Internet Speed with Fibre MAX and DNS performance

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Internet Speed with Fibre MAX and DNS performance - 1st week of SamKnows logging

prob

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#240883 1-Oct-2018 10:17

Just checked my first few days of results from having SamKnows white box / router at my house.

Download speed looks a bit low, but I will defer judgment until things settle down. The DNS server times are pretty lousy, so I will try changing to the Cloudflare DNS, its running at about 10 ms according to this article.

https://www.dnsperf.com/dns-provider/cloudflare

Anyone else have stat's to compare?

sbiddle

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#2099203 1-Oct-2018 10:23

Why not just use Spark's DNS? This will always deliver you the best performance.

hio77

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#2099224 1-Oct-2018 10:44

Considering on spark you hit SYD coudflare for the most part, it won't be in the 10ms range at all.

Last time i tested dns performance, it was quite solid, i will admit i haven't looked at those graphs in awhile though.

As with cloudflare, traffic to REANIZ (where the NZ based tests are hosted) goes via AU, so speeds being slightly lower is kinda to be expected.

All that being said, yours seems a fair bit lower than others on spark that i've seen. Makes me suspect your connection is iver heavily loaded or there is another factor at play?

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chevrolux

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#2099238 1-Oct-2018 10:56

10ms seems totally reasonable? Where are you located?

Edit: Sorry... re-read and looked at your stats. Does Samknows use your network's default DNS server as advertised by the router? Otherwise, are they just testing to a fixed server somewhere in the wild?

prob

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#2099400 1-Oct-2018 14:17

OP here. I am using the Spark DNS and I assume that SamKnows assumes this is so. No harm in trying another DNS server.

Yes, download speed is slow. I am using my own Asus modem / router (DSL-AC68U) and I will swap back the Spark one to see if there is a difference. If the speed stays slow I will contact Spark. I am hoping that Spark will not want to publicise poor speed results ...

Talkiet

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#2099501 1-Oct-2018 15:34

Hi there, we are aware that the Samknows download and upload speed test results are not as you might expect for Spark customers. As others have pointed out this is because the test servers used for those particular Samknows tests are hosted in the REANNZ network and currently Spark doesn’t have any local connectivity to REANNZ, so the traffic does go via Australia. The overall amount of traffic Spark gets from REANNZ is tiny, much less than 0.1% of our totals – so the test results aren’t representative of our customers’ real world BB experience. We are hopeful that we can reach a mutually agreeable position with REANNZ to locally exchange traffic between our broadband and mobile users, and the REANNZ network. (Note our proposal is that this would be for all traffic between our Spark Broadband/Mobile user base and REANNZ – it’s not restricted to just the test traffic, or the test volunteers)

It’s worth noting that there are other tests available in the Samknows reporting portal that run to CDN servers – those tests at least would allow you to see if your LAN or Router are having any negative impact.

In the Samknows.one portal, select “Netflix download speed” as a metric to display and see what that tells you. That will check connectivity to one of our many Netflix cache locations. This is different from the download test but it will show if there’s an underlying access connection issue.

Note that the screenshot there is from a Spark 100/20 fibre connection, not a gig connection. (I would be interested to see the results from a gig connection)

You can also obviously use speedtest.net or Netflix’s own fast.com speedtest to see if there are any underlying issues. (Also of interest, Netflix have enhanced their speedtest very recently making it a lot more useful – although you need to run it once with default settings and then you can access a bunch of config options)

Honestly I wouldn’t bother replacing the router you have unless the Netflix speed, or speedtest results show similar large discrepancies from what you expect.

Spark wants the Commerce Commission/Samknows BB speed testing to be properly representative of customers’ real-world BB experience, which the current arrangements unfortunately do not allow.

Regards - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

michaelmurfy

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#2099518 1-Oct-2018 16:14

Talkiet:

We are hopeful that we can reach a mutually agreeable position with REANNZ to locally exchange traffic between our broadband and mobile users, and the REANNZ network. (Note our proposal is that this would be for all traffic between our Spark Broadband/Mobile user base and REANNZ – it’s not restricted to just the test traffic, or the test volunteers)

Why doesn't Spark just start peering? There is clearly a business case for it now instead of "selectively peering" as you've said? REANNZ is available on all the peering exchanges.

