PLUSNET! PSN is nigh on unusable.

[#1]

There are two different things explained here http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml

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2. How does it work? We use two methods to manage traffic on our network:     * Traffic Prioritisation     * Rate Limiting <snip> Line speed means that you'll get the fastest speed possible at the time, subject to Traffic Prioritisation

Rate limiting is applied on a per product basis and is as per Kitz site and also here http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/download_speeds.shtml
Traffic Prioritisation is applied on a global basis and is in addition to the Rate Limits.
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_prioritisation.shtml
Basically at any time the products in the Gold and Gold Plated queues will have priority over those in the Bronze queue (P2P & Binary USENET) so that those products which are deemed time/speed sensitive will get the bandwidth they need to meet the needs and those in the Bronze queue will suffer accordingly.

[#2]

oldjim & matt
thanks for this info and your quick response
im happy with this information and for its accuracy at least you provide this service as many other providers dont and it shows in plain wording what i get 

[#3]

Ok, Azagoth,
                        I must admit i don't fully understand all this 'prioritising' waffle, i am sure it all makes sense but what i have to say is simple.

I play world of warcraft online (it's the only way to play it), and it has periodicc patches - small and massive ( the last one was @ 15GB).  The experience I have with patches is that they can be quick or slow, with no apparent reason for it.  the only thing to do is 'suck it and see'.  I am not sure how your patch downloads on PS3 but the blizzard downloader is very slow but steady.  30 minutes for a 21 mb P2P patch, seems about normal to me.
Forgive me if i misunderstand, but doesn't  'peer-to-peer' mean that information is passed backed and forwards. So maybe a lot of information went out, which takes time too, and would mean the total data transferred would be much higher than 21mb.
if I have wrong information, please ignore this old fool.

[#4]

Took me 2.5 hours to download 1.3gb on psn would have taken 1 hour max on xbl,
joke tbh

[#5]

Quote from: rogadodge

I play world of warcraft online (it's the only way to play it), and it has periodicc patches - small and massive ( the last one was @ 15GB).

The whole game is around 15Gb, the latest update was around 6-7Gb.

Quote from: rogadodge

Forgive me if i misunderstand, but doesn't  'peer-to-peer' mean that information is passed backed and forwards. So maybe a lot of information went out, which takes time too, and would mean the total data transferred would be much higher than 21mb.

Peer to Peer just means that you download the information from other users, rather than central servers. - Like with the WoW updates, you upload to people, at the same time as you download from them.

Quote from: monkey001

Took me 2.5 hours to download 1.3gb

Compared to 21mb in half an hour, i'd say yours was fast..

It all depends on the connection on the other side too. Sure, you could have a connection that is 20Mbit, and get 20Mbit down, but if the other end only has 4Mbit upload, you're only going to download, as fast as they can upload.
Matt.

[#6]

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All I want to know is why they deem it necessary to heavily throttle such an integral part of the PS3's operation

Encourage the game industry to get rid of "Crunch Time" and actually release quality products so you dont have to download massive gigs of patches?!
if you type into google "PSN slow" and wait, the ONLY AJAX Suggestion is "PSN Slow Downloads"
if you google this, it occurs globally, regardless of country - or ISP.
@rogadodge
Priority pages
Just to clarify it simply (this isnt meant to be patronising, just trying to clear up your understanding)
Basically, it means that "Time sensative" stuff such as Video/Music Streaming (iplayer, tv catchup, we7 etc.) VOIP (skype, broadband calls), PLAYING games (ensures good latency), Browsing (low latency, quick loading pages and little/no delay when clicking links)
None "Time sensative" stuff (downloads, "Download Sites" (CDN Networks - Used by XBL / PSN ) get rate limited at certain times of the day to ensure the time sensative stuff isnt disrupted.
Its more than probably that Sony isnt paying the CDNs enough to transit their data... So they're hitting the bandwidth caps and everyones getting shoddier download speeds. (Quite possibly why PSN has/have implemented  a pay structure like XBL - Somehow they thought they could offer it for Free forever .... Business sense fail?)
What it means? You get good gaming/browsing speed etc. However if you come home from the shops peak time with the latest and greatest - You may have to wait to get the patches for it.
@OldJim - I know you posted the general page, wasnt meaning to repeat - just trying to simplify/clarify.

