Of course…. But the ISP’s maxim is "don’t believe the customer’s speedtest 
numbers if it is not with their host".


Gene
----------------------------------------------
Eugene Chang
IEEE Senior Life Member
[email protected]
781-799-0233 (in Honolulu)



> On Sep 26, 2022, at 11:44 AM, Bruce Perens <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> That's a good maxim: Don't believe a speed test that is hosted by your own 
> ISP.
> 
> On Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 2:36 PM Eugene Y Chang via Starlink 
> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> 
> wrote:
> Thank you for the dialog,.
> This discussion with regards to Starlink is interesting as it confirms my 
> guesses about the gap between Starlinks overly simplified, over optimistic 
> marketing and the reality as they acquire subscribers.
> 
> I am actually interested in a more perverse issue. I am seeing latency and 
> bufferbloat as a consequence from significant under provisioning. It doesn’t 
> matter that the ISP is selling a fiber drop, if (parts) of their network is 
> under provisioned. Two end points can be less than 5 mile apart and realize 
> 120+ ms latency. Two Labor Days ago (a holiday) the max latency was 230+ ms. 
> The pattern I see suggest digital redlining. The older communities appear to 
> have much more severe under provisioning.
> 
> Another observation. Running speedtest appears to go from the edge of the 
> network by layer 2 to the speedtest host operated by the ISP. Yup, bypasses 
> the (suspected overloaded) routers.
> 
> Anyway, just observing.
> 
> Gene
> ----------------------------------------------
> Eugene Chang
> IEEE Senior Life Member
> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
> 781-799-0233 (in Honolulu)
> 
> 
> 
>> On Sep 26, 2022, at 11:20 AM, Sebastian Moeller <[email protected] 
>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Gene,
>> 
>> 
>>> On Sep 26, 2022, at 23:10, Eugene Y Chang <[email protected] 
>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Comments inline below.
>>> 
>>> Gene
>>> ----------------------------------------------
>>> Eugene Chang
>>> IEEE Senior Life Member
>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>> 781-799-0233 (in Honolulu)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Sep 26, 2022, at 11:01 AM, Sebastian Moeller <[email protected] 
>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi Eugene,
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Sep 26, 2022, at 22:54, Eugene Y Chang via Starlink 
>>>>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> 
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Ok, we are getting into the details. I agree.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Every node in the path has to implement this to be effective.
>>>> 
>>>>    Amazingly the biggest bang for the buck is gotten by fixing those nodes 
>>>> that actually contain a network path's bottleneck. Often these are pretty 
>>>> stable. So yes for fully guaranteed service quality all nodes would need 
>>>> to participate, but for improving things noticeably it is sufficient to 
>>>> improve the usual bottlenecks, e.g. for many internet access links the 
>>>> home gateway is a decent point to implement better buffer management. (In 
>>>> short the problem are over-sized and under-managed buffers, and one of the 
>>>> best solution is better/smarter buffer management).
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> This is not completely true.
>> 
>>      [SM] You are likely right, trying to summarize things leads to 
>> partially incorrect generalizations.
>> 
>> 
>>> Say the bottleneck is at node N. During the period of congestion, the 
>>> upstream node N-1 will have to buffer. When node N recovers, the 
>>> bufferbloat at N-1 will be blocking until the bufferbloat drains. Etc. etc. 
>>>  Making node N better will reduce the extent of the backup at N-1, but N-1 
>>> should implement the better code.
>> 
>>      [SM] It is the node that builds up the queue that profits most from 
>> better queue management.... (again I generalize, the node with the queue 
>> itself probably does not care all that much, but the endpoints will profit 
>> if the queue experiencing node deals with that queue more gracefully).
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> In fact, every node in the path has to have the same prioritization or 
>>>>> the scheme becomes ineffective.
>>>> 
>>>>    Yes and no, one of the clearest winners has been flow queueing, IMHO 
>>>> not because it is the most optimal capacity sharing scheme, but because it 
>>>> is the least pessimal scheme, allowing all (or none) flows forward 
>>>> progress. You can interpret that as a scheme in which flows below their 
>>>> capacity share are prioritized, but I am not sure that is the best way to 
>>>> look at these things.
>>> 
>>> The hardest part is getting competing ISPs to implement and coordinate.
>> 
>>      [SM] Yes, but it turned out even with non-cooperating ISPs there is a 
>> lot end-users can do unilaterally on their side to improve both ingress and 
>> egress congestion. Admittedly especially ingress congestion would be even 
>> better handled with cooperation of the ISP.
>> 
>>> Bufferbloat and handoff between ISPs will be hard. The only way to fix this 
>>> is to get the unwashed public to care. Then they can say “we don’t care 
>>> about the technical issues, just fix it.” Until then …..
>> 
>>      [SM] Well we do this one home network at a time (not because that is 
>> efficient or ideal, but simply because it is possible). Maybe, if you have 
>> not done so already try OpenWrt with sqm-scripts (and maybe cake-autorate in 
>> addition) on your home internet access link for say a week and let us know 
>> ih/how your experience changed?
