Thanks for the data there Cataclysm. I've pushed some changes this morning that should see performance increase for the few customers who had some issues.
We're also going to revisit a few things with regards to the way the traffic is handled for these accounts over the next few days. For the sake of transparency, which we have always provided: The primary issue we've identified is that there are a few customers who simply leave torrents and nntp (and other large downloads) running all day and night, each day. So every time we increase capacity and make config changes, these customers simply fill the pipes back up again and don't allow contentions to drop at all. (Average contention in Western Cape by the way is less than 10:1) Oddly enough, 85% of these customers are in the Western Cape which is where customers are being affected by slower download speeds. So ultimately it may be necessary for us to implement some measures to curb this sort of usage behaviour but how this is implemented we're still deciding on. We've never been a fan of punitive measures and star ratings, so we have a few ideas to consider to avoid implementing these. So far our method of encouraging customers to schedule these downloads has proved a little fruitless. If by and large everyone scheduled large downloads (with only the odd day-time download here and there) we could solve the problem today together with the help of customers (we have set a precedent for open communication in this respect to really encourage everyone to help us, help you, essentially).
To give you an example, some customers currently have 90% full line utilisation this month. A further example is that we increased CPT capacity by more than 25% recently - had zero impact at all. We did so again this morning. It's not really feasible to continue increasing capacity each time at the substantial cost of raw IPC and internet breakout. One has to balance the "wants" of customers with the sustainability of the network and business. We also don't consider customers with these requirements as abusers in any way - in our minds you're simply on the wrong account for your needs (those needs being day-time peak speeds on download protocols). The other thing to consider is that for many years peak was considered 8am to 5pm due to business hours - since the introduction of Netflix and similar services, this peak has been extended considerable and even increased until around 22:00 at night and occasionally longer. Business hours no longer define peak periods on a network.
One of the considerations here is we're contemplating an altogether new model of peak and off peak times. While others see midnight onwards as off-peak, we may redefine this on our network a little to extend this period out, to encourage more usage therein (to avoid being punitive at all). We may also rather than punitive throttling measures, introduce a download priority rating instead - if you're downloading the earth in peak periods, your downloads only may take lower priority than others to ensure that the capacity is shared properly, while avoiding shaping on all other protocols and the horrible throttling which we're not a fan of. The other introduction coming is the option to burst your speeds for a set time for important files that need to be downloaded in peak periods. And there are a few other cool options available to avoid being completely punitive here.
The website is also taking on a complete revamp with the introduction of all of our new products. Capped for example is available now if you talk to support, starting at 40 Gigs, and we're giving away free night-time data as well with these. We've also split this capacity separately, so uncapped and capped no longer "theoretically" share the same bandwidth. New uncapped products are also being released, with the introduction of an entry-level account to minimise the barriers to entry on the network (but will be subjected to a star rating type system) and a premium unshaped uncapped service as well. Ensuring that we have the right product range for all needs will also go a long way in ensuring that the capacity is utilised 100% without having to be too punitive as well.
It would be good to hear some constructive feedback on this from you guys as we've always encouraged this prior to making changes. And I should note that since the introduction of the new network, we've had a 78% reduction in support tickets and chats, so by and large everyone is very happy with the current setup and how the network is operating. We also find that most customers are more than happy that downloads in peak are shaped (we've allocated separate capacity for these downloads as well now, to give them better speeds in times of contention on the network) but we also need to ensure that in off peak these download 100%, which I know in the Cape isn't where it should be right now and our new changes will hopefully rectify this to a large degree.
Hope this helps somewhat to explain transparently from our side a little, and to assist in some informed debate on the topic if need be. If you look at where we were just a few weeks back, with streaming, downloading, VPN and gaming (and even browsing on the odd occasion) all having troubles to where we are now with the network performing optimally on gaming, streaming, downloads etc. (bar a few issues here and there on downloads), we're very chuffed - now it's simply a case of ensuring that expectations match reality and the network maintains performance, as well as increasing the value to you guys along the way with better performance overall as the network continues to grow.
