Measuring Broadband New Zealand Programme monthly usage

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mortonman

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#306961 7-Sep-2023 15:38

I am with Sky broadband and just received the invitation below to join the above programme

Thanks for being a Sky Broadband customer, we hope you’re enjoying broadband that’s made for entertainment.

To make sure you’re getting the very best experience, we’re supporting the Commerce Commission’s Measuring Broadband New Zealand programme.

We’re looking for volunteers

The programme needs more customers to take part in the independent testing of Sky Broadband.

If you’re selected to take part you’ll get real-time insights into your internet performance and the Commerce Commission’s quarterly reports will help us to identify areas for improvement.

Customers who are selected will be sent a device to plug into their modem at home to measure internet performance throughout the day – from speed, to the quality of video streaming and online gaming. The device won’t interfere with your service or track your browsing history.

There is a link to the commerce commission website which oversees the programme which provided further details.

Commerce Commission - Measuring New Zealand’s broadband performance (comcom.govt.nz

I was thinking about signing up but the table below put me off. The reckon the test will chew through 833GB a month. Surely that is a mistake? That is a lot of data? Unfortunately I cant check my usual data usage via the Sky broadband website to see what proportion the testing data would add.

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#3124672 7-Sep-2023 15:53

Less than 30 GB/day, used in 5 minutes. How do you propose to measure performance without using data??

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

RunningMan

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#3124680 7-Sep-2023 16:12

The numbers work out at running the connection at the full download capacity for a bit under 4 minutes per day. Presumably this is also broken up into multiple burst throughout the day/month.

If 800GB seems a lot for you on a 1Gb/s connection, perhaps your connection is better than you actually need. Go cheaper.

mortonman

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#3124684 7-Sep-2023 16:19

Apparently not that much data after all. I guess I was basing on my experience with Speedtest.net. Think its less than 1Gb each test for that.

The sky broadband website doesn't appear to provide usage data so I havent a clue these days what I use per month.

RunningMan

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#3124689 7-Sep-2023 16:30

mortonman:

Apparently not that much data after all. I guess I was basing on my experience with Speedtest.net. Think its less than 1Gb each test for that.

Nope, closer to 15 times more than that. Speedtest saturates the connection for around 10 seconds in each direction, so it's pretty easy to calculate data usage. So if you have a 1000/500 connection, it woud use just under 2GB.

Talkiet

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#3124693 7-Sep-2023 16:33

Yes it's a lot of data, but the tests are timed tests... By that, I mean the client doesn't download a file of X MB, it downloads for Y seconds. (actually, it does a warmup download first, then a measured download of Y seconds)... This means that faster access types are going to use a lot more data.

Given the relatively small number of volunteers, the upload/download tests need to run reasonably often ( hourly in peak times, 6 hourly outside them) and there are other tests (game server, streaming, conferencing, etc) that run much more often - but it's the upload/download tests that are responsible for the bulk of the data.

Using some estimated values I easily get to 500GB for the fibremax plans - so 833 is likely a modelled max based on a perfect line and no skipped tests. (The Samknows whitebox can detect if the net is being used and if so it will defer or cancel a test rather than collide with customer use.

Provided you are on an unlimited plan, there's no big downside. The fact that the Samknows tests only run hourly in peak, and 6 hourly outside it is Way way better than some people that run speedtests every 15 minutes (!!!)

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.

MattEast

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#3124694 7-Sep-2023 16:35

I just unplugged mine, was giving constantly incorrect results, especially on upload (never more than 200Mbps - I’m on a 2Gbps connection so would expect better than that). Seemed pointless to report results that don’t line up with results I get elsewhere (Cloudflare, Speedtest), I suspect it’s something to do with the servers they use, and my ISP connection to them (Quic Internet).

800GB sounds about right, but not really an issue on an unmetered multi-gig connection.

Matt East

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Talkiet

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#3124696 7-Sep-2023 16:36

I just tested and speedtest.net (website) used 2.4GB for a test on my FibreMax.

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.

RunningMan

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#3124697 7-Sep-2023 16:36

Talkiet:[snip]it is Way way better than some people that run speedtests every 15 minutes (!!!)

+ more than 1.

Mikek

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#3124799 7-Sep-2023 20:19

Roughly the SamKnows box on Gig fibre for me is using 502 Gigs a month,

This is for scheduled tests only not running manual ones via the box its self which would be on top of that Data.

From 31 Aug to 07 Sep

Test Type Download Upload Scheduled 89.1 GB 36.4 GB

AKLGUY79

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#3125243 9-Sep-2023 09:04

I have also been selected to get a WhiteBox, I am on One (Vodafone)

It says to plug into your router, and then your other devices into the back of the white box.

I do run a couple family servers at home, file and media, does the box just pass through traffic or act as another router?

Can I not just plug this into one of my ports in my switch? Or is it design for traffic passing through it?

MattEast

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#3125246 9-Sep-2023 09:15

I just heard back from the SamKnows people, because I’m on a faster connection than the Whitebox can handle, my results are discarded anyway, so unplugging it’s not going to affect them (or me). Kind of pointless having testing that doesn’t cover the full range of widely available plans.

Ro answer the above, the Whitebox seems to just act as an additional switch, giving you four extra 1G ports, I had devices plugged into it, as well as directly into the router. No difference between the two performance wise as far as I could see.

Matt East

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RunningMan

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#3125247 9-Sep-2023 09:15

If the traffic doesn't pass through it, it can't tell if you are already using the connection. This means it may impact your performance and also see a reduced line rate on it's tests.

Talkiet

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#3125273 9-Sep-2023 11:33

Plug it in as they suggest, inline so all your local traffic goes through it if possible. This isn't always possible (if your modem is your Wifi AP as well) and that does cause some issues. If you just plug it somewhere in the network (like to a switch) it will still 'work' but you will be contaminating the results for your ISP with worse than actual values on average.

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.

AKLGUY79

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#3125572 10-Sep-2023 11:42

Talkiet:

Plug it in as they suggest, inline so all your local traffic goes through it if possible. This isn't always possible (if your modem is your Wifi AP as well) and that does cause some issues. If you just plug it somewhere in the network (like to a switch) it will still 'work' but you will be contaminating the results for your ISP with worse than actual values on average.

Cheers - N

Thanks Talkiet. What I think I might do is go get a small switch (5/8 ports) plug my main connection to the router to that, and my servers, then the white box to my main switch.
Although that will corrupt with my Internal traffic to servers.

Talkiet

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#3125633 10-Sep-2023 14:18

No, that won't work as intended - since the servers will not be going through the whitebox.

You want .. .ONT -> RSP supplied router(1) -> Samknows Whitebox -> New Switch -> All your machines and access points.

(1) This might have a wifi access point which is a problem but SK just have to live with that. They have some strategies to try and mitigate the impact but often they are unable to determine wifi usage accurately.

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.

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