Eircom I-Stream download cap/limit issues

armitage_shanks

Hi,

[Apologies if this is in an FAQ somewhere, I've looked but can't find it]

What software do people generally use to keep an eye on their monthly download size?

I am on the new eircom i-stream package (4gB per month) and am currently just pasting download totals into a spreadsheet every day, there has got to be a better way to do this.

I've tried the http://broadbanddownload.eircom.net/ site, but the totals in there bear no relation to reality whatsoever, after 3 days it says I have apparently downloaded over 20gB!, anybody else have trouble using this resource?

Armitage.

cranoo

Hello.

DU_METER is the one I use go to www.download.com and search for it.

cranoo.

Just went to that Eircom download limit site, it said I have downloaded 8gb so far this month, this is not the case, and if im billed for this it's the end of adsl for me

Saruman

armitage_shanks lol

good name!

But why oh why did people go for a capped service especially Eircom... they count surfing as part of the cap... at least Esat have 5 gig and its only on downloads.. now surfing... and netsource has no cap/ sigh...

bk

Originally posted by Saruman
armitage_shanks lol

good name!

But why oh why did people go for a capped service especially Eircom... they count surfing as part of the cap... at least Esat have 5 gig and its only on downloads.. now surfing...

Huh, downloads and surfing are the same thing.

Surfing works by you uploading a small amount of info (HTTP Request) and then downloading the web page (html/images/sound/picture/flash, etc.). I'm sure Esat include the webpages you download in the cap. It would be quiet difficult for Esat to differentiate between normal surfing and downloading, after all you can download very large files using http (though not efficiently).

idnb

My download amount jumped from 3200MB yesterday to 14000MB today

there must be something going on in eircom

Korg

I've gone through the stats recorded by my smoothwall box, & the statistics on the eircom site are accurate for all previous months but not the current month, which is way off the mark. Hopefully things will sort next month, when it'll be next months stats that are wrong.

Tenshot

I'm seeing the same thing on our company account - 135 GB so far in May (up from about 9 gigs last week, not bad going). It looks like any time the line briefly trains up with no data passed (e.g. if the PPP link didn't come up first time), it gets logged as 4 GB instead of 0 GB.

I'm pretty sure that the raw data is fine, someone has just broken the script that presents it visually. Our account stats show 4 GB figures across the whole of this month, and they were definitely okay a week or two ago. So, I expect things will go back to normal as soon as someone in Eircom spots that it's broken and fixes it.

Mountjoy Mugger

Originally posted by Tenshot
. So, I expect things will go back to normal as soon as someone in Eircom spots that it's broken and fixes it.

Yeah - when they spot it, and decide to fix it...whenever that'll be. They better not try to stick me with 7GB over the odds, I tell ya. There'll be hell to pay.

Caffine

iv got the same thing, says iv used 5gb or so, and i know i havent

i keep a very close eye on my dl, i check every day and know theres no way i did 5gb that fast

-Wheeler-

Mine was at 1192MB yesterday, and it has now shot up to a massive and unbeliveable 38.2 GB, with a projected usage of 53.8 GB !

Whats going on eircom ???

Wheeler_1028

-Wheeler-

If this isn't corrected my bill next month (just due to overdownloading), will be over €1000. The gloves will be coming off if they don't get this fixed by my next bill date.

Wheeler_1028.

bricks

Here's a line from mine that I like.


28 Feb 12:26:06 28 Feb 12:26:49 159.134.96.22 00:44 4096 MB 4096 MB


Basically it says I've used up 4GB in the space of a few seconds.

Your download allowance of 6000MB has been exceeded.
Excess of 53011MB at 3 cents per MB is €1590.33
Thank you for using eircom.net

:ninja:

I'll have to get my smoothwall monitoring again:(

Tenshot

Oops... I just looked at the month's logs more carefully and the 4 GB stuff only started on Wednesday - there was just so much of it that it takes up almost all of the screen.

So maybe it won't be so straightforward to undo after all...

GUI

lads got off the fone with eircom there

they said eircom net are looking after the download monitoring and to get onto them

1800 203 204

she said the system hasnt been activated yet and reason for wayward results

webtest01

ok, I'm sure I'll regret this, but I'm the guy
who is working on the dsl stats website for eircom net.

