Afrihost POC Network - Afrigreen Feedback

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Igor III said:
I am with you on this one - Signed up with AH way back in Jan 2011 and had the genuine "pure internet joy" experience for approximately 10 months. Learnt a very expensive lesson at the time, as AH ClientZone techie convinced my problems I had at the time was due to a faulty modem ...... bought a fairly expensive replacement unit, only to find that the fault was not with my modem :twisted:

Jumped ship a few times and returned to AH a few times, just to end up being seriously frustrated (I do relate how you feel, even though I am not relying on AH for my business ... my internet access is purely for leisure).

The problem I have is a case of "when we" :(

Because I really had an awesome time with Afrihost's service in early 2011 (and the odd few months after that when they were delivering the service one expects), I kinda expect it to continue indefinitely - sadly it is not happening and I suppose that is where some of the additional frustration creeps in. AH keeps laying claim to the "pure internet joy" experience, but at times fails to deliver.

As I sadi before, I will be here until the launch of the "miracle cure" and like yourself, if it fails to deliver, I shall also be seeking a new ISP (not sure who though).

Who knows maybe I am a masochists and this is why I keep returning :p
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I know the last week has not been great... But there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel, and once we've started the production roll-out of Afrigreen, you will notice a marked difference between the PoC and the production iteration.
 
Igor III said:
Yay! I am glad you see it too ...... this is what I am saying all along :(

Yet, when I connect via my WebAfrica account, it is totally different - why?
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If I knew the correct answer I would have told you.
It could be due to Afrihost and Web Africa using different international links.

Isn't it why they want you to post trace routes to identify bad links in the chain?
 
AfriMan said:
I don't think that is correct at all. To deploy a full production network, with IPC in major regions and capacity to run out national network would be impractical, and not be manageable to the extent that we could derive meaningful insights in a short period of time. There would simply be too many variables, to much data, and it would pose the risk of massive failure. It makes sense to recreate a much smaller network, on a smaller scale, and simulate conditions as closely as possible. We did this with our MTN network change, and we've done exactly the same here, so I think our experience is definitely that this is the right approach.

I think you're making a lot of very fast and loose statements about skill levels and the company going out of business, and that's really very unfair and not based on any kind of factual investigation. Not sure what your intention is, since you have already decided to leave. Maybe respect other's right to do the same :)
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You make it sound like Afrihost is the first company to run an ISP business and you are busy inventing the internet. My point was that those technologies exist and are implemented by thousands of ISPs across the globe. Maybe you should rebrand your "Afrihost POC" then to "Afrihost limited lab-test". To me a proof-of-concept should be something which is run for a predetermined time (in your case you said "a few months") to achieve specific goals/KPIs. During the POC you would then attempt to understand viability of your solution and isolate technical issues.

My question is really: How come other ISPs manage to get it right and you can not ever since you joined MTN (but now using Neotel face the same issues, which possibly means that it is not a core-network issue with the backbone provider, but rather an issue with your own network topology).

I had the deepest respect for the innovative Afrihost 3 years ago, but I think you have lost all credibility due to the lack of leadership and transparency. I find that a company like VOX has not just become innovative but also disruptive in the ISP space and is executing their business plans with solid strategies and incredible technical customer service (something AH used to have years back). I would have expected that almost 4 months into your POC your executive team had reached out to your customers, but everyone seems to ignore that elephant in the room.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
You make it sound like Afrihost is the first company to run an ISP business and you are busy inventing the internet. My point was that those technologies exist and are implemented by thousands of ISPs across the globe. Maybe you should rebrand your "Afrihost POC" then to "Afrihost limited lab-test". To me a proof-of-concept should be something which is run for a predetermined time (in your case you said "a few months") to achieve specific goals/KPIs. During the POC you would then attempt to understand viability of your solution and isolate technical issues.

My question is really: How come other ISPs manage to get it right and you can not ever since you joined MTN (but now using Neotel face the same issues, which possibly means that it is not a core-network issue with the backbone provider, but rather an issue with your own network topology).

I had the deepest respect for the innovative Afrihost 3 years ago, but I think you have lost all credibility due to the lack of leadership and transparency. I find that a company like VOX has not just become innovative but also disruptive in the ISP space and is executing their business plans with solid strategies and incredible technical customer service (something AH used to have years back). I would have expected that almost 4 months into your POC your executive team had reached out to your customers, but everyone seems to ignore that elephant in the room.
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I feel I should point out that the Afrigreen PoC network, has been built from the ground up, it is an entirely new network, whereas most ISPs - including us - used either the IS, Telkom or MTN networks. Going into the PoC, we knew what we had to achieve, and now we are in the process of rolling out the production version of Afrigreen.

As to the silence, you can find Gian's latest update Here.
 
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LaraC said:
If I knew the correct answer I would have told you.
It could be due to Afrihost and Web Africa using different international links.

Isn't it why they want you to post trace routes to identify bad links in the chain?
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If you look at my ping plotter tests on the three networks (Afrihost MTN, Afrigreen and WebAfrica) the intermittent latency spikes is not really on the international hops - it is all on the local hops.

