Fibre Optic is no longer subject to traffic management/prioritisation

[#1]

So I just phoned support to add the "Pro Addon" to my account just to see if raising P2P traffic from Bronze to Gold would help push an extra MB or two. (since it's no contract it's worth the extra fiver to test)
The guy I spoke to was fantastic and really helpful and was working from the same graph I am on the Traffic Management section on the website (see bellow)

So.... he thought the same as I had, there is a small chance it may improve things BUT he can't guarantee, well that's fine, I'll try it, if it works great, if not I can cancel it.
BUT as he went to activate it and he checked if it would work straight away or I'd have to wait till next billing period, he was informed that Unlimited Fibre (he actually said unlimited packages in general) is not traffic managed at all and the graph on the website is now incorrect (he said something about they're not allowed to manage it anymore or anything)
I would love to hear confirmation on this if possible?  Anyone else heard if this is the case?

[#2]

Well what Kelly (who should know) said in the quote below:

Quote from: Kelly

I would shy away from having the Pro add on based on that usage habit. Without it, you could keep those downloads going knowing that it someone fires up some streaming, or web browsing it will always take priority.  Pro would put the P2P in the same queue as the streaming and browsing and could cause problems.

… just one day ago isn't consistent with the advice you've just received. I think the agent has confused traffic management (download speed limiting) which is *not* allowed for a product to be called 'unlimited' with traffic prioritisation which *is* allowed.
(For maxed out connections) the key is that lower priority queues will run at line speed if there is no higher priority traffic. However if a higher priority task starts running traffic prioritisation ensures that task gets the bandwidth it requires with the lower priority task taking up the rest - so the total is still line speed.

[#3]

With P2P, the best thing to do is throttle your upload speed. Pulling figures out of the air based on experience, when you download at full speed you'll also be using about 10% of your upload speed in ACK packets (an acknowledgement to the peer that you've received the last bit of data from them).

[#4]

Firstly, yup, My uploads are limited to around 10-15% max of my upload speed.
I think it is there is confusion between what "Traffic Management" and "Traffic Prioritisation" is...
Is "Traffic prioritisation" network wide, ie based on what everyone on the network is using or purely on my line itself (ie if I am not using any other application my P2P should be able to reach my line max as there is nothing else "higher"?

[#5]

On Pro, your traffic is prioritised to be treated as "Gold" traffic on both our network and on your connection.
The is still titanium traffic which is deemed more time sensitive, ie VoIP and Gaming.

[#6]

I understand that James but I am just trying to work out what the CSC agent last night said is contradictory to what was said by Kelly the other day.

[#7]

I think the CSC agent is getting confused between traffic management/prioritisation and rate limiting traffic. We no longer rate limit on Unlimited but there is still traffic management as per the different traffic queues.

[#8]

that's what I am thinking too Chris, so there may be a small chance of my speed being increased every so slightly by having pro installed.

[#9]

Quote from: gnicholson8

he was informed that Unlimited Fibre (he actually said unlimited packages in general) is not traffic managed at all and the graph on the website is now incorrect (he said something about they're not allowed to manage it anymore or anything)

What a load of absolute tosh! I hope someone is finding out who spouted that rubbish and that the GM Maestro is being put to good use.
For an accurate statement read http://community.plus.net/blog/2012/12/21/its-unlimited-why-is-it-still-traffic-managed/

[#10]

Thats what I read Jelv, and my understanding of it was that when the network is busy, as P2P is bronze it will slow/be slower than all other traffic and if it were gold it may help a bit.
It wasn't the CSC agent I spoke to fault, it was someone else who told him this. The agent was very helpful and was trying to do his best.

[#11]

If there was insufficient capacity when the system is fully loaded the graphs showing the total traffic on the network* would show a flattening as they reached the limit - but they don't.
The Pro add on may help you on the handful of days each year when some huge event is on which gives a large spike in the amount of live streaming, but other than that it will pretty much be a waste of money AND may spoil your ability to successfully use streaming (e.g. TV catchup) while P2P is hammering your connection.
Edit to add:
* Those graphs are auto scaling, so the maximum they show is not the maximum capacity available.

[#12]

Feel free to add it and see how it goes.  If you want to get rid off it within that first month, we'll refund it.

[#13]

Cheers Kelly, I've added it via my member centre just to see if it works or not.
When does it activate as again, the CSC agent last night wasn't sure if it would go live immediately or on my next billing date.

[#14]

It should start working immediately.
You could wireshark the traffic to check.

[#15]

Hi gnicholson8,
It's definitely showing as on and active, please let us know if it's made a difference?