FAQs

Contents

Products

Terms & Conditions

Speed

Usage

Shaping

Payment / Charges

General

Products

Q1. Why are these products better than Max products?

Unlike Max, the new products will be subject to very little Performance Management (or "traffic shaping"). In fact, there will be no Performance Management on the most common forms of internet traffic, such as browsing, emailing, streaming, downloading and uploading. This means that the products will be much less subject to fluctuating speeds, and we expect download speeds overall to be higher than they are on Max Options 1, 2 or 3.

The speed experience will be at least as good as that experienced on Starter Max and Max Option 4. In addition, the products are easy to choose between, with pre-set usage limits, unlike Max, so the customer knows exactly what he's getting by paying more.

Q2. What are the advantages of changing to one of these packages?

There are several benefits to changing, summarised as follows:

Q3. Why are you not offering 24Mb when other companies can?

The number of ISPs offering 24Mb services in the UK is still fairly small, and the service is limited to larger urban areas only. BT will launch its own "up to 24Mb" service on 30th April 2008, but this will initially only be available to 5% of the population, rising to 50% by April 2009.

So these higher speed broadband options will continue to be limited to the more highly-populated areas in larger cities for the next 12 months or so. Kingston has been testing a new ADSL2+ service over recent months, which will offer speeds of up to 24Mb, and we are currently evaluating the market need and feasibility of launching such a service.

Q4. Why are there only three packages available?

Whilst choice is important to our customers, we wanted to keep the options simple and clear. When we were looking at which new products to offer, we looked at our various customer segments, and thought about the type of product each of these segments would want us to provide. This exercise showed us that, combined with a "Pay As You Go" option for additional usage, the three products we are launching between them satisfy the varying needs of our customer segments.

Q5. Why can you not provide me with an unlimited package?

We understand that many customers enjoy the peace of mind that unlimited usage brings. However, when we analysed the actual usage patterns of our users, we found that over half of our customers use less than 1GB a month, whilst 71% use less than 2GB a month, and 95% use less than 10GB a month. This means that Karoo Lite and Karoo Mid would provide plenty of usage to suit the majority of our customers, whilst the relatively small proportion of our customers that download heavily are best suited to Karoo Pro, particularly as they can schedule unlimited downloading activities to happen overnight

Q6. If I am unhappy with my new package, can I change back without cost to me?

We are confident that customers will experience consistently improved download speeds with these new products. However, in the rare circumstance that a customer experiences a downgrade in customer experience we will allow the customer to change back to his previous product free of charge.

Q7. Why are you charging me a £5 hardware delivery fee?

It is standard practice for an ISP to make a small charge for delivery of inclusive hardware. Among the providers that also make a hardware delivery fee, PlusNet and Madasafish each charge £6.99, and Eclipse also charges £5.

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Terms & Conditions

Q8. Why do I have to re-start my contract?

There is a cost to Kingston when an existing customer changes to a new product, mainly attributable to staff resource within Customer Services and Engineering. All we ask is that customers start a fresh contract with us. Customers are free to select the one-month option on Karoo Mid or Karoo Pro, for the connection fee of £47 inc VAT.

Q9. Does the Fair Usage Policy apply?

There is no Fair Usage Policy with these products, but, as with all of our products, the Acceptable Use Policy applies, as published on the Karoo home page at www.karoo.co.uk/acceptableuse.asp.

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Speed

Q10. What speed am I going to get?

We will be able to provide you with an estimate of the connection (or line) speed that you will achieve, but download speed (i.e. the actual speed at which you browse / watch online videos, etc) will differ across different times of the day. Whilst the intention with these new products is to give customers a download/browsing speed that is as close as possible to their connection speed, ADSL (i.e. broadband delivered via telephone lines) is a naturally contended service, and there will be times when there are so many other users sharing your connection that you will see a slowdown in speed.

Q11. How have you calculated my predicted speed?

Our predicted speeds are based on averages across a large cross-sample of Kingston telephony lines.

Q12. What speed information does your speed checker give me?

