DJBuzz24
join:2008-07-01
Fort Smith, AR
 ·Suddenlink
| reply to OlSkool
Re: Post 12meg Account Speed Test results here. 7-2-08
In larger areas SL will order a DS3 (45Mbit) or 2 @ around $8,000-$14,000 (seriously) each. 99% of the time the more you order, the cheaper. In smaller areas they'll order T1/DS1 ciruits (usually $300-$1500/mnth) and "mux", or bond them together. The most common scenario is to order at least 3 or more, again, the more the cheaper, and at one point they pretty much become buy 2, get 1 75% off!
It is then SL's job to either manage that network themselves (from what I gather mostly metro areas), or outsource (for rural/small markets) the management. From what I've been told, no one but engineering knows what those metrics are (marketspeak, ignorance, or strategy, I'll let you decide), and they're most certainly not made publicaly available. That includes Tech Support, at all tiers.
In my case, there's very limited bandwidth for the number of users, resulting in around a 43:1 ratio. Meaning each customer is sold "1Mb" service, when in reality there is only enough bandwidth to support ~43 simultaneous users @ 1Mb/ea, maxing their connection. Statistically that should only happen for less than a couple total minutes per day, each instance lasting only a second or two. The companies that I've worked with in the past have typically sold on a 25-30:1 ratio, and even then power-users end up on DSL, typically sold at 15-20:1, or business class (1-10:1). Ratios that low almost guarantee that users will be downloading to their heart's content, and unless they're eagle eying stats, will never notice.
In my area it becomes such a problem that SL has enlisted a troop of Network Nazis to severely throttle users that reach some unknown limit. The general line of thinking here is, "we throttle to make it fair for other users", while the general line of defense is, "it works fine for 99% of our other users". If it works fine for them, then limit *their* bandwidth, as they're less likely to notice.
Using the above tactics along with selling based upon what its MAN speeds are will end up gaining the company a class action lawsuit.
For that matter, anyone wanting to look into that should seriously consider printing the current terms of service, any emails you've exchanged with the company, and any speedtest logs you may have (again, speedtest.net allows you to get a handy spreadsheet, mine just so happens to contain every speed test since 01/28/2008, when I first signed on). Let technically capable counsel look everything over, and see what they say. If someone gets some positive feedback, be sure to post it here 
Often it doesn't result in anything other than a slight dent to the company's bottom line, but some people get off on that kind of retribution |
