Afrihost Business Uncapped Feedback - 2

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AfriMan said:
If I look at my reports of how demand rises and falls, it certainly does seem to be a consistent pattern so I am not surprised. We don't generally see gentle slopes for increase or drop off in demand, it's usually a dramatic spike or dip, and it's usually so consistent you can set your watch by it.

Think about traffic patterns. How often can you tell almost to the minute when traffic will be horrible and when it will be light?
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I am sorry, but the more I am given these explanations, the less convincing they become. Please consider ALL the evidence:

1) To use your own comparison, highway traffic is certainly not the same on a Sunday as it is on a weekday. Neither is internet traffic.
2) We are not talking of "almost to the minute" here. If I go to the trouble, I will literally be able to time this to the second. No traffic patterns (motor vehicle or data) are as precise as that.
3) Only NNTP and P2P are affected, everything else keeps flowing at a constant rate. How does congestion explain this?
4) Other ISP's apparently have their own dedicated "fast lanes", as they don't seem to be affected by the traffic.

Be that as it may, my downloads are now jumping from 0KB/s to full speed (1.2MB/s) and back -- something I've never seen in the morning. Must be some really dramatic stop/go traffic! My guess is somebody is fiddling with something right now ...
 
AfriMan said:
I really don't think you can measure a network by the same criteria as a happy meal or by the ml's in a bottle of soda. Sorry I was just reading a Hellopeter complaint by this guy who counted the number of fries in his chicken meal and complained that there were too few.

A network is more like a living entity than a static commodity. At any given time there is variation in the number of users, type of demand, international and local factors like loadshedding or routing, and this is continually affecting the network and clients experience to some degree (not to mention local factors like your network, Telkom line, exchanges, etc). I do agree that there is a level which is considered OK, and below that is kinda not OK, at there are times (in certain regions) when our network performance currently drops below the OK mark, and we are definitely working on fixing that experience.
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I never compared your network to any happy meal etc. But your network is not operating as it should, you had issues long before load shedding. I still find it interesting out of all the ISP's I have used over the years, that Afrihost seem to be the one network with lots of issues. I admit when your network works its fantastic, when there are issues then its awful.

At the end of the day, I have my impression of how things are run, how they are managed etc, and I don't think I am the only one that feels let down by this service.
 
redfox61 said:
I am sorry, but the more I am given these explanations, the less convincing they become. Please consider ALL the evidence:

1) To use your own comparison, highway traffic is certainly not the same on a Sunday as it is on a weekday. Neither is internet traffic.
2) We are not talking of "almost to the minute" here. If I go to the trouble, I will literally be able to time this to the second. No traffic patterns (motor vehicle or data) are as precise as that.
3) Only NNTP and P2P are affected, everything else keeps flowing at a constant rate. How does congestion explain this?
4) Other ISP's apparently have their own dedicated "fast lanes", as they don't seem to be affected by the traffic.

Be that as it may, my downloads are now jumping from 0KB/s to full speed (1.2MB/s) and back -- something I've never seen in the morning. Must be some really dramatic stop/go traffic! My guess is somebody is fiddling with something right now ...
Click to expand...

From my own tests there is definitely a sharp change but I definitely would not say it's to the second or even the minute. But as I've said, our reports show us that there is a sharp dropoff in demand at that time, it's not something we could control even if we wanted to.

I definitely wouldn't say that other services are constant. When demand is high we've seen some clients report high latency and slower throughput so I do think it's consistent with higher contention rather than a shaping rule.
 
PurSpyk!! said:
I never compared your network to any happy meal etc. But your network is not operating as it should, you had issues long before load shedding. I still find it interesting out of all the ISP's I have used over the years, that Afrihost seem to be the one network with lots of issues. I admit when your network works its fantastic, when there are issues then its awful.

At the end of the day, I have my impression of how things are run, how they are managed etc, and I don't think I am the only one that feels let down by this service.
Click to expand...

We have definitely had some issues but I would definitely say that the periods when our network is great far outweigh the time when we have problems - though it's fair to say that when there are problems it feels like time is dragging on forever. I promise you that we pretty much feel your pain, I'm sure every rep would love to never have problems and just get love all day everyday.

But we'll keep pushing for better results, faster turnaround times and the best overall experience for our clients. And we do sincerely appreciate clients who have stuck through us through tough times. Hopefully there are less ahead than there are behind us.
 
AfriMan said:
From my own tests there is definitely a sharp change but I definitely would not say it's to the second or even the minute.
Click to expand...

Well, I've been monitoring this very closely for the past week, and I can assure you that the jump in my NNTP speeds takes place damn close to 22:32:45 EVERY night -- which is why this can't possibly be caused by traffic variations! And if you are monitoring overall speed fluctuations, you won't be seeing those results, as they're limited to NNTP.

