How does Plusnet classify VPN traffic

[#1]

I understand that VPN is restricted in some products.  My question is, how does Plusnet classify "VPN".
Is it traffic that uses port 5900 only?
Would LogMeIn count as VPN?
What about TeamViewer.  This can be used to remotely control a PC like LogMeIn but also has a VPN option.
What about software like PC Anywhere or GoToMyPC?
What about using a Netgear router VPN functionally.
Also, I am on BBYW Pro with no VPN restrictions.  If I connect to someone on BBYW Option 1 or one of the new products with restrictions, will VPN be restricted?

[#2]

Hi,
We use a combination of ports and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to pick up VPN traffic and classify it. So the VPN bundle will include applications like PCAnywhere, Netgear's VPN and any other VPN software (e.g. Nortel, Lucent, Open VPN), as well as things like VNC, SSH, Cisco VPN, X Windows, Remote Desktop, Hamachi, cpanel and telnet. LogMeIn I think would also count as VPN, not sure about TeamViewer as I've not come across it.
If you connect to someone on BBYW 1 or the new products then yeah the speed will be restricted on their side, but unless you have Max Premium or 21CN (or LLU) the speed they can download at will be faster than you can upload anyway and the same vice versa so you wouldn't actually notice any difference.

[#3]

Any update if Logmein got reclassified as VPN traffic.  I have a customer on Home Broadband Option 1 (from £5.99) and says speeds are almost unuseable in the evenings and has to go to bed at 9pm and get up at 1am-2am for it to be fast.  Is there anyway on his package to make it this fast all the time or does he need a different package such as a business package.  If so, what do you recommend?
Ben Cooper
Source IT
adie:quote

[#4]

I would have thought that £5.99 is value, that on the spec says not suitable for VPN
1. Plusnet Value download speeds
Ideal for web surfing and email. It's not suitable for frequent gaming, binary USENET, Peer-to-Peer, VPN, FTP or lots of music and video downloads.
  Peer-to
-Peer Binary USENET FTP (non Plusnet) VPN Gaming Download sites Download servers
12am-12pm 256Kb 256Kb 256Kb 512Kb 2Mb Line speed Line speed
12pm-2pm 164Kb 164Kb 256Kb 512Kb 2Mb 1Mb 2Mb
2pm-4pm 128Kb 128Kb 256Kb 512Kb 2Mb 1Mb 2Mb
4pm-6pm 100Kb 100Kb 256Kb 512Kb 2Mb 512Kb 1Mb
6pm-8pm 50Kb 50Kb 128Kb 512Kb 2Mb 256Kb 756Kb
8pm-10pm 50Kb 50Kb 128Kb 512Kb 2Mb 256Kb 512Kb
10pm-11pm 100Kb 100Kb 256Kb 512Kb 2Mb 256Kb 756Kb
11pm-12am 128Kb 128Kb 256Kb 512Kb 2Mb 512Kb 1Mb

[#5]

I've gone thru those tables, but PN can't confirm if Logmein is VPN classified or not.  Also, speed is fine after 12am which points at a prioritisation issue maybe as VPN on that table is 512Kb throughout.

[#6]

no that is the max and non "Interactive" items like p2p, VPN, downloads are put in the queue
Value is actually better than BBYW1 see http://www.kitz.co.uk/isp/plusnet_shaping.htm
Why do we have to manage traffic on our network?
Like other ISPs we deliver our broadband service over a network which is shared amongst our customers. This means we have to manage our network to ensure we provide a sustainable quality broadband service to all our customers.
The principles of Plusnet's network management policies
    * To make sure that time-critical applications like VoIP and gaming are always prioritised.
    * To protect interactive applications like web-browsing and VPN from non-time sensitive download traffic.
    * To flex the network under demand to cope with normal peaks and troughs from day to day and month to month.
    * To flex the network more gracefully than other ISPs in the event of unusual demands in traffic or disaster situations such as a network failure.
    * To provide a service relative to the amount each customer pays in terms of usage and experience.
    * Provides a 'quality of service' effect, meaning multiple applications running on the same line interact with each other effectively, and use of high demand protocols like Peer-to-Peer doesn't swamp time-sensitive traffic such as online gaming or a VoIP call.
Use of traffic prioritisation will have an overall effect on the speeds you can expect to receive at different times of the day.

[#7]

Well customer has changed to PN Pro now, so hopefully that will help, but still going thru with PN Support to make sure Logmein Ignition thru to clients Logmein Free works correctly prioritised.

[#8]

Please update this thread when you get an answer.
I use LogMeIn Rescue most days to people all over the UK & get very variable speeds. Generally, I have no idea who their ISP is & a lot of them are in rural areas, so I suspect we get some long line problems. Having said that, we get considerable variations between connections to the same site.
I wasn't anticipating too much effect from traffic management as the connection is always limited by the upload speed. Sometimes though we do get what would appear to be dropped packets - my key presses either never reach the target or it can take 2-3 secs for the display to update (which is a round trip, obviously).

[#9]

Checking the defined apps, there isn't one specific to Logmein, however the port mentioned earlier (5900) is defined as VPN for a number of different applications.
I'll take a look at the ticket raised, however I'm not sure how much more I'll be able to add to it that our Networks team haven't already said.

[#10]

I'm not sure if it helps to answer any of the above questions, but here is an extract from the LogMeIn Rescue documentation:-

Quote

The gateway authenticates the connection and starts relaying data at the transport level (it does not decrypt relayed data) When a connection relay is started, the parties try to establish a peer-to-peer (P2P) connection: • The applet starts listening for a TCP connection on a port assigned by Windows • If the TCP connection cannot be established within a time limit (10 seconds), an attempt is made to establish a UDP connection with the help of the gateway • If either a TCP or a UDP connection is established, the parties authenticate the P2P channel (using the session authentication GUID), and it takes over traffic from the relayed connection • If a UDP connection has been set up, TCP is emulated on top of the UDP datagrams using XTCP, an LMI-proprietary protocol based on the BSD TCP stack

I've no idea if all the various LogMeIn products use the same protocols for their connections or not.