[WXC/VFX] The Torrent plan and what it's done...

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98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#174371 29-Oct-2008 14:43

I guess the pooling system (for want of a better term) WXC have set up has restored some level of usability to a service decimated by the torrent users, which this and other threads have debated and discussed in depth already.

At the end of the day I think there is more to it than the torrent user issue. From what I have experienced so far, despite some speedtest.net tests to coastal USA, and Austaralian cities exceeding 1 Mbps, international connections are nonetheless vastly inferior at night, and well before the midnight free torrent download period cuts in. For me it's been quite poor for streaming video all evening / night and didn't change for the worse at midnight.

I note also that slower international connections are not exclusive to Xnet, judging by other forum threads. I would be happy as long as things like youtube etc would stream smoothly. At present although my download manager managed up to 170 kilobytes/sec with one download, I was still getting rebuffering on all streaming flash video content (while no other network activity is taking place).

I also wonder if our international bandwidth is really sufficient for anyone on any ISPs domestic ADSL service to get fast speeds at night.

I'd certainly have to see solid evidence of better performance from another ISP before I would switch. Anyone have any knowledge / thoughts on peak time international speeds on other IPS (prefereably with a Naked DSL product).

I'll watch the situation for a while before deciding whether to change ISPs. My VFX works well since they changed me to an uncompressed codec, and speeds blaze in the mornings.

If you don't change direction you will end up where you are headed

Prime

49 posts

Geek

#174418 29-Oct-2008 18:24

Although P2P is network heavy, after 6pm there are also other factors, people home from work etc start using, Dling smaller files, you tube surfing etc....while this may not sound like a huge amount when you have thousands doing it it adds up....

Remember Xnet had these issues way before the torrent plan, its just really more convenient to blame P2P for all the woes instead of admitting the real problem.

anthonynz

14 posts

Geek

#174440 29-Oct-2008 19:24

Hey!

I didn't know they were pooling torrent users now! when did that happen?

Shouldn't they tell us about that?

No wonder things are going so slow - I see they've added this line into the details on the website now also.

Please note the Torrent option is not suitable for people who surf the net or play on-line games between midnight and 8am: as speeds are affected by the P2P and downloading activity of other users.

jesterpaul

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#174514 30-Oct-2008 00:35

Remember Xnet had these issues way before the torrent plan, its just really more convenient to blame P2P for all the woes instead of admitting the real problem.

Which begs the questions:
Is it just Xnet?
Are other ISPs similarly afflicted and their customers experiencing similar peak time international performance issues?
Are there ISPs whose domestic ADSL customers get significantly better performance, and if so, which ISPs are they?

If you don't change direction you will end up where you are headed

Tunk

35 posts

Geek

#174518 30-Oct-2008 00:45

Well its finally got to the point I am annoyed enough to switch back to ppm.

I logged the speeds & usage over the past few days, and to be honest forcing bees guts through a brick wall seems to be a better approach.

If xnet has trouble at both peak and during 12-8 its obvious they dont have enough bandwidth.

It is also why I believe there should be laws regarding contention ratios, requiring isps to atleast publish them.

Let us pick up our pitchforks, grab some torches and start a x-plan hunt on your favourite ISP!

jesterpaul

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#174521 30-Oct-2008 01:20

Tunk: Well its finally got to the point I am annoyed enough to switch back to ppm.

I logged the speeds & usage over the past few days, and to be honest forcing bees guts through a brick wall seems to be a better approach.

If xnet has trouble at both peak and during 12-8 its obvious they dont have enough bandwidth.

Well I am on PPM, not Torrent and although loading pages is not bad, and some dowwnloads are ok, generally streaming vodeo (audio is ok) has frequent stalls and re-buffers at peak times.

So based on what I've experienced to date, Xnet are currently simply unable to offer a service which meets these modern requirements effectively at all hours (particularly when most people want to use them). Going back to PPM will probably improve things a fair amount, but won't fix the speeds to a standard that can do streaming video smoothly during evening peak times, for you.

If you don't change direction you will end up where you are headed

Samsung

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Baboon

386 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 35

#174523 30-Oct-2008 01:54

Yup, that's also been my experience: while pay as you go doesn't suck as bad, it's still no good for realtime audio and video.

I'm left wondering why, if the Torrent users have been effed over *hopeful that doesn't breach forum usage guidelines* by pooling them, that Xnet doesn't buy some more bandwidth for other users? Are they that broke? Are they pricing plans so badly that they're losing money, or what?

I mean - how freaking long does it take to get extra bandwidth sorted? Do I have unrealistic expectations, or what? Somebody more in the know - please fill me in :-)

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."

- Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)

Ragnor

8279 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 585

Trusted

#174660 30-Oct-2008 16:34

Their experiement with an un-managed service offering is pretty much a huge failure

Xnet will continue to be crap until they ....

a) Properly implement some isp/carrier grade traffic priorization
b) Get serious about caching with a strong/smart transparent web caching proxy
c) Consider capping the number of tcp/ip connections an individual user can open (1 user 1 torrent 500 tcp/ip connections is like the default setting in utorrent)
d) Rate shape bit torrent traffic by 50% during peak time, realize peak time doesn't finish at midnight for many people OR invest in torrent caching applianaces (some aussie ISP's save 200Mbit/s of international bandwidth with caching of torrent data)
e) Get more mom and pop users who only use 1gb per month to subsidize the usage or heavy users.

I can't really see them doing any of the above in the near future, they seem intent on making every noobie mistake in the book maybe one day they will arrive at a service that works properly.

A seperate pool for torrent plans is just another stop gap that won't work.. already you can see most people changing back to the normal pay as you go plan.

jesterpaul

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#174714 30-Oct-2008 19:06

Ragnor:
A seperate pool for torrent plans is just another stop gap that won't work. already you can see most people changing back to the normal pay as you go plan.

It's not just that it has been a failure for the customers on the Torrent plans: Even as a ppm customer the evening speeds are not what I expecty from any decent ISP. The question I'm seeking to answer is: Who are the decent IPSs in terms of performance? All very fine leaving Xnet, but I ned to be able to verify that an alternative will actually perform better during busy periods.

If you don't change direction you will end up where you are headed

Detruire

1788 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 84

#174724 30-Oct-2008 20:06

Telstra and Xtra if you want to be certain.

Maxnet and Actrix if you want a better-than-average chance of it being reasonable.

rm *

Baboon

386 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 35

#174736 30-Oct-2008 21:06

Ugg - tonight I can't even connect with decent speeds to my own ISP :-(

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."

- Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)

HP

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jesterpaul

98 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#174755 30-Oct-2008 22:37

Detruire: Telstra and Xtra if you want to be certain.

Maxnet and Actrix if you want a better-than-average chance of it being reasonable.

I'd really like to keep a Naked DSL service sigh!!

How are Snap and Slingshot these days? I never had any issues like this with Slingshot on standard ADSL whern I was with them up until 4 months ago.

I don't need super speeds. Just unbuffered streaming media,

If you don't change direction you will end up where you are headed

Detruire

1788 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 84

#174756 30-Oct-2008 22:39

Slingshot is rubbish. They've gone and ****** started shaping everyone to <30kBps after a tiny amount of data is transferred.

As for snap:
http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=90&TopicId=27324

*sigh*

rm *

str8fake

13 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#174765 31-Oct-2008 02:26

Ok so my story goes the same as everyone else, I'm on the "torrent plan" and on the stroke of Midnight anything outside of .nz is unaccessible. Then as if by magic at 8.00 on the dot all international lines are open and I can browse stream and game as I please.

I'm Sick of people coming on here telling people they shouldn't bother complaining, change ISP's, stop whinging yadda yadda. All I want is for someone at Xnet to come out and say they have stuffed up that is all. I've been paying $1.50 for peak time usage just so I could download torrents at night when infact Xnet wont allow me to download torrents at night(Last time I tried I was able to download 50 megabytes in one night now I cant even open up a torrent webpage to download something, looks like i'm going to be a far cry from the available 75Gigs).

If a cell phone company said "pay $30 a month and $2 per minute on peak phone calls and get free minutes between midnight and 8" you would assume you would be able to phone people between midnight and 8am, and if not the phone company would refund you withdraw the plan and say they're sorry and move on. Its false advertising surely.

I've already been through the whole Xtra Go Large stuff up where Xtra did come out and say they stuffed up and made appropriate changes and moved on. When are Xnet going to show some balls and do the same.

Baboon

386 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 35

#174770 31-Oct-2008 05:42

I honestly don't think Xnet cares enough to do anything substantial any time soon to make the Torrent plan usable. It's just been dragging on too long and any reputable company would have scrapped an obviously broken plan, or at the very least prevent new signups! Their warning that the torrent plan is no good for anything but BitTorrent is not good enough because you can't even come anywhere near 75GB per month with the disastrously bad speeds during off-peak hours. I actually faked a phone call to Xnet the other day and pretended I was prospective new customer interested in the Torrent plan. Not a word was said regarding how badly broken in every single respect that plan is. That sort of attitude is simply appalling.

But to make this post more than just another whinge - has anyone else who's been forced to switch from the Torrent plan to pay as you go noticed that it's not just off-peak time that's got better? I'm also finding evenings better (though still crap compared to a decent connection). Or is it just me? It seems very odd given my understanding is Torrent users are pooled only during off-peak hours.

Message to Xnet if you're bothering to follow any of this: you've dragged your good reputation through the mud and I will switch ISPs the very second another decent naked DSL plan becomes available. The only reason I'm still with you is the extreme lack of decent alternatives for naked DSL users.

"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us."

- Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson)

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