The Karoo speed checker tool will provide you with an indication of a typical line speed for your postcode area when using an "up to 8Mb" product. Line speed (also known sometimes as "synch speed" or "connection speed") is the speed of the line between your broadband router or modem and your local telephone exchange. There are a number of factors that affect your line speed, the length of your line being by far the most significant. So the further you live from the exchange, the lower your line speed is likely to be. Please note that other broadband speed checker tools readily available on the Internet may be checking download (or "throughput") speed, which is different (and often lower) than your line speed, since this is affected by a number of additional factors, such as how busy the Internet is, your internal wiring, etc.

Q13. Will I always be able to download at the speed you quote me?

The Karoo speed checker will provide you with a typical line speed for your postcode area. This is the maximum speed at which you will be able to download and browse on the Internet. Please note, however, that download speeds can be lower during busy periods.

Q14. Am I guaranteed to receive the same or greater speed than I currently receive?

If you are already on an "up to 8Mb" Max service, there will be no change in your connection (or line) speed, since Max broadband provides the best possible speed on your line using standard ADSL technology, up to a downstream maximum of 8Mb. If you are using one of our legacy broadband products (Karoo Broadband 500, 1000, 2000, 3000 or Starter), you are likely to see an improved connection speed, although only the lucky few with very short line lengths achieve the full 8Mb.

The intention with these new products is to give customers a download/browsing speed that is as close as possible to their connection speed, and we will not be traffic shaping the most common types of Internet traffic such as browsing, emailing, video streaming and downloading. This means that you should receive at least the same download speed as you currently receive, and probably faster, although your broadband connection will still be liable to natural contention during busy times. Please note that, in order to minimise the effects of natural broadband contention for the majority of our customers, we may still give lower priority to peer-to-peer (file sharing) and newsgroups traffic.

Q15. Is there a guarantee of minimum speed?

The actual speed you experience is affected by one or more of the following factors, and it is therefore impossible to guarantee a minimum speed:

Q16. Will my speed be consistent?

Whilst your line speed will be consistent, your download/browsing speed will vary at different times of the day, depending on how many other customers are using the same connection as you.

Q17. What download speeds will I get?

The intention with these new products is to give customers a download/browsing speed that is as close as possible to their connection speed, and we will not be traffic shaping the most common types of Internet traffic such as browsing, emailing, video streaming and downloading. This means that you should receive at least the same download speed as you currently receive, and probably faster, although your broadband connection will still be liable to natural contention during busy times.

Please note that, in order to minimise the effects of natural broadband contention for the majority of our customers, we may still give lower priority to peer-to-peer (file sharing) and newsgroups traffic.

Q18. Is it going to be faster than option X?

We believe that the new products will deliver at least the same speed as Karoo Max Option 4, but at significantly lower prices.

Q19. I'm getting a lower line speed than your speed checker quoted me.

We have found our speed checker to be accurate in the vast majority of cases. However, there are some instances where a customer may experience a lower line speed than that quoted. In these circumstances, our Technical Support team will work with the customer to identify and fix what could be negatively impacting the speed (e.g. wiring in the home, improper use of filters, electrical interference in the home).

Q20. How will traffic shaping impact my speed?

There will be no Performance Management on the majority of Internet traffic. We will be applying Performance Management only to file sharing (peer-to-peer) and Usenet (newsgroups) traffic, which, although used by a small minority of users, has the ability to adversely impact on Internet speed for the majority.

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Usage

Q21. How do I check my usage?

The Karoo Control Panel (accessed by clicking on "My Account" from the Karoo homepage) includes a Usage Meter, which will illustrate your monthly usage, both for the current 30-day period and also for six previous monthly periods, so you can keep an eye on your usage.

In addition, we will be sending out warning emails when you have reached 50% and 75% of your monthly allowance (Karoo Lite) or 80% (Karoo Mid and Karoo Pro).

Q22. How will I know if I go over my usage allowance?

We will be sending out warning emails when you have reached 50% and 75% of your monthly allowance (Karoo Lite) or 80% (Karoo Mid and Karoo Pro). In addition, we will email you (to your default Karoo email address) when you've gone over your usage allowance.

Q23. What happens if I go over my usage allowance? How much will it be if I go over my usage allowance?

