How do you get service?

[#1]

From what people have said and from what you experienced it appears obvious that they would have a general prioritisation of data traffic which is what you are experiencing.

Quote

The email says there is only 1 restriction and it is during peak-time.

The e-mail relates to the usage allowance and the related consequences it doesn't have anything to do with there general traffic prioritisation so it isn't mentioned.

[#2]

I think I'd be pretty fed up with connection speeds of 25-35KB/s at off peak hours, even on restricted protocols.
I have a BBYW Option 2 account and I get speeds of at least 10 times this during off peak hours when using usenet. True, I haven't exceeded my usage allowance, but even if I had this does seem to be a somewhat extreme example of traffic shaping.

[#3]

10% of the average (450KB/s) is 45KBps not 25-35, but either way its still very low.
If this is low priority data P2P, FTP, Usenet and it was during the busy periods then it is probably right.
They have got a usage graph some ware showing the network capacity, it would be interesting to see if the low speeds line up with the times when its at capacity.

[#4]

Quote from: Mr

I think I'd be pretty fed up with connection speeds of 25-35KB/s at off peak hours, even on restricted protocols.

It isn't during all off peak hours, just between midday and 4pm and midnight and 2am. Speeds between 2am and midday when the network isn't as busy will be up to line speed.

[#5]

Quote from: astarsolutions

10% of the average (450KB/s) is 45KBps not 25-35, but either way its still very low. If this is low priority data P2P, FTP, Usenet and it was during the busy periods then it is probably right.

It will be, and on level 1 management no distinction is made between P2P, FTP and Usenet so they will all get the same speeds. Even on Broadband Premier without peak time management P2P speeds will be reduced to 320Kbps in an afternoon between 2pm and 4pm so 25-35KB/s will be about right.

Quote from: astarsolutions

They have got a usage graph some ware showing the network capacity, it would be interesting to see if the low speeds line up with the times when its at capacity.

Yep, that's here:
http://www.plus.net/support/network_performance/broadband_bandwidth_usage.shtml
There's spare capacity overnight from about 2am and it gets up towards the maximum capacity around midday.

[#6]

Ok, I don't know what account you are on or what your interest is in this thread but, I'm hoping you want to see a fellow customer get what they pay for.
I'll start from the beginning again.
My query is all about binary usenet, it could apply to other traffic I don't know.
I have BB Premier option 1. The spec says that peak-time is between 4pm and 12am and that, with no restrictions, usenet is only managed between 6pm and 10pm. Even then, it says that if there is available bandwidth those restrictions might not apply.
I went over the 13GB limit, 7GB short of the upper limit for my account type. For this I received an email informing me that light restrictions would now apply. It also says quite clearly that the restrictions only apply during peak-time which, just to remind you, is between 4pm and 12am.
The loss of 90% of my speed was just rough, as you pointed out, I do in fact lose more than 90%.
At 12pm my speed drops to ~35KB/s. At 2pm it drops to ~25KB/s. At the moment and until 10pm I can not connect at all to usenet. At 10pm I will get ~25KB/s and at 12am I get ~35KB/s and at 2am all restrictions end.
These times aren't rough, they are (from my clock) seconds after the hour.
How anybody can say that this can be fair I don't know. I pay for 20GB per month of peak-time usage. I get to 13GB and I am so heavily restricted that I do not believe I could exceed 20GB if I really tried.
This isn't even a light drop in speed due to network traffic, if you use usenet you will know that, between 12pm and 4pm, 25-35KB/s is appalling.

[#7]

The speeds and times you have described fit with the network capacity graph so your account is working the way it is designed to work.
The problem is simply down to the network capacity available.
Plusnet need to buy more capacity but I doubt they will be doing that any time soon.

[#8]

This is how it works and how it has worked for a long time. Binary usenet is very bandwidth hungry and when the network is busy the speeds get slowed down to give priority to higher priority traffic like browsing and gaming. That's just how our network works. Simple solution is to download between 2am and midday when you'll get a lot faster speed.
What's fair is giving everyone their fair share of the available bandwidth when the network is at its busiest and that means giving priority to those that haven't reached peak time management over those that do.

[#9]

Maybe its because its me with the problem and not you with the problem but please, please, please can you point to where it says anywhere on any Plusnet page that "light restrictions" and "only ever apply within peak-time" relates to what I am suffering.

[#10]

I tried to explain a couple of posts ago that your problem seemed to be due to general network prioritisation and capacity. Its got nothing to do with the e-mail you received.

[#11]

Dave, will you just answer the question and stop saying things like "this is how it works" and "we have to manage the network".
The question is, why did I receive an email that said the restrictions only apply during peak time and yet I am restricted for much longer?
I know all about how its fair to give other people priority but I have not gone over the 20GB per month limit for which I pay.
If the limit is not 20GB per month then you need to change the spec

[#12]

The restrictions are not on your account.  They are part of the traffic management scheme that Plus along with most ISPs implement to allow a fair distribution of traffic.

[#13]

astarsolutions - Please explain what you mean by the account working the way it was designed to. If you believe that then you must have read something I haven't. If I have overlooked something I will apologise and stop posting messages about it.
I agree that the times I mention do line up with when Plusnet are busiest, it doesn't answer the question though.

[#14]

Quote

I agree that the times I mention do line up with when Plusnet are busiest, it doesn't answer the question though.

It does, did you look at the graph.
The simply don't have the capacity to give you full bandwidth all the time, they will drop your low priority traffic in favour of others using the web, email or other high priority things.

[#15]

The answer is that, that is just how the traffic management works. Each type of traffic is assigned to a different queue and each queue gets a different priority on the network. If you reach peak time management your non-interactive traffic gets put down to a lower queue and as such gets a lower speed when the network is busy. If the emails aren't clear enough then I'll make sure that they are reviewed.