Page 2 of 36 FirstFirst 123412 ... LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 353

Thread: FLOW is Bandwidth Throttling (slowing down) their heavy internet users.

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    9,074
    Rep Power
    27

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BNOVA View Post
    Well they are implementing a cap on who they deem heavy users and persons who affect network performance not really every one generally. So I think hardcore gamers should be ok. It is only torrenters and I guess persons who watch a whole lot of online TV in high def maybe should worry and persons who refuse to secure their Wifi.

    The question is what do they currently consider the average User usage?
    there should be no average usage business. Exactly what are people paying for when they go get a click plan? Unless a person has hacked the network to get more bandwidth than they pay for, there should be none of this without it being stipulated directly with the plan. How are they going to come tell people they are using their internet too much?

    Maybe the problem is flow telling people they offer things they can't offer. If you can't manage the bandwidth then don't sell people 100mbits or 50 mbits or 20 mbits. won't look as good on paper and in ads, but hey...
    Last edited by semitop; Jun 28, 2013 at 10:33 PM.
    This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
    You assume all risk for your use. © 2006 Azix Solutions.
    All rights reserved.

    Dropbox: http://db.tt/8qVS35lo

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    5,192
    Rep Power
    25

    Default

    From what I've heard from friends and acquaintances with issues - FLOW seems to have problems in heavily populated areas where the persons torrent a lot. Heavy traffic on a whole, but torrenting is most likely the main cause.

    FLOW - from my limited knowledge - uses a hybrid FTTN setup and traffic on the copper lines to the nodes is where the bottleneck is. As they've been getting lots of different complaints on slow speeds and such that may be the reasoning behind this move.

    Basically on the fiber side you have unlimited traffic but on the copper side you're limited to whatever their copper lines allow. I honestly don't know. What I do know is that with all of their setups thus far they've tried to stay way below the maximum payload so that they have a reasonable buffer in the event of overloads and such. Problem is with the "average Joe" who know about the different torrent sites and are leeches - don't seed back usually, but sometimes they just leave the machines on. I've come across persons in (small) business places with no managed network who have some workers leaving uTorrent running all the time. Larger places with a managed network may not have this issue, but when they get home..........

    So that's my take on the situation.

    I want to know what the "average usage" is as well. My usage this month so far is 215GB down and 16GB up - not my usual download/upload either as I've not been seeding from this PC where torrents are concerned.

    As long as I can still game with little interference then it's all good by me. Hopefully more information will be put out so we can know what exactly is going on.
    Knowing the solution doesn't mean knowing the method. Yet answering correctly and regurgitation are considered "learning" and "knowledge".

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    962
    Rep Power
    14

    Default

    @khat17 yuh si yuh and yuh 215GB down a month.
    What if you are one of the 1% and the 99% consist on people who only use their internet to Facebook and mind people business.

    That is my problem with a decision like this; i think a large majority of internet users on browse. They are comparing "tech savvy" users like yourself to someone who does not know how to "install a torrent file" or is only concerned with providing relationship advice on FB.
    1.8 Ghz Pentium 4 (OC'd.) / Intel P4 (478) Motherboard / 800MHz DDR / 256 Mb DDR RAM / 40GB Seagate / RIVA TNT2 Pro 32MB / 24X12X24 Sony CDRW+ / 18" View Sonic CRT / Windows ME Yes it will play Doom... i plan on trying Crysis 3 one of these days.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    317
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    FLOW never thought that people would actually use the bandwidth. Torrents, Games & HD videos on youtube is going to take it's toll. Similar to shared web hosting, they sell you "unlimited" everything, you buy into it then a few months later, they suspend your account claiming you used 1% of CPU power or some other excuse.They can cap me 'til God come, 25GB Blu Ray for me.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    1,319
    Rep Power
    19

    Default

    The most expensive way of solving the problem is to buy more equipment I guess but you have to consider the additional cost of having that equipment. Normally additional equipment usual comes about from an expected increase in subscription. The worst thing for an ISP is to have multi million dollar equipment twiddling it thumbs after peak hours, only JPS will benefit from that.

    I think they could have implemented a timed cap for these users as well if possible. Capping them during peak hours so that they do not affect the average user.
    Last edited by BNOVA; Jun 29, 2013 at 02:09 PM.
    AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma @ 4GHz | Thermalright Ultima 90 CPU cooler | GIGBABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P | Sapphire 6950 unlocked | 6Gb Gskill RAM | 1.5TB total HD | Dell U2412M IPS Monitor | Zalman 750W PSU | LENOVO SL500

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    157
    Rep Power
    18

    Default

    They need to come up with an acceptable service policy as well. The frustration with the random slow downs for long periods, the inability to come home and enjoy your internet, etc.....

