Warning: Message contains rant and sarcasm.

At 03:56 p.m. 6/09/2003 +1200, you wrote:
>>
>> What about shared connections? Is it resonable for all your
>flatmates/family to totally stop using the Internet while one person is
>playing games. In fact, one of the reasons they are not using the JetStream
>Games Realm (other then the desire to be able to use servers not in the
>'Realm') may be because the family/flat mates want to use the Internet.
>>
>> I'm not denying that based on what you're saying, the change was for the
>better. I am wondering if there is an alternative or something so that ISPs
>can make JetStream Starter slightly usable. Due it's it's speed, it will
>never be really usable of course...
>
>Why should it be the ISP's responsibility to configure their network solely
>for the usage styles of one user? I can guarantee that the majority of the
>users would not find the shaping of gaming traffic (at priority) to their
>liking. If you feel this is a critical part of your connection, set up QoS.

You seem to be missing my point. I'm not an expert on networks/QOS so I don't know if this is possible but I had assumed that it was possible to prioritise per connection. I.E. gaming is prioritised on your connection but not others. Isn't the problem/bottle neck on your last mile (JetStream Starter, we all know how slow that is) not on the Telecom's backbone? If there is a bottleneck on Telecom's backbone, then IMHO, Telecom needs to upgrade their backbone. Therefore, if you are not gaming, it will not be a problem for you. In any case, are ping fluctations on browsing really that noticeable? I had always thought not, despite TCP/IPs late start but perhaps I'm wrong. Definetly downloading is not greatly affected by mild ping fluctuations. In any case, I was under the impression that IPv6 had been designed for prioritising important connections like games and VOIP over downloads etc which aren't greatly affected by latency. Did you make submissions to the group telling them this w
as a big mistake? I'm sorry to hear they didn't listen to you............

>ISP's run the network in a way for the whole of the users, and will not
>change this for one (or a few) users who don't like the way traffic is
>delivered.

Yes. I said quite clearly in my first message, I was not denying the change was for the better. I never suggested that anything should be carried out which would disadvantage other users. If I was, I would have said, they shouldn't have made the change regardless of whether it was for the greater good. But I didn't.

All I was asking was whether there was any way that the ISP or Telecom could please all users. I queried whether it was possible for the ISP to prioritise gaming traffic per connection since I had assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the bottle neck was on your connection JetStream Starter (as the problems only occur when you or people using you connection are downloading) not on the whole network. If this assumption was correct, then my suggestion would have improved the internet for gamers but not disadvantaged other users. Well perhaps your flatmates/family would have had some disadvantage but that's a different matter. I always feel that ISPs need to considerer all users rather then just a subset (even if that is the majority). Obviously a larger subset is more important then a smaller subset but if something can be greatly improved for the smaller subset with little or no cost/disadvantage to the larger subset then I don't see any reason why this shouldn't be implemented. From your
 message, perhaps we disagree since I think you believe something shouldn't be done even if it doesn't cost you anything if it doesn't benefit you. I probably can't change your mind about this so I won't bother

Mind you, as some of you may remember, I don't use JetStream or Starter so this doesn't actually affect me. Actually, it's arguably better for me this way since a larger ping for JetStream Starter gamers means my ping doesn't seem so bad compared to them. However, as a gamer, I did recognise that most gamers want good pings and considered what was good for them rather then what was perhaps good for me in some way, since I didn't see any reason why something shouldn't be implemented if it benefited these people but didn't really disadvantage others.

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