We’d prefer it if the restricted network wasn’t quite so restricted (eg you could still do Skype and everything else, only much slower). It is on the wishlist but very tricky to implement.

Why are we not more precise about what time on Monday morning people are switched? Yes, it is on a timer, but running the process to check 4500 people on ResNet and switch them to where they need to be takes ages. We could say when the process starts, but not when it will happen for any one person (so that doesn’t really help).

just another quick eustion. is the usage of the resnet tv included in the 4GB(2.5GB for now) limit?

The problem that ResNet have is that people have different requirements of the ResNet service, and hence use it in different ways. ResNet need to cater for all types of users, and that means that they have to make trade-offs.

If you want to download large files quickly, it increases network congestion and the risk of lost data packets. The protocols that handle this type of data can cope with lost packets, and resend them. This slows down data transfer slightly but isn’t noticed.

Many applications that handle streaming media will buffer 10 seconds or so of data, and can cope with lost-and-retransmitted data if it arrives during the buffering period. So you don’t notice that either.

But things are different for people who use ResNet for real-time activities — things like gaming and internet telephony. With these applications that rely on packets arriving in order and on time, network congestion causes lots of problems. With internet telephony, dropped and lost packets cause break-up in sound and difficulty in communications. With games you get laggy performance. If packet loss gets too high, telephony stops working and games are unplayable.

The trade-off that ResNet are making is to provide a means for network performance to improve by reducing demand for bandwidth at peak times. Those people who are affected by the policy are clearly not going to be happy. But the fact is that ResNet is a shared service, and has to take into account the requirement of all its users; both those who want lots of bandwith, and those who need low latency.

You personally are not penalised for a whole week it’s 4 days, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. As you have exceeded your allowance so quickly you are obviously a heavy user – what app do you use to watch TV? Can you download during the 18 hours of off-peak and watch later or is it streamed?

Put simply the ResNet network is not capable, at peak-times, of sustaining TV streams, this is why we have provided free ResNet TV (which is now available to all ResNet users – we just haven’t announced it officially yet).

You suggest we’ve got the peak times wrong and that 6pm to 10pm is more suitable. We based the times on Months of actual usage and we are happy that 6pm to 12 midnight is ResNet’s busiest time so we are unlikely to change this.

Your point about needing a warning system, as you know, has already been tried, and was found to be unsuccessful. The 500GB in one week is a theoretical possibility and is merely used to highlight what could be done. A pattern emerged that some users would do many 10′s if not 100′s of GB in week1 and get warned, then do 9GB in week2, under the old radar, then doing vast quantities in week 3. Is this fair to users that simply want to phone home?

We are not asking users to unplug their machines during peak times. We are trying to point out that high usage at peak times is unsustainable.

It was actually me that has a 2GB per month (8am to midnight – 18 hour peak time). The only things I can’t do is hours and hours of streaming radio and video during peak times. For me this is not a problem as I have a radio and TV but for ResNet users I can see your point. I also have the ability to schedule huge downloads during the 8 hours of off-peak times.

Talking of ISPs – are you in halls next year or getting private accommodation with some friends? One of our casual ResNet staff was commenting on how difficult it was to manage his small house to stop one or two very heavy users screwing up the connection for the others. I’m not sure what ISP he’s with most have fair usage policies unless you pay through the nose for a business connection.

Another exclusive announcement to anyone reading this blog is that we are about to up the limit to 4GB peak-time as of Monday 14th May. I know this is not the 5 or 7.5 you would like but if we increase it too far we may have to reduce it again and that would not be good. We are aiming to get to at least 5GB but will go as high as we can whilst still maintaining network quality.

There is a problem with having an app that gives live usage data because we only update our database every hour. This is so that the servers and database don’t go into meltdown whilst processing the huge amount of data that ResNet produces

We are looking at a way of throttling users that go over quota but this is not as easy as it sounds. Processing packets at 400Mbps (the speed of our pipe) requires expensive dedicated hardware – we could probably spend 10′s of thousands on one but is that good use of your subscription money and would you be happy with the increase in sub?

I’m sorry that you feel ResNet is slow – we do give you 18 hours a day of unrestricted full-speed access.

A warning system must be put back in place, you were saying something about someone being able to avg 500GB per week. This is not true as if you warned someone because they exceeded the limit, then the next week if they exceeded got put straight into a lower bandwidth network.

For my computer not to exceed the current limit I would need to unplug it during the 6pm to midnight “curfew”. Nick did you say that you have 2GB per month peak time and you dont exceed it, and you say you are a heavy internet user? I would switch ISP if i were you.

A peak limit of 7.5GB would be good or 5GB.

A suggestion would be if you could write a program that Resnet users could download that could give minute by minute usage report rather than every hour and also a capability of reducing your own personal bandwidth on everything during the peak times so that you do not exceed it by mistake and have to pay the unjust punishment. Maybe also if you did get to 2.5GB just greatly reduce the bandwidth for peak times only.

Its 2007 and you give people the speed of the internet seen by the first dial-ups if they actually use the internet to its fullest. Isnt that just illogical.