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Posts
    1,319
    Rep Power
    19

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by WanabeR View Post
    They need to come up with an acceptable service policy as well. The frustration with the random slow downs for long periods, the inability to come home and enjoy your internet, etc.....
    Well these caps are what should address these issues to some degree.
    AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma @ 4GHz | Thermalright Ultima 90 CPU cooler | GIGBABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P | Sapphire 6950 unlocked | 6Gb Gskill RAM | 1.5TB total HD | Dell U2412M IPS Monitor | Zalman 750W PSU | LENOVO SL500

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    5,192
    Rep Power
    25

    Default

    Bear in mind that sometimes your net fluctuations may be caused by WiFi bottlenecks. I had some interesting results between doing tests wired and wireless. While 99.999% of my gaming and other activity is done using wireless the tests show vast improvements once I use wired tests. Some fluctuations exist with the wireless signal - it's convenient but not the best route to go. Unless you buy some really expensive equipment. Even with FLOW's router modems it's still better to go wired.

    @ gW33Zy - part of the reason for the high usage for me was re-downloading my games library which was about 700GB. Lost it all when a drive had crashed. Took some time as I left it during the days and when I got home to play STEAM would automatically pause all downloads to leave the bandwidth for the gaming. Now on the ISP side it's a known thing that the advertised speeds are "up to" the package you are on. With my 20Mbps I should be getting 2.5MBps down. I will admit that there are bursts at times, but my average is around 1.5MBps which is about 12Mbps. As put by my wife - you have to buy the higher package to get the advertised speeds of the lower package. So if I went on 50Mbps I'd see the speeds of the 20Mbps.

    I'm content with the speeds - not happy, but content. It's acceptable. It's better than what sLIME has to offer (at current till they roll out their FTTH). I expect that when they do it will force FLOW to up their package speeds maybe. I wait till then because the only reason I have a sLIME cell is purely business related - it's cheaper with them for cell calls vs Digicel. While I hate sLIME for the way they've been through the years (within which the name change did nothing) I dislike Digicel for coming and becoming just like CWJ was. Confident that they have the market and don't care about the customers. They still have better customer service than sLIME tho.

    Anyways. Back to the topic at hand.

    I have no issues with the current state of things. I doubt it will affect us here much. The persons it will affect are those guys you see on the road selling movies. While I'm sure I've posted about good torrent practices before let me just make two links here.

    http://wiki.vuze.com/w/Good_settings

    http://crystalattice.gidblog.com/200...est-practices/

    Those guys on the road most likely just install ABC, BitLord, uTorrent or whatever they hear their friends talking about (usually uTorrent) and just download things and leave them. Once they find their hard drive space is going they remove things, but aside from that they just leave them running. Fortunately people like those are usually kept out of private trackers as their practices are usually horrid and their ratios are usually low.

    When you take people like that into consideration, and then group them together on the same node within an area - imagine what things would be like for other regular guys? I've seen and heard of cases where it's painful to just browse on a 20Mb connection and speed tests (flash based which usually show "improved" results over sites like testmy.net) for the same connection are as low as under 1Mb. It happens.

    When I will have an issue is if they actually cap my connection. Then I'll have reasons to call and cuss. Aside from the usual issues documented in threads here such as -> http://www.techjamaica.com/forums/sh...h-FLOW-s-speed <- and others where your speeds are lower than they should be, it'd be nice to know if someone gets capped. It would also be nice to know if the people who were complaining before suddenly got a speed boost with the new policy as it should allow everyone to have fair access.
    Knowing the solution doesn't mean knowing the method. Yet answering correctly and regurgitation are considered "learning" and "knowledge".

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    703
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    It all comes down to they Flow is offering services they can't deliver. Now they are blaming us for using the service we are paying them for. I think they are in for a rude awakening.
    Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H .Crucial Ballistix Sports 8Gig ddr3. Llano A8 3870k Quad Core APU. 22" Acer 1680x1050 LCD monitor + 32'' 1080p LCD HDTV. Sapphire Radeon R9 270X Vapor X video card. Mobile: Galaxy Note 4.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    804
    Rep Power
    0

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by potoguise1 View Post
    It all comes down to they Flow is offering services they can't deliver. Now they are blaming us for using the service we are paying them for. I think they are in for a rude awakening.
    true they are getting lots of complaints regarding internet speed and flow can't deliver what they promise. Now they wanna cap doubt it will be better. What i see in this email is flow saying don't blame us,blame the customers who hog all the bandwidth . That's crap not taking the blame for a system that needs to be upgraded. The more persons flow signup the slower we get. SHAME on you FLOW for blaming the consumers
    IT'S YOUR GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO REMAIN STUPID
    You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth – nothing more.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •