yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Networking] newbintraining:
Tethered (I don't know why it keeps testing to Preston..):

Normally get 2.5/3 down, 2/2.5 up.

I sense a bit of TrafficSense déjà vu ...

Edit: Been tethered since just after 3pm, was downloading a file (about 1.1GB) and it has never gone above 50KB/s, taken 4 hours to do 500mb. This is definitely TS, yesterday I was getting 200-250KB/s.
[Networking] flyingcat:
Definitely throttled again, this time far more generous though.

Approx 512kbit/s, perhaps a bit higher. That's broadband-ish
[Networking] TWeaKoR:
Tbh I was just nitpicking a little, lord knows they will if you call them out on stuff.

I'm on a 1gb plan and I'm getting throttled as well - though only to 1Mbps. Still, on some tests I've been getting higher uploads than downloads and it's a far cry from the ~5Mbps I was getting back in January :/

I don't see how this can fit in with their terms anyway. They make reference to their 'traffic management policy', which doesn't actually exist, and either way TrafficSense is new and constitutes a change that could be considered of material detriment, thus allowing you to cancel under clause 10.1(d). The fact that they haven't provided proper notification of the change (other than 'we're improving the service in your area' texts, which could refer to anything) is even more damning for them.
[Networking] jonmorris:
At different times of the day, the speeds are varying

a lot

- and nothing to do with the 3pm-midnight period.

I therefore think they have other issues, which has nothing to do with TrafficSense but is simply down to lack of capacity. (Ironically, TrafficSense would actually help many people here!).

I did some speed tests out and about today, and my best was 9.43Mbps down/2.21Mbps up (57ms), closely followed by 8.78/2.22/70.

If it wasn't for the times where things drop to stupidly low figures, I'd be more than happy. However, sods law says the slow speeds and crazy ping times that make things timeout or fail completely, will be when I need to send/receive calls or make a Skype call for work etc.
[Networking] newbintraining:
My speeds seem to be generally rather random and never go above 3mbps. Not too long ago I did a speed test on my phone and it was back to showing about 1.5mbps down and 2.5mbps up, which has been the average for a few days when I normally get 3 down. But when I tethered (usb), my speeds on my laptop were only 0.5mbps (50KB/s). Sometimes the speedtest will just timeout completely, virtually no throughput. Before all this hassle I was basically getting 2.5-3.5 down and about 2.5-3 up, but now the download speeds are all over the place while the upload is generally untouched. Sometimes I get something like 0.5 down but almost 3 up, what's with that?!

So as well as speeds that are all over the place, tethering seems to be capped somehow, so I have my suspicions as to whether TS is actually turned off. I am on a plan which allows tethering, so I expect to get a similar speed to what my handset gets directly. Still haven't heard from three either, taking their sweet time.
[Networking] linuxnubee:
ok heres my last msg on three

For all you people who have been told trafficsense was "trial" run.

It's not

i just spent 10mins of my time at work lol explaining that i was bitterly dissapointed in being continuously lied to by his managers telling me no trafficsense has stopped it was a trial run and has been removed from our website.

Its still on their website and this guy catagorically told me it was still running i repeated the question twice before he gave me an answer and directed him to the policy on their own website. (three/support/our network/about trafficsense) lol he put me on hold while lpooking.

so there it is all doesnt lool like they have any intention on stopping it and everyone has been lied to.
[Networking] scoopex:
TrafficSense was never a trial as it clearly is a new throttling policy implemented by Three UK in a rather underhand way. The TrafficSense document even links to the current 2012 Three UK terms and conditions.
[Networking] chazam:
I have no idea what Three are up to today but they're doing something right.
[Networking] dellaclearing:
Getting fed up now. I've posted on the Three Blog website twice now, one of my questions never appeared on the live site, just said "awaiting moderation" for over a week.

Posted again, this time it was published (on Friday morning) and the mods there have answered both people who asked after me and completely ignored my questions!