This is exactly why I post the results across all three networks ........... yet the classical ClientZone response to me for the past two weeks is that the fault is on my home equipment :p
 
Igor III said:
If you look at my ping plotter tests on the three networks (Afrihost MTN, Afrigreen and WebAfrica) the intermittent latency spikes is not really on the international hops - it is all on the local hops.

This is exactly why I post the results across all three networks ........... yet the classical ClientZone response to me for the past two weeks is that the fault is on my home equipment :p
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Yeah... That should definitely not have been the response that you received... Have you sent one us the ticket ID yet?
 
AfriGenie said:
As to the silence, you can find Gian's latest update Here.
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The DSL network has been running OK overall (with the occasional big problem here and there that we have worked through)
It's been getting the job done.
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No, it was running horrendously. Most internet traffic from consumers is in the evenings, when people get home, at which time the network became absolutely useless. This PoC is also starting to have those problems.

Some nonsense about inspiration
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"When exactly will I be on the new network?"

- We are moving various DSL realms over at different times throughout the month. We will let you know via email the day before you are moved and we will also send through a confirmation once you are on the new network.
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Will you also mention it in this thread? Can we get estimates for each region?

This letter did not really inspire me.
 
AfriGenie said:
Yeah... That should definitely not have been the response that you received... Have you sent one us the ticket ID yet?
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I have posted the latest fault ID in this thread, but have also PM'd AfriGuy and yourself with the details :)

I don't think there is much more I can say about my latest AH experience and will as such patiently wait for the "miracle cure" to be implemented (hopefully my account will be in the first lot to be migrated and that my latency issues will be cured :p)
 
Johnatan56 said:
No, it was running horrendously. Most internet traffic from consumers is in the evenings, when people get home, at which time the network became absolutely useless. This PoC is also starting to have those problems.

Will you also mention it in this thread? Can we get estimates for each region?

This letter did not really inspire me.
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The PoC has reached the end of its life, it was never meant to be a fall-over for the legacy Afrihost network, although I am sure we all enjoyed the improved performance that it offered.

The different regions will be cut over at more or less the same time, we'll be moving the various realms over one at a time. We'll make sure that we try to keep everyone here as up to date as possible with the switch-over.
 
Igor III said:
I have posted the latest fault ID in this thread, but have also PM'd AfriGuy and yourself with the details :)

I don't think there is much more I can say about my latest AH experience and will as such patiently wait for the "miracle cure" to be implemented (hopefully my account will be in the first lot to be migrated and that my latency issues will be cured :p)
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Got your PM, thanks! I'll follow-up on this for you.
 
AfriGenie said:
I feel I should point out that the Afrigreen PoC network, has been built from the ground up, it is an entirely new network, whereas most ISPs - including us - used either the IS, Telkom or MTN networks. Going into the PoC, we knew what we had to achieve, and now we are in the process of rolling out the production version of Afrigreen.

As to the silence, you can find Gian's latest update Here.
Click to expand...

As long as you guys hurry up with that Armored Warfare ping/packetloss issue I submitted, I'll be happy.
 
Hi all

Gian has just sent through a mailer. We've also got a blog, which I've quoted below.

Gian Visser Introduces Our New DSL Network said:
Time for some cut-to-the-bone honesty.

Some of our clients have been asking me:

"What's going on Gian, why is Afrihost so quiet? Why haven't you guys done anything awesome lately? Are you retired and sipping cocktails on an island? Have you lost your Mojo?"

No question that we have been quiet.

But there's been a good reason for the silence:

Before we could launch any other industry-busting, game-changing products there was something else even more important that we had to do first.

And we have been working feverishly behind the scenes to get this done.

Before I tell you what this is let me give you some back-story:

Over the last while our DSL network has not been performing at the highest level that our clients have fallen in love with over the years.

Don't get me wrong:

The DSL network has been running OK overall (with the occasional big problem here and there that we have worked through)

It's been getting the job done.

But is 'OK' really good enough?

Is getting the 'job done' really enough to stir the blood?

'Mediocre' has never been something that's inspired us. 'Good Enough' has never filled us with excitement.

And it never ever will.

So our FIRST non-negotiable priority - BEFORE launching any other incredible products - was to make sure that our DSL network was consistently performing at the insanely high level we set for ourselves.

So, although it may seem that we have been quiet, we have been passionately working in the background, building the best possible DSL network that we could.

Here's what we did:

We looked at the key things we needed in a network to ensure that we could consistently provide fast, reliable and stable internet. The kind of internet that stirs your blood. The kind of internet that makes you smile uncontrollably.

So what was on our list?

We needed the network to be rock-solid and robust

We needed to be in complete control of every aspect of our client's experience. This meant we needed to have direct and complete control over all the traffic management hardware and software that enabled us to control the traffic flow of all of our clients.

