Afrihost Business Uncapped Feedback

[TheGrove]

@AFriMan I am currently running the Openweb downloaders king account and looking at other options, need to be able to stream content from Netflix, Hulu, Lovefilm between 17:00 and 22:00 then all weekend, torrents between 22:00 and 06:00 and then other downloads any time for example Origin, steam etc.

Openweb works great for a few days then speeds drop dramatically, need to log a support ticket, then everything is fine again for a few days.

Telkom line syncs at over 12mbps according to the DSL2500u modem, when I had my 10mbps account FNB capped account showed I was getting full 10mbps on the speed test. New development so all the Telkom eqiupment is nice and shiny.

Will Afrihost business be a better option in Cape Town?

@Afriguy, any advice?

 

[Hush9300]

I've been connected since my 14400 U.S. Robotics and of course there has been ISPs that block p2p/nntp. However if you can afford the car then you can drive it, what dealer would turn someone away who has the money?


I think Afriman has coved this already. The answer isn't just a simple as to throttle p2p or block it off, we are well in 2013 and p2p isn't the only method to download anymore. Shall we fire up mIRC and do some DCC ?

I know it is not that simple but you seem to be advocating that the current situation go unchecked... We don't live in a world of infinite bandwidth and ISP's cannot keep buying more of it because those costs will eventually get passed on to the subscriber.

AfriMan has just, a few posts up, explained that reducing P2P traffic by a quarter will free up a ton of bandwidth.

I P2P as well but I wouldn't mind if it were controlled by the ISP's if it provided a better overall experience for everyone.

 

[AfriGuy]

@Afriguy, any advice?

Replied to this a few mins ago, see #2197

 

[TheGrove]

@Afriguy, any advice?

Oh great, thanks sorry my internet at work is struggling along

Any chance I could get a test account to compare the business package the to openweb package?

 

[jeanres]

THB if nextflix and hulu was legal in ZA the p2p traffic will be around half of what it is now, my p2p traffic has become less than 20GB a month since "legally" watching netflix and hulu

 

[jeanres]

Oh great, thanks sorry my internet at work is struggling along

Any chance I could get a test account to compare the business package the to openweb package?

Get a free 1GB account, the capped accounts and Business accounts are exactly the same

 

[AfriGuy]

Oh great, thanks sorry my internet at work is struggling along

Any chance I could get a test account to compare the business package the to openweb package?

Drop me a PM
You can also sign up for a 1GB free account which is also unshaped.

 

[TheGrove]

Get a free 1GB account, the capped accounts and Business accounts are exactly the same

Sorry won't take that chance, it is a headache waiting for the gamers king special to start. Unless I can properly test the account over a few days I will rather stick with Openweb.

Drop me a PM

Thanks AfriGuy

 

[jeanres]

Sorry won't take that chance, it is a headache waiting for the gamers king special to start. Unless I can properly test the account over a few days I will rather stick with Openweb.



Thanks AfriGuy

Good luck then.

 

[Abzolute]

I've seen ISP's that have business accounts where P2P/NNTP is completely blocked until 12am but I haven't come across one that requires proof of business yet.

Have you thought of what would happen to the network if everybody moved to unshaped business accounts. The signs are already here and it will become a very expensive exercise for ISP's if they leave it as is.

Well they don't cost the same, do they? For e.g. my bundle is now about 45% more expensive on Business Uncapped 10Mbps than it was on Home Uncapped 10Mbps.

It's now up to Afrihost to use the additional income to upgrade their network as they've indicated they are in the process of doing, and to upgrade it in such a manner they they don't run into the kinds of supply not meeting demand issues of the past month and half. And, if there is all this alleged over-subscription as per some members, that too contributes additional revenue to Afrihost which they should use to (a) support a business case for increased capacity and, (b) upgrade their network to a point it can accommodate current demand with enough buffer for growth... Surely based on the experience of the past month and a half, their forecast model must have changed such that growth expectations are a lot higher and, since they keep talking about how clever their engineers are, plans must surely have taken this into account.

I certainly hope for some great news on this front AND experience for us all in the near future from Afrihost once their plans are confirmed.

 

[TheGrove]

Sorry won't take that chance, it is a headache waiting for the gamers king special to start. Unless I can properly test the account over a few days I will rather stick with Openweb.



Thanks AfriGuy

So after the PM message I find out that you don't offer trial accounts, and instead offer 50% off on your normal package but I am looking for the business package.

Would have been simpler to just mention that here.

Thanks anyhow.

 

[TheGrove]

Good luck then.

Thanks, but I don't believe in putting cash down without having an opportunity to verify that the service works properly in my area, especially when I am running on a special on Openweb that I waited for some time for.