I want answers but I just can't bring myself to call the 333 number! My internet ranges between 0.2 and 0.5 Mbps, can't tell if I'm being throttled or if I'm living in a signal-black hole! Of course, Three's coverage checker says I'm in a "very good" area for signal lol!!!
[Networking] Hands0n:
@dellaclearing - Are you able to take your Three mobile device to anywhere near a Three mast? You could use the OFCOM Sitefinder to locate the nearest mast that serves your area. That would help eliminate, or at least reduce the likelihood of, you being in a marginal signal area.
[Networking] cirian75:
sounds more like a mast fault in your area.
[Networking] newbintraining:
I still haven't heard back from three, almost 2 weeks and still waiting for an answer. Jokers. Meanwhile, my internet speed is erratic. Seem to range from 0.5mbps to 1.5mbps in the evening, but goes back to 3mbps late at night. Can't tell if I am hit by TS or not. Going to ring the exec office tomorrow to ask what they are doing with my complaint, sick of waiting.
[Networking] tiddydiddler:
Sounds like my local mast. You in Stafford? ;-)
[Networking] dellaclearing:
Thanks for the Ofcom link! There isn't a mast particularly close but the closest is up the road so tomorrow when I finish work I'll go and stand as close as I can get to it and run a couple of speed tests.

I hope it's a mast fault instead of it just being really busy, as faulty masts can be repaired, I can't see Three putting up more masts to create better service for their customers, that'd be too helpful!!! That's basically what I've been asking about on the Three Blog site, is there a fault in my area, are there plans for new masts etc...

No, Turnpike Lane, North London! But I'm sure it sounds like a lot of people's local mast at the moment!
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
All good here

I really don't think Three have any options to reduce Local Area Congestion. They only have a limited amount of radio bandwidth. The way Three did it (Increasing Latency) would only ever make this issue worse as it would increase -not decrease- end-user (Mast) traffic if packet loss occurs due to TCP Retransmits.

The 4G auction will solve this, especally now that Orange/T-Mobile and O2/Vodaphone have paired up and all have 4G suitable spectrum! This means the best spectrum will go to Three in the biggest percentage. Or it may mean Three will not be able to afford it. Either way Three will end up with the best data network on 4G in my opinion, and be able to implement decent (QoS at mast-level) traffic management.
[Networking] Daveoc64:
I'd try Twitter for that sort of thing.

If you tweet @ThreeUKSupport with a post code, they'll be able to do a detailed coverage check for you, including current maintenance and any planned improvements.
[Networking] newbintraining:
Just had a chat to the exec office after getting fed up of waiting for them, all they are willing to do is give a month or two of line rental, no way were they offering me a cancellation. Told them about the poor signal and speeds and they said to talk to the diagnostic team about it, but they swear blind that traffic sense was a trial.
[Networking] dellaclearing:
So I finished work today and took the train a bit further to find the mast. I followed where the Ofcom site told me the mast was, stood as close as I could get and I had constant network connection issues. Only managed to complete 3 speedtests, all the others I tried kept timing out due to network issues.

The tests that actually finished resulted in:

Down: 586 kbps Up: 686 kbps Ping: 294

Down: 283 kbps Up: 468 kbps Ping: 1149

Down: 381 kbps Up: 272 kbps Ping: 386

I then got bored standing around waiting for tests to finish without network errors so just decided to keep testing while walking down Wood Green High Road towards Turnpike Lane.

Down: 1240 kbps Up: 332 kbps Ping: 311

Down: 615 kbps Up: 751 kbps Ping: 393

Down: 643 kbps Up: 668 kbps Ping: 295

Down: 540 kbps Up: 711 kbps Ping: 402

Down: 327 kbps Up: 309 kbps Ping: 351

Down: 758 kbps Up: 606 kbps Ping: 313

Down: 956 kbps Up: 692 kbps Ping: 350

Down: 949 kbps Up: 702 kbps Ping: 318

Down: 482 kbps Up: 859 kbps Ping: 300

Down: 328 kbps Up: 153 kbps Ping: 300

All these tests were carried out from 7:13pm to 7:36pm.

Pretty poor results really if you ask me. Certainly not what I expected when I signed up to Three. Samsung Galaxy S2 if that makes a difference, Rooted Paranoid Android Hybrid ROM, KP8 modem.

