Afrihost Capped ADSL Feedback (MTN) - New beginning

[Davedes]

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[Davedes]

Morning everyone, seems like most of the posts are around the issue of download speeds and whether we are shaping based on direct download vs VPN experience.

To be honest, I don't have an answer. We are definitely not shaping, and what I've seen in the past is that when we see raised contention due to increased demand, some services perform better than others. It may have to do with intrinsic network QoS, which manages the overall network, or the nature of the packets themselves and how they are handled, I really couldn't say on that level and it would probably takes months of investigation to determine if there is an explanation beyond coincidence or general weirdness that explains how this is possible. What I do know is that we don't have any shaping rules in place for Capped DSL, so it's not that one service is shaped and another is not.

I can understand your frustration here, and the need to want to take it further. All I can say is that to my knowledge there is nothing like shaping happening on capped accounts and I am sure that our technical managers and directors will attest to the same. If we did so, it would certainly be contrary to the advertised specs of the product

Secondly, while it takes Afihost months of investigation to get down to the cause of the problem will all clients be discounted or credited for not having a full service?

 

[nicki]

To be honest, I don't have an answer. We are definitely not shaping, and what I've seen in the past is that when we see raised contention due to increased demand, some services perform better than others.

To be honest you should honestly stop saying you are not shaping. It has been proven over and over and over. Cut the BS please. Don't insult people here.

What you can say is that the capped account *should not* be shaped.

 

[nicki]

+1

+1000

 

[AfriGenie]

To be honest you should honestly stop saying you are not shaping. It has been proven over and over and over. Cut the BS please. Don't insult people here.

What you can say is that the capped account *should not* be shaped.

As AfriMan pointed out, our Capped accounts are definitely not shaped in any form, but, not all services are performing at the consistent levels that we want those services to be running at, and that is what our Team is working hard in the background to improve. There has already been some improvement, but some services - specifically downloads from international sites, such as iOS and Windows updates - are still nowhere close to running at a level we are happy with, and this is a top priority for us.

 

[AfriGenie]

Secondly, while it takes Afihost months of investigation to get down to the cause of the problem will all clients be discounted or credited for not having a full service?

I am sure a plan can be made for our Clients here, we definitely appreciate you guys that stick it out with us greatly.

 

[Syco]

I am sure a plan can be made for our Clients here, we definitely appreciate you guys that stick it out with us greatly.

When you say "for our Clients here" I trust you are not just including the stalwarts riding you guys on this forum over your lousy service but also the silent majority! The way we are being ripped off is criminal.

 

[AfriGenie]

When you say "for our Clients here" I trust you are not just including the stalwarts riding you guys on this forum over your lousy service but also the silent majority! The way we are being ripped off is criminal.

I was using Here in a very general sense.

In all seriousness though, if a Client has not had a good experience because of an issue or problem on our side, I will gladly assist them with getting credit.

But I also want to point out, that not ALL of our Users have had a bad experience, there are is definitely a sizable group of Users that have had a less than ideal experience, and we're making sure we can get everyone on the same performance and speed more consistently.

 

[Davedes]

I was using Here in a very general sense.

In all seriousness though, if a Client has not had a good experience because of an issue or problem on our side, I will gladly assist them with getting credit.

But I also want to point out, that not ALL of our Users have had a bad experience, there are is definitely a sizable group of Users that have had a less than ideal experience, and we're making sure we can get everyone on the same performance and speed more consistently.

I cannot believe that issues being pointed out here about certain download protocols aren't being felt across all users on your network.

You say there's a sizable group here but how many are being brushed off through email and telephonic support that have less of an IT understanding.

Keeping in mind that you've admitted there's a sizable group experiencing issues here yet the network status page continues to stay green.

 

[Vegeta]

Keeping in mind that you've admitted there's a sizable group experiencing issues here yet the network status page continues to stay green.

Had problems up until 23:00 last night before I gave up, very very surprised to see the network status green this morning. What? Afrihost you guys are causing yourself reputational damage. We've seen ISP's that people flocked to at first close their doors after enough reputational damage was done. But maybe that's not a concern to you since MTN has deep pockets its all about perspective I guess...

 

[AfriGenie]

I cannot believe that issues being pointed out here about certain download protocols aren't being felt across all users on your network.

You say there's a sizable group here but how many are being brushed off through email and telephonic support that have less of an IT understanding.

Keeping in mind that you've admitted there's a sizable group experiencing issues here yet the network status page continues to stay green.

Our Support Team will never brush anyone with less IT understanding, and if this ever happened is something we definitely need to investigate.

I cannot even begin to imagine why this not a persistent or more prevalent issue, as AfriMan pointed out, this seems to occur mainly during peak periods, so we're looking if this perhaps a form of contention that is happening.

 

[AfriGenie]

Had problems up until 23:00 last night before I gave up, very very surprised to see the network status green this morning. What? Afrihost you guys are causing yourself reputational damage. We've seen ISP's that people flocked to at first close their doors after enough reputational damage was done. But maybe that's not a concern to you since MTN has deep pockets its all about perspective I guess...

What sort of issues were you having with your connection? Last night should have seen things improved considerably from Tuesday night.

