Afrihost Business Uncapped Feedback - 2

[I34z1k]

And back to ****ty service again

http://speedtest.ookla.com/result/2732363163.png

http://speedtest.ookla.com/result/2732363764.png

 

[ID_10_T]

Serious shaping/throttling taking place.

Pings are fine but only get 40-50% of line speed.

And guess what - Green button on Afrihost website

 

[AfriMan]

Well because things are left hanging we make assumptions. We are always told about how much is being done, this and that, but we still do not see any improvement. The same thing happened last time there was an ipc issue for the south region, the "upgrades" came and there was little improvement, and shortly afterwards were are right back where we were before.

Its nice to pat your own back, and I would love to do the same, and I will give credit where its due, but we are not seeing the results of all this hard work.

The have definitely been results. Just after the demand spiked, we saw contention and poor throughput across the network. When we improved our traffic management efficiency we definitely saw a big improvement in performance and latency has been quite constant even though some clients experienced poor throughput, which is definitely an achievement.

The issue last year took several months to resolve, where we saw demand spike in Mid-September and we are already close to a solution, after properly identifying the cause and making the necessary adjustments to our plans, within a month of that. If the additional capacity arrives as soon as we hope, this is much faster than before and we've managed to deliver some improvements and a better overall experience while we waited for long term solutions. I think that is a lot of progress made, and we'll still sit back and review this and see where we can do better in the future.

 

[AfriMan]

Serious shaping/throttling taking place.

Pings are fine but only get 40-50% of line speed.

And guess what - Green button on Afrihost website

There is definitely no shaping or throttling, but demand is high at the moment, so throughput may not be great while our system adjusts to give the best experience possible under the current demand.

 

[PurSpyk!!]

The have definitely been results. Just after the demand spiked, we saw contention and poor throughput across the network. When we improved our traffic management efficiency we definitely saw a big improvement in performance and latency has been quite constant even though some clients experienced poor throughput, which is definitely an achievement.

The issue last year took several months to resolve, where we saw demand spike in Mid-September and we are already close to a solution, after properly identifying the cause and making the necessary adjustments to our plans, within a month of that. If the additional capacity arrives as soon as we hope, this is much faster than before and we've managed to deliver some improvements and a better overall experience while we waited for long term solutions. I think that is a lot of progress made, and we'll still sit back and review this and see where we can do better in the future.

Odd how most people on this forum seem to have no improvement. I cannot even log onto the supersport site anymore. I sent tracerts and nothing has improved.

 

[AfriMan]

terms being thrown around very loosely. Can't make this **** up

Hey, if you think our team or the MTN people don't have the expertise or skills they should, you can always submit your CV. If you have the skills they're lacking I'm sure they'd be interested in chatting to you

 

[AfriMan]

Odd how most people on this forum seem to have no improvement. I cannot even log onto the supersport site anymore. I sent tracerts and nothing has improved.

As I recall, you were having issues with Supersport for some time. I think we'd been working with you via our Critical Care team for some time prior to this.

If you read all the posts on various threads you will see that some clients have seen improvement, especially when demand hasn't been at full peak. And obviously when our new capacity arrives that when we expect to see improvement across the board.

 

[ID_10_T]

The have definitely been results. Just after the demand spiked, we saw contention and poor throughput across the network. When we improved our traffic management efficiency we definitely saw a big improvement in performance and latency has been quite constant even though some clients experienced poor throughput, which is definitely an achievement.

The issue last year took several months to resolve, where we saw demand spike in Mid-September and we are already close to a solution, after properly identifying the cause and making the necessary adjustments to our plans, within a month of that. If the additional capacity arrives as soon as we hope, this is much faster than before and we've managed to deliver some improvements and a better overall experience while we waited for long term solutions. I think that is a lot of progress made, and we'll still sit back and review this and see where we can do better in the future.

Just be straight with your clients about the problem. It is like pulling teeth with Afrihost in getting the correct information about the problem. If I know there is a problem I can make other arrangements and not waste my time.

 

[PurSpyk!!]

As I recall, you were having issues with Supersport for some time. I think we'd been working with you via our Critical Care team for some time prior to this.

If you read all the posts on various threads you will see that some clients have seen improvement, especially when demand hasn't been at full peak. And obviously when our new capacity arrives that when we expect to see improvement across the board.

I was busy with critical care and I eventually could log on and actually watch a rugby game without streaming, but now I cannot even log onto my supersport account.

 

[Former member 61586]

Hey, if you think our team or the MTN people don't have the expertise or skills they should, you can always submit your CV. If you have the skills they're lacking I'm sure they'd be interested in chatting to you

So wait....Eskom is crap because of the black-outs and poor planning. And I shouldn't say anything about it, unless I am an electrical engineer who wants to work for them? LMAO.

