Talk:Be Unlimited
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From the technical information section: "Be's connections are completely uncontended (1:1)". This is certainly not true and is contradicted by "Traffic is only limited by available bandwidth". An uncontended connection would have full bandwidth available regardless of other user traffic (they are also much more expensive than standard consumer connections for this reason). Edited. Bron101 22:08, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
- Hi Bron101, I have read many times on the user forums that there is no such thing as contention on Be's network. My understanding is that, traditionally with ADSL connections, if the bandwidth is quoted as 8Mb/1Mb and there is a contention ratio of 50:1, then it means 50 people could be sharing that bandwidth at any given time. On Be, that isn't the case - all users have the given bandwidth between them and the local exchange, and they all fight for a part of the available bandwidth from the exchange onwards up the chain. I'm sure there is some load spreading going on when there are many users trying to use the bandwidth at the same time. But you don't "share" your connection with a given set of 50 other people. As I say, this is my understanding of it, but hopefully somebody with more definitive technical knowledge will jump in. Sibruk 23:15, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
- Hi Sibruk, you understanding of contention is correct, however you are a bit confused about where contention can apply (that is, anywhere inside the ISP network). In ADSL connections (from any supplier) your connection from the modem to the exchange is completely uncontended, however from this point there are several points of contention before reaching the internet. For a typical ISP these are exchange to regional point of presence, point of presence to isp core network, isp core network to the internet (this is very simplified and some ISPs will have different setups). To provide an uncontended service Be would need to guarantee 25mbit/s bandwidth (24mbit downstream/1mbit upstream) available to every user even if every single user is maxing his connection at all of these points. This is extremely cost prohibitive and very much not required for consumer internet service as this situation is unlikely for any ISP. Therefore the ISP balances the available bandwidth with the number of users, this is the contention ratio. When you see a quoted contention ratio for an ISP this is the absolute maximum ratio (it is almost always lower) and varies from region to region and exchange to exchange (For example BT's quoted 50:1 ratio would result in _very_ poor performance if it was the typical contention ratio!). Sorry about the long winded explanation, hopefully this is a little clearer now.
My understanding of Be's network (being a Be user myself) is that there is no *set* user to bandwidth contention ratio, instead contention is managed through upgrading when observed performance becomes unacceptable. This is certainly not uncontended network access (it could be argued that this is in fact worse than other ISPs who do quote contention ratios as there is no minimum guarantee). I could of course be mistaken about this but it is *extremely* unlikely the connection is uncontended - this is a feature more typically seen in very expensive business connections - an uncontended 24mbit down/1mbit up connection would cost many times the cost of Be unlimited to supply!.Bron101 00:10, 15 October 2007 (UTC)
- Hi Sibruk, you understanding of contention is correct, however you are a bit confused about where contention can apply (that is, anywhere inside the ISP network). In ADSL connections (from any supplier) your connection from the modem to the exchange is completely uncontended, however from this point there are several points of contention before reaching the internet. For a typical ISP these are exchange to regional point of presence, point of presence to isp core network, isp core network to the internet (this is very simplified and some ISPs will have different setups). To provide an uncontended service Be would need to guarantee 25mbit/s bandwidth (24mbit downstream/1mbit upstream) available to every user even if every single user is maxing his connection at all of these points. This is extremely cost prohibitive and very much not required for consumer internet service as this situation is unlikely for any ISP. Therefore the ISP balances the available bandwidth with the number of users, this is the contention ratio. When you see a quoted contention ratio for an ISP this is the absolute maximum ratio (it is almost always lower) and varies from region to region and exchange to exchange (For example BT's quoted 50:1 ratio would result in _very_ poor performance if it was the typical contention ratio!). Sorry about the long winded explanation, hopefully this is a little clearer now.
Obviously Be are not operating a 1:1 contention network, but perhaps it is more accurate to say that contention levels are well managed to the extent that I as a Be* Pro customer have NEVER felt the effects of contention. I live opposite the exchange and sync at 24,574/2,830, and I can keep my connection maxxed out at any time of day from newsgroups until I run out of bandwidth. Over the last 3 months, I have transferred an average of just over 1TB a month with no contact from Be regarding this. 87.194.193.49 (talk) 17:55, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
Can we add a direct link to the irc channel pls. I can't seem to get it to fire up right on my machine for some reason. should be irc://irc.bethere.co.uk/Be* or possibly irc://irc.bethere.co.uk/#Be*. The server is according to the web client irc.bethere.co.uk and the channel is #Be*. thanks Tim Abell --84.9.148.89 (talk) 08:36, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
