Afrihost Business Uncapped Feedback

[AfriMan]

I see this thread went a little nuts last night - it will take me some time to get through all the posts.

Please remember that if I miss a question or don't answer in full, it's always best to PM me directly so you have my full attention and we can ensure you get personal assistance with your query.

Afriman out

 

[Hectic]

I have given up on AH.
The account is absolute rubbish.
Luckily some friendly member gave me access to an IS based trial account and it is bliss.
Will see what happens as I'm past the 25th deadline.

 

[AfriMan]

C:\Users\Joshua>tracert -w 999 mc.shadowraze.net

Tracing route to shadowrazeservice.iphop.info [31.220.14.110]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 7 ms 7 ms 6 ms 105-236-6-1-esr-lo.mtnbusiness.co.za [105.236.6.1]
3 162 ms 9 ms 8 ms 41.181.221.254
4 9 ms 9 ms 9 ms tb-dca-2.za--qux-a.za.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.184.28]
5 9 ms 9 ms 9 ms compj-cpt-1.mtnns.net [196.44.18.2]
6 * 183 ms 152 ms ls-cr-2.uk--tb-cr-1.za.mtnns.net [196.44.31.113]
7 165 ms * 167 ms am-cr-1.nl--ls-cr-2.uk-a.mtnns.net [196.44.31.183]
8 165 ms 162 ms 162 ms am-tpr-1.nl--am-cr-1.nl-a.mtn.net [209.212.111.141]
9 161 ms * 160 ms xe-4-1-0.edge5.Amsterdam1.Level3.net [212.72.41.89]
10 162 ms 162 ms 163 ms vl-3604-ve-228.csw2.Amsterdam1.Level3.net [4.69.162.157]
11 165 ms * 162 ms ae-2-52.edge6.Amsterdam1.Level3.net [4.69.139.172]
12 171 ms 165 ms * 4.68.111.178
13 161 ms 162 ms 161 ms adm-bb4-link.telia.net [213.155.137.176]
14 165 ms * 172 ms ldn-bb2-link.telia.net [213.155.136.88]
15 160 ms 181 ms * ldn-b5-link.telia.net [80.91.246.115]
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.

I'm guessing that you're corresponding further with AfriGuy via PM. The traces look mostly normal to me, so I'm guessing the next step is to run some comparative throughput tests with the Telkom Guest account.

 

[AfriMan]

I want to know:

1.are AH shaping,
2.is their a softcap on these business accounts?,
3.do they limit priority on business accounts after hours

We definitely do not shape Business Accounts ever. We also don't have any softcap or priority changes after hours.

You might be seeing contention on the network (sounds like most of the posters are in the South region) with demand being very heavy at the moment. Remember that we ordered more capacity from Telkom last year, so we're still awaiting the balance of our full order.

 

[AfriMan]

Mmmmm .... What's going on here, first Afriperson responds like crazy, then there are these spells where the guy pops in for a quick how's your aunty, and disappears again?

I don't need any help from AH, but would be nice to see responses to some of the concerns.

We are definitely around. We used to have just one thread, now there are several, so I guess sometimes it takes us a while to respond to all the queries.

Remember that anyone can PM me at any time. If I miss your post on the forum thread, you are always guaranteed assistance if you PM me. I get an email notification and I get to PM's as quickly as I can.

 

[AfriMan]

This above is just a cut and paste off the site!
WTF does the above have to do with the fact that the product is slow as balls at the moment????

Yeah, that's not cool. I know sometimes the guys come under pressure and becuase they don't have new information to share, it's easier to use a predefined response. I'm not a fan, I always think a sincere and considered reply is what puts the client's mind at ease, even if we have nothing new to offer in the way of information.

With regard to your line issue, please PM me, let's get you some dedicated assistance on this so we can put this to bed ASAP

 

[LegionECX]

We definitely do not shape Business Accounts ever. We also don't have any softcap or priority changes after hours.

You might be seeing contention on the network (sounds like most of the posters are in the South region) with demand being very heavy at the moment. Remember that we ordered more capacity from Telkom last year, so we're still awaiting the balance of our full order.

I logged a support call, and the response i recieved was unacceptable to be honest, i am very dissapointed. The line runs fine for the month, but always towards the end of the month the line speed drops to pathetic speeds. A friend of mine who lives a few houses away has a 1mb standard lame mweb account and he runs fine, why, when i am paying for a "premium" product that is twice the speed am I having a poor experience?

