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Pro Add-on

elfish
Grafter
Posts: 235
Registered: ‎22-02-2009

Pro Add-on

Does the Pro Add-on get applied instantly when selected?
Might try it, seeing as though it goes by a 1 month contract.
Thanks.
34 REPLIES 34
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Pro Add-on

DON'T
If you are on an unlimited product it's of minimal or no benefit and a waste of money. In some circumstances it's affects are detrimental.
There's a number of topics on here discussing this.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
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elfish
Grafter
Posts: 235
Registered: ‎22-02-2009

Re: Pro Add-on

Have you tried the pro add-on?
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Pro Add-on

Yes. I used it when I was on Plusnet Extra when it was beneficial. When I moved to Unlimited I stopped it.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
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rongtw
Seasoned Hero
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Registered: ‎01-12-2010

Re: Pro Add-on

I also tried the pro add on and found it no Help for gaming
Asus ROG Hero Vii Z97 , Intel i5 4690k ,ROG Asus Strix 1070,
samsung 850evo 250gig , WD black 2 TB . Asus Phoebus sound ,
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elfish
Grafter
Posts: 235
Registered: ‎22-02-2009

Re: Pro Add-on

I am trying out the pro add on and for some reason any speed test that I do, my download speed is always 70Mbps, whereas without the pro add on it was around 74Mbps.
The DSCP value when receiving packets (web traffic) with the pro add on is CS5, without the pro add on web traffic was CS4, so why is my download speed lower than before!?
Line speed is still the same at 78Mbps, and no amount of gateway hopping helps.
I have only just enabled the add on, so I will give it a month and decide after doing more stuff i.e. VPN, gaming and downloading.
elfish
Grafter
Posts: 235
Registered: ‎22-02-2009

Re: Pro Add-on

I have just looked at some VoIP traffic coming in and that is classified as CS5. What does PN's DPI look at? Port numbers, header information, protocol? It should be classified higher than CS5, EF should be used for voice.
Outgoing is being classified as EF, so I hope that is being kept all the way to the end point.
elfish
Grafter
Posts: 235
Registered: ‎22-02-2009

Re: Pro Add-on

Please could a member of staff explain why there is a loss of download speed with the pro add on? Does it use its own line speed profile to cap the speed?
I am actually finding that thing's do load quicker due to the higher priority, but I am questioning PN's traffic prioritisation, as when they refer to silver, gold and titanium, does this relate to setting the DSCP for different traffic types? As at the moment everything inbound is being marked CS5, and outbound specifically web traffic is CS5 as well:
Quote
« SpeedGuide.net TCP Analyzer Results »
Tested on: 2016.01.24 07:36
IP address: 146.200.xxx.xx
Client OS/browser: Windows 7 (Internet Explorer 11.0)

TCP options string: 020405ac0103030801010402
MSS: 1452
MTU: 1492
TCP Window: 66560 (NOT multiple of MSS)
RWIN Scaling: 8 bits (2^8=256)
Unscaled RWIN : 260
Recommended RWINs: 63888, 127776, 255552, 511104, 1022208
BDP limit (200ms): 2662kbps (333KBytes/s)
BDP limit (500ms): 1065kbps (133KBytes/s)
MTU Discovery: ON
TTL: 52
Timestamps: OFF
SACKs: ON
IP ToS: 10100000 (160)
    Precedence: 101 (CRITIC/ECP)
    Delay: 0 (normal delay)
    Throughput: 0 (normal throughput)
    Reliability: 0 (normal reliability)
    Cost: 0 (normal cost)
    Check bit: 0 (correct)
DSCP (DiffServ): CS5 101000 (40) - class 5 (RFC 2474). Similar forwarding behavior to the ToS Precedence field.
bobpullen
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
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Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Pro Add-on

Quote from: elfish
Please could a member of staff explain why there is a loss of download speed with the pro add on?

There shouldn't be.
Quote from: elfish
Does it use its own line speed profile to cap the speed?

No.
Quote from: elfish
I am actually finding that thing's do load quicker due to the higher priority, but I am questioning PN's traffic prioritisation, as when they refer to silver, gold and titanium, does this relate to setting the DSCP for different traffic types? As at the moment everything inbound is being marked CS5, and outbound specifically web traffic is CS5 as well.

This probably answers your question.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

elfish
Grafter
Posts: 235
Registered: ‎22-02-2009

Re: Pro Add-on

That is helpful, thank you Bob.
So PN dosen't mark voice using 0xb8 i.e. EF?
Does that mean that outgoing voice traffic towards PN gets remarked to CS5?
The Bria app marks voice to EF and the 3CX phone app marks voice to CS6 from evaluating the traffic.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Pro Add-on

Plusnet doesn't mark ANY outgoing traffic (your uploads). It can't because it is generated at your end and by the time they see the packets they've already received them and it's too late.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
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jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Pro Add-on

BTW: You do realise that the Pro add-on is designed to bugger up some time critical applications if you are doing heavy downloads which max out your line at the same time. The add-on lifts everything to the same high priority so the normal Plusnet mechanisms which ensure time critical tasks take precedence are nobbled.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
elfish
Grafter
Posts: 235
Registered: ‎22-02-2009

Re: Pro Add-on

Quote from: spoon
Plusnet doesn't mark ANY outgoing traffic (your uploads). It can't because it is generated at your end and by the time they see the packets they've already received them and it's too late.

Are you sure?
It is best practice to re-mark/remove any QoS marking's from incoming traffic as close to the source as possible (trust boundary), as the customer could mark all traffic as CS5 or above and that would certainly hamper fair performance.
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
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Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Pro Add-on

How wrong is the Traffic Management page at the moment then?
According to that, the Pro add-on doesn't change that much. Web browsing is supposedly gold, with or without the Pro add-on.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Pro Add-on

I don't see how that could hamper performance. The bandwidth Plusnet buy from BTw is symmetric yet the actual upload traffic on their network is typically 1/8 the download so there's a huge amount of spare upload capacity. Here's an archived graph on http://web.archive.org from when they did give us that information:
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
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