnt but then i work early mornings so most of my net use is day time

 

[kebab4you]

I would not but I already got 100 MB(well I pay for it but I only get out like 60->70 MB). And I like to be able to use internet whenever I need it without paying extra. But if what you said is true and don't ever have to use it during the day I say it´s an okay deal, if what you got at the moment doesn't give you more up/down speed.

 

[tigermilk]

It might be worth checking how much the day time usage is and whether you have to pay in advance (if it was 10p an hour I guess it wouldn't matter).

I am assuming if you are testing it what you are testing is the business/consumption model and testing doesn't mean the connection could be unreliable while they iron out problems?

You say it is £300 for 24 months, I take it you have double checked and it is being billed once a month e.g. the first of every month not once every 28 days (thirteen payments a year)? Only an extra £25 for two years but every little counts.

 

[tomtom94]

Sounds good, although make sure you check up all the loose ends.

 

[Devour]

You say it is £300 for 24 months, I take it you have double checked and it is being billed once a month e.g. the first of every month not once every 28 days (thirteen payments a year)? Only an extra £25 for two years but every little counts.

Good point. I'll be sure to.

So, do you guys think this a pretty good idea, then?

 

[theblackmonk90]

That does sound pretty sweet. I would definitely consider it. What is its policy regarding weekends? Or did you say that and I miss it?

 

[Devour]

That does sound pretty sweet. I would definitely consider it. What is its policy regarding weekends? Or did you say that and I miss it?

Definitely the latter. =p

Seems to be useable all weekend without any of those charge things.

 

[BENZOOKA]

That does sound pretty sweet. I would definitely consider it. What is its policy regarding weekends? Or did you say that and I miss it?

Such an intriguing question. If you happened to miss it, you could always scroll back up and spend a few precious seconds to figure out what it does say in the original post.

OT: Sounds so strange you'd have to pay extra for daytime hours, 10 whole hours, too much for me. You should also think about if you really spend certain 9 hours of the day, every day, for the next year or two, out of your place or in a mental state where you want nothing to do with the Internet, no matter what.

Secondly, the service being in test mode, it could encounter some annoying unpredicted problems. How come is it called a gamer's network anyhow? It should be 24/7, like every other connection, I haven't even heard of transfer caps in years. Any fast broadband connection is adequate for online gaming anyways.

By the way, as far as I know, it is the ISP's task to figure out if you live in an area with an ADSL2+ circuit. And you should figure out this thing by yourself, just ask them anything that you want to know and think if it's worth it.

 

[Devour]

OT: Sounds so strange you'd have to pay extra for daytime hours, 10 whole hours, too much for me. You should also think about if you really spend certain 9 hours of the day, every day, for the next year or two, out of your place or in a mental state where you want nothing to do with the Internet, no matter what.

It's probably meant to be an AOL-esque system.

How come is it called a gamer's network anyhow? It should be 24/7, like every other connection, I haven't even heard of transfer caps in years. Any fast broadband connection is adequate for online gaming anyways.

I think it's due to the lack of throttling, not certain, though.

Do you live in England? =p With our main service provider (BT) you get massive slowdown of a night. Seriously, I was down to like 2Mb/s on an 8Mb connection.

By the way, as far as I know, it is the ISP's task to figure out if you live in an area with an ADSL2+ circuit. And you should figure out this thing by yourself, just ask them anything that you want to know and think if it's worth it.

I checked if I was by myself...

And, it turns I can and I can't. Damn contradictory information.

 

[unoleian]

Here're the facts about it I've been sent:-
- £12.50 per month on a 24 month contract (works out to £300 total). They've said they're considering lowering it to a 12 month contract, though.

Dunno how different contract laws are across that way, or if these are common arrangements for ISP service over there, but I'm nervous of anything like this that requires commitment. Is there a satisfaction period to try risk-free or terminate the contract without incurring penalty?

The inactive downtime is strange to me, as well. That sounds awfully inconvenient depending on circumstances, which can and do change, especially when 24 months comes into play...

 

[Devour]

Dunno how different contract laws are across that way, or if these are common arrangements for ISP service over there, but I'm nervous of anything like this that requires commitment. Is there a satisfaction period to try risk-free or terminate the contract without incurring penalty?

The inactive downtime is strange to me, as well. That sounds awfully inconvenient depending on circumstances, which can and do change, especially when 24 months comes into play...

It's a pretty common thing in England, actually.