Traffic priority has gone,Videos block out games & voice

[#1]

When i was with other ISP's (ADSL) live things like games and voice chat got through first, even if the line was almost maxed out.

The same with Plusnet VDSL, when i first got PN all was okay

we could have Netflix and Youtube playing while downloading while my Son or I played a game, the games ping or voice comms were okay, with a ping just as low as no one else using the internet.

But as of about six months to a year or so ago when someone plays a video even using only 5% of the bandwidth

it messes up comms gives a game a high ping.

i even tried a new Router, swapping out the older Modem and Router for the new Hub One but it's still the same other than my upload speed has dropped from 9.8 to 8.8

This must be at Plusnet's end as i don't think PN is setting the right traffic priority.

This is what PN say they do.........

"It gives absolute priority to VoIP (such as Skype) and gaming; medium priority to browsing, email, video and audio streaming, FTP, and download servers; and low priority to peer-to-peer downloads and software updates."

Now it just comes down with no control

one thing that happened last night was my Son's PC was downloading a game update while i did a speed test on my PC,

in the past if i did that then the speed test would show my max internet up and down speed while the update would still carry on, this time the update carried on, but the speed test took a lot longer to start and was only 8 down and not the normal 50, and the upload took longer to start too.

i did have the line from the cab moved about a year or so ago and when i got it back it took 5 minutes to open a link or button in a webpage, so a Plusnet guy did something like reset the routers at their end.

I've tried talking on the phone but a new guy didn't understand and thought i was talking about other things like slowing things like p2p, then he said "we don't prioritise traffic, but all my other ISP's do/did and if i remember right so did PN.

Surely a game or voice should go through faster and before a download or a video

[#2]

Hey @SE.  I've just been chatting to the fault agent looking at your ticket.   We've made a subsequent tweak on your line.  Can you let us know if you still see the problems with downloading hurting your gaming?

[#3 · Accepted solution]

I think it's fixed but i'll give it a day

it may not be a 100% fix but it seems a lot better thank you

before if watching a video or downloading while a game was being played pushed the ping way to high or messed up coms

now instead of a ping going from 12 to 100+ it goes from 12 to 20 or 28 so far more useable

before the fix and new PN hub modem/router my speed was 50-51 down and 9.80 up (used to be 11 up)

is there anything that can be done re speed ? (it's 48 49 d 8 up)

one strange thing when i had the old PN modem and router, the power went out all over the town for 2 secs, when all calmed down my up speed was 12

could you have a look at that too, but thanks for the fix

is there any way of keeping the down at 50+ and getting the up to 10+

my set up is cat 6 only to a switch, then cat 6's to PC's, TV's

phone line from poll top box to the in house box is one meter (it's on our house and underground all the way to the cab), then modem, no phone extensions or power cables in the wall (one extension to power the router)

[#4]

think it's fixed but i'll give it a day

it may not be a 100% fix but it seems a lot better thank you

before if watching a video or downloading while a game was being played pushed the ping way to high or messed up coms

now instead of a ping going from 12 to 100+ it goes from 12 to 20 or 28 so far more useable

Great!

Previously the management wasn't working for you, so your gaming packets were getting lost in the download packets.  Now, they are prioritised properly over the download traffic.   I'm guessing slight ping increase is from the router working harder with all the other traffic running through it.   28ms is fine for gaming though.  (Unless you're a competition twitch gamer.. and even then... )

before the fix and new PN hub modem/router my speed was 50-51 down and 9.80 up (used to be 11 up)

is there anything that can be done re speed ? (it's 48 49 d 8 up

I'll leave answering that to the other line speed gurus on the forum.

[#5]

Yes i put on two 4k videos from YT almost maxing out the line and my sons game though a little higher was fine, where as before he would have been auto kicked for a high ping

so what is the priority, is it something like comms and games, then web email, video, ftp and p2p

thanks again

[#6]

This should answer that question:

https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/about-traffic-prioritisation/

[#7]

Sorry about this but could you look at the priority of videos again

i'm downloading a game demo using uplay and all is okay

but when i play a 4k video on Youtube it stops for a sec and does not seem to buffer fast enough

it's okay with 1080p videos and buffers fast, it's only with 4k videos now

[#8]

4Ks need pretty pretty high linespeeds ( ~25Mbps) but your line speed should be sufficient.  I think Youtube 4k is around 15Mbps though, but theyt are pretty sensitive.

Are you till seeing problems with them?  Everything with your account looks correct on our side.

[#9]

All seems okay thanks

we have a short phone line from the poll top box to the in house white box is about one meter as the poll box is on our wall.

I saw that over the last week OR have pulled out the old wire block and fitted a new one

so as i have the new PN router i though i'd fit a new ca6 from the router to the switch.

so i now have all new cables in the house and then underground all the way to the street cab

one thing i did was take out the DSL cable that came with the router and fit a shielded  cat5 type twisted cable but the speed dropped to 47 8 so put the original one back.

As OR and i have fitted new cables, router and wire block do you think i shout ask PN for a reset/retrain on the line to see if i can get a little more speed on the up

[#10]

I don't think so.  Your line has had a couple of updates already.  (One today).  Let's see what happens over the next few days.

[#11]

is it possible to request everything on my connection to be prioritized. for example low priority for every thing, except gaming which i would like at high.

[#12]

Hi, no it's not, but the standard prioritisation should give you what you need.  (Gaming and VoIP at the top priority with everything beneath it)

[#13]

im just curious, you said  "Previously the management wasn't working for you, so your gaming packets were getting lost in the download packets.  Now, they are prioritised properly over the download traffic." How does something like this happen in the first place?

There are times that this feels the case, Also at about 1am everynight game play becomes unbearable im not sure if this is plusnet end or the game that im playing PS4 cod IW.

[#14]

The original poster's line speed setting had been incorrectly adjusted and it needed setting back.  Usually this happens automatically, but not in this case.

Are you seeing any other issues with your bb?  It doesn't look like you've had a profile update for a long time, and I'm seeing some clusters of disconnections on your line.

[#15]

Hi

if you open cmd and ping www.plusnet.co.uk without playing a 1080p youtube video

then do the same while playing a video does your ping go up ?

I used this video set to 1080p

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wJQEHNYE7M

 cmd command is ping www.plusnet.co.uk

I got  

Minimum = 25ms, Maximum = 26ms, Average = 25ms with no video

and playing the video at 1080p and using f5 as i started the ping i got

Minimum = 25ms, Maximum = 35ms, Average = 27ms

at 4k video f5 then ping

Minimum = 25ms, Maximum = 72ms, Average = 39ms
No video

Minimum = 24ms, Maximum = 25ms, Average = 24ms

I can't remember if the ping stayed the same a year or so ago or not

hoping this is normal

but anyhow it's still better than it was