Why UK Online reduced the speed of their package?

[Mike]

I don't know why UK Online has reduced the speed of its premier package 'up to 22 Mb' to 16 Mb. The package is renamed UK Online Premier. One of the reasons I went for UK online is the speed they offer, however, I used to get around 12 Mbps when I was their 'up to 22 Mb' customer.

May be 'up to 22 Mb' is not achievable by most UK Online customers and the ISP honestly has changed the speed.

They have also removed their entry level package - 1 Mb. That's really good. Who really likes slow broadband at a time when online gaming and streaming videos are gaining popularity?

[adam]

May be 'up to 22 Mb' is not achievable by most UK Online customers and the ISP honestly has changed the speed.

What does it mean? We cannot get the speed that these ISPs advertise? At times, actual speed that a user gets makes one feel that these adverts are deceptive. I agree with Ofcom's instruction to ISPS to disclose the achievable speed by users when they launch a product.

[Dionysis]

Certainly, it sounds ridiculous, as ISPs usually upgrade their packages. For instance, Virgin is quite aggressive in increasing the speeds of their packages. They upgraded XL to 20 Mbps and now L size to 10 Mbps in selected areas.

UK online has slashed the monthly price too which makes the change more sensible.

As far as I am concerned, I am quite happy with my 8 Mb connection and I think most UK home users would feel in the same way as high speed broadband is still expensive in the UK.

[Mike]

Certainly, it sounds ridiculous, as ISPs usually upgrade their packages.

I would like to include Pipex and Be in this list. Be has removed monthly cap from all its packages, however, Be Value has been degraded from 24 Mb to 8 Mb speed.

Pipex has made some changes in their monthly caps, introduced a new package 'Pipex Pro' with 100 GB monthly usage allowance. Their latest offers sound better than the previous deals.

More details are available here.

[adam]

Their latest offers sound better than the previous deals.

Pipex Pro seems to be a great pacakage with £39.99 monthly cost and 100 Mb download limit. However, we have yet to see its performance during peak hours.

[Dionysis]

Pipex Pro seems to be a great pacakage with £39.99 monthly cost and 100 Mb download limit.

Pipex Pro package could be suitable for small businesses. Their 100 GB download limit is ideal for them. For heavy users who used to download lots of movies, it is a great package. Still the price should sound very expensive to many.