Spam from Plusnet - received by email

[#1]

Quote

Experience quality gaming and homeworking with Plusnet Pro Hello. Here at Plusnet we all know how frustrating it can be to get stuck in a traffic jam, especially when it's preventing you enjoying the best online experience you can. If you work from home or are big on gaming and rely on time sensitive applications, Plusnet Pro provides an ideal solution to keeping your Internet up to speed, even at the busiest times.1 Simply add Pro to your account now, and put an end to the online rush hour.

I am on Value for goodness sake so why would I be interested in quality gaming and homeworking

[#2]

lol , to be honest i dont think pro add on is any better than just plain extra

[#3]

It's far better when you consider the differences between the rate limits that are applied.
adie:quote

[#4]

I prefer the rate limits there on Value, it stops the family going mad and busting to 10G

[#5]

Quote from: Bob

It's far better when you consider the differences between the rate limits that are applied.

I'm confused by this. Bob's link suggests that on Extra, gaming and streaming are both at line speed. This link http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml suggests that gaming is "managed" and streaming is "slowed down".
Which is right?
Bob
Edit - or to put it another way, is there any advantage in having the pro add-on for streaming (iPlayer, ITV Player etc.)?

[#6]

Only if the game isn't correctly identified  is Pro better
For the others - no advantage whatsoever

[#7]

Then this page http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml is surely wrong?
Bob
Edit - for streaming anyway.

[#8]

And for console gaming, am I right in saying that there is no advantage either?

[#9]

Was discussed earlier - streaming includes YouTube which is rate limited
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/download_speeds.shtml

[#10]

The point I'm trying to make Jim is that if my assumptions are correct, the two web pages are confusing and/or contradictory and that the e-mail is misleading.
This isn't an academic debate by the way. We watch quite a lot of streamed content in our house and my two sons are in to PS3 gaming. If there was an advantage in the pro add-on, I might consider it.
Bob

[#11]

Quote from: bobboulby

Quote from: Bob It's far better when you consider the differences between the rate limits that are applied. I'm confused by this. Bob's link suggests that on Extra, gaming and streaming are both at line speed. This link http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/speed_guide/traffic_management.shtml suggests that gaming is "managed" and streaming is "slowed down". Which is right?

Both. The rate limiting is completely separate to the ToS markings the Ellacoya apply (Titanium, Gold, Bronze etc.)
Anything in the Gold queue or below needs to be stated as 'Managed' as a minimum on the page here (Ofcom requirement). The reason Streaming is 'Slowed down' for Extra on that page is due to the YouTube rate limiting as per the page here.

Quote from: bobboulby

Edit - or to put it another way, is there any advantage in having the pro add-on for streaming (iPlayer, ITV Player etc.)

YouTube is the only noticeable difference really (rate limited to 2.5Mbps for two hours of the day on Extra). Other than that, no I don't think there is any advantage.

[#12]

Thanks for clarifying Bob, and what about the gaming question?

Quote from: bobboulby

And for console gaming, am I right in saying that there is no advantage either?

Bob

[#13]

Little advantage.
The only time there would be is where our traffic management platform isn't classifying a game correctly. With Extra, the traffic would get lumped in a queue where it's likely to affect the performance of the game, whereas with Pro it wouldn't.

[#14]

I'm not so much interested in line speed, but the idea of a VPN sourced from my own ISP intrigues me. Can it be set up on a tablet computer and used for secure connections when travelling abroad?
Thanks.
Sorry, just realised that it isn't an addition of a VPN server to the pro offer, but merely the guarantee of speed when using a third party VPN. 
Scratch the enquiry.