Considering switch from PAYG to BBYW2

[#1]

Having been interested by PlusNet's new MaxDSL Premium service, I'm now considering changing my main broadband product to help offset the extra £8/month for the faster upload speed. I'm currently on the old PAYG special offer which came with 15GB/month for £20, and whilst I appreciate the high priority of all traffic and the lack of rate limiting, I never come close to using all of those 15GB. (Incidentally, could someone please look in to fixing this - it's a time like this when it would be quite useful to see my usage history.)
So I'm thinking about moving to BBYW2. Now, I've read everything I can find about how traffic is 'sorted' on that product, and how it compares with PAYG. But because there is a lot of information that one has to take in, I would just like to confirm the following:
Most of my internet usage comes from web browsing, downloading small files over HTTP, using MSN, IRC and e-mail. As I understand it, I should see no difference whatsoever when using these things on BBYW2. Correct? I do however download stuff from iTunes every so often, and of course there are always software updates that need installing. These, I suspect, are hosted by Akami so I should expect them to be rate limited to 1Mbps between 4pm and 12am, correct?
Further to that, I do know that PN's rate limits aren't static 100% of the time - i.e. when there's spare capacity some of the limits will be reduced. In light of this, how 'common' is the 1Mbps rate limit discussed above? In other words, am I likely to see it pretty much all the time aside from Christmas Day, or will it probably only be noticeable on certain days of the week?
Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

[#2]

I switched from PAYG RIN to BBYW Option 2 some months ago.
My sych speed is 8128/448, line speed 7,150kbps and +Net connection speed 7,000kbps.  During quiet times....say 7:00am, my actual download speed is consistently approx 6,300kbps.....at other times, it rarely drops below 5,000kbps.  Interleaving is "on."
I use Gradwell 'phone, MSN chat, e-mail, 'net browsing and prior to 8:00am iPlayer.
All these services perform very well indeed.  iPlayer downloads very briskly.....2x1-hour progs in 1/2-hour, or less,  easily!
In my router, WAN direction: VoIP is given highest priority, e-mail medium priority and www low priority.  All rules are allocated 100kbps.  Router, LAN direction: same priorities, all rules allocated 20,000 kbps.
I very rarely experience line drops.
Regards.....Noel

[#3]

I myself have been toying with this for a while. On the legacy PAYG 2Gb product. Usually an around 1.8-1.9gb mark at the end of the month, but very occ go over the 2Gb. I like this product again for its lack of rate management, everything in Gold or above. I like the OP was concerned about BBYW traffic management.  All we do at home is Surf, use E-Mail, the usual system updates ( antivirus etc), occ HTTP downloads, Use some video streaming (youtube usually). Never use P2P as far as I am aware, or filesharing or UseNet, whatever that is.  As I occ go over the 2Gb limit, but rarely, would it be of any benefit to move to BBYW2, or stay with PAYG, and occ pay the extra £1.80 Would welcome any advice or opinions from anyone who has made the transfer.

[#4]

Hi Thomas,
You have understood the difference and how the traffic management works very well.
With P2P/Usenet etc, the limits are variable depending on central capacity.
So, from wht you have said you should not notice any diference most of the time.

[#5]

I'm also considering makng the move as I get quite close to the 2Gb limit on legacy PAYG some months.  Can I just check that things like MSN or Yahoo Messenger are not treated as peer to peer, even with a webcam on?

[#6]

I swapped from BB+ to BBYW2 and am very happy I did. My usage is much the same mixture as yours Be3G; I haven’t yet reached my 8GB limit even though I am on line a lot more than most. I regularly get wireless download speeds of around 800k a second and have seen closer to 900k on occasion.
I do however tend to schedule most downloads of over 100mb for after midnight along with BBC iplayer downloads. An unexpected pleasure was that I found P2P rates are great overnight and still ok if I need to finish a download off in peak time, under BB+ it was pretty much unusable.
I really can’t fault it as long as you can work around the 8gb peak limit.

[#7]

Thanks for everyone's experiences/anecdotes/advice - however, could I also have a response to my queries from someone at PlusNet please, now it's back to the working week?

[#8]

Hi Thomas,
I would have added to this sooner, but felt that the replies that you had received so far had covered all bases.
Anything in particular you want addressing?

[#9]

Hmm, weird, the thread was never marked with 'new' after your reply....
I guess the thing that no-one's really addressed yet is my question about the constancy of the 1Mbps rate limit on download servers - i.e. should I pretty much always expect to see that rate between 4pm and 12am, or is it a bit more variable than that? (I ask as I understand that PN do fiddle with the rate limits during quiet periods etc.)

[#10]

There are different rules depending on the day of the week, or depending on the internet calendar (things like Patch Tuesday for example) so those rate limits being suggested are the lowest levels that you will see under normal network conditions.
As you've alluded to, we would tweak these during quiet periods.  I'll ask Tommo to give us some further info

[#11]

Hi Thomas,
It all depends on network load and how busy things are on any given day. As a general rule Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are the busiest days of the week and Friday and Saturday the quietest. Expect to see the rate limits at the rates on the portal on the busier days but on the quieter ones there is scope to relax some of them. We don't though relax every rate limit at the same time, so as the network gets quieter we might increase some of the BBYW 3/4 ones or Premier but not BBYW 1 and 2. Or do them in stages so first BBYW 3/4, then an hour later BBYW 2, etc.
One of the reasons I work late is so I can keep an eye on network performance like this so can make the changes on the fly so to speak as and when things happen. Tonight I expect to keep it at 1Mbps on BBYW 2 all night but depending how the network balances out tomorrow might get a bit higher after 10pm.

[#12]

Right, thanks James and Dave, that's very helpful - just what I needed answering.