Off Peak Periods

[Seraph]

I like the idea of splitting the off peak times up. The first one could be changed to be 3 AM to 8 or 9, then a second one from 2 PM to 6 PM which seems to be a lower use time judging by that graph.

[mcgel]

I'd prefer longer offpeak times with 12am to 12 noon being first preference, 2am to 12 noon a close second and lastly perhaps 2am to 10am.

No matter what, just make it longer because 6 hours is not enough although speading the off peak times around for different users might make it better.

[northernangler]

I would just like to see ADSL2 come to North Queensland. Off peak starting a bit earlier would suit me however I am a light user so it make little difference to me.
I am on 1500 ADSL1 and a new user (but not new enough to get the extra download).

[PBH888]

John,

From your graph I can see you have spare capacity in the 12pm to 4pm period. Also I can see 3 mini-peaks at 12am, 2am and 4am. I assume this is from plans with the following 3 off-peak periods:
1) 12am - 12pm
2) 2am - 12pm
3) 4am - 10am

Extending the last two off-peak periods to 12 hours, ie 2am - 2pm and 4am - 4pm you could fill in that little trough around 12pm to 4pm. Let your customers choose which off-peak period they would like but have a quota for each period. Say you have 100 customers then have 40 per off-peak period. That way people can chose which period suits them and not overload any particular time. Also you get your 12 hours off-peak marketing advantage back.

Secondly you need to host more web servers to take advantage of the spare upload bandwidth.

Philip

[edgos]

Peak 2pm - 2am (or whenever peak period really is) data allowed = amount paid for on plan ie.15gb/$35.00

Off-Peak 2am - 8am (or whenever off-peak period really is) data allowed = Unlimited (free)

Intermediate period = Time that is not peak or off-peak data allowed = an additional amount equivalent to the plan amount. (free)

eg. Plan1500x = Peak 15Gb + Intermediate 15Gb (free) Off-peak Unlimited (free)

Note there is nothing worse than having a hopelessly slow internet at any time of the day, so exetel needs to encourage heavy and intermediate usage at the correct and necessary times of the day.

[Psyfy]

When I was an Exetel user some years ago (I have returned to Exetel BTW) I thought that the 12hour Peak/Offpeak split was ideal. I used it but didn´t abuse it.

So my recommendation is... Provide a 12hour Peak/Offpeak ratio and drop the offpeak data allowance. (ISP´s pay bulk for time and not data anyway).

But hangon.... this may not suit .torrent freaks but is more suited to users who download software during the day such as service packs, ISO´s, OS´s, patches, firmware etc.

Solution? Offer an opt in for 12-12 offpeak at a lower quota and another to stay with the existing structure. Of course, this would be changeable on the 1st of each month just as it is with the shaping/excess Gb option presently offered by Extel.



My 2cents.

[Shrude]

such as service packs, ISO´s, OS´s, patches, firmware etc.
.

Really? You need a specific provision to download this stuff? Is there THAT much of updates and patches and firmware that you need that requires you to monitor the allowance for it??
Last i saw firmware was like less than a MB for example and might need it , what? once every 2 years?

Sounds like BS! Who you trying to kid?

4am to 10am is pretty lame really..

How about like most ISPs and make off peak , 12am to 12pm?

[woodwa]

Hows about "roll over peak quota"..

Froma marketing perspective no other carrier offers this feature..

[Ravenous]

I would definitely consider 'drip-feeding' the possible off-peak increases.

First step consider extending existing off-peak periods from 6 hours to 8 hours:
- 2 am to 10 am
- 4 am to 12 pm
Let settle for a month or two. Re-assess.

Second step consider a third off-peak slot for selected plans
- 6 am to 2 pm (could be a good 'carrot' for a new plan)
Let settle for another month or two. Re-assess.

Third step consider extending the off-peak from 8 to 10 hours:
- 2 am to 12 pm
- 4 am to 2 pm
- 6 am to 4 pm
Let settle for another month or two. Re-assess.

Leave options open to cease at any of the above steps or revert backwards if required.

Edit: Slept on it, now think that 12 hours off-peak is overrated

[kenobiajay]

12-12, but somehow deter people from downloading excessively 12am-2am and 10am-12pm.

Maybe split the offpeak, so 5gb for 12am-2am and 10am-12pm, and say 100gb for the rest of offpeak.

Of course, this does break the perfect symmetry of 12-12.

[DStirrup]

It is quite obvious from the graph that there are a bunch of download managers scheduled for midnight, 2am & 4am.
Then there is the definite school kids arrive home jump at 3:30 - 4pm and then it becomes worse.

As everyone can see the only slow down is the Midday to 4pm bracket. So just add that slot to the off-peak profile and you will have some happier clients.

Forget all those complicated suggestions about varying data allocations. Just have one allowance for on and off peak times as per current policy.

And the cost of $1 per GB is just fine. The leeches will just have to cough up or move out. I think the 120GB allowance just promotes torrent leeches anyway.

Why not have a very extended off peak option for customers who opt for a torrent blocked service?
It's the torrents that suck and create most of the political troubles IMO.

[tc4101]

this thing about allocating slots on a first come first serve basis is stupid. really everyone will want the 12am starting slot.... then the 1 am then the 2 am.... then once all those are filled who will want to take up the 3am and 4 am slots? pretty much no one and no one will sign up and exetel will lose customers.

quite honestly other than for the gamers, a bit more extra traffic at 12am i have never ever noticed any lag in normal browsing speeds whatsoever, even downloading i havent noticed any slowness. so really all this re-allocation of off peak time is to benifit gamers??? really???

if the issue is with leechers, then quite simply its to only offer a capped off peak download.

though i would like to see a peak download excess rate (say $1/gb) and off peak excess rate (say 50c/gb)

why change something thats not broke? KISS....

[frotac1]

I dont know what the big fuss is, the peak and off peak times are fine! 4am is perfect if i want to download something my computer is setup to automatically turn on and download what is qued!
For those who obviously dont know how to use a download manager, maybe you may need to invest in one and learn to use it!
Exetel has also expanded its peak quota per month that is perfect for anyone who even wants to download even in peak times!
So for my input, leave the current setup because it works for me and im sure it should work for alot of other people!
Gamers are correct there is alot of gamers who do play till 4am myself included, and nothing worse then high pings! By 4am i am sure most gamers are in bed so once the early morning downloads start from where ever it is it dont affect no one!

Exetel thank you for your service for all these years, and i also thank you for the changes that have made this ISP one of the best in Australia!
Keep up the good work!

[LaufromKB]

From the graph, it looks like Exetel is offerring off-peak start times at midnight, 1am, 2am and 4am. This is evidence in the graph at the corresponding times. The traffic seems to tail off around after 22.00 hour too. Why don't Exetel offers users the choice of having a twelve hours or ten hours off-peak period which they can choose the start time. For example. off peak periods of 23:00 to 11:00, 24:00 to 12:00, 01:00 to 13:00, 02:00 to 14:00, 04:00 to 15:00, 05:00 to 16:00 etc. That way users can have a choice and the traffic will not be as peaky as today.

[ericb]

Hows about "roll over peak quota"..

Froma marketing perspective no other carrier offers this feature..

I agree with woodwa, rolling over unused peak allowance to the next month's by being able to use it up in a defined currently low demand period (eg 12noon-2pm) would support lower usage customers and provide some flexibility as well giving Exetel a marketing difference. If you didn't use it up in the next month, it would be lost so people couldn't build up huge credits.