Web Africa ADSL general feedback

[WAJustinW]

We can definitely understand what you guys are saying that no one likes the email notifications but it is something we have to do as we have agreed to inform our clients if they are close or exceeding their thresholds, again as per Jeff's reply.

One thing I can say is that these notifications have been sent to a very small amount of our Uncapped customers because the majority are within their thresholds. Like Jeff mentioned there are ways to best use the Uncapped service i.e: download plus which will allow you to get quite a lot out of the account and If you know that you need more then you can just upgrade.

[moklet]

I am soooooo glad i am not with WA anymore goodluck to the poor fellows still with them who now compalin about their uncapped accounts wonder when WA is going to get it right again

[grim]

Quite the contrary Fulton17, we have increased our network capacity quite considerably over the last couple of months and are not running near full capacity. The reason behind this is that we have a small amount of customers continually exceeded their CAPS and this in my opinion is unfair as it is impacting the majority of our Uncapped users which are well within their limits.

We have notified these customers about their usage exceeding the CAP but they decided not to slow it down. We even give these customers a call to warn them and all they need to do is stick within the CAP. These customers also have a choice of upgrading their service to a bigger package since they will using such a high amount of bandwidth.

So we have done all that we can do from our end but we need our customers to work with us as well.

There. Fixed it.

[MFour]

Is WA's Uncapped really Uncapped?
Yes. Remember, expecting a true Uncapped experience in SA is few and far between - looking at the UK/ overseas markets. We cannot simply allow free reign over the accounts and allow everyone to download the internet every night.

I think you/WA need to be congratulated for that statement Jeff. From my experience most ISPs with "uncapped" offerings go through great lengths not to come out and say it like it is. The question is more often than not simply dodged and and a "we don't limit you" statement is thrown at any question that is asked to that effect, when we all know that it is not necessarily the truth. So well done for saying it as it is, can't be said in more simple terms.

[Fulton17]

I think you/WA need to be congratulated for that statement Jeff. From my experience most ISPs with "uncapped" offerings go through great lengths not to come out and say it like it is. The question is more often than not simply dodged and and a "we don't limit you" statement is thrown at any question that is asked to that effect, when we all know that it is not necessarily the truth. So well done for saying it as it is, can't be said in more simple terms.

I am a bit confused. WA say they are really uncapped when they have rolling windows in place and when you go over these windows various things might happen. I would have thought an honest / accurate answer would be more along the lines of a qualified yes or semi uncapped.
You have to manage your account, and that tells me straight away it is far from a true uncapped account.

[nogard]

I came, I saw, I lolled

Glad I left.

Me too. Meaning glad that you (and other heavy downloaders) left. Leaves a better network for me to use

WA is using loopholes and technicalities to get away with calling a service with severe usage limitations an uncapped service.

My downloads runs about 24/7. During the day it runs slower to keep within my 7 day limit, but when the clock strikes midnight they go to full speed for 6 hours - as this time does not count towards your 7 day limit. By using this 6 hour window optimally I get way more than my limit would suggest.

I still download faster than I am able to watch.

And my WA line only goes down when telkom ghardware fails or the SAT3 cable breaks.

I am very happy with the limitations WA put on usage. Keeps my line as fast as what I pay for (within the limits we have in ZA).

[MFour]

I am a bit confused. WA say they are really uncapped when they have rolling windows in place and when you go over these windows various things might happen. I would have thought an honest / accurate answer would be more along the lines of a qualified yes or semi uncapped.
You have to manage your account, and that tells me straight away it is far from a true uncapped account.

I hear what you are saying and struggled for a long time with the exact same argument. The truth is however that we do not have true uncapped (excluding the business accounts) in SA, never have, and probably never will. Something we have to accept (in spite of many complaints) is that definition of uncapped in SA is something unique and not really related to the true meaning of the word, uncapped. I've not read through any of WA's promo material, so no idea what it sells it as, but I am commending Jeff on acknowledging the fact that it is not a true uncapped product.

So if you can make piece with the fact that we do not have true uncapped internet access in SA, regardless of the promo bumf, it is (for me anyway) quite refreshing to have an ISP rep come out and call a spade a spade.

[Pr⊕phet]

I hear what you are saying and struggled for a long time with the exact same argument. The truth is however that we do not have true uncapped (excluding the business accounts) in SA, never have, and probably never will. Something we have to accept (in spite of many complaints) is that definition of uncapped in SA is something unique and not really related to the true meaning of the word, uncapped. I've not read through any of WA's promo material, so no idea what it sells it as, but I am commending Jeff on acknowledging the fact that it is not a true uncapped product.

