Afrihost Capped ADSL Feedback (MTN) - New beginning

[AfriMan]

Yep, me too. I've recommended so many friends, family members and colleagues to use Afrihost in the past that the current performance woes have become an embarrassment: I'm the head of development and a shareholder in a software company. I moved my business hosting & ADSL to another provider; whenever someone asks for advice regarding their own internet troubles, the first thing I ask is "are you still using Afrihost?" If they answer yes then I advise them to switch.

The only reason I haven't switched is that after many years of loyal custom, I have the vain hope that AH can sort it out; but I don't know how long I can keep hoping. I'm tired of raising support tickets, posting traceroute results, tweeting support, etc. etc all of which usually ends in my line being reset, an apparent improvement for a few hours and then back to normal.

At this very moment, my iPad has spent about 20 minutes downloading 25% of a 13.4 MB update to the BBC sport app ... on a 10Mb line. Really? For this "privilege" I get to pay the princely sum of about R1K a month. I am so lucky.

I totally understand your point here, and I know that right now it may be difficult to think of reasons to stick with us. What I would say is that we always come out in favour of our clients. When we've had IPC problems in the past, for instance, we've gone out and upgraded well before the bean counters have said it's financial viable, just to ensure our clients have a good experience and reward them for their loyalty. When we ended Double Data and clients were unhappy, we decided to extend for another 6 months, which comes at a great cost to the company. I promise that the feedback here on MyBB and from our clients in general is reaching the highest levels of management and it is being taken seriously. We are pushing for the best results and the Directors have given Carte Blanche to the technical team to make the necessary improvements.

 

[AfriMan]

Maybe they are punishing their clients for voting them so far down on the ISP of the year category!

That really hurts

 

[Aquiva]

That really hurts

Certainly not intentional, but it has the same outcome. I can guarantee you that, the double data deal, is the only thing keeping many clients from moving away from Afrihost, but now there is a problem... What does Double Data mean if you can't even use it because of the poor network performance? Afrihost is unfortunately not competitive in the ADSL market anymore.

 

[AfriMan]

Certainly not intentional, but it has the same outcome. I can guarantee you that, the double data deal, is the only thing keeping many clients from moving away from Afrihost, but now there is a problem... What does Double Data mean if you can't even use it because of the poor network performance? Afrihost is unfortunately not competitive in the ADSL market anymore.

It's definitely not an idea position. Double Data is costing us a fortune and it's difficult to sustain while the same time hoping to drop our base price at some point. Thankfully I'm not part of the think tank trying to figure out how to do this, but our Directors always seem to pull the rabbit out of the hat, and I'm sure they will again. I'm sure that they will find a way to make sacrifices so that our clients get the best benefit and judging by past experience, something that will exceed our expectations. I think the focus is (and should be) on getting the network right and giving clients the right basic experience before we focus on pricing or promotions.

 

[Purply]

My understanding surrounding the poor performance on Afrihost is that when they implemented new networking equipment (some random unknown overseas brand) their technicians did not have the required knowledge to implement it correctly, which lead to all sorts of routing issues. Since then, which has now been roughly a year later, they have gained the needed training and knowledge to rectify these issues, but due to the enormous fault finding task at hand, it has gone rather slowly as you can only really implement one change at a time in order to monitor the effect it makes on the entire network.

IPC upgraded generally helps when people complain about poor performance, but is useless if the "network" is not implemented correctly.

I have no idea how far Afrihost has gotten to rectifying these "network" issues, but can only imagine it's going to take a bit longer due to the complex nature of these things.

I wish them all the best in resolving this asap as their customer base is slowly eroding to the point where they will have far too much IPC and their business model will become unsustainable (which I suspect is already the case) MTN on the other hand has huge amounts of cash to throw at the problem and keep it alive.

 

[pauljmelia]

Double Data is costing us a fortune and it's difficult to sustain while the same time hoping to drop our base price at some point. Thankfully

I think the focus is (and should be) on getting the network right and giving clients the right basic experience before we focus on pricing or promotions.

