Tuesday, July 14. 2009The More Things Change.....John Linton .........the more things stay the same. I was considering the impacts that Exetel has had on various aspects of our customers by our plan of providing 'free' downloads of gradually increasing magnitude in the 'off peak' periods of each day and just how much more is either necessary or possible to provide. We started providing this particular benefit on March 1st 2004 with "unlimited" downloads during the period 12 midnight to 8 am each day. Terming the download period as 'unlimited' was a major error of judgment and we lived with it's negative consequences for around a year trying to discourage a very small percentage of our users from down loading as much as possible every second of the available time with the most notorious of those people managing to download over 300 gb in that 8 hour period each month. This forced Exetel to cease offering 'unlimited' off peak downloads in early 2005/late 2004 (I really don't remember exactly when it was any more) and we made it 20 gb free in off peak before heavily constricting the 'bandwidth' in an attempt to prevent the manic few from continuing to swamp the bandwidth - something we never really succeeded in doing and eventually gave up trying to do. We finally admitted defeat and implemented charging for usage over the off peak bandwidth rather than constriction and that finally put an end to it - the few download addicts that remained at that time finally either changed their habits or moved elsewhere. Over the past five or so years we have gradually increased the included free down load allowance (from 20 gb to up to 60 gb today) and over that period our total deployed band width had grown to well over 4 gbps and our number of users quadrupled. With the progressively increasing down load amounts and the increase from 8 hours to 12 hours a day over several years the amount of 'free' download amounts continued to increase each month and towards the end of 2008 we actually achieved part of our starting objective of moving the peak download period from around 10 pm to exactly midnight which was a really useful achievement.....in many ways.....and totally useless in one major way. However the major negative, and it really is a major negative, is that too many customers start their downloads at exactly 12 midnight which creates a different problem that while there is no congestion in the 'traditional' peak hours of late afternoon to very late evening there is a new congestion period, albeit relatively brief, between 12 midnight and 12.20 am. We've made some efforts to eliminate this silly and pointless practice but have failed miserably to date. While we were very patient (5+ years is a lot of patience), taking a sensible long term view, and eventually achieving a very significant operational efficiency we can't be 'patient' any longer in terms of convincing our users that download managers mean that you don't have wait up to start downloads a midnight - use the lowest usage times of day from 2 am to 7 am - and make everyone happy including yourself and ensure that plan charges can continue to be offered at the lowest possible costs. We have two choices we can now make - one technical and one edictal - or perhaps we can use both which would ensure we make the problem 'go away' once and for all. We will try the technical solution towards the end of this month which involves splitting low volume users onto 'clear' bandwidth and therefore allow us to more tightly control P2P traffic during times of peak P2P usage and this, in theory, will eliminate the problem cased by the people who, for whatever reason(s) insist on starting P2P downloads at exactly 12 midnight. If that doesn't deliver the estimated benefits then the much easier option will be advised to customers which is to change the of peak period time from the current period of 12 midnight to 12 noon (which I personally really like for aesthetic reasons) to 1 am (or later) to 12 noon or later. I like that option because it will remove the problem 'forever' and not affect any Exetel customer in any real way or actually in any way. I suppose I would be sorry to lose the elegance of a 12hour/12 hour split in peak and off peak but it really makes zero difference to any actual user of off peak for their down loads. With the maximum 'free' off peak download allowance of 60 gb the period required is less than 5 hours per day on a 1500/256 ADSL1 service which would make a 6 hour (rather than a 12 hour) off peak period more than adequate to allow customers to down load the maximum of their free allowance each month. Moving from 12 midnight to 12 noon to, say 3 am to 9 am is a bit drastic as far as perception goes and doubtless that would be something to consider. However if nothing is now done it would result in increased costs to Exetel of around $A100,000 per month at today's customer numbers and usage which is only going to increase over the coming months. I don't like making decisions like this, or even participating in making them, but there may be no options if the technical resolution doesn't produce the hoped for results. I suppose the other even more radical option is to completely revamp the current plans that have these attributes and replace them with a complete set of plans where there are no peak or off peak periods and down loads are charged on a per gb basis. We have considered that in the past and will undoubtedly do it again. The issue would remain that it is highly desirable to use the 'dead time' of bandwidth usage which, irrespective of any tinkering with time zones across Australia, the low usage of band width between 2 am and 8 am 'wastes' a lot of money and adds an unnecessary cost to the business. It remains very sensible to attempt to recover this lost money as a serious cost saving for current and future customers. I am really looking forward to taking a break but it still looks so far away. Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry
No Trackbacks
Comments
Display comments as
(Linear | Threaded)
Or just pool the total bandwith of off peak/peak and let users use it whenever they like over a 24 hour period?
I'm sure alot will still download when they're not home or asleep, and then those that want things then and there will download immediately alleviating the constraints at night. I think these days the idea of peak/off peak is over rated and just reverses the problem of wasted bandwith. Comment (1)
Off peak options have always been used by ISPs to try and get some value out of poorly utilised bandwidth.
