SSE speed test cheating

[deanos]

OK so have complained about my crap speeds at night , they tell me to run BT Wholesale speed tests and log them , trouble is they always come back at full speed no matter what time i run them so looks like Daisy are rigging that site so it lets traffic through and looks like i don't have a problem !

Other tests i try are all around 1-5mpbs in the evening and files are taking hours to download so this tally's with the low speed tests

Anyone else trying to leave these jokers ?

[potpie]

Yes. I have exactly the same issue.

[toulouse1712]

Hello all,

I'm on the SSE Superfast service (Up to 40Mbps), and I have found after reporting speed issues when using BBC iPlayer, and carrying out speed tests on that website show that my line has been seriously underperforming since at least March of this year. I spoke to Customer Services on Friday, who wanted me to jump through hoops, as usual with ISPs, but they did eventually accept that there was a fault on the line. I am expecting a visit from Openreach during next week - time will tell if this improves things for me.

As an aside, general internet performance appears to be quite reasonable, most of the time. Speed tests carried out on other sites, TBB, speedtest.net, and a few others appear to indicate that my line is working within OK.

And that's that

toulouse

[maui]

Yep - The SSE Manager I am dealing with is convinced that they don't throttle / perform traffic management but I have not got documented evidence which proves the contrary. All along they have said the only traffic they manage is P2P services.

On my last call, he said that Daisy requested that I do *not* use other speed test sites, as they could be considered P2P ?!? Ha - They wanted me to stick to using the BT Wholesale test - which like you say always gives a perfect connection (my line is capable of 100Mbps as I am close to the cab).

I've had to do the whole write down lights, confirm that I'm plugged into master socket etc. but that was all done by the BT engineer (and he was very impressed with the line quality) when they visited to put the filter faceplate on.

Take a look at my speed test results, as the graph that I have where I have a script pulling from multiple different websites clearly show traffic management as they have prioritised Thinkbroadband - and speedtest.net

The downside in gathering all this data is the sheer amount of data I am using... To get all this evidence I am downloading in the order of around 40GB per day (running tests every 10 minutes). But it's unlimited right

[maui]

So here is the response I had from SSE/Daisy:

I forwarded the previous email you sent so I could request a direct answer to your issue, please find below the response from the network team and supervisor from Daisy:

Good Morning,
I have reviewed the results and also checked with our network team.

So firstly, customer highlighting traffic priority based on results. This is related to how speed tests are actually performed in the background. Some perform this via P2P which is what Bit torrent uses hence the traffic is therefore managed as Bit Torrent.

In relation to speed issues during the evening network team have advised:

With the growth in FTTC subscribers and the ever increasing volumes of data used by all Broadband users we have to continually review the capacity available on our network and the network management to ensure that customers receive the best possible experience.

Our objective is to ensure that users of video streaming and browsing have a good online experience. In order to do this at peak times in the evening from 4pm to 12pm we place limitations on the bandwidth used by Peer to Peer traffic ( Bit torrent) and Operating System updates for Windows, Apple and other similar services. These are background tasks that do not have real time interaction with the user. Outside of these times the restrictions on these services are relaxed.

In periods of exceptional temporary demand driven by specific national or global events, in common with all Broadband services, users may experience some slowing of the overall service as the upper limits of Bandwidth are reached in our network or other carriers networks involved in the route used by the data.

Kind regards,

As previously advised, the external speed test sites can use peer to peer files that will be identified as torrents, this will result in your service being managed as such meaning you're not prioritised and your speed is affected.

I hope this helps explain the issue you're experiencing during peak times, if you can carry out some speed tests without the above mentioned services running in the background this should hopefully show an improvement.

This was my response:

Thanks for your response. So I do have a few comments based on Daisy's reply, of which I am not entirely happy with, and sure what they are actually trying to state. If they are so confident my results are based on P2P then they should be able provide evidence of what traffic is considered P2P on my connection.

