Afrihost New Network Feedback - Part 2

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Afrihost Advice Is to Downgrade Line Speed

Really good streaming performance throughout the weekend.watched most of the football i wanted to without any hiccups :) viva Barca

You're lucky - since opting for the unshaped capped option none of my international streaming services are working - the ping rate to the international servers is apparently too high to even allow SD streaming! I'm two months into an annual subscription for this streaming service and suddenly for the last couple of weeks it doesn't work - picture starts plays for a second or two and freezes. Prior to the selection of unshaped package from Afrihost it worked perfectly - streaming 1080P live NFL football on a SUnday night without an issue. Now nothing but nothing wants to play even the SD channels won't stream.

Requested assistance from Afrihost and got told to consider downgrading to a 4Mbps line or Fibre (not available)!

My current line is synced at 10Mbps and comes in at a smidge under 8Mbps as per my data package and Afrihost's suggestion is to lower the line speed further?? This while there is an active regrade request to a 10Mbps package after my request for a 20Mbps line regrade was denied with distance from exchange stated as the reason it could not be done.

I have previously had a 10Mbps line at this exact address and it was only downgraded on the advice of Afrihost but has since been successfully synced at 10Mbps so why is a 10Mbps package not possible?

And does the unshaped selection have anything to do with the piss poor ping rates to international servers? It's 2016 people surely we can manage streaming video in HD without reinventing the internet to achieve it?
 
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You're lucky - since opting for the unshaped capped option none of my international streaming services are working - the ping rate to the international servers is apparently too high to even allow SD streaming! I'm two months into an annual subscription for this streaming service and suddenly for the last couple of weeks it doesn't work - picture starts plays for a second or two and freezes. Prior to the selection of unshaped package from Afrihost it worked perfectly - streaming 1080P live NFL football on a SUnday night without an issue. Now nothing but nothing wants to play even the SD channels won't stream. Requested assistance from Afrihost and got told to consider downgrading to a 4Mbps line or Fibre (not available)! My current line is synced at 10Mbps and comes in at a smidge under 8Mbps as per my data package and Afrihost's suggestion is to lower the line speed further?? This while there is an active regrade request to a 10Mbps package after my request for a 20Mbps line regrade was denied with distance from exchange stated as the reason it could not be done. I have previously had a 10Mbps line at this exact address and it was only downgraded on the advice of Afrihost but has since been successfully synced at 10Mbps so why is a 10Mbps package not possible? And does the unshaped selection have anything to do with the piss poor ping rates to international servers? It's 2016 people surely we can manage streaming video in HD without reinventing the internet to achieve it?
Pretty sure the shaped and unshaped packages only kick in from January 1st.. Would be strange to have it activated mid month.
 
Pretty sure the shaped and unshaped packages only kick in from January 1st.. Would be strange to have it activated mid month.

Yeah fair comment - bottom line is it isn't working now and it used to work just fine.

I just tested the streaming video/TV service using my iPhone as a 3G/4G hotspot connection and wouldn't you know it everything streams perfectly in SD, HD and FHD - no buffering and no issues. Yet an 8Mbps 300Gb (free 18-hours) capped ADSL line from Afrihost is unable to stream the same content?? Something isn't lining up and Afrihost are ducking the issue blaming everyone else but themselves. I am able to stream/download/watch DSTV Catch-Up HD content without an issue on the same ADSL line but anythng internationally based is not working.

The following Afrihost fault references refer:

#RUC-405-83596 (Request for a regrade to 20Mbps made on 11 November 2016 - still unresolved!)
#RCN-294-19111 (Query as to the high international ping rate - Afrihost suggestion downgrade to 4Mbps line??)
 
Yeah fair comment - bottom line is it isn't working now and it used to work just fine.

I just tested the streaming video/TV service using my iPhone as a 3G/4G hotspot connection and wouldn't you know it everything streams perfectly in SD, HD and FHD - no buffering and no issues. Yet an 8Mbps 300Gb (free 18-hours) capped ADSL line from Afrihost is unable to stream the same content?? Something isn't lining up and Afrihost are ducking the issue blaming everyone else but themselves. I am able to stream/download/watch DSTV Catch-Up HD content without an issue on the same ADSL line but anythng internationally based is not working.

The following Afrihost fault references refer:

#RUC-405-83596 (Request for a regrade to 20Mbps made on 11 November 2016 - still unresolved!)
#RCN-294-19111 (Query as to the high international ping rate - Afrihost suggestion downgrade to 4Mbps line??)
Which area? Cape Town?
 
Yeah fair comment - bottom line is it isn't working now and it used to work just fine.

I just tested the streaming video/TV service using my iPhone as a 3G/4G hotspot connection and wouldn't you know it everything streams perfectly in SD, HD and FHD - no buffering and no issues. Yet an 8Mbps 300Gb (free 18-hours) capped ADSL line from Afrihost is unable to stream the same content?? Something isn't lining up and Afrihost are ducking the issue blaming everyone else but themselves. I am able to stream/download/watch DSTV Catch-Up HD content without an issue on the same ADSL line but anythng internationally based is not working.

