Data throughput
Having a high modem sync speed is one thing, but what of the data rate experienced by users ? This is a complex area, as the throughput can be limited by the ADSL line, the data rate profile setting, the connection from the exchange to the rest of the BT network, the ISP link to BT, the ISPs onward transit, the internet in general or the capacity of the target server.
The BT STIN defining the service in its trial phase set out the expectation that the throughput of MaxDSL would be no better than the equivalent fixed speed service when the network was congested, so a line sync over 2M may on that basis deliver the same throughput as a 2M fixed speed service at busy times.
The survey asked about data rates measured by speed test off-peak (06:00) and peak time (20:00).
The off-peak results were :-
<450 kbits/s 5%
>450k but <1Mbits/s 4%
1M or higher but <2M 15%
2M or higher but <4M 33%
4M or higher but <6M 26%
6M or higher 18%
so at the top end we only have 18% of users experiencing speeds over 6M despite 58% of users having a sync speed of 6M or higher. On the positive side there are 77% of users seeing an increase in off-peak data rate over the previous 2M service.
This is probably the root cause of most dissatisfaction with MaxDSL, the discrepancy between modem sync speed and actual throughput. The largest group of users is the 2M-4M download rate and in this group only 35% say they are pleased with the service. 82% of those getting >6M data rate say they are pleased, as do 63% of those getting 4M-6M.
Below 2M download rate the "disappointed" respondents are very much the majority.
So the user response to the service is based very much on download rate experienced and you have to look at 4M or higher to find the happy users. There is a bit of a clash between the product design (may be the same as 2M) and the user expectation. Neither BT nor ISPs have invested in a doubling or trebling of network capacity to match the increase in end user modem speeds, so this situation was inevitable.
Moving onto the peak time performance, 22% of respondents see a peak time download rate that is 25% or less than the off-peak rate. 82% of this group say that overall they are disappointed with MaxDSL which is perhaps understandable !
Nearly 30% see peak time rates similar to their off-peak rate, but only 55% of this group are pleased with MaxDSL overall. This could be because speeds are bad 24/7, or other factors not yet identified.
19% report peak rates at ~75% of off-peak and 29% see the rate slow to half at peak times. 2/3 of the 75% group are pleased overall, but 55% of the 50% group are disappointed overall.
The other question that addressed this topic was 7. Have you found your download rate to be well below the indicated modem speed ?
No, it seems pretty close 15%
Yes, 75-100% of modem speed 29%
50-74% of modem speed 31%
25-49% of modem speed 13%
Its worse than 25% 12%
In terms of overall satisfaction, the 50-74% of modem speed group has 36.5% pleased with the service, those getting lower rates are largely disappointed and of those getting 75-100% of modem speed more than 70% are pleased.
The BT STIN defining the service in its trial phase set out the expectation that the throughput of MaxDSL would be no better than the equivalent fixed speed service when the network was congested, so a line sync over 2M may on that basis deliver the same throughput as a 2M fixed speed service at busy times.
The survey asked about data rates measured by speed test off-peak (06:00) and peak time (20:00).
The off-peak results were :-
<450 kbits/s 5%
>450k but <1Mbits/s 4%
1M or higher but <2M 15%
2M or higher but <4M 33%
4M or higher but <6M 26%
6M or higher 18%
so at the top end we only have 18% of users experiencing speeds over 6M despite 58% of users having a sync speed of 6M or higher. On the positive side there are 77% of users seeing an increase in off-peak data rate over the previous 2M service.
This is probably the root cause of most dissatisfaction with MaxDSL, the discrepancy between modem sync speed and actual throughput. The largest group of users is the 2M-4M download rate and in this group only 35% say they are pleased with the service. 82% of those getting >6M data rate say they are pleased, as do 63% of those getting 4M-6M.
Below 2M download rate the "disappointed" respondents are very much the majority.
So the user response to the service is based very much on download rate experienced and you have to look at 4M or higher to find the happy users. There is a bit of a clash between the product design (may be the same as 2M) and the user expectation. Neither BT nor ISPs have invested in a doubling or trebling of network capacity to match the increase in end user modem speeds, so this situation was inevitable.
Moving onto the peak time performance, 22% of respondents see a peak time download rate that is 25% or less than the off-peak rate. 82% of this group say that overall they are disappointed with MaxDSL which is perhaps understandable !
Nearly 30% see peak time rates similar to their off-peak rate, but only 55% of this group are pleased with MaxDSL overall. This could be because speeds are bad 24/7, or other factors not yet identified.
19% report peak rates at ~75% of off-peak and 29% see the rate slow to half at peak times. 2/3 of the 75% group are pleased overall, but 55% of the 50% group are disappointed overall.
The other question that addressed this topic was 7. Have you found your download rate to be well below the indicated modem speed ?
No, it seems pretty close 15%
Yes, 75-100% of modem speed 29%
50-74% of modem speed 31%
25-49% of modem speed 13%
Its worse than 25% 12%
In terms of overall satisfaction, the 50-74% of modem speed group has 36.5% pleased with the service, those getting lower rates are largely disappointed and of those getting 75-100% of modem speed more than 70% are pleased.
posted by PhilT at 3:54 PM
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