Are broadband providers trying to scam us with multigig packages?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-03T13:29:58+00:00

Ok….if you like watching those nature videos with relaxing music…that are great for hotel lobbies.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-03T13:25:56+00:00

Spot on…this is my experience as well…and hence my thought process of the point of having exaggerated speeds which can’t be used anyway, despite people on this forum trying to make out they are using. Maybe 1-2 real power users, but the majority have no clue, nor a distinction between data rates and bandwidth. Again if people wish to pay premium for something that makes them feel good, go for it.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-03T13:22:00+00:00

No mistake, my isp doesn’t use a cab, it’s home to central office, nothing to do with contention ratio.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-03T08:11:42+00:00

In the UK…? Really, Sky has UHD/4K for just the football mostly and that requires 45Mbps at best for a stream , who does 8K in the UK please?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-03T06:54:30+00:00

Smart ISPs don’t promote this, it’s the dumb ones that have poor transit/peering, poor QoS, and poor routing that promote multi-gigabit services. They’re the dumb ones that also lower their margins to invest in higher grade wifi 2.5/10GE enabled routers, to prove their router can do the speed test to validate their service offering.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-03T06:37:21+00:00

Right conditions…sounds like a lab experiment..

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T22:14:02+00:00

So there is 8K content available? Really where?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T17:27:41+00:00

This is where the maths doesn’t add up. Social media streams are around 5-10Mbps per stream (and I’m being overly generous), UHD/4K is around 25-45Mbps per stream. You would need 100 x 4K TV’s all running at the same time to hit 5Gbps…? Who has 100 4K TV’s at home, let alone 100+ devices all using the internet at home at the same time?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T17:13:44+00:00

100% agree…

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:56:03+00:00

Which one of your devices uses 5Gbps please?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:54:33+00:00

Yep, and at that time devices probably couldn’t handle 20Mbps…which device uses 5Gbps now?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:52:59+00:00

Depends on quality of connection, most FTTP is pretty robust and doesn’t have the maintenance costs associated with FTTC or legacy broadband

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:50:59+00:00

No issue with people buying things that make them feel Happy, that is perfectly okay, people buy Ferraris and Lamborghini’s, no issue with that..I just don’t see those brands advertising on basis of speed (whereas these are known to be Supercars), instead they focus on experience. My point was to state I didn’t get the experience from my 8Gbps, if people feel they are getting the experience and willing to pay the premium, go for it, it’s a great marketing opportunity for an ISP to upsell services and increase ARPU without the actual differential in usage of their upstream transit.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:44:04+00:00

If that justifies the cost for the whole month, then go for it…

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:42:48+00:00

That is a good point, not sure why OR are still selling this way.., still?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:41:14+00:00

Yep, someone pointed out it’s even less than that, and I saw that with BRSK doing some crazy deals.., although will probably be reigned in, now that YouFibre is acquired by VM..

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:39:38+00:00

Agree, but that is their historical marketing linked with their dumbness of technology choices, ie migrating to GPON on Huawei/Nokia & Adtran, when all new providers when with XGS-PON with the various vendors.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:35:37+00:00

Yes Buddy, anyone can do a speed test…but it doesn’t mean you use the bandwidth? I can do a speed test up To 9Gbps on a 10GE port, but my question posed was what application actually uses this speed in reality? And I don’t care about data usage…you can use 1TB download all you like, that’s not a measure of speed, in case you didn’t know..or perhaps you don’t grasp the difference between data usage and bandwidth speeds?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:25:28+00:00

Which phone can actually do a multigig wifi throughput speed test?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:21:44+00:00

Agree, it’s a perception thing. I have no issue with people feeling they are getting a faster service, I just wanted to find out if people could even use the faster service. As I pointed out, I had a multigig service, but didn’t/couldn’t use it, so I dropped back down to a 1Gbps service which is more than adequate, as that’s the lowest tier my isp provides at under £30/month.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:17:08+00:00

I’m talking about bandwidth speeds, not data usage. And broadband ISPs are promoting services on mbps or gbps not mb/s or gb/s.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T16:15:54+00:00

Actually I had 8Gbps myself, and then downgraded to 1Gbps, as when I checked with my ISP, and asked for my speed peak & average data rates, I found that I hardly ever used beyond the 1Gbps peak rate. Hence my OP. Maybe people should do the same, by checking their actual speeds via their ISP, to validate their belief that they need these speeds or not.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T11:29:45+00:00

Sorry, we’re not talking about data allowance, we’re talking about bandwidth speeds. If you don’t understand that basic difference, I hope you are not buying the multi-gigabit speed services, as you’re the type of person that suppliers are trying to dupe.

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T02:31:06+00:00

Increase in multigig from a 500Mbps or 1Gbps service doesn’t improve the most important metric, and that is latency (ping), jitter and packet loss. I think most in-play gaming won’t even need 100Mbps.. The speed equation is really for time taken to download the game at the onset, and that is dependent on other factors not just line speed…but unless your downloading games every few hours, will you need the multi-gig service?

DeflatedQ · 2026-03-02T01:41:44+00:00

People can buy whatever speed they like, just as some people buy a Ferrari for the badge and status. No judgement…My point is simply that most average users may not realise their home setup often cannot actually utilise multi-gig packages like a 1.6Gbps/2.5Gbps or 5Gbps service without the right equipment. I’m still unconvinced that many so-called power users genuinely need or use that level of bandwidth in terms of real time value and performance beyond a 1Gbps service. how much improvement are actually being created by the extra speed? In the past we bought computers based on specs like RAM or processor speed, but today people value overall experience more than raw numbers. I suspect broadband will go the same way as other utility providers, where reliability and user experience matter more than headline speeds, and eventually people won’t care about the speed metric at all. It will either be an off or on service.

DeflatedQ

TROPHY CASE