Broadband 250 - Shaping or congestion?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Broadband 250 - Shaping or congestion?

ping182nz

188 posts

Master Geek

#111901 19-Nov-2012 10:42

Hi,

I transfer a lot of files through http and FTP. I am on the Broadband 250 plan.

I notice during working hours my connection can sustain 1850kbps.

anywhere from 5pm till 1am my connection is basically limited to 50 -100kbps for the file transfers

Can someone from Slingshot explain what is happening? I thought the 250 plan wasn't shaped or limited?

I can still watch local on demand content and surf the web fine, but it looks like file transfers are being limited.

I heard that I could try and use SFTP as secure traffic wouldn't be effected. But this also suffers the same drop in speed...

Is anyone else having the same issue?

I have tested this on a telecom connection and I can sustain 1850kbps throughout the day and night!

Anyone have any thoughts about this?

Thanks

johnr

19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#719377 19-Nov-2012 10:51

Would to be helpful to know approx where you are located?

ping182nz

188 posts

Master Geek

#719400 19-Nov-2012 11:11

Sorry, I am in New Plymouth. My nearest exchange is Frankly.

universenz

19 posts

Geek

#719404 19-Nov-2012 11:18

Have you tried FTP and HTTP transfer from other sources or are the sources you're downloading from the same?

The reason I ask is that it's a two-way stream and the ISP of the FTP or HTTP source may be shaping their upload traffic outside of business hours.

ping182nz

188 posts

Master Geek

#719429 19-Nov-2012 12:12

universenz: Have you tried FTP and HTTP transfer from other sources or are the sources you're downloading from the same?

The reason I ask is that it's a two-way stream and the ISP of the FTP or HTTP source may be shaping their upload traffic outside of business hours.

Data is from the same FTP and/or HTTP source. So there is no shaping from the sources end.
Thanks though, I should have stated that...

universenz

19 posts

Geek

#719439 19-Nov-2012 12:31

Cool thanks for the clarification.

So just to be clear you control the upload source (http / ftp)? My suggestion was that since all other traffic seems to be fine outside of those hours from your end, the issue may be with shaping at the sources end.

ping182nz

188 posts

Master Geek

#719458 19-Nov-2012 12:58

I do not control the source. But I can tell you it isnt shaped at their end as I can download at over 1800kbps on a telecom broadband account. then check on my slingshot account and only get 50-100kbps...

Looks like slingshots end to me?

universenz

19 posts

Geek

#719461 19-Nov-2012 13:03

Well not necessarily, you could be right - but if the upload provider is with Telecom too, they may be shaping off-network traffic after hours.

In any instance it'll be hard for anyone here to diagnose the issues remotely without a controlled download test from the server across a variety of connections and locations.

Your best bet in this instance is to contact Slingshot directly and request they do a download test to verify if shaping is being applied.

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helis

96 posts

Master Geek

#719505 19-Nov-2012 13:58

ping182nz: Hi,

I transfer a lot of files through http and FTP. I am on the Broadband 250 plan.

I notice during working hours my connection can sustain 1850kbps.

anywhere from 5pm till 1am my connection is basically limited to 50 -100kbps for the file transfers

Can someone from Slingshot explain what is happening? I thought the 250 plan wasn't shaped or limited?

I can still watch local on demand content and surf the web fine, but it looks like file transfers are being limited.

I heard that I could try and use SFTP as secure traffic wouldn't be effected. But this also suffers the same drop in speed...

Is anyone else having the same issue?

I have tested this on a telecom connection and I can sustain 1850kbps throughout the day and night!

Anyone have any thoughts about this?

Thanks

This is happening because Slingshot is oversubscribed. I had the same problems with them. During the day(I work from home) I would see 2MB/s from file transfers etc. But once it hit 3-4pm speeds would very quickly drop off(max speeds of 50-150KB/s). I wouldn't see speeds return until well past midnight. The problem was also bad during school holidays. Instead of my usual 2MB/s thru the day I would only get 500KB/s if I was lucky.

So you have to weigh up the pros and cons. Slingshot meet the price point of what a lot of people are after but they leave a lot to be desired when it comes to quality. If you want to get night speeds that match your day speeds I suggest you check out Snap. I have not looked back in my churn to them. I also moved to VDSL so can easily see speeds of 4MB/s from International sites at night.

ping182nz

188 posts

Master Geek

#719702 19-Nov-2012 19:54

This is happening because Slingshot is oversubscribed.

If I ring them, can they do anything?

helis

96 posts

Master Geek

#719705 19-Nov-2012 19:59

ping182nz:
This is happening because Slingshot is oversubscribed.

If I ring them, can they do anything?

No. During times of congestion Snap prioritize traffic based on what they feel is more important. Things like WWW and VoIP will generally always work fine at all times of the day but during peak time things like file transfers whether it be downloading a linux iso or a pirated movie will go a hell of a lot slower when they are close to maxing there bandwidth.

I found it impossible to watch YouTube at night which is one of the main reasons I moved. I watch more YouTube than TV now. Now I get to enjoy watching videos in 1080p any time day or night with out it stopping even once.