Sorry to be a complete Noob, but I've never used Twitter, do I have to sign up to it to be able to post on their Twitter page?!
[Networking] cirian75:
That looks throttled to me
[Networking] VirtualMark:
Well my speeds are back up to normal this week, after being limited to 0.5mbps for days and days. So i'm guessing that some other poor sod was in the 5% 'punishment zone' and is now getting the terrible service i had to put up with.

I was being throttled on my tethering, as my phone connected at 5.5 mbps whereas the laptop got 0.5mbps, even though i'm on the one plan.

I'll be monitoring my speeds and usage for the next few weeks. The executive office have been pretty useless about it and just said that i 'shouldn't be' experiencing slow speeds as far as they know. Anyhow, i'm glad this topic is here as i've seen several posts with exactly the same issues i've had.
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
You can also contact Three's Social Media support by posting a comment on the 3Blog - They will usually e-mail you and thus allowing a e-mail exchange to resolve a issue.
[Networking] dellaclearing:
Thanks, that's where I've been posting for 2 weeks and only today, after asking 3 times I've finally received an answer...

"@Dan – Just checked for any issues in your area and a local mast is currently faulty. This will fixed as a matter of urgency, but can not give you an exact timescale just yet. Sorry for any inconvenience caused."
[Networking] jonmorris:
I was told of work taking place near me until the 15th. Seems okay now though.

In fact, I'm tethering via a Galaxy S III and enjoying good speeds right now!
[Networking] blair287:
Im still waiting for a call back from the executive office im still going to push for a cancellation based on poor speeds and signal quality plus terrible customer service and being constantly lied too over and over.
[Networking] SpiralTrance:
Everytime I go into a three store they insist they don't throttle. Does what the sales man tell you allow you to cancel a contract if the service isn't as he said it would be?

Also has throttling now been wrote into the small print of the one plan contract?
[Networking] jonmorris:
Ask the sales person to put it in writing, stating that you'll take what is said as a verbal contract.

While you might find in court you'll still find yourself bound by the T&Cs from Three itself, I bet the sales person won't fancy being held personally liable for a counter claim against him/her!

I am not a lawyer, but these days I wouldn't trust any salesperson. I generally buy things when I've decided what to buy in advance, having done plenty of research. All I want someone in a shop to do is go and get the product and accept payment!!
[Networking] AlecE:
Be aware that SiteFinder is quite out of date. T-Mobile (as was) hasn't supplied data since 2005, Orange (as was) since 2010 and some other networks have similarly withheld data for a while now I believe. Your best bet is to send @ThreeUKSupport a tweet with your full postcode (if you'd rather not send your full postcode publicly ask them to follow you and then send it as a direct message) and they'll report back what the 3G coverage is like, any local problems (upgrades, faults etc) and whether 2G fallback is available (if you specifically ask them).

Alec
[Networking] dgreen2298:
Still being throttled here it does seem to have been eased up slightly but its still defo there before 3 i get speeds fine 1.5 to 3 meg and pings of about 80ms 1 min after 3pm and i get pings of about 300ms to 3000ms and speeds of 200kbps to 500kps it was down to 10kbps but like i said it does seem to have been relaxed a little this has been happening for weeks now and i haven't even been going on it after 3pm just may be take the odd speed test just to see the results so the coming off it after 5 days or wot ever is crap three are coming back saying they are not throttling they are bare faced lies wot do they want me to believe at 3.01pm every day with out fail everyone jumps on the internet around my area i do not think it will change i think they have over sold there product i am jumping ship asap just because i hate lieing company's they have gone down in my estimate and i believe they should be fined for there lie:mad:s
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
I downloaded 20GB yesterday between 12AM-3PM and haven't been hit by any throttling since the initial issue. Between 3PM-12AM I've been watching 720p YouTube and a few documentaries on Netflix and had no issues either averaging around 2-4GB a day between these hours.

People that are still getting hit by TrafficSense, are you honestly not running Torrent Clients? (Torrents are a nightmare on the ISP side I believe, even if all the Torrents are legal due to the amount of TCP Connections and constant Uploading)
[Networking] cirian75:
Newp, zero torrents, unless you count Blizzard updates for WoW and StarCraft.

they use torrent tech for updates to reduce their update server loads
[Networking] ahmadcentral:
You guys know that the salespeople in stores job is to sell only. None of them actually know anything about traffic sense in my local store and still push AYCE data as the only truly unlimited option with tethering.
[Networking] jonmorris:
Three has now got a European AYCE deal for £5 per day. Pretty impressive compared to what was available before (or not), forgetting 3LikeHome from a few years ago.

