ADSL: Uncapped versus capped

[KikzAzz]

Why not ? If you run it 24/7 for a month maxed out that is what you get. It is what you pay for so I consider it to be the fair usage threshold.

Anything less than 1.3TB and you being unfair to yourself and the abilities of your connection.

If you consider it your right to run your account maxed out 24/7, and that it is the typical mindset, people have to accept that uncapped is never going to be a reality in this country.

 

[KikzAzz]

But I do use it

I have 5 online business users running Web Based Apps and sending and receiving email.
Its the kind of business where turnaround time is important. Throughput often peaks at around 3M. Then there is the online apps.
Cutting back on bandwidth would slow the users down.

I would also not be able to get my overnight downloads down in the timeframe (10m-6am)

There is more to bandwidth than usage. Speed is also important.
If I buy 2l of beer I want to be able to chug it and not drink it through a straw.

And the cost difference is inconsequential in the business

Have you considered getting a uncapped business account?

 

[Shayd]

If you did 120~220GB on a 4MB line then you could actually just use a 512kbps since that gives you 163GB.

Why by something if you are not going to us it? Why buy a 2L Coke if you are only going to drink 330ml ?

Probably because I don't want to wait 24/7 to get what I want. Some people want a faster link for the smoother experience not just higher volume. Just like some people want uncapped so they don't have to worry about being cut off. It's not just about volume.

 

[Rouxenator]

Fair enough - good reply I must admit.

For business you want a connection as fast as you can get. If you download 24/7 then it is not that critical. What I would like to see is packages specifically made for 24/7 downloaders. The current bunch of uncapped connections does not seem to like that very much.

 

[Biscuit1018]

Have you considered getting a uncapped business account?

Yes considering it seriously now.
I am sussing out the advantages and balancing it against the increased cost.
Mwebs service looks attractive but I am busy asking questions.

I don't do such changes fast.
I am inclined to over-analyse but when I make a decision I act fast.

 

[onerb]

Fair enough - good reply I must admit.

For business you want a connection as fast as you can get. If you download 24/7 then it is not that critical. What I would like to see is packages specifically made for 24/7 downloaders. The current bunch of uncapped connections does not seem to like that very much.

You'll find that there is packages for downloading, but I am sure the price will not look too appealing.

 

[the_don46]

Thanks for your reply!

Please keep me posted if you do downgrade to 384k. Will be an interesting downgrade if Telkom upgrades 384 lines to 512 just after you downgraded, you would get an upgrade!

As far as I know, the 384 and 512 accounts are also supposed to be unshaped. I haven't actually used either one yet, but will prob be downgrading soon
Note tho, with these accounts you must move your line to CS. That said, they are cheaper than Telkom on line rental and Laurie's posted in another thread to say u can keep your line with them (at the lower prices) even if you move away later.

I honestly don't know how much of a speed difference you'll see on the lower line speeds between mweb and CS, considering the lines are so slow anyway. And from what I've been reading, Mweb's still getting decent performance on their uncapped accounts, so they're probably not at capacity yet.
At the end of the day the CS options work out cheaper for me, but with less bandwidth, usually enough for my needs tho, and good speeds pretty much guaranteed. Hence I'm staying with them. Especially since it's still early days for Mweb et al. (although we all know how Afri are suffering).
So to answer your question, my gut says if you want to download a LOT, go for Mweb, they look like they'll be fast for a while yet and don't seem to be applying usage policies so far.
If you want constant performance / speed on a tight budget and with a reasonable "cap", go for Cybersmart.

You'll have to check out their websites for pricing info - I'm downgrading to the CS "R299 for 384k + uncapped weekends + 10GB during the weeks" package next month, probably. REALLY gonna miss my 4Mb line. 25 minutes to pull a 1 hour TV show was NICE.

 

[Biscuit1018]

Why not ? If you run it 24/7 for a month maxed out that is what you get. It is what you pay for so I consider it to be the fair usage threshold.

Anything less than 1.3TB and you being unfair to yourself and the abilities of your connection.

I am curious.

What content would consume 1.3TB?
I mean even if you download HDTV shows where would you find the time to watch that content?

A lot of downloads are 720p so how many hours of video would 1.3TB be?

 

[K3NS31]

Thanks for your reply!

Please keep me posted if you do downgrade to 384k. Will be an interesting downgrade if Telkom upgrades 384 lines to 512 just after you downgraded, you would get an upgrade!

Oh, u know I had taken that into consideration

 

[skouperd]

I am curious.

What content would consume 1.3TB?
I mean even if you download HDTV shows where would you find the time to watch that content?

A lot of downloads are 720p so how many hours of video would 1.3TB be?

One example of that kind of downloads will be transactional data used in the development of mathematical models and data mining. A lot of companies feel insecure about transfering data from one place to another with anything but secure FTP. (no couriers, no external hard drives etc). Think a bank, take all their cheque accounts, take all the individual transaction data, and 1.3TB is suddenly extremely small.

Processing a 1.3TB data set is not as uncommon as it may sound. Granted, for people that would actually be interested in that kind of volumes of data, we would consider fishbone solutions, and already be on an uncapped business ADSL (or several) of them or even diginets etc.

My opinion, as soon as "uncapped" becomes common place, people should / will stop abusing it. Right now, it is uncommon and people first need to get "used" to it. Also, I recon MWeb, and this is an opinion, will have improve hit rates on their local caches due to better technicians setting it up, therefor, even though you may download 100GB, you are only really costing MWeb say 40GB. I don't think Afrihost have the experience MWeb have in setting up local cache.

The one thing that really bugs me is the ability to upload. Even the 4Mb line is ridiculously slow. When the upload speeds increase, offsite backups etc for home users could become a reality, right now, it is simply cheaper to go and buy and external harddrive and backit up to that. Bandwidth, especially local should realistically be costing less than 75 cents per GB, at the moment, it is around R2 / GB.

Typical home users, (in other words our parents), would love to backup their digital photos, home videos etc off site, but most of them is sitting with a 1 or 2GB cap, not sufficient for backing up.

I can continue for a long time on why increased bandwidth (the cap more than the speed really) is desperately needed in South Africa.

This is just my 2 cents worth.