>> 
>> Regards
>>      Sebastian
>> 
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Regards
>>>>    Sebastian
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Gene
>>>>> ----------------------------------------------
>>>>> Eugene Chang
>>>>> IEEE Senior Life Member
>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>>>> 781-799-0233 (in Honolulu)
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Sep 26, 2022, at 10:48 AM, David Lang <[email protected] 
>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> software updates can do far more than just improve recovery.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> In practice, large data transfers are less sensitive to latency than 
>>>>>> smaller data transfers (i.e. downloading a CD image vs a video 
>>>>>> conference), software can ensure better fairness in preventing a bulk 
>>>>>> transfer from hurting the more latency sensitive transfers.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> (the example below is not completely accurate, but I think it gets the 
>>>>>> point across)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> When buffers become excessivly large, you have the situation where a 
>>>>>> video call is going to generate a small amount of data at a regular 
>>>>>> interval, but a bulk data transfer is able to dump a huge amount of data 
>>>>>> into the buffer instantly.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> If you just do FIFO, then you get a small chunk of video call, then 
>>>>>> several seconds worth of CD transfer, followed by the next small chunk 
>>>>>> of the video call.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> But the software can prevent the one app from hogging so much of the 
>>>>>> connection and let the chunk of video call in sooner, avoiding the 
>>>>>> impact to the real time traffic. Historically this has required the 
>>>>>> admin classify all traffic and configure equipment to implement 
>>>>>> different treatment based on the classification (and this requires trust 
>>>>>> in the classification process), the bufferbloat team has developed 
>>>>>> options (fq_codel and cake) that can ensure fairness between 
>>>>>> applications/servers with little or no configuration, and no trust in 
>>>>>> other systems to properly classify their traffic.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> The one thing that Cake needs to work really well is to be able to know 
>>>>>> what the data rate available is. With Starlink, this changes frequently 
>>>>>> and cake integrated into the starlink dish/router software would be far 
>>>>>> better than anything that can be done externally as the rate changes can 
>>>>>> be fed directly into the settings (currently they are only indirectly 
>>>>>> detected)
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> David Lang
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Mon, 26 Sep 2022, Eugene Y Chang via Starlink wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> You already know this. Bufferbloat is a symptom and not the cause. 
>>>>>>> Bufferbloat grows when there are (1) periods of low or no bandwidth or 
>>>>>>> (2) periods of insufficient bandwidth (aka network congestion).
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> If I understand this correctly, just a software update cannot make 
>>>>>>> bufferbloat go away. It might improve the speed of recovery (e.g. throw 
>>>>>>> away all time sensitive UDP messages).
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Gene
>>>>>>> ----------------------------------------------
>>>>>>> Eugene Chang
>>>>>>> IEEE Senior Life Member
>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>>>>>> 781-799-0233 (in Honolulu)
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Sep 26, 2022, at 10:04 AM, Bruce Perens <[email protected] 
>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Please help to explain. Here's a draft to start with:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Starlink Performance Not Sufficient for Military Applications, Say 
>>>>>>>> Scientists
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> The problem is not availability: Starlink works where nothing but 
>>>>>>>> another satellite network would. It's not bandwidth, although others 
>>>>>>>> have questions about sustaining bandwidth as the customer base grows. 
>>>>>>>> It's latency and jitter. As load increases, latency, the time it takes 
>>>>>>>> for a packet to get through, increases more than it should. The 
>>>>>>>> scientists who have fought bufferbloat, a major cause of latency on 
>>>>>>>> the internet, know why. SpaceX needs to upgrade their system to use 
>>>>>>>> the scientist's Open Source modifications to Linux to fight 
>>>>>>>> bufferbloat, and thus reduce latency. This is mostly just using a 
>>>>>>>> newer version, but there are some tunable parameters. Jitter is a 
>>>>>>>> change in the speed of getting a packet through the network during a 
>>>>>>>> connection, which is inevitable in satellite networks, but will be 
>>>>>>>> improved by making use of the bufferbloat-fighting software, and 
>>>>>>>> probably with the addition of more satellites.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> We've done all of the work, SpaceX just needs to adopt it by upgrading 
>>>>>>>> their software, said scientist Dave Taht. Jim Gettys, Taht's 
>>>>>>>> collaborator and creator of the X Window System, chimed in: <fill in 
>>>>>>>> here please>
>>>>>>>> Open Source luminary Bruce Perens said: sometimes Starlink's latency 
>>>>>>>> and jitter make it inadequate to remote-control my ham radio station. 
>>>>>>>> But the military is experimenting with remote-control of vehicles on 
>>>>>>>> the battlefield and other applications that can be demonstrated, but 
>>>>>>>> won't happen at scale without adoption of bufferbloat-fighting 
>>>>>>>> strategies.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 12:59 PM Eugene Chang 
>>>>>>>> <[email protected] 
>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]><mailto:[email protected] 
>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>> The key issue is most people don’t understand why latency matters. 
>>>>>>>> They don’t see it or feel it’s impact.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> First, we have to help people see the symptoms of latency and how it 
>>>>>>>> impacts something they care about.
