Formal Complaint to Slingshot.

My name is Matthew Kiernan. My account username with Slingshot is archeon

I have been with Slingshot for around a year.

I'm on the 15GiB inferno plan, have paid my invoices on time, and have not gone over my cap
recently.

The complaint described below occurs with all the ADSL modems I have tested. My line rate to the
exchange is 5Mb/s downstream and 800kb/s upstream. Testing has been done both with and without
isolation (ie direct computer connectivity to ADSL modem/router via ethernet VS connectivity
through an additional switch/linux router/multiple computers.)

Overview of problem:

International traffic has constantly been aggressively managed/rate limited, especially during on-
peak times. This behaviour/policy is not described at all in the plans mentioned on the Slingshot
website – only 'prioritization' is mentioned. Traditionally, IP prioritization refers to the treatment of
packets at router queues. Typically this sort of prioritization is a good thing, with the downside
being an effect on the latency and jitter of deprioritized packets. Typically it should not have a large
effect on download speeds as I have been observing consistently except in circumstances where
there is insufficient bandwidth to allow all packets to pass.

I believe using 'prioritization' to mean effectively the same as 'aggressive rate limiting of certain
traffic types' is misleading.

I suspect Slingshot has insufficient international bandwidth to provide the level of service that I
believe was implicitly agreed upon when I signed up to a Slingshot contract, and as such, must use
equipment to aggressively rate limit traffic conforming to certain characteristics.

Back in October 2008, I talked with customer services about this issue, and the possibility of getting
out of the contract early. At that time they said it was a temporary problem rather than Slingshot
policy, and as such I would not get out of the contract free. The issue has clearly not been resolved.

Since last October, I have made numerous calls to the helpdesk and attempted to get the issue
escalated. The helpdesk is unaware of the true nature of the rate limiting, and just have a broad idea
on what the “prioritization” system does. I have requested that the helpdesk get a supervisor (Josh)
to call me back on my cellphone at least 4 times now. I have not received a callback.

The helpdesk has been unable to escalate me to another tier, or networks/provisioning member to
allow me to find out why Slingshot's Internet service packages are not as described.

Complaints on the slingshot forums at the URL below support what I am describing, as do friends
who share the same Internet connection package.
http://forums.slingshot.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2017&p=24021#p24021

I quote from Answer ID 505 on the Slingshot website:

>To reiterate:
>
>1) Time sensitive traffic is prioritised to ensure good service for VoIP, browsing, gaming,
>VPN's etc
>2) Downloads are not being throttled
>3) Customers are not being rate shaped at any time of the day (unless they have used their
>data cap)

Problem technical detail

I have been doing download tests to several fast overseas servers through HTTP. These include
kernel.org, eclipse mirrors in Australia, and others.

(note KiB/s means kilo binary byte per second)

Typically, downloads start fast, between 200-400 KiB/s, then after a few MiB or a few minutes
have elapsed, the download speed drops rapidly to 30-50KiB/s (possibly higher during off peak
times) and remains there for the remainder of the download.

I have tried several different modems with the same result. My underlying ADSL connection rate to
the exhchange is about 5Mb/s down and 800kb/s upstream

Conclusion

If progress on this issue is not forthcoming within two weeks I will have no other option than to
communicate this complaint to the Telecommunication Dispute Resolution (TDR) service, and
involve them as mediator.

Thank you for your time.

Matthew Kiernan