Balancing the platform

[#1]

This service status for this was only posted 1 hour before connections were dropped. I don't think that is long enough. I lost work because I wasn't aware +net were going to unplug me and I hadn't had chance to check the service status emails. Why can't +net wait 24 hours and then do it? Then I have time to check which gateway I'm on and do it in a more controlled fashion.
07/02/2008 @ 15:56  Planned Broadband Network Balancing - Thursday 7th February 5.00pm-6.00pm
Maintenance Window:-
Thursday 7th February 5.00pm-6.00pm.
Service Affected:-
Broadband Connectivity.
Duration of expected customer impact:-
Approximately 5 minutes.
Detailed description of work to be performed:-
We will be undertaking a period of load balancing which will involve disconnecting a number of broadband customers from the Internet, we will be concentrating on those customers currently connected via PCL-AG01. This work is required in order to balance the network following the recent addition of a new segment. We had hoped the platform would balance itself naturally already but unfortunately this is not the case.
Expected customer impact:-
Some broadband customers will be briefly disconnected from the Internet at some point during the maintenance window. These customers should be able to reconnect immediately.
Other Details:-
You can check which gateway you are currently connected to by visiting http://usertools.plus.net/@gateway. Any customers having problems connecting once the maintenance is complete are advised to power down their equipment for 30 minutes before attempting to reconnect.
Kind Regards,
Chris Parr
Customer Support

[#2]

We normally do try to give as much notice as possible, however coming up to a weekend with a platform out of balance isn't good. We took an educated risk to perform this after 5 to try to cut down the customer impact. TBH you should have been able to reconnect straight away too.

[#3]

How did losing your internet connection result in you losing work?

[#4]

I was chucked off pcl-ag01 during the last 3 minutes bidding online on an auction item!
I did notice hesitancy but was reconnected in seconds to thn-ag3 and lost nothing.  My router re-established a working connection in around 10 seconds.  Even VOIP had re-registered in 16 seconds.
02/07/2008 17:22:33 ppp:LCP Closing
02/07/2008 17:22:41 ppp:IPCP Opening
02/07/2008 17:22:49 SIP Registration Success
It was only later after seeing the service status message that I knew the reason for the slight delay.  Fireox didn't even have time to error.
So maybe your router does not reconnect automatically like mine.

[#5]

If it's relevant I was using a custom application across a VPN. The plusnet network is used by all sorts of different people and businesses. I think saying the weekend is coming is a weak excuse, if the weekend is a problem then you should PLAN for the weekend. Just pulling out people's connection's with 1 hours notice is not good enough for something which could have been PLANNED better. For example, if the platform was unbalanced today, then you must have known it was unbalanced yesterday - so don't wait until there's one hour left before you start booting people off.
The fact I could immediately reconnect is hardly relevant to my point.

[#6]

I had at the back of my mind that business account connections were excluded from load balancing during the working day - is that not the case?

[#7]

We cant completely exclude Business accounts John which is why we now do load balancing after 5 pm to at least minimise the impact to business customers.
I do apologise for the somewhat short notice. It would have been better had we had the opportunity to give longer warning but unfortunately this was not possible this time.
I am very conscious of the potential impact on our business customers but when it comes to work like this we have to strike a balance.
tomm. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused by this necessary piece of work. Had we known that the pipes needed balanced yesterday we would have done it then or given longer notice. We didnt have that luxury this time. I do aim to ensure that the impact of pipe balancing is negated where ever possible for our business customers but sometimes it is unavoidable.

[#8]

@ tomms
Additionally I'll be working with our network team to find a way to avoid affecting business customers when we are forced to do load balancing.
Perhaps if you switch to a business account you'll remove the risk, especially if you have important work to do from home.