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Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Stevej
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Hello all,
I hope that one of the communications team can help?
I have had a ticket (26035712) open for over 2 months now.  Cry
To (briefly) summarise, it appears that after I provided wireshark traces a problem where some VOIP traffic (Skype in particular) is not being correctly identified by the Ellacoya’s as Titanium is the cause of my poor VOIP.
What seems to have happened since then is a big black hole and the Customer Service department despite chasing don’t seem to be able to get a response or any feedback from other areas, 3rd parties.
This is not a complaint about Customer Services or anyone else but rather the obscure procedure that seems to happen when there is a traffic management issue and the lack of feedback.
While I was not expecting an immediate fix after the problem was identified, after over 20 years in the computing industry I know better  Wink
I do think the current lack of feedback is very poor.
I do find this all rather strange as the Ellacoya’s are at the core of your business model for traffic management, but the supplier’s response (or rather lack of it) seems odd to me.
Is it possible for someone to try to find out what is going on and perhaps provide an estimate of when a resolution will be implemented?
Just to add to my frustration the call was (accidentally) closed off but has since been re-opened so the overall customer experience with this call is not a wonderful experience!
Please can someone help and find out what is going on?
Thank you in anticipation of some news.
Stephen

14 REPLIES 14
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

That certainly doesn't sound great, I'll speak to the people here that have been dealing with your ticket and find out what's going on.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
Stevej
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the prompt reply. I am not expecting an instance fix, but if you can achieve that then you can have a gold star  Wink
It is really the lack of feedback that has been frustrating so just hearing something would be good.
Thanks
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Yep, I can understand that the lack of feedback is frustrating, I'll see what I can find out and get back to you.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
_CN_
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 385
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Hi,
I've taken a look at the question.  I have asked for an update from our network operations team who deal with questions escalated from customer support and for the last response from Arbor Ellacoya .  I know about the Skype signature and your wireshark captures do show the relevant packet being present required for the classification so its a case of why the switch is not internally re-writing your flows as a Skype call.  question - do you always see issues with Skype calls or just a percentage during the evening?
Stevej
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Hi,
The problem can be any time, however mornings seem generally less affected. In the afternoons it can be very bad with long delays of seconds making conversation impossible. It seems to happen each time.
I have not been using Skype much in the evenings recently so I can't give a definite answer.
_CN_
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 385
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Hi,
Do you use Skype In/Out, if so do you have problems with these call types?
Do you find Skype-to-Skype calls have long delays on both calls made by you and calls made to you?
Stevej
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Hi,
I don't use Skype In, did try it some time ago.
I do use Skype out, it seems to works sometimes, but other times is seems poor but I don't use it that much so can't be that precise.
Skype to Skype calls (which is the majority of the calls I make) are where I experience the issue. Both calls made by me and calls to me.
Sometimes the call seems to start OK, but after a short time, say 10 seconds the delays start to show up and eventually reach 5 or more seconds.
godsell4
Rising Star
Posts: 3,366
Thanks: 15
Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Uh, you are doing TWO skype calls over 1 ADSL line, are you on Max Premium?
--
3Mb FTTC
https://portal.plus.net/my.html?action=data_transfer_speed
scootie
Grafter
Posts: 4,799
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎03-11-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

no think he is saying that even if he makes the call or recevies the call the lag is present in both cases. not that hes trying to have a confrence call.
Stevej
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Sorry was not clear. I experience the problem when I make or receive calls.
Stevej
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Just to let anyone who is interested know, I have provided another Wireshark trace. Here's hoping it will be of help  Smiley
Stevej
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

An update to anyone interested.
Plusnet have continued to investigate from traces supplied and have also conducted some testing of their own and there does seem to be some underlying issue although the root cause is not apparent at this stage.
At least the problem is not intermittent thank goodness!
A temporary workaround has been implemented (change to my profile) while they look into this further. It is pleasing to be getting some feedback, and thanks to all those involved. I will see how this goes.
My only observation is that it is a pity that I had to make this posting in the first place, even though I had a support ticket open for 2 months.
That seemed to be  going nowhere, as the feedback was limited I hope that this was just my bad luck, rather than a more general issue with longer running tickets?
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Thanks for the feedback, it was me who opened the new ticket on your account this morning, our networks team are liaising with Ellacoya on this still.
The ticket was in the networks pool and was updated as we received info from Ellacoya, however this also means that you don't get regular updates from us saying that we are still looking at it, for that I'm sorry. We'll keep plugging away on this and will let you know when it's finished.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
Stevej
Grafter
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Saga of traffic "mis" management!

Hello,
A bit of time since the last posting, but I have good news  Smiley
Plusnet and their suppliers have identified the issue and made a change (sorry no details what the root cause or fix was).
But the result is that I now am able to hold a Skype conversation, this good news, at least for me if not the people I am talking to  Wink
I would like to thank everyone involved who helped to resolve this issue.
I can't mention names (as I understand that is against the forum rules) But I am sure the people know who they are so thank you again for your efforts