Download managers mean that being able to start a download automatically at any time solved the problem of "but I'm asleep at the time I want my down load to start" - at least it did for most people who have even a trivial technical knowledge and can follow simple instructions. But, base line, bandwidth costs money and an ISP has to provision for peak normal usage - that's the base point for provisioning and it will always be the highest usage point so by definition all other times use less to much less than the peak time. SO - the challenge is to find ways that are beneficial to the customer and cost the supplier nothing extra to use up 'unused' bandwidth. Comments (9)
What if the time based options were modified?
12am - 12pm - 48GB 1am - 1pm - 54GB 2am - 2pm - 60GB Or, even encourage giving up some of the period to get more data - opt for a 2am - 7am period for 84GB - which should help create the oblong MRTG graphs. Comment (1)
We are in the process of trying that scenario but I'm not confident it will be successful and it will become just be one more 'irritation'.
The 5 hours for 84 gb isn't possible mathematically for a 1500/256 ADSL1 service so it would be dishonest. Something along those lines could work and will be considered before any decision is made. Comments (9)
I calculate 1500 kbps for 5 hours per day for 30 days as:
(1.5 / 8000) 60 60 5 30 = 101 GB less overheads Or is my maths wrong? Comments (3)
In theory you are right - but it is not really sensible to assume that every second of time available is used for optimal downloading.
Hence take a 60% or lower figure as being what is sensibly possible. Comments (9)
i like the 12midnight starting time (because i'm usually still awake and can set my download queue off before going to bed). but, if you did move to something time based, say like JM suggests, then i'd move to the 2am start to get the extra downloads (and i assume that quite a few others would also).
Comment (1)
What about changing from a peak / off peak scenario to 3 tiers? Eg:
0700-1900 'T1' offer current 'peak' allowances 1900-0200 'T2" offer allowance where T1:T2 = 1:1 0200-1900 'T3' offer whatever you are comfortable with from T1+T2 up to unlimited. Adjust times and allowances to suit actual analysis of real usage (not my 'plucked' figures) But the above gives something for everyone. Schedulers can set it for the true offpeak (T3) when there is little interactive use. Business hours are protected (T1) and provide for good contention. And the 'new peak' (T2) has a 'fairer' user pays system. Ie want more quota in peak times, then pay more. Comments (3)
Spot the obvious error:
T3 should be 0200-0700 (not 1900) Comments (3)
I have changed over to the 2am to 2pm and found this a pretty good option. It means at the weekend I can still use up a fair bit of bandwidth in the day while i am awake and it counts to off peak.
I notice that around 11:30pm the speed of p2p slow considerably and doesn't pick up again until about 7am. I would have thought more people would go for the 2am to 2pm option as the performance gets better the later in the morning... then again, that takes someone to look at the speed graphs to make that decision. I think an incentive would help move people to different times. Giving any more download capacity to users doesn't sound like a good idea at this time in Exetel's life. If people want more bandwidth then there are other options. Most people signed up because they liked the plans on offer. Comment (1)
P2P is heavily restricted from 11pm to 2 am each day.
If you check any bandwidth chart (for any State/territory) there is absolutely no bandwidth congestion/limiting from 2 am to 7 am. Comment (1)
How about a soft start and finish?
example 12.00am - 12.15am - 25% free 12.15am - 12.30am - 50% free 12.30am - 12.45am - 75% free 12.45am onwards - 100% free Reverse at the finish time. Users would take up the free time at different times and spread the load. You'd have to tweak the percentages and times to get the desired effect. Comment (1)
I like the options of 12am - 12pm , 1am - 1pm, 2am - 2pm off-peak. The visibility of these options are very poor. I bet there is a proportion of users unaware of its existence.
How would you encourage an even distibution across the three off-peak options? Perhaps mirror a free download manager and link it into user facilities with step-by-step instructions on use? Comment (1)
Offer an extra few GB for the 2am start and I'm sure you'll see a change. Especially if it's offered to people on old "grandfathered" plans.
Comment (1)
I think Clear bandwidth is a must, especially if you wish to attract business customers. Exetel is not an ideal option for Businesses until the issue of flooded links is resolved.
Comments (2)
Apart from there being no residential "flooded links" business customers use a completely different network.
Exetel's business services have been used for over 5 years with no customer EVER getting less than their full rated speed at all times. As more than 50% of current customers have been out of contract for more than two years it would seem that network up time/speed/cost have never been an issue with Exetel's business services. But....thank you for your advice. Comments (9)
>
I totally didn't realise you guys offered business ADSL1 plans, I guess these plans have better contention ratios? Comment (1)
Awesome to know... maybe it should be stated more clearly on your website. Not sure how? But being a residential customer I have not used Exetel at my work because of this.
Comments (2)
I'm on one of the grandfathered plan. I am more than happy to move my downloads to a time when it bests suits Exetel in order to minimise their costs, as obviously that then benefits us.