In any case, the wonderful news is that my downloads now seem to have stabilised at full speed! If it's attributable to something you've done, a big THANK YOU for that. Although for obvious reasons, I don't want to become ecstatic too soon... :)
 
redfox61 said:
I am sorry, but the more I am given these explanations, the less convincing they become. Please consider ALL the evidence:

1) To use your own comparison, highway traffic is certainly not the same on a Sunday as it is on a weekday. Neither is internet traffic.
2) We are not talking of "almost to the minute" here. If I go to the trouble, I will literally be able to time this to the second. No traffic patterns (motor vehicle or data) are as precise as that.
3) Only NNTP and P2P are affected, everything else keeps flowing at a constant rate. How does congestion explain this?
4) Other ISP's apparently have their own dedicated "fast lanes", as they don't seem to be affected by the traffic.

Be that as it may, my downloads are now jumping from 0KB/s to full speed (1.2MB/s) and back -- something I've never seen in the morning. Must be some really dramatic stop/go traffic! My guess is somebody is fiddling with something right now ...
Click to expand...

There is definitely no planned strategy of implementing policies like shaping on capped, but there is a technical team working on our network and they could be implementing some small changes as they pick up issues. But in general, most of the changes will be done in updates, usually they will be pushed out in the late evening.
 
AfriMan said:
There is definitely no planned strategy of implementing policies like shaping on capped, but there is a technical team working on our network and they could be implementing some small changes as they pick up issues. But in general, most of the changes will be done in updates, usually they will be pushed out in the late evening.
Click to expand...

Well, whoever is responsible for the change -- you, Telkom or MTN -- it's still looking good!:)
 
Seriously, it feels like I am farting against thunder here :mad:
Fix your Sh*t Afrihost!
I can't wait for the 25th to press cancel!!!!

6 months and still no resolution? I originally PM the AfriTeam in November 2014 and was ignored.

Now that I am making a big stink they have all sat up and taken notice,
Why do we always have to resort to shaming in public to get a ISP to fix a problem?

To any potential customer, run for the hills and don't look back....

Traceroute output:
1 105-237-134-1-esr-lo.mtnbusiness.co.za 3.679 ms 3.988 ms 3.659 ms
2 41.181.221.213 (41.181.221.213) 229.913 ms 234.972 ms 229.009 ms
3 41.181.221.214 (41.181.221.214) 224.178 ms 225.361 ms 224.381 ms
4 rb-dca-2.za--qux-b.za.mtnbusiness.net (41.181.165.118) 250.013 ms 223.155 ms 223.163 ms
5 rb-dca-2.za--rb-cr-1.mtnns.net (196.44.31.122) 245.351 ms 230.585 ms 229.472 ms
6 jh-dca-2.za--jh-cr-1.za-a.mtnns.net (196.44.0.221) 224.659 ms
196.44.31.97 (196.44.31.97) 230.177 ms 230.906 ms
7 196.31.220.10 (196.31.220.10) 230.051 ms 238.555 ms 232.891 ms
8 196.31.220.21 (196.31.220.21) 224.238 ms 262.150 ms 223.427 ms
9 196.31.63.202 (196.31.63.202) 229.033 ms 229.669 ms 229.820 ms
10 vl9-ah-ha-2.za.mtnbusiness.net (196.30.42.133) 229.539 ms 237.794 ms 232.792 ms
11 cms-gm.afrihost.com (197.242.144.102) 228.610 ms 228.436 ms 230.761 m
 
How do I move my line back to Telkom?

Since my packages have been cancelled I have no need for AH to "manage" any lines.

*edit* found it.
 
Hummercellc said:
Seriously, it feels like I am farting against thunder here :mad:
Fix your Sh*t Afrihost!
I can't wait for the 25th to press cancel!!!!

6 months and still no resolution? I originally PM the AfriTeam in November 2014 and was ignored.

Now that I am making a big stink they have all sat up and taken notice,
Why do we always have to resort to shaming in public to get a ISP to fix a problem?

To any potential customer, run for the hills and don't look back....

Traceroute output:
1 105-237-134-1-esr-lo.mtnbusiness.co.za 3.679 ms 3.988 ms 3.659 ms
2 41.181.221.213 (41.181.221.213) 229.913 ms 234.972 ms 229.009 ms
3 41.181.221.214 (41.181.221.214) 224.178 ms 225.361 ms 224.381 ms
4 rb-dca-2.za--qux-b.za.mtnbusiness.net (41.181.165.118) 250.013 ms 223.155 ms 223.163 ms
5 rb-dca-2.za--rb-cr-1.mtnns.net (196.44.31.122) 245.351 ms 230.585 ms 229.472 ms
6 jh-dca-2.za--jh-cr-1.za-a.mtnns.net (196.44.0.221) 224.659 ms
196.44.31.97 (196.44.31.97) 230.177 ms 230.906 ms
7 196.31.220.10 (196.31.220.10) 230.051 ms 238.555 ms 232.891 ms
8 196.31.220.21 (196.31.220.21) 224.238 ms 262.150 ms 223.427 ms
9 196.31.63.202 (196.31.63.202) 229.033 ms 229.669 ms 229.820 ms
10 vl9-ah-ha-2.za.mtnbusiness.net (196.30.42.133) 229.539 ms 237.794 ms 232.792 ms
11 cms-gm.afrihost.com (197.242.144.102) 228.610 ms 228.436 ms 230.761 m
Click to expand...

