Intentional throttling of connection speed

[#1]

I've been with Plusnet for over 2 and a half years now and never had a huge problem with connection speeds. Ok, so l never got anywhere near the 8mb they quote but l was happy enough with it ranging from 4.5 to 5.5mb.
This month my download usage has been a little higher than usual (although l'm still 2.5gb away from the 8gb limit). My download speed according to www.mybroadbandspeed.com has dropped to 130kb and my upload speed to just 90kb!! If l then test it after midnight l get speeds between 2.5 and 3.5mb.
Can anyone give me any logical reason for this other than my account being VERY prematurely throttled back by Plusnet? 
Before l get the inevitable questions, the router is a Linksys and the setting have been checked by an IT consultant.
I put a formal query to Plusnet but got the usual garbage about it being an "up to 8mb service". I do understand this concept, but 130kb is franky unacceptable. Who knows, by the time the cnnection manages to post this thread, it might be September................

[#2]

what package are you On?  some do in fact clamp you at I think 60% of your 8Gb traffic

[#3]

As far as l'm aware l'm on the commically named PlusNet Unlimited.........
Actually, having checked my package is called PlusNet Broadband Plus up to 8Mb apparently........
I pay £14.67 a month l think.

[#4]

isn't  BB+ peak usage limit  4gb ?
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/products/archive/broadband_plus_archive.shtml#usage
if so, your usage level explains the peaktime throttling

[#5]

When l view my usage in the members area it shows the limit as 8gb.
Just out of interest, what happens if you exceed your usage limit? Seeming as l'm still 2.5gb off my limit and l'm getting 130kb, do l get a wind u connection if l exceed 8gb?
If l'm going to be throttled back like this when l'm not near my limit, l'm sure there are better value packages from other ISP's.

[#6]

As Paulh suggests, your usage allowance will be 4GB on Broadband Plus. It'll be showing 8GB in your view my usage as the scale of the chart increases with the more usage you use.
When you reach 4GB your connection is managed to 128Kbps (IIRC) until your next billing date. If the newer products are more suited to your usage patterns then you may be interested in moving over to one of them?

[#7]

I think you may be misinterpreting what you're seeing.
there is no limit shown on the vmbu page.
The scale on the graphs changes as your usage mounts over the month [quote="vmbu"]Please note: The scale of this bar will increase as your usage approaches 4GB

[#8]

So how much extra would l need to pay to get service thats vaguely usable for anything other than reading news on bbc.co.uk?

[#9]

Hi there,
As you regularly use less than 10GB per month you could move to Value, which costs £5.99 as you're in a low cost area. If you wanted no traffic management at all you'd need Pro, at £19.99. Better to mention both these changes would start a new contract though.
Account changes are generally scheduled for your next billing date but I can do it for you straightaway if you raise a ticket and give me a shout. You'd then be back to normal speed in a few minutes.

[#10]

I'm still on this same package, and I'm fully aware that it's more expensive that the nearest 'newer' option of "Plusnet Value" package, but I've got a question on the Usage Allowance.
You tell Poobah that his (and mine) limit is 4GB and we only see up to 8GB because of the scale of the usage graph. Is that for Peak Usage or combined Peak and off-Peak usage? For example, the peak usage could be 2.5GB and off-peak usage could be 2.5GB with a total of 5GB.
Does that break the 4GB Usage Allowance, and therefore throttle the service provided to us.
Ta.

[#11]

The usage graph shows total usage (peak + off-peak). On my (pro) package it is colour coded with the red being peak and orange being off-peak. Don't know if it is the same on your package. The 4GB allowance is for peak only.

[#12]

Quote from: Peter

The usage graph shows total usage (peak + off-peak). On my (pro) package it is colour coded with the red being peak and orange being off-peak. Don't know if it is the same on your package. The 4GB allowance is for peak only.

Yep, looks the same way (colour-coded, etc), and 4GB was what I always thought it was. But this thread made me think differently on that.

[#13]

4GB is your peak time usage allowance, there is a 50GB off peak limit on BB Plus.