Enta Update

Dear Partner,

Please see below for the latest information from Entanet.

>>> MEASURES TO IMPROVE ENTANET BROADBAND SPEEDS
We have been monitoring traffic across the Entanet DSL network following increased feedback about poor connection speeds on our standard broadband packages, both in the charged and uncharged periods. We have identified that approximately 90% of customers are seeing their user experience adversely affected by approximately 10% of the customer base who are using their connection for non-interactive bulk services, for example news groups and peer-to-peer. Our aim is to deliver a positive user experience primarily for interactive services, for example web browsing, video streaming, VoIP and hosted application access.

In order to achieve this we will be applying techniques to give interactive services a higher priority across the DSL network. This action is in line with clause 2.5 of our Ts&Cs which refers to carrying out improvements, preventing overload of the network and preserving the integrity of the services. It is also being taken following consultation with several of our larger Partners. For the avoidance of doubt, we have so far not applied any protocol shaping or protocol prioritisation techniques.

Q: When will we start this?
A: We will begin prioritising traffic from 00:01hrs, Wednesday 4th November 2009.

Q: Is this action permanent?
A: We will monitor the impact of the traffic prioritisation for a period of approximately 3 weeks. If it is determined that this approach is successful then it is likely we will continue with this activity.

Q: Will we advise Partners of the impact of prioritising traffic in this way and whether it will become permanent?
A: Yes, aside from the overall improvement to service that we expect Partners and EUs to see as a result of our traffic prioritisation, we will seek feedback from Partners and confirm our decision on whether the measures will become permanent.

Q: How will it work?
A: Interactive services will be given higher priority across the DSL network. We do not intend or expect to impose any hard capping of specific protocols. This is unlike certain other communications providers who set permanent limits on specific protocols. Rather, we intend to dynamically manage traffic such that all services are available according to their priority. Therefore, varying levels of speed restriction will be applied to non-interactive bulk services where they adversely impact interactive services. It is not possible at this stage to identify specific parameters.

Q: Will Partners and EUs be able to see how traffic is being prioritised?
A: Not at the outset, although we will be considering if specific information can be provided in the future. In the meantime we will continue to provide details of our node utilisation on noc.enta.net.

Q: Will the existing Business and Family product prioritisation remain?
A: Yes, the current product attributes are unchanged.

Q: Will we advise Entanet-billed EUs directly?
A: No, as we are not introducing a product change we do not need to directly advise Entanet-billed EUs. However, we will add a formal notice to noc.enta.net and the e-billing site.

Q: What will happen to the Anti Loss Tool (ALT)?
A: During the period that we prioritise traffic as described above, the ALT (including the high bandwidth user marking system) will not be in operation.

Q: Will this affect EWCS customers?
A: No, our wholesale customers will not be impacted by this measure.

We are confident that the introduction of these traffic prioritisation techniques will significantly improve the user experience for the majority of EUs. If you have any questions about this email please contact your account manager in the first instance.

Regards

Partner Communications
Entanet International Ltd
http://www.enta.net
http://opinion.enta.net

And there dies the good old days. Traffic shaping here we come!

Pretty much exactly what we've all been thinking for awhile now traffic shaping, it's fairly obvious this has been going on for a bit as noted by those seeing weird speeds when the ALT was off

I see it as an improvement that will resolve a lot of speed issues. People have been having issues even browsing, gaming, streaming etc - and that's not acceptable. I see this as a measure to improve this and make it fair for all. If 10% are making the network completely overloaded, then something has to be done to curb this, as this small majority are causing the rest of the customers to have a poor service. Time will tell of course. Every ISP shapes in some way or another, otherwise the network would become out of control.

As there will no longer be an ALT and flag/markers for high bandwidth users, that will please many.

As stated in the email:

For the avoidance of doubt, we have so far not applied any protocol shaping or protocol prioritisation techniques.

I think we just need to give them time. They are introducing measures to improve the service for the vast majority. At least they are trying something new. No ISP can continue to just light more bandwidth to cover all the people who hammer P2P etc - and that's clearly whats causing the issues over the past months etc

In reply to a post by Adsl24:

I see it as an improvement that will resolve a lot of speed issues. People have been having issues even browsing, gaming, streaming etc - and that's not acceptable. I see this as a measure to improve this and make it fair for all. If 10% are making the network completely overloaded, then something has to be done to curb this, as this small majority are causing the rest of the customers to have a poor service. Time will tell of course. Every ISP shapes in some way or another, otherwise the network would become out of control.

As there will no longer be an ALT and flag/markers for high bandwidth users, that will please many.

The problem with this depends on the implementation. In order to curb the 10%, do the other 90% suffer throttling on protocols branded as bulk?

I'm hoping it will improve things as well.
Still worried there isn't enough capacity to go round though!

Wish Enta could have owned up to the problem a while back - good communication would have defused many issues...

The prioritisation just means that the stuff that people expect to work without issues, such as browsing, emailing, streaming, gaming etc will not be affected by the small percentage that use P2P etc. Because the ALT is turned off, as are blank markers etc, it may actually bring better speeds anyway to downloads etc depending on how it goes.

Also, the 90% of people are generally not using P2P etc, so will see a big improvement in everything else they use. That's the main reason for the change, as we've been inundated with complaints from people who hardly use their connection but have been affected by the nodes being at full capacity due the small minority doing all the downloading etc

Something had to be done, and the way this works is that it should be a lot more even for all.

Edited by Adsl24 (Mon 02-Nov-09 11:27:32)

Thanks for posting that

If 10% of Enta Users can bring the network to its knees....doesn't that indicate a slightly deeper problem?