Contention on fixed wireless

Scioch

Have fixed wireless and paying for the top package which currently is 20Mb. This has gone up from 18Mb a month ago and it was 8Mb a few months previous.

On the 8Mb connection I got speeds around 4-5.
When they upped it to 18Mb that went upto 10.
Then when it went to 20Mb that went up again to 12.

Last few days it has dropped to 5 and a very steady 5. After asking I have been told thats due to contention on the line as its summer. They say they are going to try and move me around a couple of masts to see if it makes any difference but 5 is good apparently for a 20Mb connection.

They are full of shít and have reduced my speeds right ?

daffy_duc

Nope, that's contention.

Here's a greatly simplified example.
Lets say the equipment they're using is only capable of 50mbit/s on a sector.
Lets assume they need to keep a contention ratio of 24:1.
Lets assume they only have 1 package they offer, a 20mbit/s package.
That means that can sell 24*50mbit/s worth of "bandwidth" on the sector.

So 1200mbit/s "sellable" bandwidth, for 20mbit/s customers, means they can put 60 people on the sector. That makes it 20mbit/s*60=1200mbit/s

If there was no contention, they'd be able to fix 2.5 customers on that sector. Not really a profitable proposition for them.

Assuming that these are residential customers, there's a good chance that none of them are home during the day. So you'll see good speeds during the day.
It's summer now, so every kid is at home streaming Youtube or Netflix, so depending on your contention ratio (as specified in your contract), you'll get no less than (your package/contention)mbit/s.

Seeing as I don't know what your contract says, but knowing that paying for a 4:1 (20/5=4) contention ratio is business-level broadband, it could safely be assumed that you're well within your minimum service level.

No-one get's 100% of their broadband capacity 100% of the time. Unless you go for completely uncontended connectivity, which is unheard of in a residential setting.

Scioch

I dont want 100% of the capacity 100% of the time but dropping from 12Mb to 5Mb in the space of a week because of "summer contention" doesnt seem right to me. The speeds dont fluctuate over that 5Mb either, its either 5 or below no matter what time of the day.

Given that in the last month they are advertising faster speeds I assume they have upgraded too which adds to my confusion.

PogMoThoin

If the service is usable then what does it matter?

Scioch

PogMoThoin wrote: »

If the service is usable then what does it matter?

Because several people use this connection and it slows of its own accord too from time to time which means there will be times when three of us will be trying to use a 2-3Mb connection.

I'm not paying 35 euro a month for what I was getting 4 years ago from a 3 dongle for 20 quid. I'll go insane !!

daffy_duc

LordSmeg wrote: »

Because several people use this connection and it slows of its own accord too from time to time which means there will be times when three of us will be trying to use a 2-3Mb connection.

Wait, so now there are other people using the line too?

Your argument makes no sense.
If I could get a 20mbit/s line that only performs at 12mbit/s for €35 a month, I'd go for it.

Note to self: Next time you move house, check broadband options

Scioch

daffy_duc wrote: »

Wait, so now there are other people using the line too?

Your argument makes no sense.
If I could get a 20mbit/s line that only performs at 12mbit/s for €35 a month, I'd go for it.

Note to self: Next time you move house, check broadband options

Yeah other people use it, how does that not make sense ? lol You know all about contention ratios but never heard of a wireless router ? Who mentioned a line that only performs at 12Mb ? I certainly didnt.

daffy_duc

LordSmeg wrote: »

Yeah other people use it, how does that not make sense ? lol You know all about contention ratios but never heard of a wireless router ? Who mentioned a line that only performs at 12Mb ? I certainly didnt.

Sorry, you mentioned 12 in your first post, but you were complaining about getting a consistent 5. My bad.
Even that, at the end of the eircom line here, I'd only get 3. I'd still pay €35 a month for a constant 5.

So if you're getting a constant 5, are you sure you haven't reached some sort of fairusage limit?
I know many ISPs say "unlimited", but what they really mean is "full speed until you reach your fair usage limit, then we make sure other people get some time to use the bandwidth, and we slow you down for the rest of the month"
Check the small print, see if they mention it anywhere.

Scioch

daffy_duc wrote: »

Sorry, you mentioned 12 in your first post, but you were complaining about getting a consistent 5. My bad.
Even that, at the end of the eircom line here, I'd only get 3. I'd still pay €35 a month for a constant 5.

So if you're getting a constant 5, are you sure you haven't reached some sort of fairusage limit?
I know many ISPs say "unlimited", but what they really mean is "full speed until you reach your fair usage limit, then we make sure other people get some time to use the bandwidth, and we slow you down for the rest of the month"
Check the small print, see if they mention it anywhere.

Its not even a constant 5, currently its around 3 so its up and down but never more than 5ish.

There is mention of either slowing down or extra cost after the fair usage. I'm pretty sure I dont go over the fair usage, I monitor my usage. But I spoke to them today and they told me it was contention.

I spoke to another provider today and they are confident they will be able to give me a consistent 10-15Mb connection.