As Aquiva says: the only reason so many of your loyal customers are reluctant to move is that AH continues to offer double data, even though most of the time the network performance is so poor you can't use it.

Whilst it may be perceived by the bean counters as costing AH a fortune, the moment you take double data away, I'm sure I won't be the only one who no longer has a reason not to switch. I would suggest that not having double data will cost AH even more.

This really is sad. Many moons ago I switched from Telkom to AH on a friends recommendation and found the service and support so good that I never hesitated to recommend AH. Last month I came with in a hair's breadth of switching, but the paying a similar figure for 50% of the data made me rethink, again, and I gave AH another month. Unfortunately given how long it has taken AH to get absolutely nowhere, I very much doubt that AH will get anywhere in the next 10 days; and so I'll be asking myself the question again, "can I really afford to keep paying for a service which I'm no longer getting, for a data allowance which I can't use with not even a ballpark ETA on a resolution, despite the fact that we're told the 'best engineers' are looking into it."

If my clients received the same level of service from myself and my team, I would very rapidly find that I no longer had a business.

 

[AfriGuy]

My understanding surrounding the poor performance on Afrihost is that when they implemented new networking equipment (some random unknown overseas brand) their technicians did not have the required knowledge to implement it correctly, which lead to all sorts of routing issues. Since then, which has now been roughly a year later, they have gained the needed training and knowledge to rectify these issues, but due to the enormous fault finding task at hand, it has gone rather slowly as you can only really implement one change at a time in order to monitor the effect it makes on the entire network.

IPC upgraded generally helps when people complain about poor performance, but is useless if the "network" is not implemented correctly.

I have no idea how far Afrihost has gotten to rectifying these "network" issues, but can only imagine it's going to take a bit longer due to the complex nature of these things.

I wish them all the best in resolving this asap as their customer base is slowly eroding to the point where they will have far too much IPC and their business model will become unsustainable (which I suspect is already the case) MTN on the other hand has huge amounts of cash to throw at the problem and keep it alive.

We did have some shaping challenges a while back, but this definitely wasn't due to any new hardware implementations. We've run the same shaping systems for ages

 

[Aquiva]

This really is sad. Many moons ago I switched from Telkom to AH on a friends recommendation and found the service and support so good that I never hesitated to recommend AH. Last month I came with in a hair's breadth of switching, but the paying a similar figure for 50% of the data made me rethink, again, and I gave AH another month. Unfortunately given how long it has taken AH to get absolutely nowhere, I very much doubt that AH will get anywhere in the next 10 days; and so I'll be asking myself the question again, "can I really afford to keep paying for a service which I'm no longer getting, for a data allowance which I can't use with not even a ballpark ETA on a resolution, despite the fact that we're told the 'best engineers' are looking into it."

If my clients received the same level of service from myself and my team, I would very rapidly find that I no longer had a business.

This has been the story of my internet life for the past year, I have downgraded to 1GB probably like 4 times, but because of the value for money keep re-instating my Afrihost data. I have also downgraded my line and moved to another ISP, but with the amount of people in my household that use the internet, it wasn't viable. If Afrihost stops the Double Data then I would completely move in a heart-beat and I don't know if I Afrihost will be able to convince me and all the ex-Afrihosters to come back.

 

[Davedes]

I don't there is a conspiracy chances are that AfriGenie missed your post, unless you've been constantly posting the same question.

We can't give you a blanket commitment and no company would. We know that there have been performance issues with the network but this is mostly limited to a 1 or 2 hour window in the evenings, otherwise we are seeing generally good performance on the network. I can't see any company issuing blanket refunds on that basis. But if you're assertion is that we're pocketing the profits and turning a blind eye, you are totally off the mark there. We're pumping major resources into improving our network constantly, and that expense is not matched by growth in revenue. We are always willing to spend to improve our client's experience. So I'm basically saying that there is no doubt that the fees our clients pay goes back into improving the network and providing them with the best experience possible.

