Is contention shared by all operators in a LLU exchange?

Hi, I've been with Plusnet for over 8 years. For the last year I've
been on the "Teleworker Premier up to 8Mb" service.
The last few days have been going downhill fast in terms of throughput
and today has been really bad. Downloads taking ages or dropping half
way through. I did a Plusnet recommended speed test and here are the
results:

"My Broadband Speed"

Results:

Speeds:
Download= 2155kbps or 269kBs
Upload = 185kbps or 23.1kBs
Exchange contention: RED

When I asked in the Plusnet forum how significant the RED contention
state is, I was told "very" and that I could only wait for an upgrade
to take place at the exchange.

I see that several ISPs have an LLU operator presence at my local
exchange. Will subscribers to these ISPs be sharing the same RED
contention issues, or will they be free of them?

--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

> When I asked in the Plusnet forum how significant the RED contention
> state is, I was told "very" and that I could only wait for an upgrade
> to take place at the exchange.

So what do Plusnet themselves say when you asked them
when the upgrade is scheduled for?
Say you work from home and a shiddy connection is no
good, so you will have to migrate if the upgrade is some
way off.

> Hi, I've been with Plusnet for over 8 years. For the last year I've
> been on the "Teleworker Premier up to 8Mb" service.
> The last few days have been going downhill fast in terms of throughput
> and today has been really bad. Downloads taking ages or dropping half
> way through. I did a Plusnet recommended speed test and here are the
> results:
>
> "My Broadband Speed"
>
> Results:
>
> Speeds:
> Download= 2155kbps or 269kBs
> Upload = 185kbps or 23.1kBs
> Exchange contention: RED
>
> When I asked in the Plusnet forum how significant the RED contention
> state is, I was told "very" and that I could only wait for an upgrade
> to take place at the exchange.
>
> I see that several ISPs have an LLU operator presence at my local
> exchange. Will subscribers to these ISPs be sharing the same RED
> contention issues, or will they be free of them?


The contention affects BT lines only. However, you don't know what
contention, or other service issues, any of the LLU operators may have on
their own equipment circuits.


Peter Crosland

On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:41:11 GMT, (E-Mail Removed) wrote:

>
>> When I asked in the Plusnet forum how significant the RED contention
>> state is, I was told "very" and that I could only wait for an upgrade
>> to take place at the exchange.
>
>So what do Plusnet themselves say when you asked them
>when the upgrade is scheduled for?

I must ask them in the morning.

>Say you work from home and a shiddy connection is no
>good, so you will have to migrate if the upgrade is some
>way off.

I don't usually mind paying Plusnet a premium price, compared to
TalkTalk, who have a LLU presence in my local exchange, because I
usually see Plusnet as a better quality service. I've even been
prepared to tolerate BT's new-ish twist, of my having to pay a fee to
pay my bill in the traditional manner. If I must have a poor service I
might as well pay TalkTalk considerably less for both it and the
added telephone benefits.
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:01:44 +0100, "Peter Crosland"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>
>> Hi, I've been with Plusnet for over 8 years. For the last year I've
>> been on the "Teleworker Premier up to 8Mb" service.
>> The last few days have been going downhill fast in terms of throughput
>> and today has been really bad. Downloads taking ages or dropping half
>> way through. I did a Plusnet recommended speed test and here are the
>> results:
>>
>> "My Broadband Speed"
>>
>> Results:
>>
>> Speeds:
>> Download= 2155kbps or 269kBs
>> Upload = 185kbps or 23.1kBs
>> Exchange contention: RED
>>
>> When I asked in the Plusnet forum how significant the RED contention
>> state is, I was told "very" and that I could only wait for an upgrade
>> to take place at the exchange.
>>
>> I see that several ISPs have an LLU operator presence at my local
>> exchange. Will subscribers to these ISPs be sharing the same RED
>> contention issues, or will they be free of them?
>
>
>The contention affects BT lines only. However, you don't know what
>contention, or other service issues, any of the LLU operators may have on
>their own equipment circuits.
>
>
>Peter Crosland
>

Very good point. I wonder if the LLU operators will have the
equivalent capacity to recover from their own contention and similar
issues as BT has?
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

