Afrihost POC Network - Afrigreen Feedback

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Saajid said:
Hi. I've got a 20mbps line, 200GB capped data + 100GB AfriThanks data, Unotelly, Netflix and Hulu.

I only started using AfriGreen since last week Monday/Tuesday and switched mainly because Hulu performance was terrible on AfriRed. There was a significant improvement in Hulu performance, but it still wasn't great. On AfriGreen I would get buffering for 20-30 seconds every 5-10 minutes. Painful, but watchable.

But since Afrihost announced the free 100GB AfriThanks data, things went downhill. Now my issue is a bit weird, because I am getting different results on Hulu streaming depending on the device that connects:
- Roku 3 - perfect, works like a bomb. No buffering.
- Hulu website, using Firefox on a Windows 8.1 PC - perfect, works like a bomb. No buffering.
- Android app on Sony Xperia Z3 - Terrible. Buffers for 5 minutes, and then plays video for about 5 seconds
- Android app on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 - Terrible. Buffers for 2-3 minutes, and then plays video for about 15 seconds
- Android app on Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini - Terrible. Refuses to even play, it's only constantly buffering

I then signed up for a free 1+1GB account with WebAfrica, and connected my ADSL with this account, and Hulu worked like a bomb on all my devices, with no issues. Switched back to AfriGreen, and Hulu stopped working again on the Android devices, but worked fine on the Roku 3 and PC. All this was tested within a space of about 15 minutes. So it has to be something wrong on the AfriGreen network.

Based on this I've also ruled out issues relating to my network setup, WiFi signal, Unotell, ADSL line and individual device settings. On a 20mbps line with unshaped capped data, I should be getting no issues at all.

For some reason Hulu is just not working on Afrigreen when connecting from an Android device. I've even updated the Android Hulu apps to the latest version available (dated August), and it works fine on WebAfrica, but not on Afrigreen.

I have to conclude that the Android devices are reaching Hulu's servers using a different route / server as compared to my PC and Roku 3. I've had zero issues with Netflix on all of the above devices, using either AfriRed or AfriGreen.

I am at the stage where I feel like cancelling my Afrihost account and signing up with Vox or someone else. Obviously, that is a last resort.

Please assist.
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Its sound like there definitely is some difference either between the traffic signature or the routing of mobile device traffic vs other devices.

Did you report this in ClientZone? We may need to contact you to replicate this :(
 
So afriman any idea why I'm not getting full speeds today?

Normally when afrigreen is performing at it's best I get about 8mbps+ download and 0.80 kbps upload. (Actual downloads up to 1mbps)

Right now speed test is around 5.6mbps.
 
AfriMan said:
Weird. Are you able to telnet on port 25?

Also, try smtp.mtnbusiness.co.za
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Yep - "220 This ESMTP server supports the MTN Lions".

Thanks, the MTN business one worked. I'll revert back now and again and check if the regular setting works for me.
 
AfriMan said:
Its sound like there definitely is some difference either between the traffic signature or the routing of mobile device traffic vs other devices.

Did you report this in ClientZone? We may need to contact you to replicate this :(
Click to expand...

I have not reported it anywhere else but here. I've sent you a PM with my account and contact details.
 
Saajid said:
For some reason Hulu is just not working on Afrigreen when connecting from an Android device. I've even updated the Android Hulu apps to the latest version available (dated August), and it works fine on WebAfrica, but not on Afrigreen.
Click to expand...

Hulu has different profiles of streaming, it's not just HD or SD but the bitrate as well. If you watch a PC or using the built in TV apps then normally the bitrate of the stream is low. Android and such devices (FireTV) request a much higher bitrate video. I've had my FireTV use around 75% of my 20MB line just streaming a program, quality was ofcourse excellent. The same program streaming on my PC used about 20% of my line but the quality was crap in comparison. Yet it still had the HD logo.

That is why it's useless when someone says that Netflix or Hulu works for them, it really depends on the device. Some ISPs do handle the higher profiles better than others due to them having lower latencies.
 
whatwhat said:
Hulu has different profiles of streaming, it's not just HD or SD but the bitrate as well. If you watch a PC or using the built in TV apps then normally the bitrate of the stream is low. Android and such devices (FireTV) request a much higher bitrate video. I've had my FireTV use around 75% of my 20MB line just streaming a program, quality was ofcourse excellent. The same program streaming on my PC used about 20% of my line but the quality was crap in comparison. Yet it still had the HD logo.

