When Traffic Spikes Don’t Make Sense
Some network problems announce themselves loudly. Others creep in quietly, hiding until they disrupt just the right number of customers at the wrong time.
That’s exactly what happened to one mid-tier cable operator when a puzzling traffic pattern started showing up on one of their egress routers. For three consecutive Saturday nights, between 10:00 PM and 10:30 PM, traffic surged… then dropped… then surged again. No clear cause. No obvious pattern. Just enough to raise alarms in the network operations center.
Without deep visibility into peering traffic flows, it could have taken days to track down the problem. But with our Peering Insights, they had the necessary visibility to start uncovering the truth.
Following the Data Trail
At first, the operator suspected external network congestion. Maybe a partner network was overloaded. Maybe it was a content provider spike. But speculation wasn’t going to fix the issue. They needed proof.
Using Aispire’s Peering Insights, the team could:
- Analyze traffic patterns at the peering level instead of relying on high-level metrics
- Correlate anomalies with external network events in real time
- Drill down into specific traffic flows to identify irregularities and see exactly where and how traffic was behaving unexpectedly
This deeper visibility, powered by a SQL-based query system for precise issue identification, quickly narrowed the possibilities. The team could also look back using long-term data retention to compare against historical patterns — something impossible with their previous toolset.
Then came the breakthrough: a misconfigured iOS setting on the router itself.
The Root Cause—and the Fast Fix
It wasn’t an overloaded partner network or a sudden content surge. The spike was traced to an internal router configuration error that only surfaced under Saturday-night peak load.
With our Peering Insights providing real-time, peering-level visibility, the team was able to pinpoint the cause in hours instead of days. The fix was simple: update the router software. Within minutes, the anomaly vanished. No more unexplained surges. No more mid-shift guessing games. Since adopting our platform, the operator has reduced incident investigation time by 87%, and the recurring disruption in this case is gone for good.
As one director puts it, “Without Aispire, it would have taken me days to isolate the issue… Now I’m able to get an answer back to management in a few hours.”
Why Peering Visibility Matters
If the operator didn’t have deep peering insights, this could have been a long, expensive investigation. Traffic would keep fluctuating. Customer experience would take a hit. And every Saturday night, the operations team would brace for another wave of alerts.
Because we deliver real-time insights into peering traffic health and performance, the team could:
- Pinpoint the exact location and cause of the issue
- Validate the fix immediately
- Keep executives informed with accurate, data-backed answers
They also gained something equally valuable: confidence. Confidence that the next unusual spike won’t turn into a days-long investigation. Confidence that they can catch and fix issues before they affect customers.
Be Ready for the Next Mystery
This case wasn’t just about fixing one problem—it was about proving that with the right visibility, no problem is too complex to solve quickly.
Broadband networks are only getting more complex. More traffic sources. More peering relationships. More opportunities for small issues to hide until they become big ones.
With our Peering Insights, you’re ready for whatever’s next. Whether it’s a sudden Saturday night spike or a subtle long-term trend, you’ll see it, understand it, and act on it—faster and more cost-effectively than ever before.
See what peering insights can do for you — schedule a meeting with us today.
