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Was I lied to?

fester
Grafter
Posts: 43
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎21-02-2014

Was I lied to?

I have just switched to unlimited broadband (including phone line) and when placing the order I asked about the pro add-on. I was told “unlimited products now have no traffic management so the pro add-on is not needed”.
I can’t find anything on here mentioning unlimited bb has no traffic management and when I login to the member centre the pro add-on is an option. Also, I found the following live page:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml
As you can see it says my unlimited (standard) broadband will indeed have traffic management.
Was I lied to or is this out of date information?
16 REPLIES 16
pwatson
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎26-11-2012

Re: Was I lied to?

There is traffic prioritisation but there isn't any rate limiting.  This is actually a good thing and this article explains how it works well.
LinnPlusnet
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,686
Registered: ‎03-02-2014

Re: Was I lied to?

Hi fester,
As pwatson has stated we do have traffic prioritisation, however, this is designed in a way to ensure that you experience Unlimited broadband in the best way. As you are a a newer broadband package you wouldn't actually notice any benefit from the Pro Add-on service. Of course it's your choice if you wish to have this anyways at the cost of £5 per month.
Hope the article that pwatson included in their reply has helped clarify things for you.
fester
Grafter
Posts: 43
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Registered: ‎21-02-2014

Re: Was I lied to?

I’m quite disappointed that (at best) I was misinformed by your sales advisor. I was quite surprised when he volunteered the news that there was “no traffic management of any kind” applied to the unlimited services. Unless I have misunderstood things, if I was to use a download server or peer to peer app I would have less priority (and speed depending on network load) than my neighbour who is gaming or streaming video. I appreciate your reply pwatson, but even though it may work well I don’t agree it’s a good thing… for me anyway. It certainly makes the unlimited experience better for gamers and streamers though.
I’m also none the wiser as to why the pro add-on is available to me if I wouldn’t notice any difference. If you look at this link I posted above it suggests it improves the priority of VPN, External FTP, Download sites, Peer to peer/Usenet and other traffic. Is this not the case?
spraxyt
Resting Legend
Posts: 10,063
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Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: Was I lied to?

Why not give the service a try without the Pro add-on and check your download speeds? Real practical experience is far better than speculation.
David
fester
Grafter
Posts: 43
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Registered: ‎21-02-2014

Re: Was I lied to?

Sorry, I didn’t mean to give the impression I’m desperate to try the pro add-on… just looking for some clarity on what the situation is.
I had read up on the traffic management Plusnet use and was prepared to get the pro add-on at a later stage if necessary. I had called sales because you now can’t add call divert when placing a new order online and when I asked if I could add or remove the Pro option at a later stage without affecting the contract I was given this new info about there being no traffic management. I thought this was great, but I’m now being told there is management in place and worse still, the pro add-on will make no difference.
I will be delighted if downloads are not affected. I only get about 3Mbps so I prefer to download rather than stream content. Coming from an o2 (now Sky unfortunately) connection that had no traffic management I hope you can understand my concern. It’s fair enough trying it first, but will I have time to cancel after waiting for activation then the 10 day training phase if it’s not going to work out?
goldenfibre
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Registered: ‎01-06-2010

Re: Was I lied to?

I been with Plusnet Unlimited Broadband on ADSL2+ for 12 months and there is always line speed (max out on line speed) as for streaming & gaming was prioritisation while other is downloading. It's pretty work out really well. Don't need pro add on as it would not benefit any difference. I am now on Fibre Unlimited and still max out line speed.
pwatson
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎26-11-2012

Re: Was I lied to?

Quote from: fester
Unless I have misunderstood things, if I was to use a download server or peer to peer app I would have less priority (and speed depending on network load) than my neighbour who is gaming or streaming video.

The prioritisation works on your line so that if you're downloading something and then choose to watch iPlayer (for instance) then the video stream get priority.  What others are doing should have no affect (under normal circumstances)
If you're not streaming you should see downloads running at line speed.
picbits
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎18-01-2013

Re: Was I lied to?

As pwatsons says - it only applies to your line - your neighbour's habits and usage should have no effect on your experience.
fester
Grafter
Posts: 43
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Registered: ‎21-02-2014

Re: Was I lied to?

That would be great and I hope you guys are right, but it’s not what the official info suggests:
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml
“As customer numbers and usage grows, we have to increase the capacity of our network to make sure there's enough bandwidth for everyone. When the network is busy, it's easy for things to get out of control. Peer-to-peer, video streaming and large file downloads can flood the network quickly and use up the bandwidth. If this happens, it reduces the speed of web browsing, email, gaming and other types of web traffic. Traffic management prevents this from happening.”
If that info is wrong and it’s purely an individual/personal management that doesn’t relate to network load then it’s great. Although I would prefer to manage the download/web browsing ratio myself than give control over to automated system.
Fingers crossed Wink
Oldjim
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Re: Was I lied to?

So without this system if there are problems or the network gets out of balance temporarily the overload would hit all traffic and time sensitive traffic such as streaming, VOIP, gaming or browsing would be hit.
This is why the system is designed to prioritise these over non time sensitive protocols.
Or would you rather have your time sensitive traffic seriously affected under these circumstances. I certainly wouldn't
pwatson
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎26-11-2012

Re: Was I lied to?

Fester - The page you've linked to cover all product types.  The tables at the bottom show the traffic priorities for each product and confirms that there are no rate limits on the Fibre Unlimited product.  The page I linked to goes into more detail about how it works and the benefits it brings.
fester
Grafter
Posts: 43
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Registered: ‎21-02-2014

Re: Was I lied to?

@Oldjim, that’s fair enough if there is a problem or temp load balance issue, but if it kicks in “When the network is busy” and this happens regularly then it’s going to be a different experience from what I’m used to.
@pwatson, thanks again for the info Smiley If you expand the traffic prioritisation table on the page I linked it goes on to state:
“What this means: at busy times, higher priority queues will take bandwidth from the lowest queue(s) currently in use (but never enough to take the lower queue below its minimum bandwidth allowance).”
As you can see it then goes on to list various products including Unlimited and what priorities are allocated and the change that the pro add-on gives. If the pro add-on would make no difference why does the info on the page tell me it does? In contrast, if it does have an effect and it’s only an internal rather than network prioritisation why would someone pay £5 per month to prioritise traffic within a household in this way?
Am I going mad or do they need to revise the info on this page?
Kelly
Hero
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Was I lied to?

Pro just flattens the queues.  Everything is suddenly in Gold and Titanium, rather than having the silver and bronze queues.  We've left Pro available in case you are using an app which we are incorrectly identifying and that is causing problems with its performance.
Kelly Dorset
Ex-Broadband Service Manager
fester
Grafter
Posts: 43
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎21-02-2014

Re: Was I lied to?

Thanks for the reply Smiley
Queues as in internal application traffic up to the max speed of the line and only on a network level if there is a problem?