Afrihost Uncapped ADSL Feedback (Pt2)

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I think any system that is under strain is going to have anomalies in performance. So obvious solution is take away the strain - fix the cause, not the symptoms - but unfortunately that is not an option that is immediately available to us.

Again, I'm totally open to any suggestions that I can take forward to our management to help resolve or ease the issues. But I do have faith that we have the smartest and most experienced people working on this, and if they say that this is the best way forward - I will continue to trust in them.

Mail your clients and ask if for now realtime can go at 70 so everyone can get the needed downloads,maybe ask you business guys the same, advise them it will improve your ipc links, you will have it back to unshaped shortly. Unanimous wins
 
Again, I'm not sure what you would have us fix. Should we change our policies and start throttling? Should we send out letters to our heaviest users and ask them to leave? Short of that - we've explored every option.

We had already done capacity planning for our growing network. When we saw that usage had not returned to normal levels after a few days after the release of iOS 7, we fast-tracked those plans and started to put pressure on our partners and Telkom to help us deal with the demand.

We were still hopeful that usage would settle, and it did but only marginally, and subsequent releases for games and OS have kept usage at peak pretty much consistently.

I don't believe that we slacked off, or were complacent - maybe a little more optimistic about how much improvement could be realised in the short term.

I can promise you that our management and team are the most motivated to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. Our reputation, our brand and our livelihoods depend on providing the best possible experience and we would like to continue to not only grow - but to receive the accolades and recognition that we have.

If there was any possible "fix" that could be put in, we've either done it already, or scheduled it to be implemented at the first possible opportunity.

Maybe "fix" the issue of excessive shaping?? Going out on a limb here, but I think everyone here has given you more than enough time to try and find what the problem is. It has been a month and a half now and there is still no clear indication of when this is going to be fixed and the only bs we are being fed is that your team ARE looking into it.. Meanwhile we are coughing up big bucks for an absolutely pathetic experience with AfriHost. If it is a capacity issue, and you guys know it is, then let everyone know and tell them this is how long you will have to wait to be able to use our uncapped home accounts. I have started assuming that this is the way AfriHost is going to work from now on as there has been no clear indication of a way forward, just the same story everyday about everyone at AfriHost taking this matter seriously, bla die bla!! If they were taking the issue seriously we would have known wtf is going on and how long it will take to get sorted. Seriously, how long do you think people will just take this crap before they start leaving?

I also do not think it is right for you to be advertising your uncapped service as fully functional, as 2 of my friends that only joined 1 or 2 months ago are being shaped into the ground from day one. One of them is on 17GB usage and he is being shaped to 6.5% P2P and 25% HTTP. That is absolutely pathetic service!!
 
I think any system that is under strain is going to have anomalies in performance. So obvious solution is take away the strain - fix the cause, not the symptoms - but unfortunately that is not an option that is immediately available to us.

Again, I'm totally open to any suggestions that I can take forward to our management to help resolve or ease the issues. But I do have faith that we have the smartest and most experienced people working on this, and if they say that this is the best way forward - I will continue to trust in them.

When you cannot, for whatever reason, treat the cause immediately you most assuredly should treat the symptoms in the interim. Your 'anomalies' are my and others' at-times (at most times, recently) laughably pathetic connections to the outside world.

The bottom line is, and remains, that there is clearly some capacity on your side which should be reapportioned.
 
It's applied according you usage pattern profiles. So it's more about the amount of time that bandwidth is consumed over, rather than the total. So someone who uses 100GB over 7 days will be more shaped than someone who used 100GB over 14 days - provided that they are fully logged in and moving data over that period of time.

Really, why am i shaped like this then

Shaping Policy: 12.5% Download/ 6.25% P2P

10Mbps Uncapped DSL Package, Usage for the month 17.6 GB

I have always been shaped into the ground 25%/6.5% for a 2mbps line. My usage has never been over 50GB since I signed on.
Come on guys, that's slower than dialup speeds!!

Edit:
I am approaching the 60 day double your money back window, . The problem started just after my account was activated and I thought I'd give you time to sort it out. Looks like I'll have to ma consider other alternatives.
 
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Mail your clients and ask if for now realtime can go at 70 so everyone can get the needed downloads,maybe ask you business guys the same, advise them it will improve your ipc links, you will have it back to unshaped shortly. Unanimous wins

We could do something like that, but the Dev changes required will probably take as long, if not longer that it will take for our upgrades to be implemented. I will suggest it though, but I'm personally convinced that this would deliver a generally better experience to the whole of our client base. Diminished real time and streaming (according to our research and surveys) will lead to more complaints and an overall poorer experience.
 