But thanks for your input.

 

[AfriMan]

Well they don't cost the same, do they? For e.g. my bundle is now about 45% more expensive on Business Uncapped 10Mbps than it was on Home Uncapped 10Mbps.

It's now up to Afrihost to use the additional income to upgrade their network as they've indicated they are in the process of doing, and to upgrade it in such a manner they they don't run into the kinds of supply not meeting demand issues of the past month and half. And, if there is all this alleged over-subscription as per some members, that too contributes additional revenue to Afrihost which they should use to (a) support a business case for increased capacity and, (b) upgrade their network to a point it can accommodate current demand with enough buffer for growth... Surely based on the experience of the past month and a half, their forecast model must have changed such that growth expectations are a lot higher and, since they keep talking about how clever their engineers are, plans must surely have taken this into account.

I certainly hope for some great news on this front AND experience for us all in the near future from Afrihost once their plans are confirmed.

Thanks for this post - we really appreciate your confidence is us.

Just a note that there was never an issue of needing more income - we were always willing to pay for additional capacity regardless of whether clients upgraded to Business or not. It was the time frame for delivery from Telkom to install the new upgrades. We never really expected our clients to fork out more cash to make the upgrade happen

 

[Abzolute]

I've seen ISP's that have business accounts where P2P/NNTP is completely blocked until 12am but I haven't come across one that requires proof of business yet.

Have you thought of what would happen to the network if everybody moved to unshaped business accounts. The signs are already here and it will become a very expensive exercise for ISP's if they leave it as is.

Thanks for this post - we really appreciate your confidence is us.

Just a note that there was never an issue of needing more income - we were always willing to pay for additional capacity regardless of whether clients upgraded to Business or not. It was the time frame for delivery from Telkom to install the new upgrades. We never really expected our clients to fork out more cash to make the upgrade happen

Sure, fair enough about Afrihost not needing more income in order to increase IPC.

My point about the additional revenue contribution from the more expensive Business accounts was, however, more a response to Hush9300 and his concern about the impact on the network if people moved to unshaped business accounts. He mentions it becoming expensive for the ISP if shaping is left as is and, though I don't know the details of your financial model, it's not like moving from Home to Business is without any cost impact to the customer / revenue contribution to the ISP. On the one hand, not everyone is going to pay the premium and on the other hand, the premium should be able to contribute to ensuring good service delivery from the ISP.

Now the effect on Telkom infrastructure, however, is a different matter altogether, given the frequent complaints about exchange congestion. We can only but hope that Telkom's network planning is up to scratch, especially in light of their recently indicated free bandwidth upgrades...

 

[Hush9300]

Again that time of the day. 1Mbps and some change...

 

[gconey]

My line is okayish tonight. About 75% aggregate throughput.

I've not used the line much the past week, thought I would save myself the frustration... My entertainment for the week is consisting of watching old tv shows that I own on dvd (old school). Anyway I'm starting to think that there's correlation between line usage & line speed even though Afrihost would deny it.

 

[gconey]

Thanks for this post - we really appreciate your confidence is us.

Just a note that there was never an issue of needing more income - we were always willing to pay for additional capacity regardless of whether clients upgraded to Business or not. It was the time frame for delivery from Telkom to install the new upgrades. We never really expected our clients to fork out more cash to make the upgrade happen

This statement is not entirety correct. There is no way that additional capacity would be acquired without a proper business case which clearly shows the benefits outweigh the investment.

Retention could not be enough to justify the investment therefore additional income had to come from somewhere. We have to take your word that this additional income won't be sourced from business package upgrades but investors will require their pound of flesh.

Unless the extra income has already been realised from additional clients, that addition must have been projected from another source. Crossing fingers & hoping for extra income doesn't generally make a dent on the waterfall graph.

 

[wir]

I'm on the 2meg uncapped business bundle. I'm in Bloemfontein, recently my ping has been spiking quite a lot, going up to 150ms then down to 50ms, cycling about every 2 seconds. It happens on JHB, CT or international servers. What's going on? I didn't have this problem before I moved my telkom line to afrihost.

 

[5plus2equals9]

Afriman, any idea when your new pricing structure will be announced ?

 

[AfriMan]

I'm on the 2meg uncapped business bundle. I'm in Bloemfontein, recently my ping has been spiking quite a lot, going up to 150ms then down to 50ms, cycling about every 2 seconds. It happens on JHB, CT or international servers. What's going on? I didn't have this problem before I moved my telkom line to afrihost.

We'd need to investigate a little further. To my knowledge Bloem routes via the North IPC, so it may be related to our capacity issues. It would be best to run more testing before we make any decisions

PM me.