FYI you must press cancel BEFORE the 25th, not on the 25th. Rather do it now and save yourself.
 
Ho3n3r said:
FYI you must press cancel BEFORE the 25th, not on the 25th. Rather do it now and save yourself.
Click to expand...

Thanks, You can press cancel on the 25th, as invoices are only generated at midnight.
Been there done that, I am a fool to have come back to Afrihost.... :D
 
Hi Afriman
Quick question - Not sure if this was covered already.
In a recent PM discussion with AfriGenie he stated the following:

Timing out on the second-hop is not actually an indication of the issue, as Telkom has recently made changes to certain Exchanges so that they no longer respond to ICMP requests. This basically means that the Exchange will not appear on your Traceroute which is why you see * * * on the second hop.

Is this correct?
 
Hummercellc said:
Thanks, You can press cancel on the 25th, as invoices are only generated at midnight.
Been there done that, I am a fool to have come back to Afrihost.... :D
Click to expand...

If you do want to process a cancellation, it's always advised you do it on the 24th, latest. At 0:01 on the 25th we start our billing run,
 
rhodad said:
Hi Afriman
Quick question - Not sure if this was covered already.
In a recent PM discussion with AfriGenie he stated the following:

Timing out on the second-hop is not actually an indication of the issue, as Telkom has recently made changes to certain Exchanges so that they no longer respond to ICMP requests. This basically means that the Exchange will not appear on your Traceroute which is why you see * * * on the second hop.

Is this correct?
Click to expand...

That's correct, yes :)
These are new ESRs that are rolled out by Telkom.
 
AfriGuy said:
That's correct, yes :)
These are new ESRs that are rolled out by Telkom.
Click to expand...

ESR?
How do I know if I'm my line is relevant to this?

I first reported a drop in download speeds (wouldn't get more that 50kbps on my 4MB capped account). I then contacted AH support who said that it's a Telkom issue because my trace routes were timing out on the 2nd hop, AH then logged a fault with Telkom.

I then received word from AfriGenie that Telkom has "fixed" my line, apparently it was a sync issue. I then ran a few trace routes and they are still timing out on the 2nd hop, I informed AfriGenie about this, this is when he told me about the ICMP requests etc etc.

Now, my download speeds are significantly better but not where it's supposed to be. I'm getting an average of 220kpbs. What I am thinking is that now that Telkom has sorted out the "sync issue", I'm now experiencing AH's current capacity problems.

Correct?
 
Has anyone tried downloading star citizen?

I have been downloading the entire weekend and it is still not done as I can barely get over 100KB/s!

My friend on mweb took 2 days to download so this is quite frustrating as I assumed an unshaped account would not have issues with getting up to speed.
 
rhodad said:
ESR?
How do I know if I'm my line is relevant to this?

I first reported a drop in download speeds (wouldn't get more that 50kbps on my 4MB capped account). I then contacted AH support who said that it's a Telkom issue because my trace routes were timing out on the 2nd hop, AH then logged a fault with Telkom.

I then received word from AfriGenie that Telkom has "fixed" my line, apparently it was a sync issue. I then ran a few trace routes and they are still timing out on the 2nd hop, I informed AfriGenie about this, this is when he told me about the ICMP requests etc etc.

Now, my download speeds are significantly better but not where it's supposed to be. I'm getting an average of 220kpbs. What I am thinking is that now that Telkom has sorted out the "sync issue", I'm now experiencing AH's current capacity problems.

Correct?
Click to expand...

An ESR is your Edge Service Router in the area, it's a part of the exchange setup.
Telkom are upgrading these routers to Alcatel (I think) hardware which are setup to not response to ICMP requests. Previous to this, timeouts were a bad thing, but it's quite common now and doesn't necessarily reflect an issue.

I'll ask AfriGenie to follow things up if he's had the fault logged :)
 
rhodad said:
ESR?
How do I know if I'm my line is relevant to this?

I first reported a drop in download speeds (wouldn't get more that 50kbps on my 4MB capped account). I then contacted AH support who said that it's a Telkom issue because my trace routes were timing out on the 2nd hop, AH then logged a fault with Telkom.

I then received word from AfriGenie that Telkom has "fixed" my line, apparently it was a sync issue. I then ran a few trace routes and they are still timing out on the 2nd hop, I informed AfriGenie about this, this is when he told me about the ICMP requests etc etc.

Now, my download speeds are significantly better but not where it's supposed to be. I'm getting an average of 220kpbs. What I am thinking is that now that Telkom has sorted out the "sync issue", I'm now experiencing AH's current capacity problems.

Correct?
Click to expand...

Hi Rhodad,

ICMP requests have been turned off at the exchange.

In order to test for exchange congestion (or IPC Congestion by comparing this to the 3rd hop on your traceroute) - Please go to command prompt and ping 155.239.255.250 - Post the results here along with a traceroute, and we'll be able to see where the problem lies.
 
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