We read on the BBC that ISPs have agreed to make it much clearer just how much traffic management is going on, and why some services slow down at certain times of day.
This new approach means providers will have to be more up-front and consistent about their explanation of traffic management. It's the broadband equivalent of adding information about additives to food labels.
We’re glad that the traffic managers are finally going to put their policies up front - if anything, we can’t believe it’s taken this long to get around to it.
At BE we’ve always had a simple explanation of how we approach traffic management:
BE Broadband doesn’t use traffic management to slow down your connection. We don’t slow down specific services at certain times of day. Ever. Your BE Broadband is unlimited and unthrottled 24 hours a day.
In case that’s not clear enough, we've put together a short Q&A:
Q: Will you slow down YouTube in the evenings?
A: Nope.
Q: What about iPlayer?
A: No, it’s unlimited at any time of day.
Q: OK, how about FTP?
A: Not at all.
Q: What about P2P? Surely you must slow that down?
A: No. We don’t do traffic management on anything
Q: Oh come on - you must do something to VPN traffic?
A: Seriously, we don’t artificially slow down any traffic of any type. It's up to you what you want to use.
The reason we’re different from most others is that we run our own network (the first ADSL2+ network in the UK, if you’re asking) and we believe that you should make the decision about what you use your connection for and at what times.
We're looking forward to seeing the new explanations online. In the meantime, we’ll be hanging out in the supermarket checking which fizzy drinks have the most additives and colourings...
At BE we’ve always had a simple explanation of how we approach traffic management:
BE Broadband doesn’t use traffic management to slow down your connection. We don’t slow down specific services at certain times of day. Ever. Your BE Broadband is unlimited and unthrottled 24 hours a day.
In case that’s not clear enough, we've put together a short Q&A:
Q: Will you slow down YouTube in the evenings?
A: Nope.
Q: What about iPlayer?
A: No, it’s unlimited at any time of day.
Q: OK, how about FTP?
A: Not at all.
Q: What about P2P? Surely you must slow that down?
A: No. We don’t do traffic management on anything
Q: Oh come on - you must do something to VPN traffic?
A: Seriously, we don’t artificially slow down any traffic of any type. It's up to you what you want to use.
The reason we’re different from most others is that we run our own network (the first ADSL2+ network in the UK, if you’re asking) and we believe that you should make the decision about what you use your connection for and at what times.
We're looking forward to seeing the new explanations online. In the meantime, we’ll be hanging out in the supermarket checking which fizzy drinks have the most additives and colourings...
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25 comments:
I note you hint on not artificially limiting traffic, but surely knowningly underprovisioning external capacity and allowing it to continue is essentially the same thing? :)
Sadly the lack of FTTC from BE means that even /with/ traffic management, I'd get faster broadband speeds by switching to BT Infinity. I love BE, having been a customer for many years, but my ~2Mbit connection is making it hard not to jump ship :( Any word on FTTC trials?
I love the service that BE provides! Not planning to go anywhere else anytime soon (and certainly not BT!)
FTTC is a must for Be tbh, all I'm really interested in is this as my exchange gets upgraded this year.
@4:49pm - that's not something we do. Significant thing about traffic management is that it's making the decision on your behalf, and we wouldn't want to tell you what you should be using and when. It's your internet.
@5:26/5:37 thanks for the feedback, there's nothing to add right now but everyone @ BE reads the blog comments so it's good to know.
@5:37 thanks! [shameless plug] have you tried our Twitter game to spread the love? http://spreadthelove.bethere.co.uk/[/plug] :)
"that's not something we do. Significant thing about traffic management is that it's making the decision on your behalf, and we wouldn't want to tell you what you should be using and when. It's your internet." - Congratulations on completely avoiding the question, as always!
My exchange is already FTTC enabled. Yet even BT still don't provide any services for this, let alone Be! Frustrated!
That would be because FTTC isn't an exchange based service, *duh*
BE FTTC please !
You say that you use your own network?, not quite true really is it,? need i say LINX followed by serious congestion for which is seen in variable degree network wide this has been happening on and off for nearly 12mths
BE, FTTC really is becoming a must! And BE should be leading the way with this, like they once did with ADSL2+
Love BE but as with many others, can't wait for FTTC. Our area has FTTC installed in new cabinets and BT have been knocking (well phoning) about their Infinity product. But... we want BE.