Wonder if the other networks will speed cap?
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
I am now firmly in the belief that Three have too many customers in certain area's.

Everythings fine here, no congestion, 1.2MegaByte/second average at 4PM. No TrafficSense.

However today I had nothing to do and felt like a nice day out in the sun, so I travelled a little and straight away after getting off the train I was able to see this building and do a Speedtest! (Note, I did not take the following picture, I'm running ICS on a Desire HD and haven't got a decent camera app installed and main camera app doesn't work at all, nor does video recording. Something about drivers, you can read the Desire HD ICS Threads here for details - The Speedtest.net Screenshot from phone is of course mine though)

I really get the impression that Three urgently need more Spectrum. This 4G auction needs to happen right now, but the other operators are likely to attempt to kill Three off with the auction due to the pairing up. (Orange/T-Mobile and o2/Vodaphone)

This is a major push forward for those travelling abroad. Good on Three, I hope other networks follow.
[Networking] jonmorris:
Other networks are doing similar. They know they're going to be forced to - and ultimately the EU is pushing for EU-wide tariffs one day. No roaming costs whatsoever within the EU - that will be a dream come true. God help anyone going beyond the EU borders though!!

Networks can either hold out until the last minute, or score some PR-points by announcing things before they have to.

Three has done well, although while £5 is great for a business trip, I'd also like to see a rate for a week or month (for holidays). To be honest, I'd have been happy for them to just charge the same rates for mobile broadband as they do in the UK. No need for unlimited, as I'd have happily paid £15 for 3GB. I doubt many people going abroad really need no limit - and to offer it means that network will probably seek to impose caps on roaming users.
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
I think I'm being throttled again, video streaming has been weird since 3:09PM but downloads have been respectable speeds. Seems I'm throttled to 2Mbps for video streaming.

I really have to disagree with this suggestion. While 3.8Mbps is fine for 720p YouTube and BBC iPlayer. It is a disaster for anything Silverlight based, Vevo, Netflix, etc which would end up as SD only with less than 4.5Mbps.

Silverlight uses multiple video streams, starting with low quality all the way to 1080p. It always maintains the lowest quality one at the same time as buffering the highest quality one it decides your connection can handle. 3.8Mbps would mean DVD Quality The 2.3Mbps Stream + Backup 1.25Mbps Stream, not HD.

Right now, it was able to get the 1.75Mbps stream on Three, not even close to HD.

I've given up on trying to watch this video. Its in 3D, which really does require the full HD Stream.
[Networking] Nick Fury:
A little bit of advice for all those on the one plan who have had there contracts changed without being informed and who are also thinking about changing networks or going to payg.

Normally if you want to end your contract early they will agree but you must pay the Early Termination Fee. Which equal your normal monthly amount times by the remaining months of your contract.

Now if they have changed your contract terms without informing you then you can phone them up, tell them you want to end your contract and demand to speak to somebody in charge. Explain your reasons why you wish to leave, and explain that you are not will to pay the Early Termination Fee as they have broken the rules of your contract by failing to inform you of the change.

Also it is a well known fact that a contract is a 2 way deal. You agree to paying for the services provided for as long as that same service is being delivered to you.

And then very nicely explain that if there is no agreement that can be made that you will have no choice but to seek advice from Citizens Advice Bureau which may lead to a full report being handed in to Ofcom and other Governing Bodies.

I know this from first hand experience as i had a dongle on contract with Orange a few years back and when i was getting no internet service on a dongle made for that only purpose i rang up and keep ringing up and they never gave me a straight answer. So i told them i wasnt going to pay for a service i wasnt getting and explained all my rights to them and explained all there legal obligations to them. Then told them i would be taking it above them and reporting them and they then wrote to me 6 weeks later telling me they have cancelled my contract for no charge to me. Also gave me back the Money i had paid them for the contract. And also gave me £100 as an apology and good will gesture.

