Speeds are absurdly slow

[saywat]

The speeds i've been getting, on everything from youtube videos to torrents have been horribly slow, THROUGH OUT the off peak period. Even at 3:37am (right now), i am still unable to load one youtube video. This has been the case for a while now, and I've let it slide thinking exetel is going through changes. I can understand these speeds on occasions when exetel is changing servers or going through something extra-ordinary, but on a normal day, every day??! I cannot even surf the web as per normal.

I am finding it hard to keep patient in regards to this issue, without any improvement in service (in fact its gone down hill). Please inform me on how this issue can be sorted. I'd like to point out that i'm spending hard earned money on this service, and at the least expect usability. Sure you have off peak leechers etc, but so does every other ISP, why have more customers than your network can support? etc.



Exetel:
Your current bandwidth reading is:
561.10kbps
which means you can download at 70.14 KB/sec. from our servers.

[gstark]

I'm actually seeing remarkably fast speeds this morning.

To a point where I cannot recall seeing performance as good as what I am currently seeing. Sites that are frequently a tad lethargic are jumping into my browser this morning.

[wolfhunter2]

Agreed, about the same rubbish speeds here:

[`[*Test Results from <a href="http://www.ozspeedtest.com">Oz Broadband Speed Test</a>*]`]
[(----------------------------------
Test run on [*10/10/2009*] @ [*11:57 AM*])]

[(Mirror: [*Exetel*]
Data: [*600 KB*]
Test Time: [*4.99 secs*])]

[(Your line speed is [*979 kbps*] (0.98 Mbps).
Your download speed is [*122 KB/s*] (0.12 MB/s). )]

And this is supposed to be in peak without all those p2p draining our bandwidth.

[James]

Works fine for me;

[gstark]

I'm actually seeing remarkably fast speeds this morning.

To a point where I cannot recall seeing performance as good as what I am currently seeing. Sites that are frequently a tad lethargic are jumping into my browser this morning.

So much for that.

At 1pm today, it all seems to have turned to crap.

Your current bandwidth reading is:

376.40kbps

which means you can download at 47.05 KB/sec. from our servers.

The jazz webstream I was listening to from California has stopped; it's now totally unlistenable, and the websites that were sparkling this morning have now turned lethargic into a new art form.

it was nice while it lasted.

[Dazzled]

1.17pm, Northern Sydney, ADSL2. Have just finished a usenet download from the US. My gateway reported an average speed for the total download of over 350 KB/s.

[bof]

2pm in the outer Eastern suburbs of Melbourne:



The speed is really woeful here in the evening after 5:00pm and weeks-ends, and very slow off peak.
It is nice and stable at between 9Mb/s and 11Mb/s at other times.
I am not sure, but this difference between times of day could indicate that the connection is great, but service is grossly under-supplied at both (real) peak times and (Exetel-defined) off-peak. I have no way to know if it is Exetel's fault or their supplier.

[CoreyPlover]

Works fine for me;

To be perfectly honest James, this post of yours is absolutely useless. It isn't even representative in the slightest of a residential ADSL2+ connection.

Some responses to the posters of this thread:

saywat, 3:37am is not a very representative time for youtube streaming, torrents, or download speeds. People queued up their downloads to commence at 2am (and there also seems to be a surge at around 8am) so it is to be expected that speeds around these times are slower than otherwise. There also seems to have been ongoing YouTube streaming issues that are intermittent and difficult to diagnose and if you wish to pursue these they should be thought of as being somewhat independent of any slow speeds. If you still experience slow speedtest.net speeds during peak time then you should log a fault via residentialsupport@exetel.com.au. Unfortunately no statements, let alone guarantees, exist for speeds on residential lines other than ">1.5Mbps" and especially not for off-peak times and the reasonable expectation is that off-peak speeds will be slower than peak

wolfhunter, I have always found ozspeedtest inadequate for speed testing and I suggest you try speedtest.net or even better a few simultaneous downloads from microsoft.com to confirm your slow speeds. Also 11:57am is not peak, it is still in off-peak and I suspect that if you re-run a speed test shortly after midday you will find a marked improvement

gstark, International speeds (like Californian webstreams) are also not a good indicator of speeds and you should too try some speedtest and microsoft downloads in peak times to confirm your speed issues then pursue with residentialsupport@exetel.com.au if you find they are low.

