What happens when I reach the bandwidth allowance?
When were these new services launched?
Zen 8000 Active and Pro were launched on March 1st 2006. Zen 8000 Lite was launched on August 10th 2006.
All existing customers on our Home 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 services can continue with their existing service. Should they wish to upgrade to one the new services, either now or at a later date, they can do so for free.
Will existing customers be forced to move onto the new services?
No. Existing customers can stay on their current Home 500/ 1000/ 2000 Broadband service should they so wish. Even if they move premises, they can continue to stay with the same account.
Will new customers still be able to buy a Home 500, Home 1000 or Home 2000 service, and can existing customers upgrade their current service to these particular services?
No. From 1st March 2006 these services will not be available to new customers, nor will customers be able to upgrade to one of them. An unlimited Home 250 service will still be available to new and existing customers.
Will everyone be able to get 8Mb?
From 31st March, BT began updating over 5,300 UK exchanges to Max DSL, serving more than 99.6% of homes and businesses. Only 159 remote exchanges will remain on standard DSL. According to BT estimations:
- 42% of customers will get a connection speed that is above 6Mb
- 36% of customers will get a connection speed between 4Mb and 6Mb
- Remaining customers will see speeds of below 4Mb
Zen will provide you with the fastest connection speed, up to 8Mb, that your phone line will reliably support. The actual speed that you get will depend on a number of factors, such as the quality of your phone line and the length of the line between your home and the local phone exchange.
Although the connection speed will be set during the 10 day testing period, the actual speed at which you can download will vary depending on a number of factors. Actual download speeds will be no higher than 7150kbps and speed may then be limited by, for example, general congestion on the Internet or a number of heavy broadband users connecting to the same telephone exchange as you. We advise that during peak usage times it is likely that download speeds no greater than 2Mb will be achieved.
How do I know what line speeds I will get?
Enter your phone number in the Availability Checker within the headline banner of the Zen Broadband website (or click here) and we'll test your line and give you an indication of the download speed that it will support based on an estimate of line length. Due to line quality issues which only become apparent once your service is activated, the maximum speed may be below the original indication provided prior to ordering.
During the first 10 days of service your line will fluctuate and you may get intermittent connection issues as it is tested to determine the fastest speed that it will support. You are more likely to stabilise at a higher speed if you leave your router on continuously or connect to the broadband service as much as possible. We recommend connecting your ADSL equipment to a BT Master Socket (where available) to maximise performance and stability.
Is it true that modems will not work with up to 8Mb speeds?
Yes, USB modems may not be compatible with these higher speed services. Customers with incompatible modems will need to upgrade their hardware before they can utilise these new products. See our hardware page for compatible routers.
How much will it cost to upgrade to a different Zen service?
If customers wish to upgrade to Zen 8000 Lite, Active or Pro, they can do so for FREE. To regrade to one of our other Broadband services, e.g. Zen Office 2000, the current charge remains at £15.00 ex. VAT.
Can customers keep their current Home 500 / 1000 / 2000 service if they move house or office?
Yes, there is no problem in keeping the same service when you move premises.
Will customers be able to see how much bandwidth they have used?
Customers can log into their personal account in the Zen Customer Portal to see their usage.
For those customers choosing to purchase additional GB to cover occasions where monthly usage may exceed their allowance limit, they will also be able to see the status of their "banked" amount.
Will Zen contact their customers if they are reaching their usage limit?
Yes, we will contact each customer by email once they start to near their bandwidth threshold, at 50%, 75% and 90%. It will be the responsibility of each customer to update their contact and email details with Zen. At 100% customers will be redirected to a special Zen website notifying them that they have used all of their allowance. This page will provide the option to purchase additional GB.
What happens if a customer exceeds their usage allowance?
Should a customer exceed their monthly usage allowance, they will be automatically re-directed to a special Zen Website when they connect to the Internet which enables them to increase bandwidth allowance and re-enable normal Internet access. When they reach this site, customers can select how many extra GB they wish to purchase from 1GB, 2GB, 5GB, 10GB, 20GB and 50GB. Any unused GB at the end of the calendar month will be held in a "bank" for future use.
In order to avoid any delays to their Internet connection by running out of bandwidth, customers can pre-purchase extra GB at any time via their account in the Zen Customer Portal. This banked amount will only be used when downloads exceed the monthly limit, and will roll-over to the next month if not used. Partly-used GB will be rounded up to the nearest MB at the end of each calendar month, ensuring that the maximum amount is carried over into the next month.
How much will it cost the customer to buy extra GB above their usage allowance?
Zen 8000 Lite customers incur a charge of £1.49 including VAT for each extra GB over their product's usage limit (2GB). Customers who order Zen 8000 Active and Pro after Monday 9th October 2006 will be charged £1.49 including VAT for each extra GB over their product's usage limit (20GB and 50GB respectively). Zen 8000 Active and Pro customers who ordered their connection before this date will continue to pay £1.00 including VAT for each extra GB over their product's usage limit.
Any part use of a GB by the end of the calendar month will be rounded up to the nearest MB and carried over.
If customers do not use all of their usage allowance, can it be transferred to any following month?
Only the additionally purchased "banked" GB will be carried over into subsequent months. Any usage included in the Zen 8000 service will not be rolled over.
When does usage reset?
The usage statistics are reset at 12.01 GMT on the 1st of each calendar month and will last until the final day of that particular month. Due to the large number of accounts that need resetting on our system, it can take a number of hours to update them all.
Those customers joining the service at any point within the month will still benefit from the full allowance.
What is the minimum length of contract?
The minimum contract term is one month.
Is the usage upstream and downstream?
No. The limits apply to downstream usage only.
What other technical information do I need to be made aware of?
ADSL is a shared platform which allows for high speed services to be provided at low prices. During periods of high traffic the speeds obtainable will reduce as more people make use of it.
The thresholds for the IP Stream Max service are as follows:
- 288kbit/s line rate = 50-250kbit/s download speed.
- Above 288kbit/s up to 576kbit/s line rate = 50-500kbit/s download speed.
- Above 576kbit/s up to 1152kbit/s line rate = 100-1000kbit/s download speed.
- Above 1152kbit/s up to 2272kbit/s line rate = 200-2000kbit/s download speed.
- Above 2272kbit/s up to 8128kbit/s line rate = 400-7150kbit/s download speed.
Note: Zen 8000 Pro and Active provide a minimum speed half that of Office 8000 Max, through traffic prioritisation on BT's network.
What happens if customers receive a Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack?
We are not responsible for any DDOS attacks. Our systems do not enable us to identify whether excessive usage is down to general heavy use or a DDOS attack, so we cannot therefore refund any allowance. Fortunately, because there are caps in place, this will restrict a DDOS attack from consuming yet more bandwidth resulting in the customers being charged excessive amounts.
Zen 8000 Services Glossary