 

[Davedes]

Our Support Team will never brush anyone with less IT understanding, and if this ever happened is something we definitely need to investigate.

I cannot even begin to imagine why this not a persistent or more prevalent issue, as AfriMan pointed out, this seems to occur mainly during peak periods, so we're looking if this perhaps a form of contention that is happening.

My personal experience with support related to the same issue we are still experiencing:

1. I was told it was possibly my router so I went and bought another router.

2. Was told it was possibly my line sync so a fault was logged with telkom to change my line speed from 10 - 8 Mbps. Had to then wait two weeks for Telkom to change me back to 10Mbps.

3. Endless amounts of requests for trace routes with no feedback.

4. more tests with other Afrihost accounts.

5. Was told to change my DNS to google. Did not resolve the issue.

6. Had to hold on the line for over 45min only to be told they can't see any problems.

7. endless amounts of port resets.

8. support tickets closed after your support team copy/paste a response which has nothing to do with the initial problem reported.

All of the above going on and still no clear answer to wtf is actually going on. But you are correct your support team will never just brush someone off....

 

[caroper]

But I also want to point out, that not ALL of our Users have had a bad experience,

How do you know that?
Did you contact them all and ask?
Just because a User is not complaining does not mean that they are having a good experience.
It could be antipathy, ignorance or just the sheer frustration at the thought of having to deal with the help desk.
I personally get calls from at least 20 users in Hout Bay alone, who ask if Afrihost are having issues, rather than call you themselves.
Maybe I am being foolish by trying to help. I should make them all call you instead, that way you may admit it is more than a hand full of users here on MyBB, especially as the status page can no longer be trusted.

 

[AfriGenie]

How do you know that?
Did you contact them all and ask?
Just because a User is not complaining does not mean that they are having a good experience.
It could be antipathy, ignorance or just the sheer frustration at the thought of having to deal with the help desk.
I personally get calls from at least 20 users in Hout Bay alone, who ask if Afrihost are having issues, rather than call you themselves.
Maybe I am being foolish by trying to help. I should make them all call you instead, that way you may admit it is more than a hand full of users here on MyBB, especially as the status page can no longer be trusted.

I really appreciate you helping out, but if a Client or User has an issue with an Afrihost Account or ADSL line, they please need to contact us directly through one of our Channels, that is why we have a Support Team. It also helps us figure out if there are widespread issues or problems we need to be investigating.

We definitely don't make the assumption that just because a User is not complaining that everything is hunky dory. We do monitor the performance of our network at multiple points and have quite a few test accounts running.

 

[AfriGenie]

My personal experience with support related to the same issue we are still experiencing:

1. I was told it was possibly my router so I went and bought another router.

2. Was told it was possibly my line sync so a fault was logged with telkom to change my line speed from 10 - 8 Mbps. Had to then wait two weeks for Telkom to change me back to 10Mbps.

3. Endless amounts of requests for trace routes with no feedback.

4. more tests with other Afrihost accounts.

5. Was told to change my DNS to google. Did not resolve the issue.

6. Had to hold on the line for over 45min only to be told they can't see any problems.

7. endless amounts of port resets.

8. support tickets closed after your support team copy/paste a response which has nothing to do with the initial problem reported.

All of the above going on and still no clear answer to wtf is actually going on. But you are correct your support team will never just brush someone off....

In your instance, I think we can rather definitively say that your line is not the cause of the issue, and I have reviewed the list of our Support Team that have assisted you with your account, and I'll definitely be passing this on to their respective Team Leaders, there are very specific issue on your account, and they should have picked up on this.

 

[Aquiva]

I am sure a plan can be made for our Clients here, we definitely appreciate you guys that stick it out with us greatly.

I tried this before, and Afrihost said, since there were usage on my account, it was working. :wtf:

 

[AfriGenie]

I tried this before, and Afrihost said, since there were usage on my account, it was working. :wtf:

Huh... That would simply mean it is working, that does mean it is working well. I think Account's can sometimes be overly cautious, we've had instances in the past where a gentleman moved 1.3TB of data in a month, but was complaining because he is usually able to do 1.4TB.

If you feel you were done in, you are welcome to PM me the relevant Ticket ID, and I'll look into it.

 

[Vegeta]

What sort of issues were you having with your connection? Last night should have seen things improved considerably from Tuesday night.

Last night was surely better than Tuesday but I don't want better I want the line to run exactly as intended I hope that's not unreasonable. I'm at work so will see tonight at around 6-7, my hope is to have a buffer free SD netflix experience on my 4mb line(I'll restrict it to SD and 1 episode for now). I don't think that's too much to ask i really don't. If I can't enjoy that minimum I will do traceroutes and post here.

 

[AfriGenie]

Last night was surely better than Tuesday but I don't want better I want the line to run exactly as intended I hope that's not unreasonable. I'm at work so will see tonight at around 6-7, my hope is to have a buffer free SD netflix experience on my 4mb line(I'll restrict it to SD and 1 episode for now). I don't think that's too much to ask i really don't. If I can't enjoy that minimum I will do traceroutes and post here.

Thanks!

It'll really help a lot!