bof, If you would like to pursue your sub-1.5Mbps, peak, domestic speeds I suggest you email residentialsupport@exetel.com.au. 5pm should return quite usable speeds and I'm surprised to hear it is congested for you during these times

For all posters: ADSL2+ services fluctuate due to user demand. Not just aggregate Exetel-wide demand (like off-peak) but also exchange level demand can bottleneck speeds in individual suburbs. Tehcnically, only sub 1.5Mbps, peak time, domestic speeds can be escalated with the supplier, but near 1.5Mbps peak time, domestic speeds can also be logged as a slow speed fault via Exetel. Off peak, or international speed tests are not definitive enough for any logged fault and before you lodge a fault you should try the following:

• Check your modem sync stats to see if the downstream line rate is low (i.e. similar to your speed test results). If it is, there may be a line fault and these stats should be included in your lodged fault (but only after you've done the isolation test below)
• Isolate your modem by temporarily unplugging all other phones and filters from their wall points and rebooting your modem. If this increases either your speed test results or your line stats then the fault is due to inadequate filters on your line and you need to replace them
• Try a long power cycle by turning off your modem for 30 minutes and then turning back on. This has resolved several recent slow speed issues reported on these forums as it is said to reset your connection at the exchange level

[bof]

Thanks CoreyPlover for the careful analysis.
I'll check again the speed over a few week-day evenings after 5pm next week to verify the pattern.
I'll contact support as you suggest if a regular evening bottleneck is confirmed. As you say it could be congestion at my exchange.

Week end speed oscillates a lot. From the horrible speed at 2pm above it has now become very decent at 6:20pm:

[saywat]

saywat, 3:37am is not a very representative time for youtube streaming, torrents, or download speeds. People queued up their downloads to commence at 2am (and there also seems to be a surge at around 8am) so it is to be expected that speeds around these times are slower than otherwise. There also seems to have been ongoing YouTube streaming issues that are intermittent and difficult to diagnose and if you wish to pursue these they should be thought of as being somewhat independent of any slow speeds. If you still experience slow speedtest.net speeds during peak time then you should log a fault via residentialsupport@exetel.com.au. Unfortunately no statements, let alone guarantees, exist for speeds on residential lines other than ">1.5Mbps" and especially not for off-peak times and the reasonable expectation is that off-peak speeds will be slower than peak

I understand a dip in speed from 2AM to around 2:30, but for it to be fully unusable even two hours after the off peak introduction cannot be considered acceptable by any measure. Let's be honest, how are we supposed to use the internet like that, Corey?

I'd like to explain that this isn't only yesterday- but been the case for a fair while now (weeks). You tube was not the only thing, I was also trying to watch a flash video from a pretty fast downloading website which wouldn't load. At another stage, I was trying to download a file from megaupload (which usually gives me an easy 150+kbps), which was downloading at a measly 10-15kbps!!! Simple websites take 3x the time to load, and if they have any flash content, even longer. I tried talking to family on skype (a major reason for being up at these times) and even that was almost impossible if i wanted to see them on webcam! Audio only was adequate, but let me ask again, how are we supposed to use the internet like that, Corey?

Lastly, even when trying to download torrents through private trackers, the highest speed i got, even at 4-5am was 10kbps!! Aren't torrents only capped between 8-12?? That's NOT how the internet is supposed to be in 2009, regardless of the fact that you guys provide a budget service.


--edit: btw my dls sync speeds etc are perfectly fine.

