Slingshot traffic shaping on NZB - any point going to UFB?

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Digikiwi

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Topic # 201602 26-Aug-2016 09:31

Hi there,

I'm still on copper, and get 13MBps on a good day. However I've noticed that my NZB downloads, which used to get to 1.3MBps now sit at 68Bps, meaning I'm getting about 5% of the speed I used to. When I test my speed on testmy.net while downloading the NZB then during the random data download my NZB speed shoots up close to previously experienced speeds, and then rapidly goes back down after the speed test completes..

My supposition, and I'm open to being challenged/corrected on this is that this is clearly traffic shaping from Slingshot, my ISP.

I get and accept that at certain peak times traffic is shaped, but this seems to have extended to near 24/7 in my case.

My question is - having recently had UFB come to our street, is there any point in upgrading? Am I likely to experience the same type of shaping on UFB?

If I was a conspiracy theorist - which I'm not - I'd say the shaping I'm experiencing is a tool to incentivise UFB uptake.

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Reply # 1617702 26-Aug-2016 09:31

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

you have reset your modem and router
your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing - you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap
your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing
you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

Your ISP and plan
Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)
Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)
Your general location (or street)
If you are rural or urban
If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin
If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service
If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

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Sounddude

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Vocus

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Reply # 1617718 26-Aug-2016 09:58

Silly question, whats NZB?

We don't do any traffic shaping of any kind BTW.

Edit: Do you mean NNTP?

Digikiwi

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Reply # 1617730 26-Aug-2016 10:24

Sorry, I'm talking about usenet files, which have the .NZB extension.

NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 1617744 26-Aug-2016 10:54

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Sounddude:

Silly question, whats NZB?

We don't do any traffic shaping of any kind BTW.

Edit: Do you mean NNTP?

should probably update your website then, because it pretty clearly says that you do exactly that.

"We use a system called Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to identify and protect types of traffic that are latency-sensitive (delay-sensitive) and popular applications (like Facebook and World of Warcraft or other games) above other traffic. This means that at times of high network load, less time-sensitive traffic types will be affected. Examples include BitTorrent and peer-to-peer (p2p)."

That is pretty much the definition of traffic shaping.

https://help.slingshot.co.nz/Broadband/44703834/How-does-Slingshot-manage-its-network.htm

Digikiwi

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Reply # 1617757 26-Aug-2016 11:17

Thanks for your reply,

Can you please clarify what you mean by "update your website then"?

And I'd love it if anyone could advise if such traffic is shaped identically, regardless of whether it's on copper or UFB. Or is there at least a proportional bandwidth portion meaning there would be an increase in speed observed at my end for such DPI shaped traffic if I move to UFB?

NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 1617758 26-Aug-2016 11:22

Digikiwi: Thanks for your reply, Can you please clarify what you mean by "update your website then"? And I'd love it if anyone could advise if such traffic is shaped identically, regardless of whether it's on copper or UFB. Or is there at least a proportional bandwidth portion meaning there would be an increase in speed observed at my end for such DPI shaped traffic if I move to UFB?

I mean that the slingshot website unequivically states that they do have traffic shaping. (prioritising certain traffic types over others is traffic shaping)

so if they don't actually do any traffic shaping, as stated in the post before mine from sounddude, then they should probably update their website and remove that bit.

vexxxboy

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Reply # 1617784 26-Aug-2016 11:27

NonprayingMantis:

Sounddude:

Silly question, whats NZB?

We don't do any traffic shaping of any kind BTW.

Edit: Do you mean NNTP?

should probably update your website then, because it pretty clearly says that you do exactly that.

"We use a system called Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to identify and protect types of traffic that are latency-sensitive (delay-sensitive) and popular applications (like Facebook and World of Warcraft or other games) above other traffic. This means that at times of high network load, less time-sensitive traffic types will be affected. Examples include BitTorrent and peer-to-peer (p2p)."

That is pretty much the definition of traffic shaping.

https://help.slingshot.co.nz/Broadband/44703834/How-does-Slingshot-manage-its-network.htm

That is the main reason i left Slingshot 12 years ago, they said they dont traffic shape and then tell you that . I hate semantics.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

Sounddude

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Reply # 1617788 26-Aug-2016 11:37

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NonprayingMantis:

should probably update your website then, because it pretty clearly says that you do exactly that.

Yup will get it updated :-)

Jase2985

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Reply # 1617911 26-Aug-2016 14:37

@Digikiwi Sounddude works for vocus who own slingshot, so if hes saying they are not rate limiting then you can be pretty sure they are not.

Seems like your issue may be elsewhere

vexxxboy

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Reply # 1617914 26-Aug-2016 14:42

Jase2985:

@Digikiwi Sounddude works for vocus who own slingshot, so if hes saying they are not rate limiting then you can be pretty sure they are not.

Seems like your issue may be elsewhere

no he's saying they dont rate limit certain traffic, Bit torrent and Peer to peer they do.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

Sounddude

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Reply # 1617915 26-Aug-2016 14:51

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vexxxboy:

they dont rate limit certain traffic, Bit torrent and Peer to peer they do.

We only pull that card out during during very high traffic times, but we have enough bandwidth that we haven't had to do that for a few years.

Item

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Reply # 1617971 26-Aug-2016 16:20

I didn't have any issues with this using SABNZB+ and SSL when I was with Slingshot - only time I saw this drop was when there issues with the Newsbin host servers/services.

Have you tried using a VPN and/or a different port or server?

Item

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Reply # 1617972 26-Aug-2016 16:22

vexxxboy:

Jase2985:

@Digikiwi Sounddude works for vocus who own slingshot, so if hes saying they are not rate limiting then you can be pretty sure they are not.

Seems like your issue may be elsewhere

no he's saying they dont rate limit certain traffic, Bit torrent and Peer to peer they do.

Newsbin traffic is NNTP over SSL I believe?

Digikiwi

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Reply # 1617978 26-Aug-2016 16:44

Hi and thanks for your replies

@ Item yes, having studied up on what NNTP is, you are quite correct - NNTP over SSL.

Let's assume for a moment that it is not the ISP shaping this traffic - what other possible reason could explain the consistently reproducible phenomenon I'm experiencing: Namely that my download (via SABNZB) goes at about 68B/s but during a speed test, eg with 200MB random block, the speed goes up to around what I used to experience - eg 1.2MB/s

Cheers

Digikiwi

toejam316

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Reply # 1618008 26-Aug-2016 18:02

Possibly your news server provider prioritizing traffic to the test block, but the rest of the traffic being hit by congestion?

I'd suggest trying an alternative new server - I'd assume you have a secondary block server, I'd recommend testing with them only to see if the issues persist.

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