I've been tied up in another project for the last little while and have just started trying to iron out the bugs in the dsl download stats.

Now, before eveyone panics, we are well aware that the stats are not even close to 100% accurate at present. These stats are used as a customer guide only and you will not be billed on them.

Particularly, I'm interested in 4GB problem, because I can't find an example of it in the few accounts that I generally test with.

Can anyone having this problem email me their dsl username to webtest01@eircom.net

Also, if you have any other examples of incorrect stats etc, they are all welcome.

Cheers

R

Saruman

Originally posted by bk
Huh, downloads and surfing are the same thing.

Surfing works by you uploading a small amount of info (HTTP Request) and then downloading the web page (html/images/sound/picture/flash, etc.). I'm sure Esat include the webpages you download in the cap. It would be quiet difficult for Esat to differentiate between normal surfing and downloading, after all you can download very large files using http (though not efficiently).

I know it sounds difficult if not impossible,.... but according to Esat themselves they dont count the downstream when surfing.. only a download... im sure there is a system where a download request can be monitored by the server.. maybe it uses a different thread than surfing or something, i dont know.. i only know what Esat said so maybe they are telling porkies to get sales!!

4gb is not enough... on average you might use 5mb a day just surfing without even downloading. a day just surfing without even downloading.

bk

Originally posted by webtest01
ok, I'm sure I'll regret this, but I'm the guy
who is working on the dsl stats website for eircom net.

Hello webtest01, I'd just like to say welcome to boards.

I'm sure you won't regret it, we aren't all monsters in here

I'll think you will find that if you interact with us here on boards in a honest and up front manner
and don't threat us like a "luser" (yes this is not spelt correctly, see the BOFH) you will find your time here on boards to be productive and helpful and allow you to build up understanding and satisfaction amongst your customers.

Note to everyone else, be nice, the more ISPs we can get to interact with us here on boards, the better for all. If we can prove that we won't bite off Eircom employees heads, then they might interact with us more.

Cheers,
Brian

bk

Originally posted by Saruman
I know it sounds difficult if not impossible,.... but according to Esat themselves they dont count the downstream when surfing.. only a download...

Well, from a technical point of view I can think of one or two ways that you might be able to do it.
For instance you could record the amount of data downloaded for a particular HTTP session, if the amount went over a certain limit they could then consider it to be a download and not surfing.

However this would be quiet difficult to do, it would be at a very fine grained level and would be quiet expensive to do and add lots of overhead to the system. I doubt they are doing this, more likely just sales porkies, or just a misunderstanding on the sales people part.

Brian

DeVore

Originally posted by webtest01
ok, I'm sure I'll regret this, but I'm the guy
who is working on the dsl stats website for eircom net.

I've been tied up in another project for the last little while and have just started trying to iron out the bugs in the dsl download stats.

jaysis.... /me needs to sit down!

Um, welcome to Boards. Thanks for identifying yourself. Any problems or anyone being uncivil to you, let me know.
Its good to have you here!


DeV.

webtest01

Right, I won't go into too much detail, but basically the problem was this.

Radius tickets are used to generate these stats. The supposedly unique "Session-ID" in the tickets was being reapeted throughout the month for some users. This was causing some problems with the calculations.

I've put in a quck fix for the moment. It does not cater properly for reapeting session-ids, but it should ensure that 0's don't turn into 4GBs

If anyone who noticed wildly inaccurate stats could check their stats again now and let me know if they are now a little more reasonable.

While I can look at all your stats, it's not all that easy for me to judge what is reasonable and what is not


Cheers

R
webtest01@eircom.net

GUI

webtest
i hope i wont get charged for overdownloading i didnt do..
that the site says i have!

fisty

Just thought of something.
Are these stat inaccuracies the reason people aren't being billed for going over the limit at the moment and when all the bugs are ironed out will the charging begin?

I'm happy I have uncapped adsl.

fozz

Hi there.
When I try to open http://broadbanddownload.eircom.net/ I just get a "Forbidden
You don't have permission to access / on this server."