I totally appreciate your point about loyalty and I think I just want to re-iterate that we are loyal to our clients. We've made many decision based on our commitment to our clients - even when it doesn't make financial sense, whether it's capacity upgrades, dropping prices or continuing promotions like Double Data even when they cost the company quite a bit. Our clients put their faith in us, and that is a bond of trust. We also return that trust by taking a leap of faith knowing that they will support us when we do.

Limited to 1 or 2 hour window in evening! LMFAO

There have been issues of slow downloads, high latency, iOS & windows update problems, packet loss etc that have been ongoing for over a month. For me personally those issues would start in the morning and only start to improve around 11PM at night.

Get your head out of your ass!

Secondly, the whole time Afrihost are aware there are major issues your network status page stays green. " network running like a bomb"it says. For a company that claims such loyalty to its clients yet can't even display truthful network status readings says it all.

As for your double data. I'm currently getting 600GB with another ISP for around the same price I was paying with Afrihost for 200GB per month. I wouldn't consider it as being loyal to your customers but rather trying to stay competitive in the market.

 

[AfriGuy]

Limited to 1 or 2 hour window in evening! LMFAO

There have been issues of slow downloads, high latency, iOS & windows update problems, packet loss etc that have been ongoing for over a month. For me personally those issues would start in the morning and only start to improve around 11PM at night.

Get your head out of your ass!

Secondly, the whole time Afrihost are aware there are major issues your network status page stays green. " network running like a bomb"it says. For a company that claims such loyalty to its clients yet can't even display truthful network status readings says it all.

As for your double data. I'm currently getting 600GB with another ISP for around the same price I was paying with Afrihost for 200GB per month. I wouldn't consider it as being loyal to your customers but rather trying to stay competitive in the market.

I think we're the first ones to admit that things aren't great the moment, our posts here are evident of that. I'm also well aware of your posts on the forum, and that you aren't happy.
Saying that though, there's entirely no need to personally attack us.

 

[Aquiva]

I think we're the first ones to admit that things aren't great the moment, our posts here are evident of that. I'm also well aware of your posts on the forum, and that you aren't happy.
Saying that though, there's entirely no need to personally attack us.

I do agree with AfriGuy here. I myself have expressed my frustration with Afrihost and they have noted it. Now the ball is in their court and I'm not gonna be a dick about it.

 

[Davedes]

I think we're the first ones to admit that things aren't great the moment, our posts here are evident of that. I'm also well aware of your posts on the forum, and that you aren't happy.
Saying that though, there's entirely no need to personally attack us.

Really? You know that things aren't great at the moment?



According to that everything is perfect.

Don't insult your clients by trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

 

[AfriGuy]

Really? You know that things aren't great at the moment?

View attachment 216302

According to that everything is perfect.

Don't insult your clients by trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

I think we've discussed the noticeboard status at length already, it's based on the severity of the issue and run on what percentage of clients is affected.
We had it updated the other day around high latency, as one example.

I'm sorry you aren't happy, but I need to stress that we're not lying, trying to blind or insult our clients in any way. I really do understand that you're upset, but throwing these accusations around makes it really challenging to engage with you.

 

[caroper]

We know that there have been performance issues with the network but this is mostly limited to a 1 or 2 hour window in the evenings, otherwise we are seeing generally good performance on the network.

Before you can fix the problem you have to acknowledge that you have one...............

Telkom Left ------ Afrihost Right



I have been on Telkom Bandwidth so far this month and this is the result I get each time I switch back to Afrihost to see if the problem is resolved as your network status claims it is.

This is not acceptable and not tolerable and your pathetic excuses are just making the few loyal users you have left in the South angry, not pacified. Full disclosure and an estimated time to resolve the issue is needed.

 

[techead]

I think we've discussed the noticeboard status at length already, it's based on the severity of the issue and run on what percentage of clients is affected.
We had it updated the other day around high latency, as one example.

I'm sorry you aren't happy, but I need to stress that we're not lying, trying to blind or insult our clients in any way. I really do understand that you're upset, but throwing these accusations around makes it really challenging to engage with you.

A notice board for issues is just that, for issues. You shouldn't be picking and choosing based on percentage of people effected to keep things looking good for you. If ONE SINGLE PERSON is effected by an outage or ANYTHING relating to your control, you should put a notice up. I know that is how I view my business. If one single person is effected, they get attended to with the same urgency than if they were part of a larger pool (which warranted a notice on the website of course!)

Afrihost has changed the way they do business, and quite honestly it's almost embarrassing.

 

[Davedes]

I do agree with AfriGuy here. I myself have expressed my frustration with Afrihost and they have noted it. Now the ball is in their court and I'm not gonna be a dick about it.

All companies have their problems.

The point I'm trying to get across is don't come here and post about loyalty to clients and double data etc when as a company Afrihost know they are not being honest with their clients about the issues on hand.

People only expect to get what they pay for & what is advertised. If the network status page says everything is fine then you expect your service to be running 100% as advertised.

 

[AfriGuy]

Before you can fix the problem you have to acknowledge that you have one...............

Afrihost Left ------ Telkom Right
View attachment 216306View attachment 216310
View attachment 216312View attachment 216314

I have been on Telkom Bandwidth so far this month and this is the result I get each time I switch back to Afrihost to see if the problem is resolved as your network status claims it is.

This is not acceptable and not tolerable and your pathetic excuses are just making the few loyal users you have left in the South angry, not pacified. Full disclosure and an estimated time to resolve the issue is needed.

There shouldn't be such big discrepancies in terms of throughput here though, this definitely isn't normal nor widespread across the region. Without pointing fingers either, but I've seen feedback in this thread that the MyBB speedtest has been a little erratic as of late. Does your overall experience fall in line with the results you've pasted here?

Would you mind running some tests over on speedtest.net too please?
Here's one from my place. Wynberg, CPT.

EDIT: Yeah, definitely something weird happening on the MyBB speedtest. Compare to what I've pasted above

 

[Davedes]

I think we've discussed the noticeboard status at length already, it's based on the severity of the issue and run on what percentage of clients is affected.
We had it updated the other day around high latency, as one example.

I'm sorry you aren't happy, but I need to stress that we're not lying, trying to blind or insult our clients in any way. I really do understand that you're upset, but throwing these accusations around makes it really challenging to engage with you.

Why are iOS and windows update issues not noted on your status page then? Im sure they are not isolated issues, the number of post over the last month in this forum prove that.

I remember seeing high latency last night that would have affected all clients in the south, I don't see that on the board either.

 

[AfriGuy]

Why are iOS and windows update issues not noted on your status page then? Im sure they are not isolated issues, the number of post over the last month in this forum prove that.

I remember seeing high latency last night that would have affected all clients in the south, I don't see that on the board either.

It's not listed due to the factors I've mentioned in my previous post.

 

[caroper]

There shouldn't be such big discrepancies in terms of throughput here though, this definitely isn't normal nor widespread across the region. Without pointing fingers either, but I've seen feedback in this thread that the MyBB speedtest has been a little erratic as of late. Does your overall experience fall in line with the results you've pasted here?

Would you mind running some tests over on speedtest.net too please?
Here's one from my place. Wynberg, CPT.

Afrihost is unusable, that is why I have purchased Telkom Data and used it all month so far.
Posting the tests above took 45 min out of my day, swiching ISP's running tests etc.
That 45 min of billable time is another cost to me on top of the Telkom account cost.

I am back on Telkom now, so I can try and get some productive work done, so thanks for yet another excuse and blaming the tools rather than addressing the problem, but I have no more time to waist on running countless and pointless tests for the sake of your PR and stalling tactics.