>> Do you know why most ISPs are still quoting the 20:1 and 50:1 contentions even though BTw now quote acceptable speeds instead ?
Possibly because so many users are used to seeing 20:1 and 50:1 to distinguish between the Home and Office products.
Contention ratio doesnt really mean that much these days and yes minimum acceptable speeds are a fair better way of setting customer expectation.
BT never let the backhauls run at the quoted contention levels anyhow.. and when it comes to the BT centrals- its entirely possible to have them contended at say 100:1 and still see acceptable throughput.
The earlish adopters of adsl in general could be said to be the heavier users, whilst I think its fair to say that most people getting adsl for the first time today only do so for mail/surfing and will likely only be using around 1GB pm.
Therefore more of these types of users can share without any deterioration.
>> Also the acceptable speeds are only quoted up to 2Mb any reason why ?
Cause thats what BT quote
Max services where the line operates at 2Mb or above may provide End Users, at peak times, with the same data throughput as they would have experienced on an equivalent 2Mb fixed rate Broadband service.
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>> making look like they offer something different or better
In theory minimum acceptable speeds are better than contention ratios - heck if BT did allow the VPs to run at speeds of the contention levels quoted, then things would be pretty dire.
>> Do you think that this is just a marketing ploy
/me thinks theres been too much spin as it is about contention ratios.