Some indications of big changes on Sky's network

I triggered a DHCP renewal on my FTTC line on Monday and several things have happened:

* Pings are up from ~20ms to ~30ms.
* My dynamic IP is in a new range starting 151.x.x.x - I used to get IPs in 2.x.x.x before.
* These new IPs have reverse DNS to a new domain of xyz.skybroadband.com, previously it was something like xyz.bb.sky.com.
* Speeds are different - BBC and YouTube are perfect (YouTube used to be awful!), but 9 out of 10 speedtest.net servers are slow (the last 10% being flat-out perfect).

Keep in mind that the BTo FTTC modem has remained connected and synced throughout - this not FTTC sync or DLM but changes in what I'm connecting to at Sky.

I guess this is a sign of big changes going on in Sky's network.
Some positive (YouTube), some not so (pings).

Anyone else seen anything similar?

My fibre connection switched to the 151.xxx.xxx.xxx range about 4 months ago (previously was 94.xxx.xxx.xxx) although the pings still remained around the 18ms mark.

Changed to 151 a long long time ago

No other differences at my end

Just cause the openreach modems connected doesnt mean its not resynced

I think the higher pings is just DLM & not sky's doing personally.

Perhaps it's just on FTTC ... I'm on ADSL and just got issued a 2.x.x.x address

However, I agree about YouTube, it's become unusable for anything of decent quality on Sky because of constant buffering. I use my other ADSL line for sensitive things like VOIP, YouTube HD etc.

Also on ADSL2+ (LLU) and 2.xxx.xxx.xxx IP range; YouTube and other video streaming is fine.

Interesting, thanks. Could be a localised issue and I notice that the OP is in North Wales the same as me, although we're on different exchanges.

ADSL2+ (LLU) 5.xxx.xxx.xxx last sync about 2 weeks ago and I reverse to xyz.skybroadband.com

Never had any issues streaming video.....

Edited by deleted (Mon 01-Jul-13 12:46:15)

Sky run all the north Wales exchanges off a single feed ("chained" in their lingo).

The 151 and changed reverse DNS probably mean little, it's just new to me and happened at exactly the same time as getting a new IP over DHCP and the mentioned changes to performance.

Interestingly on a traceroute I see that data passes via 2.* and bb.sky.com routers anyway.

There are a few complaints in the Sky forums about YouTube performance (which makes a change from general congestion related issues). I thought they might have been making changes to deal with it.

For comparison, I had a second FTTC line installed last week, a BT one. Throughput is similar, but pings on that line are 6ms. Sky has never been lower than 20ms, and currently stuck at 30. Next time YouTube or iPlayer goes on the blink I'll be able to do 1:1 comparison checks over the two lines.

Since activation in Feb my IP has always been in the 94.12.x.x range.

Pings have always been sub 15ms.

http://www.pingtest.net/result/83277594.png

Edited by Philce (Wed 03-Jul-13 08:10:34)