Clarification of the Eclipse packages?

FunkyT · 13 Apr 2006 at 08:49

Here's my understanding:

Evolution Broadband (ADSL Max 8Mbps - uncapped)
Option 1 Classic - £14.99
Option 2 Classic Plus - £18.99
Option 3 Premium - £24.99
Option 4 Premium Plus - £29.99

Home Broadband (ADSL Max 8Mbps - capped)
Option 1 2GB cap - £14.99
Option 2 10GB cap - £18.99
Option 3 20GB cap - £24.99
Option 4 40GB cap - £29.99

I understand how the home packages would work but not the Evolution.

Will Eclipse be providing a lower contention for the higher performance "Premium Plus" package cf "Classic"? :confused:

Phil99 · 13 Apr 2006 at 10:34

FunkyT said:
Will Eclipse be providing a lower contention for the higher performance "Premium Plus" package cf "Classic"?

I don't fully understand what you mean there?

The Classic/Premium etc bits are 4 levels of contention, and the Premium Plus level is what the Home Broadband packages run on (all of them)

There's also traffic shaping on P2P/FTP on Evolution broadband, however I'm not sure if Home Broadband also has this.

Evolution also has caps on data transfer during peak times:

Option 1 - 20GB
Option 2 - 30GB
Option 3 - 40GB
Option 4 - 50GB

These are during peak times only (6-12pm) and once you exceed these you get limited to 256kbps. It's "unlimited" outside peak times, aside from the contention levels and traffic shaping.

I've gone for Evolution Option 3 in the hope they have a reasonable amount of network capacity and I don't do a lot of heavy downloading anymore.

FunkyT · 13 Apr 2006 at 10:54

Phil99 said:
I don't fully understand what you mean there?

cf. abbr. Latin. confer (compare)

Phil99 said:
The Classic/Premium etc bits are 4 levels of contention, and the Premium Plus level is what the Home Broadband packages run on (all of them)

There's also traffic shaping on P2P/FTP on Evolution broadband, however I'm not sure if Home Broadband also has this.

Evolution also has caps on data transfer during peak times:

Option 1 - 20GB
Option 2 - 30GB
Option 3 - 40GB
Option 4 - 50GB

These are during peak times only (6-12pm) and once you exceed these you get limited to 256kbps. It's "unlimited" outside peak times, aside from the contention levels and traffic shaping.

Thanks for the helpful post. Is the Evolution contention being implemented in the same way that you have 50:1 home ADSL vs 20:1 business ADSL?

I think the 8 packages on offer give Eclipse a little too much room for changing T&Cs...

FunkyT · 13 Apr 2006 at 10:55

Also, are Eclipse port throttling on P2P?

Phil99 · 13 Apr 2006 at 11:15

From an earlier ticket to CS they explained that the contention levels are not fixed as such, more that they vary with network load, so I guess in theory there's no reason why someone on Classic couldn't get the same speeds as someone on Premium Plus depending on network load.

I'm not entirely certain on the P2P issue yet, but it is included in the traffic shaping on Evolution, which I believe is in place 24/7...the way they've explained it suggests that other traffic is prioritised over it, so it's not a fixed 20k limit or anything, more dynamic with network traffic to stop it interfering with http/streaming media/gaming etc.

No idea if it's in place on Home Broadband as I haven't really looked in to those packages.

I didn't realise the cf. bit was intentional, thought it was some sort of typo

edit:

Just re-read the FUP and it says:

how will I be affected?

You will only be affected by the fair usage policy if you use file sharing software such as peer to peer (p2p), file transfer (ftp) or binary newsgroups (USENET) during peak periods.

So perhaps not 24/7 as I earlier thought

tolien · 13 Apr 2006 at 13:12

From reading it, I'd have imagined it would work rather like the Ellacoya tiers on Plusnet (or Premium/"not Premium" on an IPStream VP)- if there's sufficient capacity, there's no reason for both to not get identical performance.

But if, for any reason, there's a shortage, the Premium Plus user gets priority over everyone else (and Premium over everyone below them etc etc). Rather like HTTP gets priority over P2P traffic.

FunkyT · 13 Apr 2006 at 13:41

Thanks for the clarification.

EggBoy · 13 Apr 2006 at 14:22

Hi guys, kind of glad to see im not the only one being confused by the new Eclipse packages.

Im currently on the Flex1000 package and was also considering upgrading to the Evolution3 package.

Does anyone know if these new (8mbps) downloads packages also still have 256k upload?, or is this increased as well.

I emailed them and all they did was give me a sales number to call. After being with them for 5 years I expected a little bit better response, but hey ho.

Not to sure if im willing to pay the "little bit extra" if they are introducing all these contention rules and download limits. The lack of borders and limits was why I went to eclipse and was willing to pay more than with other isps.

Eggy.

Phil99 · 13 Apr 2006 at 14:36

The upload goes to "up to" 448kbps (though most people should easily get this.)

I'm in the process of making the switch from Flex1000 -> Option 3 at the moment as by the looks of it the FUP won't affect me much as on the rare occasion I do any P2P downloading I leave it overnight. Only time it should affect me would be FTP downloads of game patches etc. during peak times.

Also, the only reason I went for the £24.99 Option 3 instead of £18.99 Option 2 was the contention, but luckily as it's a 1 month contract only I can switch down if it seems there isn't a lot of difference between contention levels.