There's a couple of things I'd like to respond to there, and I'd be very interested in carrying on the discussion with you about our approach to traffic management - We have nothing to hide, and pride ourselves on the fact that after a bit of a journey, we have reached a point where we can be totally honest about what experience we can deliver to our customers.

You are right that for consumers looking for fast P2P and Binary Usenet downloads during the evenings, PlusNet are not an ISP with an appropriate product right now*, and we'd be the first to highlight that. For our customers who do work within our approach, and keep most of their big downloads outside of peak hours, there is no shortage of capacity for P2P and they can download as much, if not more, than anyone could with another ISP. Our approach is in fact to prioritse capacity for things like Streaming media (Youtube included), Radio and Kontiki/4OD during peak times so that these always work well. I should add that although technically P2P apps, those apps like Kontiki (Sky over Broadband etc) are not what we are talking about when we say 'P2P' or Filesharing (As the article you quote from highlights!).

I should also highlight that we aren't calling P2P apps dirty as in "they are wrong and bad" in that article. The fact is that the actual protocols deployed by the filesharing P2P apps are very aggressive and difficult to control - they take over and squeeze other protocols running on the same network and don't behave well when confronted with standard forms of network contention. That causes a problem for all ISPs, however much capacity they have available - Without QoS, it would cause a problem for you on an 8Mb line if you were downloading a file with an agressive protocol at the same time as trying to hold a voip call or play a game that needs a good ping. As an ISP, we have no inclination towards policing the types of content people download, but we do care if P2P use is stiffling the growing and popular protocols that people want to use in 'real time' - Streaming from sites like Youtube and Myspace, as well as games like Secondlife and WOW being prime examples.

All ISPs are reaching a point where their broadband networks will always be running full (The growth in demand coupled with economics and the intended wholesale design means that has become the norm for all ISPs). More and more people are using these new demanding services, and it's not simply a drive for profit that makes us impose controls on P2P apps like Kazaa and Limewire. There is of course a cost element to all this, but it's not about profit - Currently, ISPs pay BT ~

Edited by IanWild (Sun 08-Apr-07 01:31:01)

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There's a couple of things I'd like to respond to there, and I'd be very interested in carrying on the discussion with you about our approach to traffic management - We have nothing to hide, and pride ourselves on the fact that after a bit of a journey, we have reached a point where we can be totally honest about what experience we can deliver to our customers.

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Which one of these products meets the OP requirement then?

Product  	Warning email sent  	Restrictions applied

Premier 1 	24GB 	 	 	 	30GB

Premier 2 	36GB 	 	 	 	45GB

Premier 3 	48GB 	 	 	 	60GB

Plus 	 	10GB     	 	 	12.5GB

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You are right that for consumers looking for fast P2P and Binary Usenet downloads during the evenings, PlusNet are not an ISP with an appropriate product right now*, and we'd be the first to highlight that.

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Thank you for pointing that out, once again being honest to readers and confirming my opinion on that was correct and not conjecture. No doubt a certain troll will even find something to argue about with either of us about that point also.

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Our approach is in fact to prioritise capacity for things like Streaming media (Youtube included), Radio and Kontiki/4OD during peak times so that these always work well. I should add that although technically P2P apps, those apps like Kontiki (Sky over Broadband etc) are not what we are talking about when we say 'P2P' or Filesharing (As the article you quote from highlights!).

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While the effort to maintain various services perform well for everyone should be applauded, it does again bring up a question. If a user wants to use bittorrent on a RARE occasion and is on your Broadband PAYG Basic (which is charged at equivalent of

Edited by deleted (Sun 08-Apr-07 10:24:40)

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Thank you for pointing that out, once again being honest to readers and confirming my opinion on that was correct and not conjecture.

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If Plusnet are unable to offer the OP a suitable product, then what are they doing in this thread? A sales pitch?

Specific criticisms were raised against PlusNet. It is right and proper that any misconceptions should be corrected. That, after all, is the purpose of these forums.

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That, after all, is the purpose of these forums

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But this is the "Which ISP" forum, not the Plusnet forum. They aren't responding to the OP and they aren't able to offer a suitable product to the OP.

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Specific criticisms were raised against PlusNet. It is right and proper that any misconceptions should be corrected. That, after all, is the purpose of these forums.

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Indeed john2007, Plusnet have taken the time to explain future services and also explain how and why they manage a network, all this is good information with regards to whether a user should, or should not choose them as an ISP.

Love or Hate Plusnet you have to respect them for posting on here and explaining their services, If only more ISPs would do that users could talk to a real company member to make decisions about them.

I freely admit information i may give when recommending an ISP could be wrong, the same can be said for anyone else that posts on these forums (none of us are the be all and know all about everything).

However having a voice from the company here allows these points are discussed freely and openly, which again allows users considering an ISP to reach a realistic conclusion about them.

If the OP is still reading i imagine by now he has more information about Plusnet and their services then he ever dreamed he would get, without the Plusnet staff members posting and entering discussion alot of this information would have been omitted from the debate

A lot of people (including me) are not responding to the OP.

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While I agree in a way and can comprehend what you are saying, what are your plans for the future going to be when ADSL2+ or similar services fully arrive? (which for BT is only 2 years off)

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I thought that BT Wholesale were going to launch ADSL2+ services next year whether someones exchange has been upgraded to the 21CN or not?

Isn't it time a few people read the OPs other posts in this thread? In particular the one where he points out that most of the argument should be elsewhere and does nothing to help him.