Fastest BT Wholesale ISP

Now, I'm not talking about throughput (although it's probably related), I'm talking about latency.

Which are the fastest BTw ISP's in terms of lowest latency with 0% packet loss? ADSL or ADSL Max (up to 8Mpbs).

I know pretty much any other LLU, cable, etc. would be faster, so there's no need to reply to say just that. Unfortunately, for a lot of people only the most basic ADSL is available.

If the only information you have is your own personal experience of your ISP, then please, post that. We can use this thread to build up a picture from lots of different people if need be.

Thanks.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Which are the fastest BTw ISP's in terms of lowest latency with 0% packet loss? ADSL or ADSL Max (up to 8Mpbs).

Problem with what you are asking: Geographic location (and maybe Fast/Interleaving setting) and Equipment

I get 11ms on IPS from my house in Sheffield but someone in London could get much less, whereas someone in Scotland may get much more - so that will distort the results if you are just looking for the 'fastest' (lowest) latency times.

Likewise, whereas my line can get 11ms with a Vigor, put a Netgear on the same line, 16ms.

Matt

Edited by uno (Mon 05-Jul-10 14:33:55)

Latency to where? If you have a target in mind people might be willing to ping it and report their location, ISP, and times.

Well I was hoping for responses from anyone "in the know" or from people who have tried different ISP's. The idea of people posting their individual experiences was just a last minute, worst case scenario idea.

People must have a general idea whether their latency is good or bad. I know to avoid AOL and Sky, but who are the good ones, and how much do they vary by?

If you read the replies more carefully, it should be fairly obvious to you that the answer can be different in different parts of the country.

So rather than (in my opinion) being insulting to the two responders so far, both of whom are extremely knowledgeable, how about you answer the questions?

For example there is an excellent ISP based near Manchester (call it A), and another near Maidenhead (call it B).

Where you live in relation to A or B, and where the prime sites are that you want low latency in reaching happen to be, can make a big difference due to the routing from you to A or B and onward to the target.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 06-Jul-10 20:59:32)

I really wasn't sure what you meant at first. If you're referring to my "in the know" comment, I wasn't directing an insult at the responders or suggesting they weren't knowledgeable. What I meant was that when I started the thread I was hoping that in these forums I might get responses from people who worked in the industry or for different ISP's or simply people who knew a lot about what's available. It had nothing to do with them, I was simply explaining my intentions (and agreeing that everyone posting their individual experiences isn't the best way of going about it). Don't be so sensitive, it's only the internet .

I thought it might be obvious if ISP A has latency of 100ms (in this country), or that doubles at peak times, whereas ISP B has rock solid latency of ~30ms 24/7. For example, with regard to dial-up, everyone seems to be agreed that AOL has worse latency (from anywhere to anywhere) than most other ISPs. I've heard that certain things at the ISP can affect latency, such as old or inferior server hardware. Also, would the type of Centrals used make a difference (Ethernet faster than ATM cloud?) or the transits?

I understand the point that if I live at Land's End it would probably be better not to use an ISP based at John O'Groats, but as I don't live at either extreme of the country it probably won't make that much difference (please, correct me if I'm wrong; if you know roughly how much difference, numbers would be great). With regard to the target machine, surely that would only really matter if I was making a P2P connection with one other machine and then not using the internet for anything else (which I suppose I might do if it was for business use or something, but it isn't, so I won't). In reality we use the internet to connect to hundreds, if not thousands, of machines all over the country and even the world. If ISP A's latency is 50ms higher than ISP B's, then surely whether I'm connecting to London or New York, it will almost always be higher. If it helps, I only really care about latency to Britain and Europe.

Thanks again.

People worried about latency are usually avid gamers. Which is why the target sites are asked about.

For all other uses, so far as I know latency is fairly irrelevant, though preferably fairly stable. More important are throttling and traffic management due to inadequate core capacity.

However you seem to have an excellent grasp of what it's all about so won't need any more technical help. Simplistic answers to your original question will hopefully arrive from others.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 07-Jul-10 22:50:37)

Following my post a few seconds ago, I just browsed the whole thread again. Something I already knew but hadn't commented on hit me in the face .

... when I started the thread I was hoping that in these forums I might get responses from people who worked in the industry or for different ISP's or simply people who knew a lot about what's available ....

If you read uno's reply again, particularly the line of his sig starting "Official ...." you might see what I mean. Kind of answers the quote.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 07-Jul-10 22:59:50)

Does anyone know if the things I mentioned do affect latency, and by how much?

Also, are there any ISPs that are renowned for providing the lowest latency?

Our Pro package features prioritised traffic across our network, designed to provide the lowest latency possible.

You can read more here.

There aren't any other BTWholesale based providers that feature positive traffic management to allow this service on a per-protocol or per-package basis.

Some under-subscribed ISP's may offer similar performance figures, but you'll either pay a premium for the service or risk the ISP becoming more contended in the future.