>>>>>>>> - gamers care but most people may think it is frivolous.
>>>>>>>> - musicians care but that is mostly for a hobby.
>>>>>>>> - business should care because of productivity but they don’t know how 
>>>>>>>> to “see” the impact.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Second, there needs to be a “OMG, I have been seeing the action of 
>>>>>>>> latency all this time and never knew it! I was being shafted.” Once 
>>>>>>>> you have this awakening, you can get all the press you want for free.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Most of the time when business apps are developed, “we” hide the 
>>>>>>>> impact of poor performance (aka latency) or they hide from the 
>>>>>>>> discussion because the developers don’t have a way to fix the latency. 
>>>>>>>> Maybe businesses don’t care because any employees affected are just 
>>>>>>>> considered poor performers. (In bad economic times, the poor 
>>>>>>>> performers are just laid off.) For employees, if they happen to be at 
>>>>>>>> a location with bad latency, they don’t know that latency is hurting 
>>>>>>>> them. Unfair but most people don’t know the issue is latency.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Talking and explaining why latency is bad is not as effective as 
>>>>>>>> showing why latency is bad. Showing has to be with something that has 
>>>>>>>> a person impact.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Gene
>>>>>>>> -----------------------------------
>>>>>>>> Eugene Chang
>>>>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
>>>>>>>> +1-781-799-0233 (in Honolulu)
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> On Sep 26, 2022, at 6:32 AM, Bruce Perens via Starlink 
>>>>>>>>> <[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]><mailto:[email protected]
>>>>>>>>>  <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> If you want to get attention, you can get it for free. I can place 
>>>>>>>>> articles with various press if there is something interesting to say. 
>>>>>>>>> Did this all through the evangelism of Open Source. All we need to do 
>>>>>>>>> is write, sign, and publish a statement. What they actually write is 
>>>>>>>>> less relevant if they publish a link to our statement.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Right now I am concerned that the Starlink latency and jitter is 
>>>>>>>>> going to be a problem even for remote controlling my ham station. The 
>>>>>>>>> US Military is interested in doing much more, which they have 
>>>>>>>>> demonstrated, but I don't see happening at scale without some 
>>>>>>>>> technical work on the network. Being able to say this isn't ready for 
>>>>>>>>> the government's application would be an attention-getter.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>  Thanks
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>  Bruce
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 9:21 AM Dave Taht via Starlink 
>>>>>>>>> <[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]><mailto:[email protected]
>>>>>>>>>  <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> These days, if you want attention, you gotta buy it. A 50k half page
>>>>>>>>> ad in the wapo or NYT riffing off of It's the latency, Stupid!",
>>>>>>>>> signed by the kinds of luminaries we got for the fcc wifi fight, would
>>>>>>>>> go a long way towards shifting the tide.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 8:29 AM Dave Taht <[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 8:20 AM Livingood, Jason
>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> The awareness & understanding of latency & impact on QoE is nearly 
>>>>>>>>>>> unknown among reporters. IMO maybe there should be some kind of 
>>>>>>>>>>> background briefings for reporters - maybe like a simple YouTube 
>>>>>>>>>>> video explainer that is short & high level & visual? Otherwise 
>>>>>>>>>>> reporters will just continue to focus on what they know...
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> That's a great idea. I have visions of crashing the washington
>>>>>>>>>> correspondents dinner, but perhaps
>>>>>>>>>> there is some set of gatherings journalists regularly attend?
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> On 9/21/22, 14:35, "Starlink on behalf of Dave Taht via Starlink" 
>>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> on behalf of 
>>>>>>>>>>> [email protected] 
>>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>  I still find it remarkable that reporters are still missing the
>>>>>>>>>>>  meaning of the huge latencies for starlink, under load.
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>> FQ World Domination pending: 
>>>>>>>>>> https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/ 
>>>>>>>>>> <https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/><https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/
>>>>>>>>>>  <https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/>>
>>>>>>>>>> Dave Täht CEO, TekLibre, LLC
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> FQ World Domination pending: 
>>>>>>>>> https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/ 
>>>>>>>>> <https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/><https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/
>>>>>>>>>  <https://blog.cerowrt.org/post/state_of_fq_codel/>>
>>>>>>>>> Dave Täht CEO, TekLibre, LLC
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>> Starlink mailing list
>>>>>>>>> [email protected] 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>>
>>>>>>>>> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink 
>>>>>>>>> <https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink> 
>>>>>>>>> <https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink 
>>>>>>>>> <https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink>>
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>> Bruce Perens K6BP
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>> Starlink mailing list
>>>>>>>>> [email protected] 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected] 
>>>>>>>>> <mailto:[email protected]>>
>>>>>>>>> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink 
>>>>>>>>> <https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink> 
>>>>>>>>> <https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink 
>>>>>>>>> <https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink>>
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>> Bruce Perens K6BP
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Starlink mailing list
>>>>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>>>>> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink 
>>>>> <https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink>
> _______________________________________________
> Starlink mailing list
> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink 
> <https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/starlink>
> 
> 
> --
> Bruce Perens K6BP

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