Cybersmart Uncapped - R50pm for 384k

[Quixotic]

With ADSL Line Rental it comes to R199pm. Not sure what the 15:1 to 20:1 contention would translate into. I currently pay R299pm and average approx 45GB pm (capped unshaped). Wonder whether I would achieve at least that. Also, would the contention ratio just amount to lots of frustration!

[hereticangel]

hmm R500 for 4mps , someone test it please :P

[ponder]

hmm R500 for 4mps , someone test it please :P

Yes please. Those contention ratios mentioned by the OP don't sound bad.

[K3NS31]

Just called them, the guy I spoke to says their uncapped accounts are also unshaped!!!!
Also, that contention ratio is about the same as you get on the shaped account. Which you'll know from experience is pretty damn good.
There's a FUP / load balancing thing which I still need to have a look at, but I'll probably be upgrading to full uncapped from 1 June.
Awesome!
Uncapped AND unshaped AND cheap. FINALLY. I've been waiting a long time for this.
NICE ONE Cybersmart.

[Totempole]

Just called them, the guy I spoke to says their uncapped accounts are also unshaped!!!!
Also, that contention ratio is about the same as you get on the shaped account. Which you'll know from experience is pretty damn good.
There's a FUP / load balancing thing which I still need to have a look at, but I'll probably be upgrading to full uncapped from 1 June.
Awesome!
Uncapped AND unshaped AND cheap. FINALLY. I've been waiting a long time for this.
NICE ONE Cybersmart.

Don't be too hasty to sign you soul over to Cybersmart. They don't have a good history
with this sort of thing. I'm not saying you shouldn't give it a try, I'm just saying don't be
too quick to switch your line to them.

[jarrodr]

I'm currently with Wazzup, I might just move over but what does Contention actually MEAN?

[K3NS31]

Don't be too hasty to sign you soul over to Cybersmart. They don't have a good history
with this sort of thing. I'm not saying you shouldn't give it a try, I'm just saying don't be
too quick to switch your line to them.

Don't worry about me. Been with them for years. Done the lot too, run other ISP's adsl accounts on my Cybersmart line and all those other things everyone's so down on them about. Fact of the matter is, I've tried many ISP's, but they've got the best bandwidth. Unshaped, fast, and now well priced too. My only decision is whether to stick with my current package, which is all I really need, and has zero AUP, or change to their uncapped.
Incidentally, they've apparently changed their TOC, but don't tell anybody. I'm happy for Mweb et al to get overloaded while I get to have good contention ratios.

[K3NS31]

I'm currently with Wazzup, I might just move over but what does Contention actually MEAN?

Well, say your ISP sells you 1 mb/s worth of bandwidth (don't worry about caps etc. for the purposes of this discussion). But they also sell the same to 100 other people. However, they don't actually have a 100 meg connection themselves. They've actually only got a 50 meg connection. But they know not everyone's gonna be on at the same time, and even if they are, they won't all be using their full bandwidth constantly. So they sell more than what they have. The contention ratio is how many people are "contending for", i.e. sharing the same bandwidth. In our example, it's a 2:1 contention ratio.
In the real world, you can easily get 30:1 or more. In the bad old days of SA Internet, 50:1 wasn't uncommon (cough, Mweb), but I don't think that happens anymore, although I haven't really looked into it in any depth for ages.

[jarrodr]

Well, say your ISP sells you 1 mb/s worth of bandwidth (don't worry about caps etc. for the purposes of this discussion). But they also sell the same to 100 other people. However, they don't actually have a 100 meg connection themselves. They've actually only got a 50 meg connection. But they know not everyone's gonna be on at the same time, and even if they are, they won't all be using their full bandwidth constantly. So they sell more than what they have. The contention ratio is how many people are "contending for", i.e. sharing the same bandwidth. In our example, it's a 2:1 contention ratio.
In the real world, you can easily get 30:1 or more. In the bad old days of SA Internet, 50:1 wasn't uncommon (cough, Mweb), but I don't think that happens anymore, although I haven't really looked into it in any depth for ages.

Thanks dude, I currently download 40gigs at most on a 384 line. What's a realistic download per month on 1mb line?

[K3NS31]

Thanks dude, I currently download 40gigs at most on a 384 line. What's a realistic download per month on 1mb line?

Well, I normally download over weekends only, but the one month I did a BIT of weekday downloading as well (April, public hols y'know), I managed to hit like 75gigs. Still dunno where I found so much stuff, although streaming a whole 10 episode Discovery show off Youtube definitely helped things along. (30 - 40+ gigs exclusively over weekends is pretty much average for me at the moment)

[COMPUTEK]

Nice

[jarrodr]

So who signed up so far?

[jalize]

Yebo yes

[backlashza]

I did. I am an existing customer been with them for years so it's great to finally have an uncapped option . Going for the 1 mb line. I almost jumped ship to go to mweb because my friend has satisfactory service from them. Here's hoping cybersmart can provide the goods

[jarrodr]

A 1mb line in total would cost R428. Sucks