cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Why is a PN profile necessary?

ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Why is a PN profile necessary?

The topic about PN Profiles not necessarily updating properly set me to wondering why Plusnet needs to apply its own profile.  Won't the fact of the BT IP Profile do all that is necessary?  AFAIK other ISPs don't apply their own profile; or do they just keep quiet about it?
12 REPLIES 12
Strat
Community Veteran
Posts: 31,320
Thanks: 1,609
Fixes: 565
Registered: ‎14-04-2007

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

Quote from: Chris
We match the IP profile against BT Wholesale so we can apply per user QoS to your line. This allows us to prioritise your high priority traffic above low priority traffic. If we didn't have this profile then we wouldn't know the maximum rate your line could support, therefore if we allowed more traffic through on our side of the network than your line could support you would see random packet loss at the BTW BRAS and this could be any type of traffic (VoIP, P2P etc).
So by applying the profile on our side we can control what traffic is affected first, therefore allowing high priority traffic to be unaffected and only the lowest priority traffic to be affected.
Windows 10 Firefox 109.0 (64-bit)
To argue with someone who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead - Thomas Paine
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

I'm not entirely convinced by that explanation.  For one thing the delay in tracking changes in  your BT IP profile must mean that if it goes down you will see random packet loss whereas if it goes up you just see an unnecessary speed restriction - until Plusnet catches up.  I just wonder if the whole system isn't more trouble than it's worth? And I repeat: what do other ISPs do? 
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

Thanks Oldjim, I missed that one.  But I still cannot see that the current system is not more trouble than it's worth.  It just adds a whole layer of extra complexity for what seesm to be rather dubious benefits.
Plusnet, how about running a trial of a no/fixed PN Profile? 
houlton23
Grafter
Posts: 268
Registered: ‎22-05-2011

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

Quote from: ReedRichards
Plusnet, how about running a trial of a no/fixed PN Profile? 

PN must be moving in this direction as with all fibre accounts the PN profile is fixed, so I guess they don't see it as so much of a problem when there are such vast amounts of bandwidth available?
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

Quote
PN must be moving in this direction as with all fibre accounts the PN profile is fixed, so I guess they don't see it as so much of a problem when there are such vast amounts of bandwidth available?

We do have profiles for Fibre but not for 80/20 (yet)
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

So if profiles are not always used by Plusnet, does that mean the argument put forward in their favour is outdated or hokum?
Chris
Legend
Posts: 17,724
Thanks: 600
Fixes: 169
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

The only reason we don't have them for 80/20 in the incremental steps is because it's not a full product, it's currently still a trial.
Former Plusnet Staff member. Posts after 31st Jan 2020 are not on behalf of Plusnet.
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,106950.0.html may provide some interesting responses.
Alternatively it may not  Huh
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

Sorry Oldjim, still none the wiser.
As the old saying goes: "If it's broke, is it economically repairable?".  It's clear that Plusnet's system for tracking your BT IP profile is a bit iffy at the best of times and responds much more slowly than intended at the worst of times.  I presume somebody is putting some effort into fixing this but I wonder if this is really worthwhile?  Or has the problem just been brushed under the carpet?   
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

As you might have read on the other thread that Jim linked you to, us matching BT's profile is pivotal to our traffic management system so they are crucial and not outdated at all. As always we're taking your feedback on board about this, thanks for raising your concerns about this and I am sorry if this causes problems for you.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Why is a PN profile necessary?

Quote from: _Adam_Walker_
... matching BT's profile is pivotal to our traffic management system ..

What I cannot get my head around is how you (Plusnet) can cope with the 24 hour delay that is normal and the 72 hour delay that seems quite common.  If your system can cope with mismatched profiles then it can't be pivotal.