Firstly, they keep stating that 'speed test' sites can use P2P like traffic patterns and are thus managed as P2P traffic, yet fail to mention what these sites are based on the evidence I have provided. I am also fully aware of how P2P traffic operates, and aside speedtest.net (which has only been run once in the recent tests) my testing has been based on html downloads from various websites - nothing related to P2P is running on my connection.

Daisy state that during peak times they place limitations on P2P and non-time sensitive traffic such as OS updates, yet despite providing evidence of poor video streaming (and I know of many other SSE subscribers which have similar complaints) Daisy have not provided any explanation as to why most data is throttled / congested at peak times.
I've provided another chart which is tests compiled since the 3rd August. Please note, these are HTML downloads of files to test the connection speed. Note how on the August 4th when you had responded that Daisy had 'changed something'; the file from Thinkbroadband.com (green line) suddenly increases in speed, and remains at full speed throughout the peak congestion times! This is proof that data is being prioritised in Daisy's network. These are not P2P - they are simple HTML file downloads on a self-written script, just like any web browsing would do.

Next stated is that is that 'exceptional demand or events' can slow the service overall. Based on the evidence I am providing that leads me to assume admission that Daisy have insufficient capacity or bandwidth to manage traffic across their infrastructure, which is why the slowdowns are occurring. I was guaranteed a minimum speed by SSE at sign-up to the service, and it is clear this is not being delivered at the times I wish to use my connection. I appreciate peak times can have an impact - but there is a big difference between limiting P2P traffic, and many services being unusable which I have clearly demonstrated and has not been acknowledged.

Finally, I feel there is a contradiction in the E-Mail regarding "P2P traffic" - as first it is mentioned that this specific traffic is restricted / placed into low priority queues, then later is worded in a way that if I perform tests (which I believe I have been) without P2P based traffic my connection will show an improvement. Surely if only P2P traffic is restricted, then the other traffic which I have provided evidence of poor performance (YouTube screenshots, HTML download chart provided) these should remain at an acceptable / performing speed.

If we cannot come to an agreement of exactly how Daisy is managing traffic, or if there is plans to relieve apparent congestion - I would like to ask for a deadlock letter so I can pursue this with Ofcom.

Kind Regards

[Marksfish]

Should be interesting

Still waiting for my promised callback from last Thursday which is supposed to have been escalated

[Doogie]

Hello all,

my 'issue' has been escalated also. It took 45 days to get someone from 'T & BB faults' to look at my speed issues.

SSE's reaction so far: As Promised this has been taken to a higher level for investigation and as such they have detected an irregularity whilst running an in depth intrusive test on your line .Now this may be the reason for the overall poor line speeds and may have a bearing on your IP profile. I would ask you to be patient for the next 48hrs as this is escalated with BT who are investigating further . As soon as I have any update I will be in contact with you straight away

They stilll have not explained why I did get 80/20 sync speeds with BT and only manage 64/20 with SSE, while not meeting the minimum acceptable download speeds on my line.

BTW, one week to go until my 8 weeks are up before escalating to the ombudsman...

Capture.JPG

[Marksfish]

At least you now have a tap3 result to add to your ammunition. It was 6 weeks (just over) before they agreed my departure. Hopefully you will get the resolution you want.

Mark

[Doogie]

Yes, SSE have given up and are allowing me to leave them penalty free. I have been kept on a leash for about 6 to 7 weeks, but instead of spending money on an engineer visit and me taking my claim to the ombudsman, SSE have finally seen the light and offered to let me go.

Still don't understand why it has take the time it did. It took them 45 days just to get my complaint from customer services to 'BB Faults'... Had they been a bit more proactive I could have left in less than three weeks after complaining...

Looks like BT/Plusnet can welcome a new customer shortly..

[Marksfish]

Check your bill once migration is initiated. the fees are mounting up on mine already, but can't see what they are/ written off until it is generated!!

Mark