If you go over your usage allowance, you will be charged £2 per GB or part thereof if you're using Karoo Lite, or £1 per GB or part thereof if you're using Karoo Mid or Karoo Pro. The payment for additional usage will be added to your next monthly payment, which will be taken on or around 24th of the month. You will receive an email to notify you of the changed bill.

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Shaping

Q24. What is contention?

In order to provide cost-effective broadband services, Kingston plans its network so that each connection to a telephone exchange is shared among multiple users. When too many customers are using their connection at the same time, speeds will start to slow down for all those users sharing the set amount of bandwidth. This is known as contention.

Q25. What is the difference between traffic shaping and contention?

Contention happens naturally with ADSL broadband, and is dependent on how many other customers are using the same connection at the same time. Traffic shaping, on the other hand, is a form of managing Internet traffic that is controlled by the ISP, and can take many forms. It may involve slowing specific customers' connections down at particular times of day or preventing specific customers from conducting particular internet activities at certain times of day, for example, peer-to-peer downloading during busy periods.

Q26. How does natural contention impact gaming?

What matters for a good gaming experience more than anything is fast pings (the time delay measured in seconds which it takes to get from your computer to the gaming server, and back again). This has more to do with upload speeds than download speeds, and any downstream slowdown experienced due to contention will have minimal impact on gaming.

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Payment / Charges

Q27. Why can I not pay cash?

The vast majority of ISPs have been accepting only direct debit payments for a number of years. The cost of managing cash and cheque payments has become prohibitively high, and we have had to review our policy in the light of offering reduced prices.

Q28. Why do I have to pay a set-up / downgrade fee?

It is standard practice throughout the ISP world to charge a set-up or downgrade fee for new and existing customers that wish to move to a new, lower priced product. Other ISPs that do this include TalkTalk (£29.99 charge for new and existing customers), Sky (£30 for existing customers), Pipex (£20) and Be (£24).

Don't forget that we are making the discounted price of £8.49 per month available to existing as well as new customers, so that a customer moving from Max Option 1, paying £16.99 a month, would recoup this charge in just over 4 months of changing to Karoo Lite.

Q29. Can you offer a Pay As You Go service?

There is a standard cost attached to providing a dedicated port (on a DSLAM in an exchange) to an individual customer, and for this reason it is not feasible to offer a free PAYG service on broadband as it is on dial-up. These new products are PAYG, since customers can choose to use additional bandwidth and paying for it.

Q30. Can I have my telephone calls and broadband service bundled and billed together?

A bundled telephony/broadband product is not something that we are planning to offer at present.

Q31. Can I buy extra Gig in advance?

Currently, the only option is to buy additional GB as you go, at a set cost per GB. However, we are working on the development of a "top up" facility, which would enable you to buy additional GB bundles to use at any time when you've exceeded your inclusive allowance.

Q32. Why did I pay £2 for 2GB on my old package, but now it is £2 for only 1GB?

The cost of additional usage is £2 per GB only on the Karoo Lite package. It is £1 per GB on Karoo Mid and Karoo Pro.

Q33. Can I have a discount on my telephone service?

We have no plans to offer telephony discounts to broadband customers.

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General

Q34. Can I come into Carr Lane to collect my equipment?

Unfortunately this is not possible, since we use an outside fulfilment house to configure and deliver our hardware.

Q35. Can my email be sent to another email address other than Karoo?

Unfortunately at the moment we can only send warning emails to your Karoo email address. When you register on KC Online, we will send you your bill notifications to the email address with which you register.

Q36. I'm on Option 4, what are the advantages of moving to Pro?

We expect you to experience improved download speeds overall, since we will be maintaining the cost-effectiveness of this product via the 75GB usage allowance.

Q37. I'm a 3Mb customer, are these packages suitable for gaming?

What matters for a good gaming experience more than anything is fast pings (the time delay measured in seconds which it takes to get from your computer to the gaming server, and back again). A higher downstream speed will not make a great deal of difference if you are planning to use your broadband connection just for gaming, and the upstream speed is the same as it is on Karoo 3000. However, if you also download you will probably achieve faster speeds on these new products.

Q38. What can I do for 75GB (i.e. how long will it take to download 200 music tracks)?

We are currently developing an online Usage Calculator, which will help to answer questions like this. This will be available from launch.

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