I just checked on Speedtest.net, and my connection is now 4 Mbps! The upgrade wasn’t meant to happen until 1st May, so either it’s early, or Sure are just testing the network. Lets hope it’s the first one.

Update @ 7pm: I have run a few more Speedtests, and have discovered that speeds have dropped to about 3.2 Mbps. It appears that although the speeds have been bumped up, the 40:1 contention ratio is causing slowdowns during those peak evening periods. As speeds get higher, users will probably notice larger variations in Internet speed at different times of day, dependent on network load.

Leave comments if you are experiencing the same in your area of Guernsey

With less than a month to go until the 4 Mbps upgrade for Guernsey broadband customers, Sure has posted new pricing plans on their website.

The current Anytime plan stays at £24.99 pm and has been rebranded “Sure Broadband”, with the speed being bumped up to 4 Mbps. However, to my disappointment, the upload speed remains fixed at 256 kbps. I was hoping for a bump to at least 512 kbps so that my home Slingbox will work better abroad.

Sure have scrapped the two tier Pro Broadband plans in favour of one plan, now called “Broadband Pro”. It offers the same 8 Mbps download and 768 kbps upload, but with a price of £49.99. This, in my opinion, is still massively overpriced,  but it is a reduction nonetheless.

So, overall, slightly disappointing. I was rather hoping that the Pro broadband would be set at or under a £40 price point, but it is still too pricey for home users having to pay out nearly £600 a year for what many in the UK would consider expensive for the speed you are getting.

I hope the pricing gets cheaper if/when sure introduce ADSL2+ services.