[Bloat] Fixing bufferbloat: How about an open letter to the web benchmarkers?

[Dave Taht]

The theme of networks being "engineered for speedtest" has been a
common thread in nearly  every conversation I've had with ISPs and
vendors using every base technology out there, be it dsl, cable,
ethernet, or fiber, for the last 4 years. Perhaps, in pursuing better
code, and RFCs, and the like, we've been going about fixing
bufferbloat the wrong way.

If Verizon can petition the FCC to change the definition of
broadband... why can't we petition speedtest to *change their test*?
Switching to merely reporting the 98th percentile results for ping
during an upload or download, instead of the baseline ping, would be a
vast improvement on what happens today, and no doubt we could suggest
other improvements.

What if we could publish an open letter to the benchmark makers such
as speedtest, explaining how engineering for their test does *not*
make for a better internet? The press fallout from that letter, would
improve some user education, regardless if we could get the tests
changed or not.

Who here would sign?


On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 2:54 PM, Joel Wirāmu Pauling <joel at aenertia.net> wrote:
> I have been heavily involved with the UFB (Ultrafast Broadband) PON
> deployment here in New Zealand.
>
> I am not sure how the regulated environment is playing out in Canada
> (I am moving there in a month so I guess I will find out). But here
> the GPON architecture is METH based and Layer2 only. Providers (RSP's)
> are the ones responsible for asking for Handoffer buffer tweaks to the
> LFC(local fibre companies; the layer 0-2 outfits-) which have mandated
> targets for Latency (at most 4.5ms) accross their PON Access networks
> to the Handover port.
>
> Most of the time this has been to 'fix' Speedtest.net TCP based
> results to report whatever Marketed service (100/30 For example) is in
> everyones favourite site speedtest.net.
>
> This has meant at least for the Chorus LFC regions where they use
> Alcatel-Lucent 7450's as the handover/aggregation switches we have
> deliberately introduced buffer bloat to please the RSP's - who
> otherwise get whingy about customers whinging about speedtest not
> showing 100/30mbit. Of course user education is 'too hard' .