What gives?

I am an I-Stream Starter user.

Cheers.

jd

your ip address is part of a range that hasnt been added to the web servers acl, i'd guess.
email your ip address to the icecream support

fozz

That doesn't make sense as every time I reconnect to I-Stream I get a diff IP address, albeit in the same range.
Surely they have the range added to the ACL?
Do they even use IP ranges in ACL's?!!

Fozz.

jd

Originally posted by fozz
That doesn't make sense as every time I reconnect to I-Stream I get a diff IP address, albeit in the same range.
Surely they have the range added to the ACL?
Do they even use IP ranges in ACL's?!!

Fozz.

If you give the ip address they will know the range that is missing

adjodlo

um...does this mean that we wont be charged for excessive downloading this month??

jd

Originally posted by adjodlo
um...does this mean that we wont be charged for excessive downloading this month??

as r said...

Now, before eveyone panics, we are well aware that the stats are not even close to 100% accurate at present. These stats are used as a customer guide only and you will not be billed on them.

ronan001

When does your counter start at Zero???

Is it every thirty days, or from the start to finish of each month?

cranoo

Just Checked my stats at eircom and all seems to be OK,

NOW if I could only get the Eircom official PPPOE software
I would be on the pigs back ww) .

ps. anychance one of you out there could find it in your hearts to send me a copy of it :rolleyes: please, I'll pay for it

cranoo

narnar2000

When I check my download stats it gives 'Total Downloads to date this month' and 'Estimated total Downloads this month'... anyone know which is the real one? The latter number is about 20% higher.

And if these stats are only a guideline for the user, does that mean that the true figures could be higher? I'd really like to know what my real figures are before Eircom tries to hit me with a hefty bill...

demanufactured

remember all the webpages that you "download" when u click on links im sure they count those too

jd

Originally posted by narnar2000
When I check my download stats it gives 'Total Downloads to date this month' and 'Estimated total Downloads this month'... anyone know which is the real one? The latter number is about 20% higher.

The first figure is how much you have downloaded for the month so far.
The second figure is an estimate of how much you will download for the whole month based on your current usage

webtest01

I've answered these questions with the information that I have. Some of the answers are based on "educated guesses" on my part.

> When I check my download stats it gives 'Total Downloads to
> date this month' and 'Estimated total Downloads this month'... > anyone know which is the real one? The latter number is about > 20% higher.

Total Downloads so far this month is the "real figure". The amount you have downloaded since the first of the month.

Estimated total Downloads is the projected amount you will have downloaded by the end of the month, if you continue with your current usage pattern.

example. if by Jan 10th you have downloaded 1 gig, your estimated downloads for the month of january would be about 3 gigs.

The actual calculation is quite simple

(total_downlaods_so_far_this_month / number_of_days_passed_ in_current_month) * total_number_of_days_in_current_month

> And if these stats are only a guideline for the user, does that
> mean that the true figures could be higher? I'd really like to
> know what my real figures are before Eircom tries to hit me
> with a hefty bill...

Ideally the stats will be fairly accurate (within a few megs anyway). I'd imagine that a margin of error will be used when billing also. Example, if your download limit is 4Gb the might actaully only start to bill after 4.2 Gigs to allow for a 5% error in the stats. These are all just guesses on my part. Billing people in eircom will decide these details.

> um...does this mean that we wont be charged for excessive downloading this month??

I'd imagine for the moment if you are reasonably close to your download limit, you will not be billed for this month. If you are clearly abusing the service and are way over, then you may very well be billed. Reports are generated on a daily basis highlighting those users who are way over their limit. As far as I know, bills will be sent to these customers at some stage. I don't have much contact with the billing people, so I really don't know for sure.

> When does your counter start at Zero???
> Is it every thirty days, or from the start to finish of each month?

Currently the stats are based on the calender month, starting on the first of every month. They may be brought inline with your phone bill dates in the future.

> remember all the webpages that you "download" when u click > on links im sure they count those too

The stats are based on any ip traffic that goes down your dsl line. This includes all http traffic (webpages), POP3 (checking email), kazaa, ftp, winmx and pretty much anything else you do on the internet.

