Today we completed work with Google to enable IPv6 access to their services!
This means that customers using IPv6 will now be accessing Google search, YouTube, Gmail, and other Google Services over IPv6.
(The pages and content served by Google over IPv6 is the same as if you were to access it over IPv4.)
AAISP have been using and offering IPv6 services for around 7 years, and after a few changes in our IPv6 network, Google's DNS servers are now service AAAA (as well as the usual A) records. Customers who run their own DNS servers will also see IPv6 records being served.
You can read more about AAISP and IPv6 at:
http://www.aaisp.net.uk/kb-broadband-ipv6.html
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
[info] congestion improvements
In spite of clear indications that we are not the bottle-neck on 20CN in the evenings, we are increasing capacity even more to BT to give us more headroom and make absolutely sure.
This is expensive (more expensive than getting a new member of staff), but the quality of the service is important to us and we want to be quite sure that we are not the cause of the reported slow speeds. We suspect BT issues, but it will help if we can prove that to BT by having more headroom on our lines. Then we can get BT to improve it's network.
This may take a couple of days to complete, so thank you for your patience.
Note: We say clear indications we are not the bottle-neck... Yesterday evening there were some reports of slow speed on 20CN lines, but at the same time a customer was averaging more than 7M on a 7.15M line over 10 minutes on a single TCP connection. He uses the same connection our end and the same LNS and so on, so no reason in our network other customers would be slowing down, even though we could see that the links to BT at our end were very busy around that time.
This is expensive (more expensive than getting a new member of staff), but the quality of the service is important to us and we want to be quite sure that we are not the cause of the reported slow speeds. We suspect BT issues, but it will help if we can prove that to BT by having more headroom on our lines. Then we can get BT to improve it's network.
This may take a couple of days to complete, so thank you for your patience.
Note: We say clear indications we are not the bottle-neck... Yesterday evening there were some reports of slow speed on 20CN lines, but at the same time a customer was averaging more than 7M on a 7.15M line over 10 minutes on a single TCP connection. He uses the same connection our end and the same LNS and so on, so no reason in our network other customers would be slowing down, even though we could see that the links to BT at our end were very busy around that time.
[info] New usage rates from April
http://aaisp.net.uk/news-2010-04.html
We are making some changes to usage levels for our unit based tariffs for April 2010 as detailed below.
We are making some changes to usage levels for our unit based tariffs for April 2010 as detailed below.
The changes take effect during March 2010 and will apply from the following regular bill (i.e. April onwards).
Important this does not affect your chosen tariff or the regular monthly cost for that tariff. You may want to adjust your tariff during March to allow for the changes, or you may want to wait and see how the changes affect you first. It is up to you to choose the correct tariff.
More 21CN peak usage
We are increasing the peak usage allowance per unit for 21CN and FTTC lines from 1¼GB per unit to 2GB per unit. This is a huge increase in peak usage allowance for these lines. Customers with high daytime usage tariffs on 21CN and FTTC lines may want to request a lower tariff during March to apply from the same bill.
Change of 20CN off peak usage
We effectively increased the off peak allowance for home users in January when we changed to units tariff. Last year our basic tariff included 50GB or off peak allowance and now the entry level 2 unit tariff includes 200GB (assuming no peak usage). We are now changing the off peak usage allowance per unit for 20CN lines from 100GB per unit to 50GB per unit. This means the entry level 2 unit tariff has 100GB of off peak allowance which is twice that of the old basic tariff. A lot of home users download less than this so will not be affected, but if you do have high usage off peak you may like to increase your tariff during March to apply from the same bill.
More Be off peak usage
We are increasing the off peak usage for Be lines from 100GB per unit to 125GB per unit.
FAQ
We have been asked why 21CN get more for the same money as 20CN. Basically, our costs for 20CN are more than twice that of 21CN to BT. BT are showing no signs of improving this situation. Obviously we are continuing our programme of free migrations from 20CN to 21CN following BTs exchange upgrades.
Usage levels per unit from April 2010
| Line type | Daytime | Eve/Weekend |
|---|---|---|
| BT 20th century ADSL1 | 1GB/unit | 50GB/unit |
| BT 21st century ADSL1/2+ | 2GB/unit | 100GB/unit |
| BT Fibre to cab VDSL | 2GB/unit | 100GB/unit |
| Be ADSL2+/Annex-M | 8GB/unit | 125GB/unit |
Monday, February 08, 2010
[info] Improvements
Reports from customers this evening are of a huge improvement, maxing out downloads even on 20CN lines.
We were somewhat concerned over congestion last week, and particularly reports of slow speeds by customers. We have taken steps to increase capacity in links we have to BT anyway and are still considering more if necessary. We do think there must have been some more general issues from unusually high traffic in the the internet as a whole.
It is our plan to ensure we are not the bottleneck and so to provide an un-congested service. We continue to work closely with BT to minimise congestion in their network which has improved greatly over the last two months.