Spark wants the Commerce Commission/Samknows BB speed testing to be properly representative of customers’ real-world BB experience, which the current arrangements unfortunately do not allow.

I don't agree here - it is "real world" from a user perspective on the Spark network. The problem here is since Spark has had their head in the sand regarding peering for so long it has finally caught up with them. This is one of those old policies that needs to change for the customers benefit.

Personally, I really hope that REANNZ only peer if Spark are willing to open up peering via APE / WIX or any one of the other peering exchanges. Selectively peering is not the way to go if the only reason behind this is to make the testing via SamKnows "appear" better. There are many other services available via the peering exchanges customers will benefit in - Cloudflare being one of those along with several Linux mirrors, datacentres and also CDN providers.

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Talkiet

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#2099542 1-Oct-2018 17:19

The Samknows download and upload speed tests are being measured from a network location that currently comprises less than 0.1% of our traffic. That's why Spark has no direct connectivity today to REANNZ today. In practice it means testing to these locations doesn't reflect the performance users could expect for the majority of their traffic.

Regards - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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michaelmurfy

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#2099557 1-Oct-2018 17:38

Talkiet:

The Samknows download and upload speed tests are being measured from a network location that currently comprises less than 0.1% of our traffic. That's why Spark has no direct connectivity today to REANNZ today. In practice it means testing to these locations doesn't reflect the performance users could expect for the majority of their traffic.

You still didn't answer the whole question - why doesn't Spark peer to prevent these issues in the first place? (Yes, I know the answer but I think it is important for the community to know).

freitasm

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#2099562 1-Oct-2018 17:50

Even Cloudflare traffic is not enough for Spark to consider peering. In reality instead of thinking of the "New Zealand Internet" they think of a case by case basis.

Talkiet

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#2099568 1-Oct-2018 17:57

michaelmurfy:

Talkiet:

The Samknows download and upload speed tests are being measured from a network location that currently comprises less than 0.1% of our traffic. That's why Spark has no direct connectivity today to REANNZ today. In practice it means testing to these locations doesn't reflect the performance users could expect for the majority of their traffic.

You still didn't answer the whole question - why doesn't Spark peer to prevent these issues in the first place? (Yes, I know the answer but I think it is important for the community to know).

If you know the answer, then you know I'm absolutely NOT in a position, as a technical person, to represent Sparks policy and commercial interests. There are Spark people in Auckland and Wellington with far more relevant historical and current knowledge than I have on the topic and I'm not going to venture into an area where I can't stand behind my comments 100%.

I was just here to explain why the results the OP has seen are understandable, let him know that it's probably not an issue with his router, and give an option for how to confirm that. A little network background as to why the results are worse than expected for context was reasonable.

In the words of Forest Gump, "That's all I have to say about thaaaaaat" :-)

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

michaelmurfy

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#2099587 1-Oct-2018 18:48

Talkiet:

If you know the answer, then you know I'm absolutely NOT in a position, as a technical person, to represent Sparks policy and commercial interests. There are Spark people in Auckland and Wellington with far more relevant historical and current knowledge than I have on the topic and I'm not going to venture into an area where I can't stand behind my comments 100%.

I was just here to explain why the results the OP has seen are understandable, let him know that it's probably not an issue with his router, and give an option for how to confirm that. A little network background as to why the results are worse than expected for context was reasonable.

In the words of Forest Gump, "That's all I have to say about thaaaaaat" :-)

Cheers - N

Well said. I really hope Spark does look further into this policy and considers peering locally in NZ a viable option. There is no knowing what SamKnows or the Commerce Commission have up their sleeves next. Now, I'll get back on topic here but I felt this was quite an important point to make.

Djmixerdomo

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#2099619 1-Oct-2018 19:59

FWIW here's the data from my Spark Fibre Max (1000/500)

These are results gathered over the last two weeks:

I have the Samknows box set to use Spark's DNS but on the first day it was accidentally set to cloudflare's DNS and the resolution time was ~60ms.

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