The following Afrihost fault references refer:

#RUC-405-83596 (Request for a regrade to 20Mbps made on 11 November 2016 - still unresolved!)
#RCN-294-19111 (Query as to the high international ping rate - Afrihost suggestion downgrade to 4Mbps line??)

Hey Giles. Shaping is definitely only kicking in in January, at which point, Capped accounts will still only be shaped as a last resort. I think the latency spike you're experiencing is unfortunate, but purely coincidental. Please send me a PM with your account details and we can troubleshoot this a little more. :)
 
Since I mostly only comment when something goes wrong.
I figured I should say that in the past two months that I have been on AH, only on one evening was there issues.

Otherwise downloads are line speed no matter the time of day and Twitch playback is the best I have had from any ISP. Even the VOD playback is flawless.

So thanks to Afrihost and the reps.

Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself. :D
 
Since I mostly only comment when something goes wrong.
I figured I should say that in the past two months that I have been on AH, only on one evening was there issues.

Otherwise downloads are line speed no matter the time of day and Twitch playback is the best I have had from any ISP. Even the VOD playback is flawless.

So thanks to Afrihost and the reps.

Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself. :D
Well fair play to you for this post. Interesting you mention Twitch and working better than any other isp. It basically says that Twitch in general doesnt perform well irrespective of which isp it is. So more than an isp issue?
 
Don't have another ISP account capped or otherwise to test. I've got Telkom looking into the line speed and quality - will see what they have to say about it all. It has been my experience that Telkom will blame Afrihost who in turn blame Telkom and so on with me sitting in the middle paying for a service I am not getting. This is not my first rodeo with either Afrihost or Telkom. What is surprising though is how quickly Afrihost are to suggest a downgrade! I got the distinct impression they'd rather I went elsewhere which is a weird attitude from a service provider, I think anyway.
 
I too used to enjoy flawless uninterrupted streaming in HD and FHD but now I cannot even stream in SD - something is not right and it is not as a result of a change on my side that much I can assure you.

Long may it last for you and Afrihost has been phenomenal up until now - best value for internet by some distance in SA but their recent willingness to downgrade my line was a bit of a surprise. Kind of like, "Oh well there is nothing we can do so either downgrade or take your business elsewhere!"
 
Since I mostly only comment when something goes wrong.
I figured I should say that in the past two months that I have been on AH, only on one evening was there issues.

Otherwise downloads are line speed no matter the time of day and Twitch playback is the best I have had from any ISP. Even the VOD playback is flawless.

So thanks to Afrihost and the reps.

Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself. :D

Thanks for your awesome kudos! :) We've been working really hard on providing the best experience on our DSL network. Don't forget to use this forum when you need to and report back whenever you have a problem. :)
 
I too used to enjoy flawless uninterrupted streaming in HD and FHD but now I cannot even stream in SD - something is not right and it is not as a result of a change on my side that much I can assure you.

Long may it last for you and Afrihost has been phenomenal up until now - best value for internet by some distance in SA but their recent willingness to downgrade my line was a bit of a surprise. Kind of like, "Oh well there is nothing we can do so either downgrade or take your business elsewhere!"

Happy to look into any issues and troubleshoot with you. :) Please PM me your account details.
 
Well fair play to you for this post. Interesting you mention Twitch and working better than any other isp. It basically says that Twitch in general doesnt perform well irrespective of which isp it is. So more than an isp issue?

Because our closest CDN for Twitch is Europe, it all comes down to how the ISP gets there. And while normal streaming on Twitch has been ok to spotty on other ISPs - CW, WA etc - even on AH a year ago it was pretty bad but now it honestly streams perfectly. But more so VODs in the past no matter the ISP have always had poor playback, often needing multiple refreshes till it works. But I've noticed that when I watch a VOD on AH now, the playback buffers so perfectly that my network graph even gets a repeatable and perfect mountain shape. (If you know what I mean)

So how ever they have routed the traffic for Twitch from overseas, or how they are allowing it through their network at the moment is perfect in my eyes.
 
Since I mostly only comment when something goes wrong.
I figured I should say that in the past two months that I have been on AH, only on one evening was there issues.

Otherwise downloads are line speed no matter the time of day and Twitch playback is the best I have had from any ISP. Even the VOD playback is flawless.

So thanks to Afrihost and the reps.

Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself. :D

Also to add, I doubt any other ISP will allow you to use 10TB of data.
 
Just got an infringement notice from forwarded by amazon for downloading man in the high castle but I'm watching Netflix
 
Perhaps it's time to look for another ISP. Connection is so poor the app can't even complete the speed test - on a 4MB line. :erm:

Afrihost 4MB Uncapped.JPG
 
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