So if you can make piece with the fact that we do not have true uncapped internet access in SA, regardless of the promo bumf, it is (for me anyway) quite refreshing to have an ISP rep come out and call a spade a spade.

It is one thing to make peace and another thing to just throw logic at the wind.

If the rolling window was such a good thing why isn't all the isps using it? How can openweb or mweb then do without it, and quite a good job too. WA's bandwith allocation is broken and that doesn't make a good combination with rolling windows. Further more they are quick to say one thing and do another thing like for example saying that download as much as you want, rolling will take care of it. However then they bully you to cancellation or paying more. Well played.

No one here is demanding a constant stream TBs a month. We just want to use the line when we want to use it without having the laksman over your shoulder. Who really wants to be made to wait till odd hours to get that game, music, video, update etc etc. I'd wager that the home product isn't very good option if you are 4 people in the house that are not IT handicapped.

[MFour]

It is one thing to make peace and another thing to just throw logic at the wind.

If the rolling window was such a good thing why isn't all the isps using it? How can openweb or mweb then do without it, and quite a good job too. WA's bandwith allocation is broken and that doesn't make a good combination with rolling windows. Further more they are quick to say one thing and do another thing like for example saying that download as much as you want, rolling will take care of it. However then they bully you to cancellation or paying more. Well played.

No one here is demanding a constant stream TBs a month. We just want to use the line when we want to use it without having the laksman over your shoulder. Who really wants to be made to wait till odd hours to get that game, music, video, update etc etc. I'd wager that the home product isn't very good option if you are 4 people in the house that are not IT handicapped.

Look I'm not arguing with any of you, in fact I agree with what you are saying. I have used MWEB in the past and for my usage it was pretty hopeless, where for others it worked great. I do not have an uncapped account because I find it too restrictive, I don't care much for rollings windows, shaping rules, and the like. No matter which ISP, they all have the same thing going, in different forms maybe, one might be more usable than the other depending on how you want to use it, but the fact remains none of them are truly uncapped accounts, not in my view anyway. As much as i would love to have one, the only way to have it atm is to start selling organs to finance it, clearly not an option for most, i.e. business uncapped.

All I'm saying is that maybe people are expecting too much from a SA based "uncapped" account. As Jeff said: "Remember, expecting a true Uncapped experience in SA is few and far between". I have not heard MWEB, or any of the others make such a statement (maybe they have, I don't know). Obviously there are some issues experienced by users, and it might or might not improve in time, but for some it works great, for other's not. To find the right one for your taste you will have to swop and chop from ISP to ISP until you find happiness. If WA does not work for you then it does not, move on.

For the foreseeable future I'll stick to my RedAfrica account which does exactly what I want it to (although more GB's would be nice). It runs flawlessly 24/7 at the moment, for what I need it for, it might not be the same for someone else. More cap would be a bargain, but it does not exist, so I have made piece with the way things are. Throwing logic to the wind? Well maybe, depends on your point of view.

PS: yes I'm bored at work with too much time on my hands today

[Pr⊕phet]

I got that after I typed it out

Look I'm not arguing with any of you, in fact I agree with what you are saying. I have used MWEB in the past and for my usage it was pretty hopeless, where for others it worked great. I do not have an uncapped account because I find it too restrictive, I don't care much for rollings windows, shaping rules, and the like. No matter which ISP, they all have the same thing going, in different forms maybe, one might be more usable than the other depending on how you want to use it, but the fact remains none of them are truly uncapped accounts, not in my view anyway. As much as i would love to have one, the only way to have it atm is to start selling organs to finance it, clearly not an option for most, i.e. business uncapped.

All I'm saying is that maybe people are expecting too much from a SA based "uncapped" account. As Jeff said: "Remember, expecting a true Uncapped experience in SA is few and far between". I have not heard MWEB, or any of the others make such a statement (maybe they have, I don't know). Obviously there are some issues experienced by users, and it might or might not improve in time, but for some it works great, for other's not. To find the right one for your taste you will have to swop and chop from ISP to ISP until you find happiness. If WA does not work for you then it does not, move on.

For the foreseeable future I'll stick to my RedAfrica account which does exactly what I want it to (although more GB's would be nice). It runs flawlessly 24/7 at the moment, for what I need it for, it might not be the same for someone else. More cap would be a bargain, but it does not exist, so I have made piece with the way things are. Throwing logic to the wind? Well maybe, depends on your point of view.