We needed to be able to be in control of exactly when we upgraded the overall capacity of our network with Telkom. It was critical that we could easily and quickly upgrade Telkom's IPC as soon as we saw our network was reaching congestion.

We needed to be able to connect easily to the many open access fibre companies so that we could offer data to our clients who had fibre lines.

We needed reliable, redundant and fast international connectivity.

We needed to be able to peer with all the major content providers in South Africa and internationally.

Once we had our checklist we went out and relentlessly pursued our goals.

And we custom built our new network.

From scratch.

And we made sure we ticked all our boxes.

We partnered with some of the best tech companies (Thanks Echo and Three6Five!) in South Africa who advised, guided and helped us setup and build the best core network possible.

We bought the best, latest and most expensive machines that Sandvine - a Canadian company whose products are used by the biggest ISPs in the world - are selling. We made sure we had the absolute best traffic management software and hardware.

Sandvine engineers from Canada flew here and spent weeks with us, helping us make sure we were getting the best out of our new machines.

And then we invited clients to come and make use of our new test network.

Over the last few months well over 5,000 of our clients have put us through our paces.

We tested every scenario we could think of. Lots of capacity. Complete overload. Outages and breakdowns.

We made thousands and thousands of tweaks and changes to ensure the network would give the best experience for our clients.

And now we are ready.

It is time.

Throughout the course of this month we are going to be moving all of our clients over to our brand new network.

We've carefully crafted this network with passion, love and care. Blood, sweat and tears. And we're proud of what we have waiting for you.

I am so excited to get all of our DSL clients over to the new network because I know what it means.

Both for you and for us.

I'm sure you have questions so here's some that I could think of:

"What about MTN and their DSL network?"

- As I'm sure you know MTN are shareholders in Afrihost and moving our DSL away from them and onto a brand new network would not be possible without their complete buy-in and backing - So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for their continued support.

We've had a few key moments in Afrihost history. Moving to the MTN network in 2012 was one of them. It was a massive leap forward for us. It gave us greater insight into our DSL network and helped us be more in control of our clients' Internet experience.

There have been some bumps in the road (there always are in IT!) but all things considered, I think our team and MTN have done incredibly well. MTN were the perfect partner to guide us through that phase of our growth, and offer the support and resources to carry us to the next step of our growth.

Right now we feel that we’re ready to take the next giant leap forward.

"When exactly will I be on the new network?"

- We are moving various DSL realms over at different times throughout the month. We will let you know via email the day before you are moved and we will also send through a confirmation once you are on the new network.

"What do I have to do"

- Nothing.

Your settings will stay exactly the same - your username and password will remain unchanged.

We are doing all the work in the background for you.

'Will my connection to the internet be disrupted to broken?'

- No.

The plan is that your ADSL should work all the time and the switchover should be seamless.

"What if I can't connect when you move me?"

- If you find you are not able to download anything once you have been moved, switch off your router or modem for a few minutes and turn it on again - this will enable your router/modem to log you onto our new network and should fix the problem.

'What exactly changes for me'

- Nothing (other than your ADSL connection hopefully improves)

You still contact us in exactly the same way if you have any problems in the future

'Will there be teething problems?'

- I hope and pray not!

We have done everything we can to ensure it all goes as smoothly as possible. However, as you probably know, computers and anything tech-related can be unpredictable so if there are any unforeseen problems be assured we have our best technicians ready to leap into action if necessary.

'I have a website hosted with you. Will this be affected by the move to the new network?'

- We are NOT moving our websites or web servers we host.

Nothing is changing to our hosting infrastructure or any of our hosting products.

This new network is specifically created for ADSL users so we will only be moving our ADSL clients.


'Will the prices be going up on the new network?'

- No

'I have Mobile Data with you - Will anything change for me?'

- Nothing will change if you have Mobile Data with us. All mobile data will still be delivered via MTN's network as usual.

'I have other questions you haven't covered here - Who can I ask?'

Post your questions in the comments section and we'll answer them for you ASAP.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

We do not (and never will!) take you and your trust in us for granted.

Thank you

Gian
CEO, Afrihost
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http://www.afrihost.com/site/newsroom/view/new-network-announcement
 
AfriGuy said:
Hi all

Gian has just sent through a mailer. We've also got a blog, which I've quoted below.



http://www.afrihost.com/site/newsroom/view/new-network-announcement
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Yet another salesman BS post ... ... Really getting tired of all of this ...

Really loved this part: Don't get me wrong: The DSL network has been running OK overall (with the occasional big problem here and there that we have worked through) It's been getting the job done.



hahaha


3 days and no reply to my mail ... what did I tell you
 
Emissary_Of_Pain said:
Yet another salesman BS post ... ... Really getting tired of all of this ...

Really loved this part: Don't get me wrong: The DSL network has been running OK overall (with the occasional big problem here and there that we have worked through) It's been getting the job done.



hahaha


3 days and no reply to my mail ... what did I tell you
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The article also stated that almost 5000 people participated in the tests. Who says the majority wasn't satisfied with their connectivity.
 
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