I logged a call with your support desk, sent through the requested tests from your tool and was told by your support desk my speed is dependeat on my line speed (duh!) that my dsl line is linked to my phone line and afrihost can move it for me (can`t understand the relevance behind this) and if i want further help i must contact Telkom....in my opionion this is a poor response and an embarresment to your company.

Why always at the the end of the month does the line not perform?
Why do i have a product that is advertised as being premium/business/prioritised when compared to one of your competitors standard products performs worse?

I am not the only person complaining, and would like better feedback from AH than what we are currently getting. We all pay top dollar for your product, but what we get is not quite as expected sometimes. It`s like paying R100k for a brand new lambo every month, but for 1 week of the month the guy who you bought the car from makes you drive a donkey cart and blames the dept of transport for this saying they are waiting for the extra roads the ordered.

 

[LegionECX]

Yeah, that's not cool. I know sometimes the guys come under pressure and becuase they don't have new information to share, it's easier to use a predefined response. I'm not a fan, I always think a sincere and considered reply is what puts the client's mind at ease, even if we have nothing new to offer in the way of information.

With regard to your line issue, please PM me, let's get you some dedicated assistance on this so we can put this to bed ASAP

I PM`d AfriGuy and no response yet...

 

[AfriMan]

Perhaps... there is still an open fault logged with Telkom, so will see what they say... will also know if it is account side if this new WebAfrica account starts degrading this morning / week.

Please let us know if this persists. Remember that when you change ISP accounts you also reset your connection, so sync rates sometimes improve briefly. Not saying that this is the case here, but maybe test for an extended period on both accounts to compare.

 

[AfriMan]

Hmm... @Afriman... could it be possible that the users experiencing issues are routing through the JHB IPC by mistake? That would account for the higher CPT pings than JHB pings?

We're not doing any routing like that to my knowledge. For us to route users via JHB, we have to either re-classify them individually by username (which is extremely difficult) but that only affects shaping and not actual routing. Otherwise we have to basically reroute the entire IPC traffic flow to another IPC.

 

[AfriMan]

I have given up on AH.
The account is absolute rubbish.
Luckily some friendly member gave me access to an IS based trial account and it is bliss.
Will see what happens as I'm past the 25th deadline.

Sorry to hear that. I know that we're doing everything we can on this side to put pressure on Telkom to deliver more capacity, with MTN's help as well.

I really do hope that we can get some movement on this quickly

 

[i.got~issues]

Please let us know if this persists. Remember that when you change ISP accounts you also reset your connection, so sync rates sometimes improve briefly. Not saying that this is the case here, but maybe test for an extended period on both accounts to compare.

Hi AfriMan

My new WebAfrica account is perfect since 8AM this morning... no issues, no times-outs and full line speed on speedtests. Dropbox, Skype, TeamViewer and all working at FULL speed.

In ALL my testing over the past week (3 weeks according to Chevron ) the only accounts that become unusable are the Afrihost accounts.
MWeb Trial, Axxess and WebAfrica just work, also, these ALL pass the Twitch streaming test, which Afrihost Business is still incapable of streaming on medium.

So, to me, if it were just an ADSL line or exchange issue, then ALL accounts would be affected. Not just the AH accounts.

The Afrihost Business account has gone from brilliant to unusable over the past month.
I would consider myself fortunate to get half-speed on it lately.

/ponders changing my nick to mehMan

 

[AfriMan]

Hi AfriMan

My new WebAfrica account is perfect since 8AM this morning... no issues, no times-outs and full line speed on speedtests. Dropbox, Skype, TeamViewer and all working at FULL speed.

In ALL my testing over the past week (3 weeks according to Chevron ) the only accounts that become unusable are the Afrihost accounts.
MWeb Trial, Axxess and WebAfrica just work, also, these ALL pass the Twitch streaming test, which Afrihost Business is still incapable of streaming on medium.

So, to me, if it were just an ADSL line or exchange issue, then ALL accounts would be affected. Not just the AH accounts.

The Afrihost Business account has gone from brilliant to unusable over the past month.
I would consider myself fortunate to get half-speed on it lately.

/ponders changing my nick to mehMan

I get what you're and it definitely sounds like Business is being affected by the contention issues I have mentioned previously. We'll only be able to tell if that's the case when we upgrade the IPC and the issues go away completely.

