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[talc]

For the past 24 hours ( and possibly longer, I don't use News every day) I've been unable to connect to an external News server. Connections on port 119 appear to be blocked. Connections on alternative port 80 manage to open at about 20 bytes/sec, but then get cut off or time out.

I know it's my PlusNet connection, 'cos I'm a new customer and I still have my old ISP connection - which has no problems connecting to this server.

Is this another 'Ellacoya' problem ? It worked a week or so ago.

[Tam]

For the past 24 hours ( and possibly longer, I don't use News every day) I've been unable to connect to an external News server. Connections on port 119 appear to be blocked. Connections on alternative port 80 manage to open at about 20 bytes/sec, but then get cut off or time out.

I know it's my PlusNet connection, 'cos I'm a new customer and I still have my old ISP connection - which has no problems connecting to this server.

Is this another 'Ellacoya' problem ? It worked a week or so ago.

Welcome to 21st century network management, remember PlusNet manages their broadband network better than any other UK ISP, the results you are seeing are by design, welcome to ellacoya hell.

Of course - its probably due to PlusNets pipes being out of balance (something it appears they don't care about any more as they just let the Ellacoyas deal with it) - keep disconnecting and re-connecting - you may find decent speeds at some point.

Of course, for a small bit of hassle you could change to another provider and download at full speed. 

[jelv1]

I've just tried downloading a load of MP3's from Astraweb (over 100MB) using Binary News Reaper with a total of 16 connections over my PN BB. It averaged over 360 kB/s. I can't see a lot wrong with that!

[talc]

Of course - its probably due to PlusNets pipes being out of balance (something it appears they don't care about any more as they just let the Ellacoyas deal with it) - keep disconnecting and re-connecting - you may find decent speeds at some point.

You're talking about low QoS; I'm seeing DoS ! There is a contractual difference, presumably.

As a seasoned PlusNet customer, can you tell me if their misconfiguration has often resulted in customers having QoS=0 ? i.e. 100% packet loss -  for a 24hr+ period for a given 'bronze' protocol and not another ?

I've tried disconnecting the PPP session, but I always seem to get lo0-plusnet.ptn-ag1.plus.net.

I have to say, I've only been with PlusNet a month and I've been saddened to see just how often there are serious disruptions to their core services. It seems that every day brings a new crisis.

I've had mail DoS ( server timeouts), web DoS (DNS problems), and now I've got external Usenet DoS. And all in the first month.

[talc]

I've just tried downloading a load of MP3's from Astraweb (over 100MB) using Binary News Reaper with a total of 16 connections over my PN BB. It averaged over 360 kB/s. I can't see a lot wrong with that!

what is PN BB ? Business Broadband ? Which package do you subscribe to ? I'm on the 14-99 pm

[Tam]

Of course - its probably due to PlusNets pipes being out of balance (something it appears they don't care about any more as they just let the Ellacoyas deal with it) - keep disconnecting and re-connecting - you may find decent speeds at some point.

You're talking about low QoS; I'm seeing DoS ! There is a contractual difference, presumably.

As a seasoned PlusNet customer, can you tell me if their misconfiguration has often resulted in customers having QoS=0 ? i.e. 100% packet loss -  for a 24hr+ period for a given 'bronze' protocol and not another ?

I've tried disconnecting the PPP session, but I always seem to get lo0-plusnet.ptn-ag1.plus.net.

I have to say, I've only been with PlusNet a month and I've been saddened to see just how often there are serious disruptions to their core services. It seems that every day brings a new crisis.

I've had mail DoS ( server timeouts), web DoS (DNS problems), and now I've got external Usenet DoS. And all in the first month.

What does your VMBU show for your usage?
http://www.plus.net/view_my_broadband_usage/index.php

[talc]

Just managed to connect to a different 'pipe' - this one is called lo0-plusnet.pte-ag2.plus.net

same problem - denial of service

[Colin]

What account type are you on?

[jelv1]

what is PN BB ? Business Broadband ? Which package do you subscribe to ?

I just meant Plusnet broadband to make it clear I was not talking about speeds over another provider. I'm actually on "PlusNet Broadband Pay as you Go with included 15GB bandwidth".

I'm on the 14-99 pm

Oh, the one where the Product Usage description says:

Broadband Plus is not suitable for data-intensive applications such as file-sharing and large downloads.

[talc]

What does your VMBU show for your usage?
http://www.plus.net/view_my_broadband_usage/index.php

for weeks it showed nothing - it said 'no data available'. From 27th Oct it now shows usage data...

After waiting about 15 seconds for the page to load, I see it's reporting a total usage of 78Mbyte

I'm not even remotely near the 4Gb peak or 50Gb off-peak limits.



talk about the 56k experience...

[jelv1]

Just managed to connect to a different 'pipe' - this one is called lo0-plusnet.pte-ag2.plus.net

same problem - denial of service

I'm currently on lo0-plusnet.pte-ag2.plus.net

[talc]

Oh, the one where the Product Usage description says:

Broadband Plus is not suitable for data-intensive applications such as file-sharing and large downloads.

yes - the one that includes a 50Gbyte per month off-peak download quota. What's that there for ? Big blogs ?


QoS=0 is denial of service, not 'quality' of service.

[talc]

What account type are you on?

Broadband Plus up to 8Mb. Well within quota.

[jelv1]

What times of the day have you tried Usenet?

[talc]

What times of the day have you tried Usenet?

3pm 8pm 1am 7am. I expect not to be able to use P2P and Usenet at broadband speeds from 4pm to midnight. That's what I thought I was signing up for. And, until today (ish), the BBPlus product seemed to meet my expectations.

Now it is behaving as if it was a Broadband Surf account and has been actively blocked. There is no provision in the Terms and Conditons I agreed to on sign-up for PlusNet to _block_ Usenet access for Broadband Plus while I am so obviously still within quota. I assume they also send an e-mail advising of the block - I have received none.

I note that the terms and conditions say

---
"Broadband Plus" Service Usage

[should]

 offer a general improvement over the technology available through standard dial-up Internet access.
---

That's a commitment to provide a service level equivalent to that of a 56k modem at all
times, other conditions notwithstanding, isn't it ?


ain't seeing that, sorry.