I found this forum, and am replying to this old thread, because here in Bristol this is becoming just about intolerable. Today is the third or fourth day running that I have received (I think) less than 100 newsgroup messages from roughly a dozen TEXT-ONLY newsgroups.
There are many possible reasons why, but the prime suspect (since I live in a bandwidth-swallowing district of Bristol) has to be Virgin's NNTP-throttling policy. Reading archived postings, the lack of intelligent feedback from Virgin as to why such an obviously ridiculous policy has been implemented is duly noted. It's shameful.
@Virgin: if you, as support people, don't feel comfortable enough (or don't have the authority) to answer on behalf of the company FIND SOMEONE WHO DOES and badger them until you get their co-operation. It reflects VERY BADLY on Virgin's corporate culture that customers are seen as cash cows, and those who make decisions evidently don't want to be accountable for them to their customers.
Some of us have been using the Internet for twenty years (commercially). These problems are not new, and management of them isn't difficult. Throttling a protocol such as NNTP is every bit as ridiculous as throttling HTTP, in other words, quite arbitrary. If there is some obscure technical reason relating to Virgin's infrastructure that means it's the only solution, LET'S HEAR IT.
Let's be clear: this is not at all an intractible problem. Demon came up with an effective solution many, many years ago by operating a text-only news server, alongside one that permitted binary groups in a deliberately managed and limited way. That worked extremely well - text news was fast and current. When I cancelled my longstanding contract with them, in favour of Virgin, Demon were going through a bad patch, having changed hands several times, etc. I am now beginning to seriously regret the decision and will review it in the light of this thread.
It is the work of moments to create a list of text-only newsgroups and barely longer to create such a server. For most sensible people, under most circumstances, this is the ideal solution. You might even charge extra for access to the binary service -- I suspect those of us who don't have any interest in it would be highly relieved.
Usenet, for grown-ups, is one of the best features of the Internet. Advice, help, and community between those of shared interests, at very low overhead (if it's text!). That, and text-based email, were the two reasons I got my first Internet access subscription in 1991 (and it wasn't cheap!), and they remain high on my list of the most useful things about the Internet.
It's indicative of Virgin's apparent lack of understanding of the issue too, that I have to type this into a web-based application, rather than submit it to a low-bandwidth newsgroup.
So come on Virgin management: answer the reasonable questions posted TWO MONTHS AGO. Right now, you are alienating the customers you really want -- moderate, intelligent and reasonable, low-bandwidth users, who don't want to flit butterfly-like between ISPs, but will remain loyal to a supplier giving a good service.
It's still a competitive market out there. You have a HUGE advantage with fibre in the pavement, but you are wasting it with what seems on the face of it to be pig-headedness. Fibre and co-ax are no use to me, a customer, if they don't let me do the very things I need to.
I wouldn't be complacent about this if I were in Virgin management. I don't pay your monthly bill out of charity. I've been prepared to live with loss of service for days at a time, routing issues and so on, because everyone has technical problems occasionally. I am NOT, however, prepared to tolerate arbitrary policies that disadvantage me, a sensible, moderate Internet user, when there is at least one easy fix available to you.
I strongly suggest, when you read this, that you refer it up the line, until some manager with enough guts to actually make a decision realises there is a problem. You may not think one 'Mr. Angry' matters much, but I'll leave you to do the traffic analysis, to see how many others like me are in the same cohort. Can you afford to lose all of us?
Your call.
