| It
is our intention to provide
a fast, reliable service
for all
of our ADSL broadband Internet
users.
Unfortunately a small proportion
of users attempt to use
a disproportionate amount
of the available data traffic.
The result is that that
less than 10% of users consume
over 70% of the available
traffic. The typical problems
are caused when:
- users have the selected
the wrong account - for
instance using ADSL
500 Solo accounts
for heavy usage / network
use when an ADSL
Business service would
be more suitable.
- make excessive use
of P2P (peer-to-peer)
file sharing / swapping
networks.
ADSL broadband is a 'shared'
access service and operates
(both technically and commercially)
on a contention
ratio of either 50:1
or 20:1 (depending on the
broadband product
you have chosen). High levels
of usage by a small number
of users risks reduced performance
for all users.
To solve this - the options
we have are:
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Lower Contention Ratio |
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The
problem is that the
contention ratios
are enforced at two
points:
- within the BT
network - this is
completely out of
our control.
- within our network
- reducing the contention
ratio will mean
we would have to
charge more for
the service.
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Increase Prices |
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We could increase
the price to allow
us to allocate more
traffic to the broadband
service. However,
increasing the price
would not be a good
solution as it would
be:
- unfair to the
majority of the
users as this issue
is caused by a small
minority of users
making excessive
demands on the service.
- largely ineffective
as the contention
ratio (as imposed
by BT) cannot be
changed.
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Set Traffic Limits /
Quotas |
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Limits would be
set at a level that
would not
affect the vast majority
of users but would
also help ensure fair
access for all users.
Users making excessive
use of the network
would either have
to:
- upgrade their
account to one suitable
to cover their requirements.
- pay for the excess
traffic consumed.
- have their accounts
either restricted,
suspended or in
severe cases terminated.
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As such we concluded that
'overall' setting traffic
limits / quotas was the
best and fair solution.
This policy, while we accept
will not be popular with
the small minority of heavy
usage users, is designed
to protect the service and
performance for the majority
of normal business and home
users.
For more details of the
curent usage limits please
see our Acceptable
Usage Policy or see
How
much is a Gigabyte?
for more information.
If you have any other questions
please contact
us.
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