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I doubt they throttle the PSN when everything's at line speed (0:00-8:00), do they?

It stays as Gold plated AFAIK theres no hard cap during offpeak. Obviously if the network is congested it will be 'dropped' in favour of time sensative traffic... However, at least in PN's traffic - there is more than ample -particularly in the Offpeak times! - Especially on 21cn
[my 2p]Is the foul language necessary? this is a family board - would you want your kids / mother reading it? if not, why post it   [/my 2p]

[#7]

Quote from: Mattz0r

Quote from: rogadodge I play world of warcraft online (it's the only way to play it), and it has periodicc patches - small and massive ( the last one was @ 15GB). The whole game is around 15Gb, the latest update was around 6-7Gb. Quote from: rogadodge Forgive me if i misunderstand, but doesn't  'peer-to-peer' mean that information is passed backed and forwards. So maybe a lot of information went out, which takes time too, and would mean the total data transferred would be much higher than 21mb. Peer to Peer just means that you download the information from other users, rather than central servers. - Like with the WoW updates, you upload to people, at the same time as you download from them. Quote from: monkey001 Took me 2.5 hours to download 1.3gb Compared to 21mb in half an hour, i'd say yours was fast.. It all depends on the connection on the other side too. Sure, you could have a connection that is 20Mbit, and get 20Mbit down, but if the other end only has 4Mbit upload, you're only going to download, as fast as they can upload. Matt.

My point was it's the PSN network not PN fault as XBL downloads faster for me compaired to PSN and i'm only on 173kb/s

[#8]

Sorry Mattz,
                  The last patch 4.0.1 ( pre Cataclysm) was around 15Gb. basically rewrote the whole game.  Done in an interesting way tho.
While the first third was downloading gameplay was impossible.
Whilst the second third was downloading it was possible to play but with many features unavailable.
And subsequently the last third allowed play with very little impact by the download.
Game size itself, along with all repair folders and cache etc is 25.3Gb on my computer.  tho you are probably correct with saying the actual data for gameplay is only 8gb, all the other data is essential ( as anyone who plays WoW and has deleted a seemingly unimportant file and lived to regret it will confirm).

[#9]

Quote from: Mattz0r

Peer to Peer just means that you download the information from other users, rather than central servers. - Like with the WoW updates, you upload to people, at the same time as you download from them.

Then why are you telling me this:-

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The downloading of the patch, is considered to be P2P downloading, and may be capped at a speed, depending on the time of day it is being downloaded.

When the patches are nothing of the sort, they're direct downloads and have nothing to do with P2P at all.  It's like you don't even know how the things you're commenting on actually work.  Besides, even if they were P2P, this was at 03:00 and as such P2P is not limited at that time.

[#10]

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Besides, even if they were P2P, this was at 03:00 and as such P2P is not limited at that time.

Nope, but are given a lower priority - if the network was congested ( OR Running in Plan B operation, which i believe it was at the time you posted ) - would mean P2P/Download Sites/CDNs are given a lower priority than normal.

edit*

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It's like you don't even know how the things you're commenting on actually work

With respect, you'll find alot of the staff group things like Download sites/CDNs/P2P as just "p2p" because of how the traffic management treats them (e.g. the same) - or because they are considered of low importance - just means the staff can do the rounds much quicker

[#11]

Quote from: Azagoth

Right, today I bought 'Lost Planet' on the cheap, a fiver, as something to kill a bit of time.  Anyway, before the game would even start it required a patch to the latest version, luckily the patch is only 21MB.

To save yourself all this hassle, you could've just pressed circle when prompted to download the patch which would've cancelled the patch download, played until you were too tired to go on, started the download and caught some shuteye. I have yet to have owned a game that forced me to do download a patch to be able to do any gaming (expcet for online though) and I've owned around 40 Playstation 3 games.
Just something to keep in the back of your head until next time. I still don't consider the download time very pretty, but at least it can be avoided.

[#12]

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To save yourself all this hassle, you could've just pressed circle when prompted to download the patch which would've cancelled

Got to admit I didn't realise that I thought you needed the patch to play it never thought of cancelling when I'm just up for some single player, handy to know