Just a quick update if you are a Virgin Media Customer (Like me) regarding download speeds.Virgin have their own version of this site ...http://playvideogames.virginmedia.com/What they don't tell you is that your download speed WILL be capped between 4pm and midnight and ALL weekend. So if you have a 20MB connection and are expecting fast download speeds then forget it.I have had speed issues with this site for a over a month and i finally got through to an English manager at Virgin Tech Support who has confirmed this.On a 20MB connection downloading anything over 3 GIG and your speed WILL be capped to 500KB.Worth mentioning this, i think.

Well that explains whats going on then, I just thought they had a messed up server in the route to metaboli (as the traceroute had during my test runs) and they were dragging thier a** to rectify it.The problem is most newer stuff is getting over 3gb in size, did they say whether this is only during those times? ie if you start a download at 1am will the speed be capped for files 3gb+?Also do the smaller files go faster? casual games in family are the smaller sized games if you want to check that.They are only getting away with it at the moment because they are the only provider of 20MB broadband once a few more companies start giving this speed I would expect them to change how it works so this cap isnt so ridiculously low.

Yeah. Apparantely your speed will only be capped on the times mentioned above.I can download a game at 1am at 2MB/sec no problem. Only problem is that i am normally in bed by then.

well if the PC isnt in the bedroom you could leave it on overnight on the theory that once your past the cap time the speeds restored, youll end up downloading what you want while you sleep then [;)]

Just so you all know - it's based on this page:Virgin 'Cap' detail pageExplains it all there, but basically, for all services between 4pm and midnight, you get the following:Size M (2MB), after 350MB downloaded, your speed is dropped to 1MB for 4 hours. After 4 hours, system is reset.Size L (4MB), after 750MB downloaded, your speed is dropped to 2MB for 4 hours. After 4 hours, system is reset.Size XL (20MB), after 3GB downloaded, your speed is dropped to 5MB for 4 hours. After 4 hours, system is reset.If you're really pegging it, it's possible to start downloading at 4PM, hit the cap pretty quick and then at around 8:30-ish, get the cap taken off... only to have it put back on at around 9, where it will stay until 1AM (Yes, if your cap hits at 11:59pm, it'll stay until 4am).However, if you've downloaded nothing, you won't be slowed down - until you hit the downloaded amount. So if you, like me, are on the 20MB package, and download a 2.9GB game, it should come down at 20MB for the entire time.Hope this resolves some of the FUD that's been thrown about

Lazer does it come down at full speed for you while peak hours if downloading say a 5gb file from Metaboli (before you reach the 3gb limit of course)?Knew of the FUP awhile ago, but Al (to my interpretation) is getting low speed through metaboli before reaching the 3gb limit, while connecting somewhere else he could get full speed. After talking to the Virgin guys they told him if the download is larger than 3gb they cap it at the start of it. The games his trying to get are generally over the 3gb size.If your able to get full speed before you hit 3gb on the larger files then something must be causing a problem on Al's end if he isnt over the cap and getting such slow speed.

Yep, it does (Well, not from Metaboli, though this is due to other issues - they've said this is due to the return pipe). I use Metaboli, Gametap (A US-based, released in the UK service that's the same) and lots of other download services. Until you hit the releveant cap for your service, it doesn't matter what you download - it comes down at connection/server max speed. So if I was to download a 7GB game from Gametap, it would come down at 5GB at 20Mbit, and 2GB at 5Mbit.Again, in theory Metaboli should work like this, and I've not used it for quite a while so it might be OK, but I guess the issues with the dodgy return path strike again.I'll throw a game on to download and see how it goes...-- edit --Nah, it's still coming down at around 3Mbit, actual data rate.

They just gotta get away from that congested route Im guessing.Improved slightly from a few months ago but still could do better doesnt make much sense why it would go so slow during peak hours then full speed after hours I mean Id expect some slowdown just not so dramatic unless capped.I mean Im on 2MB and get faster speeds from metaboli during peak hours than you guys 400k at times which is twice what I should get.

Regardless of what they tell you, my 20Mb broadband speed is capped to 5MB between 4pm till midnight and all weekend.I've had 2 engineers call round and they both told me there is no point in them whatsoever trying to help me. Apparently everyone at Virgin knows there is a problem but don't know how to resolve it. Basically during peak periods, expect slow speeds.As a result i am in the process of cancelling my 20MB contract, you gotta give them 1 months notice!As further proof check out this site with lots and lots of Virgin customers with the same problem....http://cablehell.co.uk/forum ... rum=30Also Virgin like to keep this email address quiet, but here's the HEAD person at Virgin to complain to ..---- edited for email addressplease do not give email addresses out on the public forum(even your own) - mail bots scan the web that lead to spamming and viruses. Please don't make our site a place to come for free address lists-----

Just run a half-a-dozen speed checks on my 20Mbit, at 21:30-ish on Tues 20-Nov-07; all give between 11Mbit and 18Mbit, the fastest I've had from anywhere was an 18.5Mbit, which when you allow for the factor of data and packet overhead (Which can be over 20% on some TCP/IP connections), is about what you'd expect.I downloaded a trailer off Apple, with the Akamai backbone, at 2.3Mbyte/sec, bang on what I'd expect.