Peak time usage too strict?

[#1]

I was just looking at the current plans.  With BBYW the peak hours are defined as 8am - midnight.    Thats all day then.
I'm watching more and more streaming conent, a lot of it live. Meaning I have no choice when to watch it.  Even when I do have a choice Im not likely to sit up all night to watch stuff.  High quality streaming content can quickly consume a lot of the peak time allowance.
In the age of content rich web sites, high quality audio and video on demand and VoIP I think usage on all of Plus.nets plans are pretty strict.  Half the point of Broadband is to get more form the internet, more conent etc etc and I don't think we can take full advantage of this on current limits.  I always schedule large downloads over night, but still find myself constantly worrying about useage limits, and currently on premier option 1 im on restricted between 4pm and midnight...
According to plus, unlimited usage is a myth, which is false. While it may not be cost effective for them, it does exist with some ISP's.  However, that's not what im after, I just think the current usage limits need to be revised to match how the Internet is evolving.

[#2]

No problem if you want extra usage, simply pay for it.
The whole point as to why PlusNet introduced BBYW (IMHO) is to make people accountable for their usage.
As your internet usage evolves and you use more then you will have to pay more.
Only when wholesale cost fall can PlusNet pass this on in reduced charges to their customers.
Chilly

[#3]

I understand that.  It doesn't change the fact that I feel the standard usage isn't enough.
Plus.net could quickly become an expensive ISP with that attitude. I'm fine with paying a little extra if required, but not every month and not more than a few Gb. I feel that when you start paying extra more other ISP's offer more competitive packages.
For example for 29.99 you get 40gb on BBYW 1.  Other ISP's will give you 60gb for that.  Personally I think, for a peak time of 8am - 12pm 40Gb would be a more reasonable amount on the £19.99 price plan, or the 21.99 old premier price
Anyway considering in total you can use a lot of bandwidth during off-peak hours I'm not sure what whole sale prices have to do with anything, do BT charge different prices for different times during the day.
Also PlusNets prices have gone up rather than down.
On the old Premier Option 1 (21.99( you are given a 13gb allowance.  Peak hours run from 4pm  - midnight.  That works out at 54mb per peak our in a 30 day month
On BBYW 3 (closest in price at 19.99) you get 20gb but peak runs from 8am to midnight.  That means you get 41mb per peak hour.  To get back up to 54mb you need to buy an extra 5GB, taking the total price for a month for BBYW 3 to 24.99, compared to 21.99 for Premier Option 1...

[#4]

Except Plusnet do give you unlimited overnight bandwidth, something most other ISP's dont
B.

[#5]

Barry,
I think it would be better to say that PN allow free over night usage without set or defined limits, rather than saying unlimited.

[#6]

Quote from: FooAtari

I understand that.  It doesn't change the fact that I feel the standard usage isn't enough. Plus.net could quickly become an expensive ISP with that attitude. I'm fine with paying a little extra if required, but not every month and not more than a few Gb. I feel that when you start paying extra more other ISP's offer more competitive packages.

The problem is that for most (all?) users, plusnet is using BTs network to transfer the data from the user to plusnets NOC.
The proportion of the cost of this connection at peak time that a user downloading a gigabyte of data takes is over 50p.
So you can see the problem.
A user streaming a couple of hours a day of megabit video will completely wipe out any profit that is made on their account, unless they are paying around 40-50 quid/month.

[#7]

PlusNet have considered both the allowances and peak time period very carefully on BBYW products by looking at several years of usage and their future trends. They then look at how much it actually costs to supply a certainm amount of usage and decided on the 4 (now 5 with pro) bands of products.
It may surprise you to know that only 10% of users exceeded 8GB peak usage (BBYW 2) and only 3% exceeded 20GB usage at peak time so the BBYW option 2 & 3 products meet the needs of at least 90% of users which to me seems like they have their sums correct.

[#8]

I see...
Well maybe as a high user PlusNet isnt for me anymore

[#9]

Fooatari,
If you were to schedule your usage for off peak times, you would still be able to run up a fairly hefty amount of usage.  If you look at the industry, limitation are becoming far more common and this trend is more than likely to continue as usage demands increase and Wholesale pricing remains static.

[#10]

Yeah I know, I'm aware of your reasons for doing it.
I dont expect unlimted useage.  But I've seen other ISP offering 30gb when you offer 20, 60 when you offer 40 etc. Maybe even this isnt sustainable and I'm expecting to much.
TBH I think the whole of the UK is a bit behind in ADSL technology.  I know this isn't the fault of Plus though

[#11]

Having just hit my 20gb limit 3 days before the end of the month, I can say this with some confidence.
I got my email to say I was running on restricted after hitting my 20gb, and the first thing I checked was my usage. I'd actually used >40gb so far, but half was off peak. I had had a virus that had hit almost every pc in my office, and each and every one had to be backed up and reinstalled. Then each one needed to run windows update, and try as I might to do this off peak, it wasn't viable. So I basically would have been sat there downloading into 5+ pcs at the same time, and only then did I hit my limit. This says to me that the limit for peak usage is fair for the average user, and is unlikely to get hit. Meanwhile, I could have paid for 30gb with another provider anytime, and then got stung for going over the usage substantially, or got cut off altogether (not that Tiscali ever do that *cough*).
I'm happy with the system now from PN. It is the best compromise in a world where everyone wants everything all of the time.

[#12]

Tiscali? Wouldnt touch them...
Like I said I dont want everything.  I've just seen other ISP's that have very similar policys to Plus, 8am - 12pm peak (or in this case 10pm) 300gb FUP etc.  But offered a little more during peak. I think another 10Gb during peak hours would make a lot of difference.

[#13]

if you signed up for BBYW thats what you get.  I opposed signing up to bbyw and I did warn others on this and the old F9 forum about losing off peak time.
Ask Plusnet if you can go back to old account.
Nobody forced you to change but you did
Puddy

[#14]

If people wish to move back to their old products, then this shouldn't be a problem as long as it's not a legacy legacy product, if you know what I mean.

[#15]

How do the other BB plans you're looking at (40gb/60gb) stack up against PlusNet on a per hour basis? Do they have free usage overnight? I'd be interested to know if they are still better if you take away free overnight downloads.
Also, I think I might know you FooAtari......if I'm correct we've played XBox live together in the past