> When I try to open http://broadbanddownload.eircom.net/ I
> just get a "Forbidden
> You don't have permission to access / on this server."

There is an access list on the website which allows only DSL IP addresses access to it. If you find you cannot access it, please email me your IP address to webtest01@eircom.net and I'll check it out. It is very possible that on or more of the IP pools have been left out of the access list.

Happy Surfing

R

spongebob

Originally posted by webtest01

> When does your counter start at Zero???
> Is it every thirty days, or from the start to finish of each month?

Currently the stats are based on the calender month, starting on the first of every month. They may be brought inline with your phone bill dates in the future.

That FAQ should be on the main site. Well done Webtest01, clarity is good.

The only shivery creepy bit was the bit above.......why would they be brought in line except to ..... emmm Bill?

M

De Rebel

Originally posted by Muck
That FAQ should be on the main site. Well done Webtest01, clarity is good.

Here here

I only found the site because the URL was posted here. In fact I was about to contact ComReg because "control over billing through availibility of real time usage information" has been a message which ComReg and the ODTR return to on a regular basis. The site looks good, and is reasonable designed.

Please bundle it up for a FAQ and link to it from the main site.

De Rebel

Originally posted by De Rebel
Here here

I only found the site because the URL was posted here. In fact I was about to contact ComReg because "control over billing through availibility of real time usage information" has been a message which ComReg and the ODTR return to on a regular basis. The site looks good, is reasonable designed and does the job.

Please bundle it up for a FAQ and link to it from the main site.

webtest01

Right, DSL Stats FAQ, it's now officially on my todo list.

Now's the best time to post questions if you want them answered on it.

Just remember, it's a big todo list

R

rez

lol @ Sauruman....

How do you think Esat keep track of whats a "download" and whats "surfing"

Would you not agree that surfing is just a load of little downloads?

Of course Esat and Eircom's caps apply to BITS TRANSFERED IN & OUT PER MONTH. Full stop....they don't discriminate.

=rez=

po0k

Originally posted by rez
Of course Esat and Eircom's caps apply to BITS TRANSFERED IN & OUT PER MONTH. Full stop....they don't discriminate.

=rez=

webtest01:
The stats are based on any ip traffic that goes down your dsl line. This includes all http traffic (webpages), POP3 (checking email), kazaa, ftp, winmx and pretty much anything else you do on the internet.

I assume this means that your stats only take into account traffic destined for the customer, not traffic sent from the customer?

I'm interested in this myself, though I am not an i-stream subscriber (nor will I ever be if the service remains as restricive as it is).

Frank Grimes

Originally posted by SyxPak
I assume this means that your stats only take into account traffic destined for the customer, not traffic sent from the customer?

You're only charged for downloaded traffic (if you go over the cap).

Washout

oops justr checked my stats for the month of may so far...ive had it for 4 months and after downloading nothing for the first three months i went waaaayyy overboard for this month.

Please forgive me Eircom....

po0k

Originally posted by Frank_Grimes
You're only charged for downloaded traffic (if you go over the cap).

well then why bother with a cap at all if they're not going to charge you for traffic you generate (which will still cost them money)???

Mutant_Fruit

This is just to show the futility of getting capped broadband if your a downloader. I'm on 56k, and as i'm with NTL i get completely free dialup at weekends only. Heres what i pull down every month:

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Mutant_Fruit

in my opinion capping is necessary, to stop the leechers. BUT, 3 gigs is a joke. People who get broadband get it to download files fast as well as browse faster. If it has to be capped maybe an 8 gig limit should be used. And as for chargin extra if you go over this limit, that should be stopped. Instead what should be done is limit that persons speed to 128k or even lower, depending on their record. (e.g. if they are consatant;y leeching 24/7 non-stop limit them to 56k speeds.)

thats my 2 cents

Sloth

I still think 20-30gigs is the perfect amount and if I wouldn't move to a capped service if it had any less.
It's an incredibly stupid cap though, Nildram give you more in one day (5gbs) than Eircom give you in a whole sodding month! (4gbs). Thank god I'm on Netsource too.