Update: As ever, as soon as I post, some people report slower speeds. We need to get to the bottom of this, but the fact that one customer with one nttp/tcp session was able to average over 7M on a 7.15M line over 10 minutes suggests it is not us as he is using the same link at our end as everyone else - so the congestion has to be somewhere in BT. We're working to track down and eliminate congestion in BT as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
We were somewhat concerned over congestion last week, and particularly reports of slow speeds by customers. We have taken steps to increase capacity in links we have to BT anyway and are still considering more if necessary. We do think there must have been some more general issues from unusually high traffic in the the internet as a whole.
It is our plan to ensure we are not the bottleneck and so to provide an un-congested service. We continue to work closely with BT to minimise congestion in their network which has improved greatly over the last two months.
Update: As ever, as soon as I post, some people report slower speeds. We need to get to the bottom of this, but the fact that one customer with one nttp/tcp session was able to average over 7M on a 7.15M line over 10 minutes suggests it is not us as he is using the same link at our end as everyone else - so the congestion has to be somewhere in BT. We're working to track down and eliminate congestion in BT as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
[info] Usage stats improvements
The current usage stats break down usage at different times of day and different types of line and show the way that converts to units based on the peak and off peak GB/unit rates for the line type.
Feedback on recent changes to the layout and update/reminder emails has been positive and it seems people are finding the stats a lot clearer and easier to understand. Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and suggestions.
Some time soon (probably next weekend) we'll start breaking down the usage metering in finer detail - e.g. how much is evening, night, and weekend. This is not a change to billing or usage per unit. It means we are collecting more detailed data on how people use the services at different times of day. It will also break down off peak by line type as we do for peak usage.
We plan to include this extra detail in the usage stats at the same time. I'll post more when we make the actual changes.
Obviously happy to listen to any feedback on this (irc as usual please).
Update: We have actually made the change this morning, so for this month people will see more detailed breakdown. You will also see Off peak (all line types) for usage up to today, as well as the specific line type and time period from today, but at the same usage rate so no change in billing.
Feedback on recent changes to the layout and update/reminder emails has been positive and it seems people are finding the stats a lot clearer and easier to understand. Thanks to everyone that provided feedback and suggestions.
Some time soon (probably next weekend) we'll start breaking down the usage metering in finer detail - e.g. how much is evening, night, and weekend. This is not a change to billing or usage per unit. It means we are collecting more detailed data on how people use the services at different times of day. It will also break down off peak by line type as we do for peak usage.
We plan to include this extra detail in the usage stats at the same time. I'll post more when we make the actual changes.
Obviously happy to listen to any feedback on this (irc as usual please).
Update: We have actually made the change this morning, so for this month people will see more detailed breakdown. You will also see Off peak (all line types) for usage up to today, as well as the specific line type and time period from today, but at the same usage rate so no change in billing.
[info] FREE domain with broadband
We have done free UK domains with broadband for some time.
Last year we stopped this for the basic broadband package and only included it in the pro package. This is largely because email has started to be an expensive service to run taking more servers, power and space, than any other service we operate.
This year, with new units based charging, we dropped any mention of the free domain.
We are pleased to advise we are reinstating this offer. A free UK domain with broadband.
Update: Following some comments on irc it is worth elaborating a little. We have not pinned down the exact thresholds for high email users yet. They will be defined and published later this week. However, we expect that a handful of domains will be in the very high usage yet these domains account for something like 25% of our mail server load. We'll contact those affected individually.
Last year we stopped this for the basic broadband package and only included it in the pro package. This is largely because email has started to be an expensive service to run taking more servers, power and space, than any other service we operate.
This year, with new units based charging, we dropped any mention of the free domain.
We are pleased to advise we are reinstating this offer. A free UK domain with broadband.
The web space includes sub domains so every member of the family can have separate web sites if they like.
The email includes as many separate mailboxes and aliases as you like so everyone in the family or office can have a separate email address.
The domain is registered on your behalf and is your domain registered in your name, so you can take with you if you leave us.
Details on http://aaisp.net.uk/broadband-freedomain.html- The domain has to be a normal UK domain, i.e. ending co.uk, org.uk, me.uk, or if applicable plc.uk, ltd.uk, sch.uk. You can choose the domain when ordering or later but contacting sales.
- One domain is included per site/login even if you have multiple lines on the site. The domain is associated with the login.
- The basic DNS, webspace and email services associated with the domain are included - you cannot move or trade off these free services to other domains.
- Only the basic services are included. i.e. if you store more than 1GB on webspace or email you can incur extra charges. Email services also have a surcharge for high or very high usage.
- The services are only free while you have the broadband service. If all lines on the associated login are ceased the domain and related services become chargeable. You need to cease these separately if you no longer require them.
Update: Following some comments on irc it is worth elaborating a little. We have not pinned down the exact thresholds for high email users yet. They will be defined and published later this week. However, we expect that a handful of domains will be in the very high usage yet these domains account for something like 25% of our mail server load. We'll contact those affected individually.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
