Is the VIF ADSL/FTTN High-Speed service really unlimited?
VIF Internet’s service is truly unlimited in the sense that VIF will never cut your service, charge you for additional bandwith, or call you to ask you to reduce consumption. However, we have a so-called “SoftCap” of 100 GB , 150 GB or 200 GB depending on the plan you have. Anyone reaching or going over this limit is switched to a secondary server which has a lower priority, and may experience slower service during normal usage hours.
What speeds will I be receiving on the secondary server?
Speeds are not guaranteed on the secondary server since its a smaller shared server compared to our primary server where most of our bandwidth is allocated. If there are plenty of customers using the secondary server you will see a big drop in speeds during peak times and service may not be usable for streaming or downloading/uploading. However light browsing , emails and IP phone service will not be affected by this as they don’t use a lot of bandwidth.
Why are you doing this?
We were forced to enable the SoftCap following extreme abuse of our system, followed by slower service for all our users. We decided it was better to go this way rather than purchasing additional hardware and bandwith and being forced to charge more to our clients. We think this is fair.
How is the limit calculated?
The limit is evaluated every night at 0:00AM. The script automatically calculates your bandwidth usage of the last 15 days. If your transfer is over 50 GB (for 100 GB Limit) or 75 GB (for 150GB Limit) , or 100 GB (for 200GB Limit), you are transferred to the secondary server. If the next day at 0:00AM the previous 15 day’s bandwidth goes back to being under 50 GB, 75GB, 100 GB, you are switched back to the regular server.
Is the limit reset on the 1st day of the month?
No, for two reasons. First, if we slowed down all your transfers after 100GB, 150GB or 200GB and in a particular month you transfered 100GB , 150GB, 200GB in 5 days (it’s possible), you would be 25 days on the secondary server. Not very tempting!
Second, if we reset the limit on the 1st day of the month, all of our high-bandwith users would suddenly transfer gigs of data at full speed and all at the same time, causing a bottleneck that would jam the system for all our users, which of course is something we wish to avoid.
Is the GigaByte limit only on download, or combined transfer?
The GigaByte limit is calculated on both your download and upload transfer. Thus, it’s a good idea to monitor software that upload as well as download (bittorrent, P2P, etc).
Can you switch me to the “normal” server?
No, the switch is made automatically, and our technical staff does not have the ability to move your account from one server to the other. You will have to reduce your usage and wait until the server switches you back automatically. This will take a maximum of 15 days.
Is this legal?
Yes, it is, since we do this as a protection against abuse.
What if I have an older plan which was unlimited to begin with?
The SoftCap policy applies to all residential DSL accounts, new or existing, without exception. The only accounts not included in this policy are commercial DSL Static IP accounts. Regular dynamic commercial accounts are also under this policy.
