Quick question on contention

hjr

sorry to sound stupid but just a quick question on contention ratio. If my contention ratio is 48:1 then i'm sharing speed,etc with 48 other people. My question is this? if for example i choose the UTV package and i'm the only person in my area using the utv package, does that mean i'll have access to the full speed al the time? or would my contention ratio be shared at the local exchange with other package users?

hope i havent confused people, its just im thinking of getting b/band installed and am wondering which package may suit best. If i go for a package which is mot as popular as other packages might i get better donwload speeds than a package which is very popular and thus have a higher number of people per contention ratio??



(If this is in the wrong forum mod please move it to the correct one, i'm new to this!)

sprogman

If the 48 people are online with you at the same time then the bandwidth will be shared
If you are the only person online (ie none of the other 47 people are online) then you will only get the max speed for your package - usually 512k/128k

hjr

thanks sprogman, but what I meant was if for example I was the only person in sligo who subscribed to the UTV service then would that mean that i would have the full contention all the time or is it set up in such a way that the contention ratio at the local exchanges are shared by all providers?? i.e. that in my contention ratio of 48:1 they may be UTV subscribers as well as eircom and ESAT or do each provider actually buy slots of 48:1 contention for exclusive use for them only or do they simply provide a space in a contention ratio at the local exchange. As far as i know the only Local exchane in sligo where i am is Eircom and the other providers simply lease off them. so do they lease complete lines whereby they have complete control over the users in each contention ratio or do they simply slot users into existing contention slots as provided by eircom, which may contain eircom users.

Nearly confused myself there for a minute!! hope you know what i mean

iano

The 24:1 and 48:1 relate to users regardless of their ISP.
There is no segregation or distinction at the local exchange.

hjr

thats what i thought. so really it terms of my local exchange it doesnt matter which provider i use it just depends on the amount of users of broadband through my area.

Seems a strange way of doing it, but can't be helped I suppose. Of course the problem here is, with the increased interest in broadband and new users there's more chance that the 48:1 ratio will always be shared with a certain number of people.

Out of curiosity is anybody in sligo using UTV, cos i wanted to go with there package but some of the problems ive been reading has been putting me off slightly.

sprogman

The 24:1 and 48:1 relate to users regardless of their ISP.

Is this really the case ? I would have thought (hoped) that each company would have there own equipment in the exchanges etc.... can't be good news.... Glad I am on Cable.... :eek:

talla

Originally posted by iano
The 24:1 and 48:1 relate to users regardless of their ISP.
There is no segregation or distinction at the local exchange.

I dont think this is true. Each ISP would have their own pipe out of the exchange, i.e. IOL would be on one 512k pipe(Think they are actually 2meg pipes IIRC), UTV another pipe, eircom another pipe and netsource another pipe.

Iago

Everybody is contending with each other at a local exchange level, regardless of who your provider is. This is because eircom own the last mile of copper between the local exchange and the customers premises and eircom are providing the backhaul for this service.

This negates the need for operators to invest in equipment for every enabled exchange and is one of the main reasons why the service is available from so many exchanges and at a resonable (all things considered!) price..

talla

Originally posted by Iago
Everybody is contending with each other at a local exchange level, regardless of who your provider is. This is because eircom own the last mile of copper between the local exchange and the customers premises and eircom are providing the backhaul for this service.

This negates the need for operators to invest in equipment for every enabled exchange and is one of the main reasons why the service is available from so many exchanges and at a resonable (all things considered!) price..

My mistake, just read through a few of the old contention threads on this forum and what is said above is in fact correct.