[CoreyPlover]

I understand a dip in speed from 2AM to around 2:30, but for it to be fully unusable even two hours after the off peak introduction cannot be considered acceptable by any measure. Let's be honest, how are we supposed to use the internet like that, Corey?

You are talking about a period from 2am to 4am. Most people would accept that as such a time interval coincides with the commencement of off-peak, and because very few people are awake at that time, then it is the perfect time to schedule large volumes of downloads. This volume of downloads can take several hours to abate (see http://public.mrtg.exetel.com.au/bwsumm ... mmary.html for patterns of aggregate usage) and so streaming media and browsing will therefore be fighting against high volumes of download traffic. If you wish to pursue your inability to browse or Skype at these times, then contact residentialsupport@exetel.com.au because the idea is that even in time of congestion HTTP traffic (and arguably SKype traffic) should get priority. But "let's be honest": Megaupload is clearly not time critical so you have no grounds for expecting that sort of traffic to be high speed.

Lastly, even when trying to download torrents through private trackers, the highest speed i got, even at 4-5am was 10kbps!! Aren't torrents only capped between 8-12?? That's NOT how the internet is supposed to be in 2009, regardless of the fact that you guys provide a budget service.

Torrents are capped at any time when the network becomes saturated. No clause in your terms and conditions limits that to 8am-12am; that time interval is simply the highest usage time interval at the moment. But I think you will find that torrents can be de-prioritised at any time depending on supply/demand.

See http://forum.exetel.com.au/viewtopic.ph ... 93#p258393 for an indication that it *is* possible to get high torrent speeds. You should try these types of torrents to see whether you have systematically slow P2P speeds, or if it seems to be related to specific torrents / trackers. The other possibiilty that I have always considered is that there may be exchange level congestion that is affecting you. If this is the case, there is nothing that Exetel can do about that: again it is purely a supply / demand.

Finally, "the internet in 2009" has become one of prioritised and managed traffic especially with regard to P2P traffic. Almost all countries and all ISPs have been affected by this global surge in demand and have instigated shaping and QoS based on traffic type. Other related matters such as litigation against the ISP for copyright infringements have meant that the concept of net neutrality is a highly theoretical and idealised one and is not the norm but the exception.

[reefbreaker]

My speeds go from over 900kbps to 80kbps (yes 80) as soon as 2am hits.

Exetel is throttling, no doubt about it. My contract just expired so I'm thinking I've had enough of this crap and going to another ISP.

And not TPG, they own Exetel.

[JasonM]

Exetel is throttling, no doubt about it. My contract just expired so I'm thinking I've had enough of this crap and going to another ISP.

If you are referring to P2P, then Exetel have managed the P2P traffic on it's network during peak periods so it does not saturate the network.

And not TPG, they own Exetel.

This simply shows your lack of research. Exetel have no relationship with TPG (and so, TPG do not own Exetel).

[CoreyPlover]

I have deleted a number of posts that were off-topic. Please try to keep this thread on-topic, or start a new thread if you feel there is a need

[dlinker]

Exetel in my opinion seems to recently have started throttling P2P between 2am and 12noon.

I've been a happy Exetel customer for more than five and a half years and while I can live with this throttling - I would like an explanation of why it was introduced.

My P2P client in configured to only download between 3am and 8am. I used to start at 1am following the request to avoid the 12am stampede. When offpeak was moved to 2am, again I followed the request to start at 3am to again avoid the stampede at 2am. In the last few weeks I've noticed my downloads no longer complete in one night. However, if I download during "peak" time, using up some of my peak quota, I get a full 700kB/s. I haven't stayed awake at 3am to check, but at 7am I'm lucky to get 15kB/s.

If you want us to fill the "troughs" in the MRTG graph, then why throttle at what seems to be the time the least number of non-P2P users would be online.

A happy but curious customer who would like his fast P2P back at 3am but doesn't really care too much if a file takes an extra day to download.