So basically all im saying people is that you do have rights and even a google search will give you all this information and more.

Hope this helps and sorry it was so long lol.

Have a good day.
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
IGNORE THIS:

It may be possible that TrafficSense is back. I'm not sure, I can't even sign-in to TweetDeck. YouTube is unusable (480p!), seeing about 1Mbps of throughput but massive amounts of TCP Errors, thus most of its TCP Retransmits. Seems real level of throughput is around 256Kbps.

Can anyone else confirm this is the new version of TrafficSense.

P.S. This week I've downloaded about 15GB, some was iTunes Lossless, the rest was Netflix and iPlayer. Nothing else.

It appears it was a technical issue, I am now getting the speeds I got 3-4 months ago again!

If this stays 24/7 I'll be very happy and keep my large downloads (Like Music Albums from iTunes) to after 12AM.
[Networking] chazam:
ASA

I sent a complaint to the ASA and got a written response back today. I have attached it for everyone to view.

They consider the literature on the blog posts "unlikely to breach the code".
[Networking] dellaclearing:
I hate the way they say it represented the product that was available at the time, which is different to the product that is available now... we all signed up to the product that was on sale then, not the product they've turned it into now!
[Networking] Hands0n:
The thing is, and I reckon this is why ASA are striking this balance, the product is still substantially and significantly the same - that is, it is All You Can Eat data. The "product" has not actually changed from when we bought it.

Or if it has, then it may well have changed for the better. For example the network update to HSPA+42 in my neck of the woods is delivering over 19Mbps downlink to my new iPad (aka iPad 3), see below.

I know this has been done to death here, and elsewhere, but the speed restrictions for measured top percentage users is not wholly unreasonable. But it is very evident that Three's first attempt at TrafficSense was poorly implemented. And I do feel that they have acknowledged that very fact by withdrawing it from active service, at least for now.

TS is coming back, that much I think we all know for certain. The big question, in my mind, is how will it be implemented this next time.
[Networking] virusjez:
nice...tnhaks for the info..:good:
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
I think in your case, your not on DC-HSPA and instead just got a burst of TCP Fast Retransmits, thus throwing your iPad 3's awful TCP Stack to that result in the Speedtest.net

You know it takes 2 Three UK Cell Towers to get a DC-HSPA connection right? You should be looking at 30-35Mbps on that Speedtest result instead :D :angel:

I do assume though with your social connections you'd be fully aware if you were on DC-HSPA? Does the iPad 3 actually show any difference for example in advanced signal information (Same place it should show the signal strength in dBm and in this case should show 2 different signal strengths as you have to use two Base Stations to get DC-HSPA)
[Networking] Hands0n:
I'm not at all convinced that TCP fast retransmits are at work here. Other HSPA+21 devices that I own are running at roughly half the speed, consistently. As did the iPad 2 that I previously had. So did this iPad 3 until Friday, when it has started operating at the higher speed.

Outside of Speedtest itself, there is a very apparent increase in the speed in which data is received. Streaming video in particular no longer buffers and downloads of files are measurably different - TCP Retransmits would result in a lower throughput and extended file transfer times. Quite the opposite is apparent.

I do intend to ask Three about the local mast to see if they can tell me whether or not it is now DC-HSPA +42.

Just to take issue with your comment about requiring two cell towers to get DC-HSPA. That is not correct.

Now while I would not for a moment attempt to qualify myself as a radio transmission engineer I believe, from all that I have read and taken to understand, that each single cell site is quite capable of achieving the DC-HSPA without requiring the services of adjacent cells. In fact, to require additional cells would be self defeating as DC-HSPA would only be available to the scarce few who are sited within the signal overlap of pairs, or more, cells. As a design intention that would be of very limited benefit and significantly flawed.
[Networking] jonmorris:
I think they've been rolling out DC-HSPA for some time and aim to have an announcement about a large chunk being switched on very soon.

As there are so few devices supporting it, I'm not even sure they will have disabled it for a big switch on. Chances are high that it's live wherever they're upgraded.

As the Galaxy S III turned out not to support it, I'm struggling to think of a phone that does and only the iPad 3 springs to mind.

I do hope that Three will also announce a new MiFi very soon, as I'll get one straight away!