The phrase "we are increasing the amount of available capacity" means they put the thumb-screws down on the video data saver in the following ways:
Before these measures, a video stream with the VDS turned on would be capped around 5.5Mbps in non-congested times, and about half that during prime time (perhaps depending on the beam). The 5.5Mbps was a download peak, with a per stream peak for streaming being much lower. So in the early morning hours you could watch 480p/720p if the large portions of the screen were not changing quickly or download roughly 2GB of video per hour. And you could turn VDS off and watch in HD (again during off-peak time).
After these measures, you were stuck with the VDS on and it was capped around half the normal rate for downloads so even during off-peak time with a comparably reduced peak for streaming you were not too likely to see 480p except with talking heads or a lot of buffering. Again I suspect the exact level may have been dependent on which beam you are on.
They have since backed down these emergency measures (something they did a couple of months ago?), and you can turn VDS off again.
It is important to realize where this "extra capacity" came from, or some folks in control may come to believe nobody knows the difference and they will make these measures permanent to sell to more users and/or create wild pie-in-the-sky plans with crazy names like "Freedom" etc -- the result will turn a good service into a living nightmare.
*edit
Neither of these are accurate (certainly not the first one, as the VDS was never locked so it could not be turned off). Where are you getting this information?
maratsade wrote:
- You could not turn the video data saver off (permanently)*
- The bandwidth per video stream/download to known recreational video sites was roughly cut in half
Neither of these are accurate (certainly not the first one, as the VDS was never locked so it could not be turned off). Where are you getting this information?
Although I could "turn off" the VDS from the screen, it was obvious from basic testing (or just watching the task manager) that it was still on at some level even in less busy times. This may have been a measure dependent on beam, but when this went back to the way it was before a couple of months ago (with it actually being off) the difference was easy to see.
I vaguely remember someone else noticing this too, but I don't know what thread it was--perhaps they can chime in.
Anyway, as video streaming is the big bandwidth pig, it is the common and obvious target ISPs go after to optimise work/productive things. Many other ISPs use plans with a very tight data saver policy that can not be turned off -- with the pandemic measures, where is an ISP going to get extra bandwidth? Based on what I could see from keeping data usage logs from every day, I maintain that it came by trimming back on what was available to the recreation video sites to make way for zoom/webex/teams/etc.
When you turned your VDS off during this time period, were you able to download a video at a higher rate or watch HD without buffering? Do you have any information regarding where the extra bandwidth came from? The following phrase strongly implies giving priority to critical sites, which means reducing priority to non-critical sites:
"To help people working from home, we have optimized Cloud-based business applications. We have also optimized online educational apps, and are working with teachers to identify the websites and learning tools on which they depend."
They even asked for users to report sites they were having trouble with. As for me, I could see WebEx and Teams seemed to be operating in spectacular fashion while at the same time YouTube was pinched.
*edit
I hope Liz will be kind enough to clear up the VDS misinformation; it's likely issues were encountered due to congestion, traffic, and latency.
I think you're speculating baselessly regarding optimisation of streaming providers, but I doubt the mods will address this one, so it will remain speculative, and issues can also be chalked up to congestion, traffic, and latency.
Hi folks, while the Video Data Saver can still be toggled on and off, our efficiency protocols currently limit the permanent snooze option, so we recommend temporarily snoozing VDS only when you are actively watching High Definition video or use a service that does not support adaptive streaming.
Thanks for your understanding.
-Liz
And yet those optimised sites may not work for everyone. I can't use Zoom or Teams, and have had no problems at all with YouTube. There's more to this than optimisation. Traffic and internet congestion play a very large role, optimisation or no. Generalising is not helpful when there are so many variables.
MrBuster wrote:"To help people working from home, we have optimized Cloud-based business applications. We have also optimized online educational apps, and are working with teachers to identify the websites and learning tools on which they depend."
They even asked for users to report sites they were having trouble with. As for me, I could see WebEx and Teams seemed to be operating in spectacular fashion while at the same time YouTube was pinched.
No word on when/if the permanent snooze function will return, but once we find out we'll let you know.
-Liz