>>> Hi, I've been with Plusnet for over 8 years. For the last year I've
>>> been on the "Teleworker Premier up to 8Mb" service.
>>> The last few days have been going downhill fast in terms of throughput
>>> and today has been really bad. Downloads taking ages or dropping half
>>> way through. I did a Plusnet recommended speed test and here are the
>>> results:
>>>
>>> "My Broadband Speed"
>>>
>>> Results:
>>>
>>> Speeds:
>>> Download= 2155kbps or 269kBs
>>> Upload = 185kbps or 23.1kBs
>>> Exchange contention: RED
>>>
>>> When I asked in the Plusnet forum how significant the RED contention
>>> state is, I was told "very" and that I could only wait for an upgrade
>>> to take place at the exchange.
>>>
>>> I see that several ISPs have an LLU operator presence at my local
>>> exchange. Will subscribers to these ISPs be sharing the same RED
>>> contention issues, or will they be free of them?
>>
>>
>>The contention affects BT lines only. However, you don't know what
>>contention, or other service issues, any of the LLU operators may have on
>>their own equipment circuits.
>>
>
> Very good point. I wonder if the LLU operators will have the
> equivalent capacity to recover from their own contention and similar
> issues as BT has?

The point many people forget is that regardless of which operator you choose
Openreach are still the ones who have to deal with any line faults between
you and the LLU equipment in the exchange. This can be a nightmare if there
is a fault because the LLU operator has to pay Openreach to find any fault
in the BT wiring and plant. It may be difficult to establish if the fault is
in BT or LLU operator kit. The saving for many people on going unbundled is
potentially false economy. Also note that AFAIK only BT offer a 24/7/365
fault reporting service. IMHO and IME the best choice is leave the line with
BT and use CPS for calls. This also leaves you free to switch ISP's. In
particular beware of LLU operator like TalkTalk that want an 18 month
contract. Also BT may charge a fat fee for going back from an unbundled
line.

Peter Crosland

> Also note that AFAIK only BT offer a 24/7/365
> fault reporting service.

And AFAIK Bt offer different levels of service to residential
subscribers.
If you are on call for a public service or utility BT will often
turn up to fix a fault that you haven't reported because
their automated test registers a fault.
Sombody said this also applies to bookmakers but
I think that may be an urban myth.
Of couse if it's true just say your phone line is
noisy in windy weather, and that you are a bookie
if you wan't your ADSL fixed.

On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:55:05 +0100, "Peter Crosland"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>>>> Hi, I've been with Plusnet for over 8 years. For the last year I've
>>>> been on the "Teleworker Premier up to 8Mb" service.
>>>> The last few days have been going downhill fast in terms of throughput
>>>> and today has been really bad. Downloads taking ages or dropping half
>>>> way through. I did a Plusnet recommended speed test and here are the
>>>> results:
>>>>
>>>> "My Broadband Speed"
>>>>
>>>> Results:
>>>>
>>>> Speeds:
>>>> Download= 2155kbps or 269kBs
>>>> Upload = 185kbps or 23.1kBs
>>>> Exchange contention: RED
>>>>
>>>> When I asked in the Plusnet forum how significant the RED contention
>>>> state is, I was told "very" and that I could only wait for an upgrade
>>>> to take place at the exchange.
>>>>
>>>> I see that several ISPs have an LLU operator presence at my local
>>>> exchange. Will subscribers to these ISPs be sharing the same RED
>>>> contention issues, or will they be free of them?
>>>
>>>
>>>The contention affects BT lines only. However, you don't know what
>>>contention, or other service issues, any of the LLU operators may have on
>>>their own equipment circuits.
>>>
>>
>> Very good point. I wonder if the LLU operators will have the
>> equivalent capacity to recover from their own contention and similar
>> issues as BT has?
>
>The point many people forget is that regardless of which operator you choose
>Openreach are still the ones who have to deal with any line faults between
>you and the LLU equipment in the exchange. This can be a nightmare if there
>is a fault because the LLU operator has to pay Openreach to find any fault
>in the BT wiring and plant. It may be difficult to establish if the fault is
>in BT or LLU operator kit. The saving for many people on going unbundled is
>potentially false economy. Also note that AFAIK only BT offer a 24/7/365
>fault reporting service. IMHO and IME the best choice is leave the line with
>BT and use CPS for calls. This also leaves you free to switch ISP's. In
>particular beware of LLU operator like TalkTalk that want an 18 month
>contract. Also BT may charge a fat fee for going back from an unbundled
>line.
>
>Peter Crosland

Thanks, you seem to have a sound knowledge of the situation. Due to
my lesser understanding, I have to see things in more simple terms.
That is, if I'm going to get a bad service, I might as well get a bad
service cheap.

A consistent result of the tests I've run over the last couple of days
is "Contention: RED", which I take to mean an under-capacity to
channel user's data. This is happening at 09:00, 15:00 and 00:15
some of which times I expected to be a little less busy than others.
So maybe contention doesn't relate directly to the number of users
accessing the service at any given time. I keep reading on the subject
but it hasn't come clear yet.

--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack