Afrihost CAPPED ADSL Feedback (MTN)

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Hi Afriman, can you start a row with telkom for me? Copy pasting this, also pmed you.

"Hi Afriman,

My line has been down for a week today. (10:25 officially logged fault)

I logged the fault last week, a technician was only sent Saturday, who then proceeded to check my line and the issue resides with the exchange (port damaged). Happy, thinking that he was about to sort it out, he tells me the exchange is closed on weekends and nothing can be done till Monday, but your issue would be sorted out by Monday morning 8:30.

Monday morning arrives, 9:00 line goes completely dead, leaving me unable to call the call center. I was forced to use a cell, calling them. When I asked to speak to a manager, calling multiple times, I was either put in a queue that never ended (spent 25 min, 15 min and 20 min each time before the line just cuts dead) and once I was just told to wait, waited for 30 min and no answer.

Now I am sitting here a week after the fault was logged, I would like, according to icasa, for a months refund, I would like you guys to credit it towards next months line rental. Could you do this for me?

Thank you."

Edit: add insult to injury, they just marked my fault as closed.

Fault number: 374cwk221014
 
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Kayoss said:
Yes, the "North"

And no..

1) I'm referring to very highly seeded torrents
2) I'm talking about all torrents, not just one torrent in particular
3) The same torrents perform fine on other ISPs
4) The speeds are incredibly consistent
5) It's the same with NNTP which does not rely on seeders

I very seldom use torrents if I'm honest however, I have been making use of them lately in order to gauge AH's performance because if anything gets "optimisied", it's torrents. Heck, I don't even think about watching my netflix/hulu+ on my 40MB Afrihost capped account!

Please stop trying to push this off like it's unrelated to Afrihost.
Click to expand...

I think you're working on the premise that torrents are being shaped, which is not the case. If you go back to where there were no IPC issues, I've consistently said in this thread and others that I don't consider P2P a reliable benchmark.
 
AfriMan said:
I think you're working on the premise that torrents are being shaped, which is not the case. If you go back to where there were no IPC issues, I've consistently said in this thread and others that I don't consider P2P a reliable benchmark.
Click to expand...

Ok, so then let's put torrents aside. Even though I seem to have no problem with them when using other ISPs, and even though I'n not the only person here complaining about it, let's just forget the torrents.

What about NNTP? Not a reliable benchmark either? What about streaming services like Netflix/Hulu+? Why are they buffering on low quality when I'm on a 40mb capped account? Other than a speedtest, just what exactly can I do on Afrihost? Seems to be useless at just about everything else, and your argument is that p2p is not a reliable benchmark?! You've just completely ignored my complaints about all the other services.
 
Johnatan56 said:
Hi Afriman, can you start a row with telkom for me? Copy pasting this, also pmed you.

"Hi Afriman,

My line has been down for a week today. (10:25 officially logged fault)

I logged the fault last week, a technician was only sent Saturday, who then proceeded to check my line and the issue resides with the exchange (port damaged). Happy, thinking that he was about to sort it out, he tells me the exchange is closed on weekends and nothing can be done till Monday, but your issue would be sorted out by Monday morning 8:30.

Monday morning arrives, 9:00 line goes completely dead, leaving me unable to call the call center. I was forced to use a cell, calling them. When I asked to speak to a manager, calling multiple times, I was either put in a queue that never ended (spent 25 min, 15 min and 20 min each time before the line just cuts dead) and once I was just told to wait, waited for 30 min and no answer.

Now I am sitting here a week after the fault was logged, I would like, according to icasa, for a months refund, I would like you guys to credit it towards next months line rental. Could you do this for me?

Thank you."

Edit: add insult to injury, they just marked my fault as closed.
Click to expand...

This definitely sounds like you had a pretty awful experience. With regard to a full months refund, I can't make a commitment there. Essentially, if there is a logged fault, we can log a dispute with Telkom and they will usually credit you directly for downtime, at their discretion. This will usually only be upon resolution of the fault though.

I will respond to your PM so we can assess and run through your options here.
 
Kayoss said:
Ok, so then let's put torrents aside. Even though I seem to have no problem with them when using other ISPs, and even though I'n not the only person here complaining about it, let's just forget the torrents.

What about NNTP? Not a reliable benchmark either? What about streaming services like Netflix/Hulu+? Why are they buffering on low quality when I'm on a 40mb capped account? Other than a speedtest, just what exactly can I do on Afrihost? Seems to be useless at just about everything else, and your argument is that p2p is not a reliable benchmark?! You've just completely ignored my complaints about all the other services.
Click to expand...

I'm not ignoring your complaint, I think we need to be on the same page. NNTP does have a different back-end to standard P2P but still involves elements that are not directly under our control or fully visible, so while they are sometime a better indicator, it's also not always fool proof.

Again, involving streaming and claiming that we are shaping Netflix will cause us to look for problems in the wrong place. We don't shape realtime streaming on any service, so there is no reason to assume that Netflix should be shaped or rate limited on Capped.
 
AfriMan said:
Definitely not great at all. Ping also seems high if this is a local test. Are you seeing high latency on traceroutes?
Click to expand...

Here are my results:

Tracing route to afrihost.co.za [197.242.144.102]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 5 ms HOME [192.168.4.253]
2 10 ms 9 ms 10 ms 105-236-10-65-esr-lo.mtnbusiness.co.za [105.236.10.65]
3 27 ms 27 ms 27 ms ipc-send-tb-3a.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.53.214]
4 30 ms 29 ms 26 ms tb-dca-2.za--qux-c.za.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.198.188]
5 27 ms 27 ms * compj-cpt-1.mtnns.net [196.44.18.2]
6 95 ms 27 ms 28 ms ct-cr-2.za--tb-cr-1.za.mtnns.net [196.44.31.134]
7 43 ms 43 ms 42 ms rb-cr-1.za--ct-cr-2.za.mtnns.net [196.44.31.69]
8 41 ms 42 ms 42 ms 196.44.31.97
9 51 ms 54 ms 49 ms 196.31.220.10
10 42 ms 42 ms 75 ms 196.31.220.21
11 44 ms 42 ms 42 ms 196.31.63.202
12 51 ms 50 ms 50 ms vl9-ah-ha-2.za.mtnbusiness.net [196.30.42.133]
13 43 ms 42 ms 43 ms cms-gm.afrihost.com [197.242.144.102]

Trace complete.
 
dt513 said:
Here are my results:

Tracing route to afrihost.co.za [197.242.144.102]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms 1 ms 5 ms HOME [192.168.4.253]
2 10 ms 9 ms 10 ms 105-236-10-65-esr-lo.mtnbusiness.co.za [105.236.10.65]
3 27 ms 27 ms 27 ms ipc-send-tb-3a.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.53.214]
4 30 ms 29 ms 26 ms tb-dca-2.za--qux-c.za.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.198.188]
5 27 ms 27 ms * compj-cpt-1.mtnns.net [196.44.18.2]
6 95 ms 27 ms 28 ms ct-cr-2.za--tb-cr-1.za.mtnns.net [196.44.31.134]
7 43 ms 43 ms 42 ms rb-cr-1.za--ct-cr-2.za.mtnns.net [196.44.31.69]
8 41 ms 42 ms 42 ms 196.44.31.97
9 51 ms 54 ms 49 ms 196.31.220.10
10 42 ms 42 ms 75 ms 196.31.220.21
11 44 ms 42 ms 42 ms 196.31.63.202
12 51 ms 50 ms 50 ms vl9-ah-ha-2.za.mtnbusiness.net [196.30.42.133]
13 43 ms 42 ms 43 ms cms-gm.afrihost.com [197.242.144.102]

Trace complete.
Click to expand...

Latency definitely doesn't look as good as it could be. From your signature, are both these lines in PE (i.e. in the South)?
 
AfriMan said:
The North has already been upgraded and generally we're seeing improvement for clients in the region. Judging by the results you sent earlier, I think we need to troubleshoot with you to see why you're not getting the same experience.

Will you drop me a PM?
Click to expand...

If anyone believes anything these Afrihost reps are saying about "upgrades", then I've got some oceanfront property in Sandton to sell you.
 
AfriMan said:
I'm not ignoring your complaint, I think we need to be on the same page. NNTP does have a different back-end to standard P2P but still involves elements that are not directly under our control or fully visible, so while they are sometime a better indicator, it's also not always fool proof.

Again, involving streaming and claiming that we are shaping Netflix will cause us to look for problems in the wrong place. We don't shape realtime streaming on any service, so there is no reason to assume that Netflix should be shaped or rate limited on Capped.
Click to expand...

To complain about my claims that you're shaping certain services is to miss my point entirely. I really don't care if you're shaping them or not! Look around you, everyone is having the same issues.. Whether or not it's shaping doesn't matter.

Let me make it simple for you.. For whatever reason (even with a 40mb line) one cannot:

1) Stream Netflix without buffering
2) Stream Hulu+ without buffering
3) Stream Twitch without buffering
4) Download torrents at more than 900kb/s
5) Download NNTP at more that 900kb/s

These things all seem to work fine on other ISPs, but not on Afrihost. And when you respond by saying that "The North has already been upgraded and generally we're seeing improvement for clients in the region.", this doesn't make for very happy clients. The IPC upgrade has already taken place, and yet everyone in the north is still complaining.

So are there any planned improvements for the north IPC, or has it already reached its optimal post-IPC upgrade performance?
 
dt513 said:
Both those 40Mb lines are in PE.
Click to expand...

I think with the current demand issues we know about in the South, we may need to wait for the IPC upgrade to take place in order to troubleshoot further. If the last two upgrades are any indication, I'm hopeful it will be within the week but I can't confirm until we get the word from Telkom via MTN.
 
Kayoss said:
To complain about my claims that you're shaping certain services is to miss my point entirely. I really don't care if you're shaping them or not! Look around you, everyone is having the same issues.. Whether or not it's shaping doesn't matter.

Let me make it simple for you.. For whatever reason (even with a 40mb line) one cannot:

1) Stream Netflix without buffering
2) Stream Hulu+ without buffering
3) Stream Twitch without buffering
4) Download torrents at more than 900kb/s
5) Download NNTP at more that 900kb/s

These things all seem to work fine on other ISPs, but not on Afrihost. And when you respond by saying that "The North has already been upgraded and generally we're seeing improvement for clients in the region.", this doesn't make for very happy clients. The IPC upgrade has already taken place, and yet everyone in the north is still complaining.

So are there any planned improvements for the north IPC, or has it already reached its optimal post-IPC upgrade performance?
Click to expand...

It sounds like we need to troubleshoot with you to see why you are having a poor experience since you seem to be getting poor performance across all services. This certainly would not be the case if we were to be shaping or rate limiting as you had suggested.

The North has been upgraded and to my knowledge we're not planning further upgrades in the short term. Obviously improvements are continuous and we'll monitor and make changes as we go along. We have some firmware improvements for our network management devices pending, so we also expect to make continuous improvements. Obviously in the long term we're continuously planning for additional capacity and network changes to improve overall performance.

If you're open to troubleshooting, I'd be happy to chat over PM so we can get some testing going.
 
AfriMan said:
My purpose here is to engage and help. If you're really not willing to do that, which your post seems to indicate, then I'm not sure what outcome you are looking for. I'm always willing to help and do my best, which I think is true of all of us here at Afrihost, but it requires your participation, because we can't do it alone.

Think about it, let me know what you'd like to do :)
Click to expand...
I don't disagree that you have a tough job atm, and that you need to help.

I'm not here to help you. I'm the client and all I expect is a working product.

Think about it, there is nothing I can do. You guys just need to pull finger. That's got nothing to do with me.

Take a look around you, people are really pissed off and your approach of "well we just need to wait for upgrades" is simply not good enough. Hence the people leaving in droves. Just look at the thread with the poll.

People are not stupid, you should afford them more credit. Most people on here are technically minded and know when they are being shafted. Like we are now.

Edit: I will always help identify an issue when there IS something I can assist with. This scenario I can do stuff all, like everyone else barring one or two with legitimate line issues.
 
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Good day Afriman,

I moved home recently (within the same area), and prior to doing so I enquired from Afrihost Support which steps were necessary to ensure that I do not lose my Afrihost B18955 capped bundle @ R698 - R222 bundle discount = R476 per month
(upto 20 Mbps VDSL line and 50 GB + 50 GB capped data).


I received this reply:

Sent: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 at 08:25
Subject: ClientZone - Support Request : Capped ADSL
Ticket: XCR-552-92511

Thank you for sending this valued email. You need to cancel your line in your client zone. Once logged into your client zone,select connectivity > select your line number on the right hand side > select cancel this service > select the option to relocate.

We will move your line back to Telkom, then you can ask them to relocate the line for you. Once they have relocated you please inform us so we can move the line back to Afrihost.

If there is anything else that you are unsure of , please do not hesitate to contact us if we may be of further assistance.

Thanks

Kind Regards

Angel
------------------------------
Thank you for your reply, but it does not answer my question about my Bundle - It seems that I will lose my saving as soon as I cancel my line for the move, and because it is a custom bundle VDSL20 + 50GB bundle, I will not be able to re-create this bundle when I move the line back to Afrihost - is this so ?
------------------------------
When you cancel the line it wont cancel the data package. The package will remain active until you move to your new premises.

We have already invoiced you for September so we will bill you for the bundle. You dont have to unbundle or cancel your package. When you move your line back to us if its the same number we will activate the same bundle however if its a new number you have to sign up for the number again.

You will be able to sign up for the same bundle again, however management will review the packages again on the 31st of September.

If there is anything else that you are unsure of , please do not hesitate to contact us if we may be of further assistance.

Thanks




Kind Regards

Angel
---------------------------

31 Sept (sic) Ha Ha :D

The line was moved back to Telkom with nearly a month delay (1-15 Sept on the Afrihost side and 15-25 Sept on the Telkom side), and the line installed at the new premises which is in the same area, but apparently on a different Telkom sub-exchange, so a new number was assigned.

Taking heed of the warning from Angel at Afrihost Support that my exact Bundle could only be re-instated if I keep the same number, I had a 2-week battle with Telkom te re-assign my old number, which was eventually done.

With everything now geared up to move my VDSL line back to Afrihost and re-activate my Capped Bundle, I logged the call with Afrihost Support to do so:

---------------------------------------
Sent: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 at 12:48
Subject: ClientZone - Support Request : Capped ADSL
Ticket: HJH-661-74167
ATT: Angel

Good afternoon - please refer to Clientzone Support Ticket #
XCR-552-92511 dated 29 August 2014 (attached below).


Please request that my VDSL line be moved back to Afrihost,
and re-activate my package:
Afrihost B18955 Capped Bundle
(upto 20Mbps VDSL line package + 50Gb capped DSL data) that I signed up for.

PLEASE CONFIRM that I will be charged the same for my bundle as before the move:
R476 per month (R698 - R222 bundle discount) as per Invoice IN4590979.


Thank You

----------------------------------
I also received the following confirmation from Sinabo:

From: Sinabo.G - Afrihost.com
Sent: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 at 21:19
Subject: ClientZone - Support Request : Capped ADSL
Ticket: HJH-661-74167

Hey there *****,

I trust all is well,
Thank you so much for your mail.

I received feedback from our DSL internal department and they confirmed that you can sign up
for the 20mbps VDSL line package again with your number *** *** ****.
Please login to your ClientZone and sign up for the package again.
The process to migrate your line takes up to 14working days in that time you will not
get downtime.
Apologies for the late reply.

-----------------------------------------------

After giving the go-ahead for the line to be moved back to Afrihost, I received the following bad news from Sinabo and Larry Sithole last night:

From: Larry Sithole - Afrihost.com
Sent: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 at 23:45
Subject: ClientZone - Support Request : Capped ADSL
Ticket: HJH-661-74167
Hi there Anton

Larry here.

Trust you are well.

Apologies for the late response.

The prices you were paying before were the old package prices.

You are now supposed to be paying R564 for the bundled price.

Do not hesitate to contact us for any further queries.

Kind regards



Afrihost.com
Pure Internet Joy!

-------------------------------------------

From: Sinabo.G - Afrihost.com
Sent: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 at 23:24
Subject: ClientZone - Support Request : Capped ADSL
Ticket: HJH-661-74167

Hey there *****,

I trust all is well.
Thank you so much for your feedback,

I have taken a look a look at your account and you unfortunately wont be
paying R476 for your 20mbps bundle as we there was a discrepancy in the account
and will be charged R 564.00 for your bundle package.

We do apologize for any inconvenience caused, may you please contact us or our accounts department should you need
further assistance!

---------------------------------
This is unacceptable as the only reason I have this bundle and moved my line back to Afrihost is because it provides a value-for-money option, the other options being unaffordable for me.

If this cannot be resolved and my monthly price kept at R476 as per invoice IN4590979, then I will be forced to migrate my line to Vox (20 MBps VDSL access @ R342 per month) and buy my capped, unshaped data from OpenWeb (50 GB + 100 GB @ R185 per month).

Afriman, your favourable resolution of this saga would be much appreciated.


Many Thanks

Space
 
techead said:
I don't disagree that you have a tough job atm, and that you need to help.

I'm not here to help you. I'm the client and all I expect is a working product.

Think about it, there is nothing I can do. You guys just need to pull finger. That's got nothing to do with me.

Take a look around you, people are really pissed off and your approach of "well we just need to wait for upgrades" is simply not good enough. Hence the people leaving in droves. Just look at the thread with the poll.

People are not stupid, you should afford them more credit. Most people on here are technically minded and know when they are being shafted. Like we are now.
Click to expand...

I think any meaningful progress requires participation on both sides. However upgrading IPC doesn't involve us or yourself as the client. It requires Telkom's action exclusively before we can action anything on our side.

I understand your perspective here, and I know it's a view that many may share. However my experience has always been that it's better understand an issue from different perspectives and work with the people involved. Simply standing back and distancing yourself from that process is disempowering to yourself as the client. I personally find that talking to people, engaging with them, even if I don't feel I can effect a change, at least helps me understand how an issue fits together.

With regard to people leaving in droves, this is not the case. We're always sad to lose a client, for whatever reason, but cancellations happen from month to month. We do afford clients respect for their intelligence and right to choice, which is why we offer a month to month service where other companies want a long term commitment. We have faith in our client's trust in us, and we return that trust by doing our best when things are tough, and doing more that they expect when things are better. If we operated our business on shafting people, we wouldn't be where we are. I know there are companies out there that make those kind of decisions, but many of them don't exist or won't exist very soon. We plan to be around for a very long time.
 
AfriMan said:
I think any meaningful progress requires participation on both sides. However upgrading IPC doesn't involve us or yourself as the client. It requires Telkom's action exclusively before we can action anything on our side.
.
Click to expand...

Nothing to do with me, correct.

So afrihost don't plan for ipc capacity on their network?
 
Space said:
snip
Click to expand...

With capped bundles, we unfortunately have had to phase out many legacy bundles due to them being unfeasible and difficult to manage. We had previously allowed several combinations of line and data, where now we only offer bundles with standard products.

I totally understand your perspective, and I think the consultant dealing with your query initially could have made this clearer initially. However, I doubt you would have not moved based on this. Unfortunately I can't recreate these legacy bundles, but we can chat over PM about what options might work better for your budget :(
 
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