That is why it's useless when someone says that Netflix or Hulu works for them, it really depends on the device. Some ISPs do handle the higher profiles better than others due to them having lower latencies.
Click to expand...

makes sense :)
 
Afternoon Guys!

Just a quick update, our Team is going to be doing a bit of troubleshooting on AfriGreen, and this may cause a drop in performance, I'll keep you updated as they make progress.
 
whatwhat said:
Hulu has different profiles of streaming, it's not just HD or SD but the bitrate as well. If you watch a PC or using the built in TV apps then normally the bitrate of the stream is low. Android and such devices (FireTV) request a much higher bitrate video. I've had my FireTV use around 75% of my 20MB line just streaming a program, quality was ofcourse excellent. The same program streaming on my PC used about 20% of my line but the quality was crap in comparison. Yet it still had the HD logo.

That is why it's useless when someone says that Netflix or Hulu works for them, it really depends on the device. Some ISPs do handle the higher profiles better than others due to them having lower latencies.
Click to expand...

I hear you, but I don't think that is the issue in my case. I've got a 20mbps line, which should cater for everything in Full HD with no buffering.

When I switched from Afrigreen to WebAfrica, everything started working fine on Android. Quality was really good with WebAfrica on all my devices, and quality is typically also very good with Afrihost on all my devices, except for the last few months since the sh&t hit the fan on their network.

Like I said on my original post, the traffic from the Android devices seems to be routed differently to the traffic from my Roku 3 and PC. Afrihost needs to figure this out, and make adjustments on its network so that both routes are catered for.
 
Saajid said:
I hear you, but I don't think that is the issue in my case. I've got a 20mbps line, which should cater for everything in Full HD with no buffering.

When I switched from Afrigreen to WebAfrica, everything started working fine on Android. Quality was really good with WebAfrica on all my devices, and quality is typically also very good with Afrihost on all my devices, except for the last few months since the sh&t hit the fan on their network.

Like I said on my original post, the traffic from the Android devices seems to be routed differently to the traffic from my Roku 3 and PC. Afrihost needs to figure this out, and make adjustments on its network so that both routes are catered for.
Click to expand...

It's hard to say off the bat if it's routing - best to do the troubleshooting first so the right people can monitor and tell you what the difference could be :)
 
Zertop said:
Everything is running brilliantly at the moment, however facebook videos just do not work. They either buffer throughout the video (even though I can stream 1080p on youtube without buffering), or just fail to load. Any known issues on this?

Z
Click to expand...

Similar problem, but not facebook specifically (dont use that). For instance this video

http://streamable.com/hjzg
 
Saajid said:
I hear you, but I don't think that is the issue in my case. I've got a 20mbps line, which should cater for everything in Full HD with no buffering.

When I switched from Afrigreen to WebAfrica, everything started working fine on Android. Quality was really good with WebAfrica on all my devices, and quality is typically also very good with Afrihost on all my devices, except for the last few months since the sh&t hit the fan on their network.

Like I said on my original post, the traffic from the Android devices seems to be routed differently to the traffic from my Roku 3 and PC. Afrihost needs to figure this out, and make adjustments on its network so that both routes are catered for.
Click to expand...

I know what I'm talking about, as I've done these investigations with a couple of ISPs in the past - I also have a 20MB line and had the same issues. You are welcome to your opinion, so good luck in getting your issue sorted out.
 
Saajid said:
I hear you, but I don't think that is the issue in my case. I've got a 20mbps line, which should cater for everything in Full HD with no buffering.

When I switched from Afrigreen to WebAfrica, everything started working fine on Android. Quality was really good with WebAfrica on all my devices, and quality is typically also very good with Afrihost on all my devices, except for the last few months since the sh&t hit the fan on their network.

Like I said on my original post, the traffic from the Android devices seems to be routed differently to the traffic from my Roku 3 and PC. Afrihost needs to figure this out, and make adjustments on its network so that both routes are catered for.
Click to expand...

whatwhat said:
I know what I'm talking about, as I've done these investigations with a couple of ISPs in the past - I also have a 20MB line and had the same issues. You are welcome to your opinion, so good luck in getting your issue sorted out.
Click to expand...

From what I have been able to find out, Streaming Apps on Android usually connect to very specific servers, using very specific codecs and compression - that isn't really influence by the ISP - versus using a browser where the routing is almost entirely handled by our DNS.

We're definitely looking into why there is this type of discrepancy, and I'm sure our Team will be able to figure it out and get all streaming to run as well as it possibly can be!
 
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