 

[i.got~issues]

I get what you're and it definitely sounds like Business is being affected by the contention issues I have mentioned previously. We'll only be able to tell if that's the case when we upgrade the IPC and the issues go away completely.

But there are NO AH issues remember.
All green lights and DSL Status All quiet on the Battle Front - that is to say that everything is working as it should be, NO problems!

EDIT:

Perhaps just a thought, rather than endless tracert and diagnostic loop requests for those down south having these same issues, just say what you just have;

I get what you're and it definitely sounds like Business is being affected by the contention issues I have mentioned previously. We'll only be able to tell if that's the case when we upgrade the IPC and the issues go away completely

 

[AfriMan]

I logged a support call, and the response i recieved was unacceptable to be honest, i am very dissapointed. The line runs fine for the month, but always towards the end of the month the line speed drops to pathetic speeds. A friend of mine who lives a few houses away has a 1mb standard lame mweb account and he runs fine, why, when i am paying for a "premium" product that is twice the speed am I having a poor experience?

I logged a call with your support desk, sent through the requested tests from your tool and was told by your support desk my speed is dependeat on my line speed (duh!) that my dsl line is linked to my phone line and afrihost can move it for me (can`t understand the relevance behind this) and if i want further help i must contact Telkom....in my opionion this is a poor response and an embarresment to your company.

Why always at the the end of the month does the line not perform?
Why do i have a product that is advertised as being premium/business/prioritised when compared to one of your competitors standard products performs worse?

I am not the only person complaining, and would like better feedback from AH than what we are currently getting. We all pay top dollar for your product, but what we get is not quite as expected sometimes. It`s like paying R100k for a brand new lambo every month, but for 1 week of the month the guy who you bought the car from makes you drive a donkey cart and blames the dept of transport for this saying they are waiting for the extra roads the ordered.

Demand will generally be higher at month end cos that's when a lot of content will hit the market (close to pay day) and a lot of capped and uncapped users will try to burn through their data as quickly as possible, so that's pretty consistent with what we're seeing on our side as well. From what I can see, some clients are still getting good throughput while others are not, so I guess it depends on how much bandwidth is available at any given time.

I know that this is not the situation any of us wants, and we would have loved to have had the full bandwidth order from Telkom earlier in the year, but we can only wait now and hope they come through quickly on this

 

[HelterSkelter]

Going full speed here in Jozi, maybe you guys in the Cape should install an extension antenna on the flat mountain.

 

[Zertop]

EDIT:

Perhaps rather than endless tracert and diagnostic loop requests for those down south having these same issues, just say what you just have;

Yea, definitely sounds like the account? Oh well - glad that the other one is working for you

 

[LegionECX]

Demand will generally be higher at month end cos that's when a lot of content will hit the market (close to pay day) and a lot of capped and uncapped users will try to burn through their data as quickly as possible, so that's pretty consistent with what we're seeing on our side as well. From what I can see, some clients are still getting good throughput while others are not, so I guess it depends on how much bandwidth is available at any given time.

I know that this is not the situation any of us wants, and we would have loved to have had the full bandwidth order from Telkom earlier in the year, but we can only wait now and hope they come through quickly on this

Your explanation is not valid, why does my friend then who is on mweb standard 1mb run fine, when i am on a 2mb business, apparently priotized??? run so slow and poorly?

 

[Hectic]

But there are NO AH issues remember.
All green lights and DSL Status All quiet on the Battle Front - that is to say that everything is working as it should be, NO problems!

We are buggered.
As much as the reps would like to help, I know they can't.
It is like a petrol station. If there are no petrol and your tank is emty, you are going nowhere.

That is where we are.
We are going nowhere.
I have hoped that by moving to 2Mbps Business from 4Mbps Home, that I would at least get half my speeds on downloads, but now I'm even worse off than on Home. I'm throttled to 600kbps on Business uncapped International speedtest.

And when I say throttled , I mean throttled. I couldn't care how the **** you managed to throttle me, if you flipped a switch, if your were incompetent, if you oversold your accounts or wtf you did, but you are effectively shaping me to 600kbps, constantly.
This much is evident if I do every test that is available, use any other ISP with capped and capped accounts.

 

[LegionECX]

I am also being throttled/shaped due to the high contention ratio they sell the lines on...it`s all money driven...