512 uncapped on a 384 line.

[twhitehead]

I have a 384kbps line and the corresponding uncapped account from Afrihost. (Who resell it from IS).

It is shaped pretty heavily during the day and only ever hits maximum line speed for a few hours after midnight.

My understanding of their shaping policies is that a 384 account gets shaped more than a 512 account. So I am considering getting a 512 account even though I only have a 384 line in the hope of getting better speeds overall. Has anyone else tried this out and does it sound like a worthwhile idea?

 

[Tweak]

I was considering the very same thing tonight but about the 4mbit uncapped account hehe. Wonder what the threshold will be with 4meg accounts

 

[Venomous]

in the case of 384 accounts: how much is a 384 shaped, uncapped /512 shaped, uncapped / 384 unshaped, uncapped ?

 

[NomNom]

I have a 384kbps line and the corresponding uncapped account from Afrihost. (Who resell it from IS).

It is shaped pretty heavily during the day and only ever hits maximum line speed for a few hours after midnight.

My understanding of their shaping policies is that a 384 account gets shaped more than a 512 account. So I am considering getting a 512 account even though I only have a 384 line in the hope of getting better speeds overall. Has anyone else tried this out and does it sound like a worthwhile idea?

You might as well get one of those new 1024KB/sec uncapped packages from Mweb, or compare the prices with Afrihost, can't check Mweb uncapped prices since I get an error "Server is too busy"

in the case of 384 accounts: how much is a 384 shaped, uncapped /512 shaped, uncapped / 384 unshaped, uncapped ?

384 shaped: http://www.afrihost.com/site/product/adsl_capped
+R152 line rental

uncapped /512 shaped: http://www.afrihost.com/site/product/adsl_uncapped
+R326 line rental

 

[twhitehead]

You might as well get one of those new 1024KB/sec uncapped packages from Mweb, or compare the prices with Afrihost, can't check Mweb uncapped prices since I get an error "Server is too busy"

My thinking was that since uncapped accounts are typically shaped well below the actual line speed, there is no point paying for that extra line speed.
If I get a 512 uncapped account it will only cost an extra R100. If it doubles my average speed (which would still be slower than my line speed of 384) then it would be well worth doing.

If I upgrade the ADSL to 1024 I may still be shaped down below 384 thus making the extra line rental costs a total waste of money (about R170 I believe).

I am just trying to find out what speeds people with 512 unshaped accounts typically experience.

 

[Pada]

It's a complete waste to get a 512kbps uncapped data account on a 384kbps ADSL line, and the same for vice versa.
If you're being shaped to hell on a 384kbps data account, then you should rather switch ISP, or just select an unshaped account instead.

If you're currently using torrents and feel that your speeds are too poor, then you should either ditch the torrents and start using HTTP/news servers for downloads, OR switch to an unshaped account like I previously mentioned.

I haven't had any speed issues with Mweb 384kbps uncapped so far, and my friend is doing about 60GB/month on his Mweb 384kbps uncapped, but then again, neither of us are using torrents.

 

[NomNom]

My thinking was that since uncapped accounts are typically shaped well below the actual line speed, there is no point paying for that extra line speed.
If I get a 512 uncapped account it will only cost an extra R100. If it doubles my average speed (which would still be slower than my line speed of 384) then it would be well worth doing.

If I upgrade the ADSL to 1024 I may still be shaped down below 384 thus making the extra line rental costs a total waste of money (about R170 I believe).

I am just trying to find out what speeds people with 512 unshaped accounts typically experience.

So far everyone who has gotten a 1024KB/sec line from Mweb has reported full speeds.

 

[twhitehead]

If you're being shaped to hell on a 384kbps data account, then you should rather switch ISP, or just select an unshaped account instead.

How much better would other ISPs be? I currently manage about 40Gb a month with Afrihost.

If you're currently using torrents and feel that your speeds are too poor, then you should either ditch the torrents and start using HTTP/news servers for downloads, OR switch to an unshaped account like I previously mentioned.

I will have a look at news servers, but I am not sure yet if they have the content I am interested in. I am mostly into Chinese stuff which often doesn't even have that many torrent users. Are news servers as popular as torrents these days or are they mostly a South African thing to get around torrent shaping?

 

[cpu.]

Just about everything you get on torrents is available on news servers (international based and SA).

My personal choice is a torrent seedbox (download service) like http://put.io or http://www.downstorm.co.za. Unfortunately the guys of Downstorm can't get their new system online (I waited more than a year), so I had to move on to put.io which is 100 times better.

 

[cpu.]

Another plus is no need to search/wait for seeders with news servers. It (800+ days) is available for much longer than torrents (+- 1 year)