(Sorry, I know this off topic and we should be talking about traffic shaping)
*gets coat*
I'm using the BE LLU network but buying it through O2. Do I get the same benefits as BE members or should I switch? Are there other reasons I should switch?
In my opinion, Be shouldn't be doing FTTC until FTTC LLU is available. As a non-BT FTTC customer, having a heavily congested cabinet or exchange backhaul means I'm getting nowhere near my sync speeds. In fact, at various times during the day, I'm getting 1.5mbit/sec on a 38mbit/sec connection.
BT are apparently resolving this at some point soon, but as it stands, why would *any* ISP want to be stuck with BT's crappy network and backhaul no matter how much they invest in their own?
Just a little typo chaps: "Your BE Broadband in unlimited and unthrottled 24 hours a day." should be "Your BE Broadband is unlimited and unthrottled 24 hours a day."
Some people might not believe this, and in all honesty I can't say whether it is or not. But I can say that BE have been honest and up front about everything they've done with respect to my account. More importantly; I can hardly believe I got (and still have) the speed improvement I have since switching to BE. All the cabling is the same as the previous ISP, just the speed is FAR faster. I'm seriously impressed.
Why does my BE unthrottled connection slow down every afternoon then?
Ann Other, post your line stats and speed test to the BE forum as it will be some sort of fault or possibly use within your network that needs fixing.
Re: March 16, 2011 10:11 PM
Anonymous said...
You say that you use your own network?, not quite true really is it,? need i say LINX followed by serious congestion for which is seen in variable degree network wide this has been happening on and off for nearly 12mths
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Maybe you could check what Linx is before you claim the BE don't own their own network.
Linx is peering exchange where members of the exchange can send traffic between other networks.
BE do own their own network and will use Linx as well as other peering exchanges and transit providers to get your traffic to where it needs to go
most other ADSL ISP's will use BT wholesale so the traffic from the exchange to the ISP will be over BT's network, where as with BE it's on their own network from your house to the exchange and then out to the rest of the internet
"we believe that you should make the decision about what you use your connection for and at what times." to an extent... if you take the stupid IWF filter into perspective, they are blocking access to websites due to one or two bits of bad content.
I've said this before and i'll say it again, no IWF filter is going to stop a pedophile carrying out his malicious acts. There always ways to bypass these things.
Andy
If unlike me you havent been banned from BEs forums for constantly complaining about their useless peering and routing, along with IWF issues, webpages timing out, no FTTC product, my connection and others randomly losing sync, issues in general which get reported but not acknowledged until we all complain in mass (id keep listing them but this is long already)........
Then i spose you could ask the new MD in the new section on the forum about something as minor as traffic management.
Personally though when peering and/or routing falls over its own two left feet every other night and people like Littlehampton have a congested exchange for months on end, then yeah i spose apart from that they dont "traffic manage"........ Cos frankly nothing is "managed" properly LOL, lets hope the new MD changes it and doesnt answer the soft questions, but instead acknowledges things unlike what we are used to ;)
I've been with Be for years and can't recommend them enough, totally unrestricted at all times, it's the internet how it should be.
But if they don't offer FTTC now it's enabled in my area I don't think I can stick around on <4 meg much longer. Please set it up Be, I don't want to go!
Same here.
I live 4 KM from the exchange, and I get 3.5 mbit.
I love BE and I would stay with them forever.
However, BT is rolling out FTTC in my area next September... BE has to do something.
I'm not a Be customer but will be when they offer FTTC on Downend exhcange that has been FTTC enabled for some time. Be said they would announce FTTC some time this year. It is now May and I'm still waiting....
It's strange but BE there offer me the fastest connection 10mb even though all the other isp use the same cabinet and offer me 8mb. I never worked out how that worked.
Anyway I will only be moving to another ISP (not BT) when FTTC is offered at a good price!
I hope Bethere do it as I would much prefer to stay with them then go anywhere else.
>I've been with Be for years and can't recommend >them enough, totally unrestricted at all times, >it's the internet how it should be.
>But if they don't offer FTTC now it's enabled >in my area I don't think I can stick around on ><4 meg much longer. Please set it up Be, I >don't want to go!
+1
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