I had received the emails about the new choices for off-peak times, but only the overall idea registered in my mind. I went to the website and looked for the off-peak option, and could not find it. I then assumed I couldn't choose my off-peak due to being on an older plan. It was only a few days ago that I looked again, and finally found that the option was hiding under the ADSL menu. So, may I suggest that the option be much more visible? I'd suggest that right there, on the first member's facilities overview page, in the label text for the usage bars, you have a button to change it, or at least make the text a link to the change page. Comment (1)
It seems that it is only the almighty $$ that can change people's attitudes towards things.
..and having something for nothing always attracts people. The problem is that if an item is "free".... it is not "valued".... and finally it's use is abused. "Grandfathered" plans are another complicating factor in all this. Maybe if you offered "less advantageous" plans to new customers (numbers are still increasing rapidly)... the matter could become more manageable overall. Comments (2)
Have you thought of "unilaterally" changing certain peoples plans - so that the "free" period starts when you say it will!
From what you are saying, the number of such heavy users is low........ and they may even appreciate it .... in the long term. H. Comments (2)
I see a potential problem with this comment
"We will try the technical solution towards the end of this month which involves splitting low volume users onto 'clear' bandwidth and therefore allow us to more tightly control P2P traffic during times of peak P2P usage and this, in theory, will eliminate the problem cased by the people who, for whatever reason(s) insist on starting P2P downloads at exactly 12 midnight." What makes you think "low volume users" are the not the ones starting ALL their downloads at exactly 12 midnight? They may only download 1GB in the "free" period but it may be all at exactly 12 midnight. While customers who download 50GB are more likely to use download managers and spread it out. Just guessing. Comment (1)
....because we examine usage patterns quite exhaustively.
Comments (9)
I'm a heavy downloader during the offpeak, but I work and sleep odd hours and am actually sitting at the computer for all of my usage.
I try to stay a few percent away from the usage, compared to how much of the month is left. I do wait until after midnight to download things, but I certainly don't set things on auto, or have a big GO button to press, the instant the clock ticks over. Perhaps reducing the offpeak period to 9 hours is a decent tradeoff? If these theoretical PAYG plans carry significantly lower value than what is currently on offer...I hardly think the response will be favorable. Although maybe that's part of the point. Comment (1)
RE>>John's blog>>the low usage of band width between 2 am and 8 am 'wastes' a lot of money
Comment (1)
is there any merit in Exetel promoting a download scheduling tool.
ie. have it on the facilities page, and provide some support for using it. like you are doing for the fring replacement software. My idea is that this may help encourage Exetel customers to make use of it..... Comment (1)
It seems like a good idea.
I'll see what can be done. Comments (9)
Hi John, just found your blog via a whirlpool thread about slow offpeak speeds. Nice to have a bit of access into the workings of your mind.
I'm a new customer of two months vintage and must say I find the midnight throttle abominable. I'm lucky enough to get 12Mbps often enough in peak but am literally down to dialup speeds of 100kbps and less when it hits midnight. As an avowed nightowl who tends to follow european sport online and browse the web after midnight it's infuriating to find pages often simply don't load at all. Heaven forbid I try to load a page like smh.com.au or even a low res videostream. It's made skypeing with a girlfriend in Germany an impossibility at our preferred times. I'm another who was unaware I could move my offpeak times; are you saying I can get guaranteed decent 12-2am speeds by moving my offpeak to 2am-2pm? If so, I'm there. I'll confess I'm one of the guilty parties who has had his download manager kicking off at 12am, although I'm only downloading 5-10Gb a month this way, but I shall now change it to a 2am start. Re your plans, I think the 12am-2am bottleneck is a serious issue for you in terms of customer dissatisfaction, which encourages reasonable numbers of people to churn away or not join up in the first place, so definitely worth addressing. I too like the concept of a tapered offpeak quota where maybe 2-8am is full offpeak and bracketed by 50/50% quota either side. Midnight -2am is obviously the worst period here, although the breakfast browsing I also find a little slow too at times. More customer awareness of the ability to tailor our offpeak 'throttling' (if indeed an individuals moving of the timing of it does guarantee their access to solid speeds between 12-2am?) would be worth trying to achieve. Apart from this gripe, I've been quite happy with my choice to switch to Exetel. So...thanks, Steve. Comments (2)
I can suggest three things:
1) If you've moved from ADLS1 to ADSL2 change your P2P settings to account for the much higher upload speeds. 2) Check the usage graphs for your Stat/Territory as there is no contention that I can see on any link except for a few minutes from midnight. 3) Don't P2P download while you are browsing. Comments (9)
Should have said I only p2p a few nights a month, but the midnight slowdowns occur every night.
Looks like you've addressed the problem already by going to 2-12 offpeak. Good call, particularly for people trying to communicate via the net with the northern hemisphere. Cheers Comments (2)
|
Calendar
QuicksearchArchivesCategoriesBlog AdministrationExternal PHP Application |