PS: yes I'm bored at work with too much time on my hands today

[Fulton17]

@MFour - I agree that true uncapped in SA is unlikely, but Jeff did say yes. I do not find that a good answer. Yes he later did explain a bit more.

I have a 1 meg uncapped account with MWeb. In May I DL 120 odd gigs and in June 150 gigs. I did not have to worry about rolling windows, time frames etc. I let MWeb control things. Most of the time during OH there was a slight slowdown (but totally acceptable for me) and then after hours, pretty much full steam. What I like is that I do not have to think about anything in terms of monitoring and control. I just let the system do it's thing.

Yes, I do applaud WA for saying this is what you can do and this is your threshold (I gather some other ISP's are not this open), but for me MWeb is way ahead as all these thresholds, limits etc are not needed.

I would not try and DL 24/7 as I know that would lead to possible unhappines from MWeb and I do understand that in the true sense that would be uncapped.

[nogard]

I have a 1 meg uncapped account with MWeb. In May I DL 120 odd gigs and in June 150 gigs. I did not have to worry about rolling windows, time frames etc.

Did you know that on a WA 1M uncapped account you can download for 48 hours at full speed without going over your weekly rolling limit?
You will have to take it very slow for the next 5 days though.
Here is my calculation:
From here you can get 9.1GB per 24 hours on a 1M line. 18 of those hours count towards your rolling limit as 12 - 6am is not measured.
9.1 / 24 * 18 * 2 gives you 13.65 ... leaving you with 358M for the remaining 5 days before WA may start to slow you down.
Then you can still do the 12-6 window = giving you another ~11GB of downloads for that time.

Or if you want to stretch it out:
30 days. 12-6 window = 68.25GB
7 day rolling, 14 GB = 2 per day. Times 30 days gives you another 60GB

60 + 68 = 128 GB per month download. And while that is not 100% at your pace, you still get the same as you did in May.
Spreading out the other 22GB over a time to get to 150GB will most likely not bing down the wrath of WA.

Not spectacular, but it shows that WA is very comparative with other ISPs when it comes to volume.
Their rolling limits just prevents that everyone does not download their 120GB share within the first 2 weeks of the month - which would have a negative impact on the network.

PS. Have you watched/used/played everything of that 270GB download over May/June?

[Fulton17]

Did you know that on a WA 1M uncapped account you can download for 48 hours at full speed without going over your weekly rolling limit?

PS. Have you watched/used/played everything of that 270GB download over May/June?

I am sure you can, as your many calculations proved The issue is you have to manage your account. I don't bother at all - just do what I want. For me an uncapped account should mean not having to worry / manage /limit etc. With WA "uncapped" you do unless you are a low volume user.

Long way to go to watch all the stuff. I DL in HD, so that does take up more bandwidth, and if something looks interesting, I DL it. So, to answer you unasked question - no I do not always need all that bandwidth and as I also have a redafrica account, so actually use more

[Zewp]

As has been said countless times in this thread already, the issue isn't with having an account that can download the internet either, it's with the fact that if someone buys Rage from Steam tonight, he will not be able to download it all in one go without hitting his threshold and being throttled. He would have to schedule it for DL+ hours, etc. It sucks not being able to use your account when you want.

Also, actively telling people not to go over a certain usage limit is not an uncapped account.

[Jase]

My 4c.

Firstly WA should not threaten people as Crowley has claimed. The service is marketed and sold as UNCAPPED. So if the T&C's/AUP states otherwise, then it is in conflict with the marketed service. You cannot state this is uncapped subject to staying within a certain amount of allocated bandwidth over a set period of time. To me that is capping the account to a certain amount of gigs/time period which is just the same as buying X amount of bandwidth/time period (eg. month).

@WA, I would rather suggest a simple letter, email, phonecall, SMS stating that the limit has been exceeded and that the user is now throttled. Do what you state you will do in your T&C's, move them to a lower priority/throttle them.

Now having said that, I am happy with the service received from WA thus far. I received one letter a while back for exceeding my threshold. Am I a heavy user? Yes we are 3 using the internet at home and one of us is a student who spends a ton of time downloading the internet.

I on the other hand like DL+ as it pushes all heavy downloads to times when we are asleep and leaves awake hours for more important stuff like online gaming, HD streaming etc.

Numbers: Total usage incl. DL+ todate = around 200gig for the month (wtf is that student downloading???). Amount left till threshold 20gig or so (enough to grab any new release or special off steam if the urge hits me).