 

[ID_10_T]

There is definitely no shaping or throttling, but demand is high at the moment, so throughput may not be great while our system adjusts to give the best experience possible under the current demand.

When you are limiting the throughput/bandwidth it is called throttling. Does not matter if you shape it or give it a certain priority.

Bandwidth throttling is the intentional slowing of Internet service by an Internet service provider. It is a reactive measure employed in communication networks in an apparent attempt to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion.

 

[AfriMan]

Just be straight with your clients about the problem. It is like pulling teeth with Afrihost in getting the correct information about the problem. If I know there is a problem I can make other arrangements and not waste my time.

I don't know how much more straight we can be. We've given direct answers to all the questions posed and given as much insight as we can into what we've done and are doing to make sure our clients get the best experience.

Maybe PM me. If you've missed previous posts, then maybe I can summarise and give you the full picture

 

[AfriMan]

I was busy with critical care and I eventually could log on and actually watch a rugby game without streaming, but now I cannot even log onto my supersport account.

So it sounds like some progress was made there. It could be that the previous issue is present again, or perhaps demand issues have caused the symptoms to get worse. It would depend on what they changed to improve your experience.

 

[AfriMan]

So wait....Eskom is crap because of the black-outs and poor planning. And I shouldn't say anything about it, unless I am an electrical engineer who wants to work for them? LMAO.

If you don't like the situation, that's your opinion. However, if you are going to question the skills and competence of people, I think you should be able to understand the conditions they work with and the resources at their disposal. I don't like not having power, but I wouldn't walk up to an Eskom engineer and call him incompetent. I think he'd have every right to take exception. Maybe you feel differently in your line of work, but I would feel the same in my job.

 

[AfriMan]

When you are limiting the throughput/bandwidth it is called throttling. Does not matter if you shape it or give it a certain priority.

Bandwidth throttling is the intentional slowing of Internet service by an Internet service provider. It is a reactive measure employed in communication networks in an apparent attempt to regulate network traffic and minimize bandwidth congestion.

Throttling is the intentional rate limiting of traffic by port or protocol, which we don't do. If services are poor due to overall demand and contention for bandwidth, this is not the same as throttling, even though it may have similar end results. Contention is also intermittent, while throttling would be consistent 24/7 since it's based on a ruleset and not on network activity.

 

[ID_10_T]

Throttling is the intentional rate limiting of traffic by port or protocol, which we don't do. If services are poor due to overall demand and contention for bandwidth, this is not the same as throttling, even though it may have similar end results. Contention is also intermittent, while throttling would be consistent 24/7 since it's based on a ruleset and not on network activity.

If the network is oversubscribed without any bandwidth management or rules you will get very high pings. That normally happens on the IPC links from Telkom as there is not much you can do on the IPC regarding bandwith management. You can however limit the data that is coming from outside through Afrihost network to the user through the IPC link.

Earlier the ping rates ware low through the IPC but the download speeds was 50% of the capacity of the connection. That means that something is limiting the throughput on Afrihost Network as not to flood the IPC link.

In my books that is called throttling.

 

[AfriMan]

If the network is oversubscribed without any bandwidth management or rules you will get very high pings. That normally happens on the IPC links from Telkom as there is not much you can do on the IPC regarding bandwith management. You can however limit the data that is coming from outside through Afrihost network to the user through the IPC link.

Earlier the ping rates ware low through the IPC but the download speeds was 50% of the capacity of the connection. That means that something is limiting the throughput on Afrihost Network as not to flood the IPC link.

In my books that is called throttling.

Network management is much more complex than that. Yes, if we didn't any type of management, and just open up the network and let users do what they liked, eventually we'd hit the absolute maximum and latency and the experience would be dreadful. That's why we have much more sophisticated tools running to ensure that even when we see contention we can keep latency stable and ensure the best realtime experience even if throughput is poor. We do this over the entire network, and it's nothing to do with protocols or shaping but how we manage the headroom on the network to ensure that we provide the best possible experience.

 

[StormHorse]

Well I have had enough, it seems to me afrihost can not deliver the product I signed up for and I will not do business with a company like this, product cancelled and moving on, sad actually cause I use to love being with this ISP.

 

[AfriMan]

Well I have had enough, it seems to me afrihost can not deliver the product I signed up for and I will not do business with a company like this, product cancelled and moving on, sad actually cause i use to love being with this ISP.

I'm sorry to hear that you've cancelled. There is still a while to go to the end of the month, and hopefully we'll see you change your mind, especially when our new capacity is live.

Otherwise I do sincerely wish you all the best, and maybe you'll check in with us at a later stage when things are better

 

[requiem]

So you don't limit by throttle, but allocate different percentage of your available capacity based upon protocol?