Maybe "fix" the issue of excessive shaping?? Going out on a limb here, but I think everyone here has given you more than enough time to try and find what the problem is. It has been a month and a half now and there is still no clear indication of when this is going to be fixed and the only bs we are being fed is that your team ARE looking into it.. Meanwhile we are coughing up big bucks for an absolutely pathetic experience with AfriHost. If it is a capacity issue, and you guys know it is, then let everyone know and tell them this is how long you will have to wait to be able to use our uncapped home accounts. I have started assuming that this is the way AfriHost is going to work from now on as there has been no clear indication of a way forward, just the same story everyday about everyone at AfriHost taking this matter seriously, bla die bla!! If they were taking the issue seriously we would have known wtf is going on and how long it will take to get sorted. Seriously, how long do you think people will just take this crap before they start leaving?

I also do not think it is right for you to be advertising your uncapped service as fully functional, as 2 of my friends that only joined 1 or 2 months ago are being shaped into the ground from day one. One of them is on 17GB usage and he is being shaped to 6.5% P2P and 25% HTTP. That is absolutely pathetic service!!

The harsh shaping is a symptom of the issue - which is demand which increased exponentially and beyond our capacity planning. With the available resources, removing shaping with lead to overall contention, which means there is no guarantee on where you could expect to get service, or what speeds you will get. It's basically like telling a thousand people to run through a doorway at once and saying if you get in great, if you wait a little before, not so great, if you get crushed into nothingness sorry for you. We definitely can't do something like that, it will be completely unreliable and a generally worse experience that what clients are currently experiencing.

We know the impact this has on our clients, and we know that what our clients expect and are used to is very different, but we sincerely do believe that what were are delivering is the absolute best experience until a permanent solution can be delivered. As soon as I have confirmed deadlines, we will publish them with pleasure. But without confirmed information - I'd rather not give commitments that we can't live up to as we con't control the timetable :(
 
I have always been shaped into the ground 25%/6.5% for a 2mbps line. My usage has never been over 50GB since I signed on.
Come on guys, that's slower than dialup speeds!!

Edit:
I am approaching the 60 day double your money back window, . The problem started just after my account was activated and I thought I'd give you time to sort it out. Looks like I'll have to ma consider other alternatives.

Sorry that our account is not performing for you. Is it mainly due to shaping that you are unhappy, or is your general experience (including real time) pretty poor?
 
A lot of guys are obviously upset and/or angry about the current situation. But saying the same thing over and over and over (with more and more colourful language which is poor form imo) is just going to get the same response from AH over and over and over, and then you choose to get even more upset over and over and over. And yet you still think posting the same thing is going to get a different result for some reason when the fix has obviously not yet been implemented? Would you prefer the AH reps weave an elaborate tale to make you feel better while the reality is the complete opposite?

I do not in any way condone the current state of the network, but sheez, this thread reads more like some bad daytime soapie from Mexico than a channel discuss matters (good or bad). We know AH is working on it (unless you think they are lying), if your frustration is exceeding your patience to wait for their fix to the problem then exercise your right to take your money elsewhere.
 
Trying to cancel my Afrihost account as I'm moving the 1st December. Go to Clientzone to cancel

Billing has already commenced for this month, your line will
only be cancelled at end of next month 31-Dec-2013

So call up support. ja. hour later, still listening to elevator music and this wonderful line

Our mission is to provide the best service you have ever experienced

shoot me :|
 
The harsh shaping is a symptom of the issue - which is demand which increased exponentially and beyond our capacity planning. With the available resources, removing shaping with lead to overall contention, which means there is no guarantee on where you could expect to get service, or what speeds you will get. It's basically like telling a thousand people to run through a doorway at once and saying if you get in great, if you wait a little before, not so great, if you get crushed into nothingness sorry for you. We definitely can't do something like that, it will be completely unreliable and a generally worse experience that what clients are currently experiencing.

We know the impact this has on our clients, and we know that what our clients expect and are used to is very different, but we sincerely do believe that what were are delivering is the absolute best experience until a permanent solution can be delivered. As soon as I have confirmed deadlines, we will publish them with pleasure. But without confirmed information - I'd rather not give commitments that we can't live up to as we con't control the timetable :(

I know it is not as simple as unshaping everyone, and I do not expect you to do this. But some sort of feedback would go a long way. I think we all pretty much know it is a capacity issue by now, but there has been no reply from AfriHost to suggest that you agree with this and you are working on increasing the capacity. I think that is all that everyone wants to hear. Just my 2c
 
We could do something like that, but the Dev changes required will probably take as long, if not longer that it will take for our upgrades to be implemented. I will suggest it though, but I'm personally convinced that this would deliver a generally better experience to the whole of our client base. Diminished real time and streaming (according to our research and surveys) will lead to more complaints and an overall poorer experience.

If you diminish real time I will cancel the instant the notification gets sent out.

Real time is the reason I chose Afrihost and it has been great thus far.
 
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Jeez dude that is ROUGH. Rather get a 50gig or 100gig capped acc? You are obviously not a high end user?

Looks like I am on a constant

Shaping Policy: 12.5% Download/ 6.25% P2P

10Mbps Uncapped DSL Package, Usage for the month 17.6 GB.

I am so happy
 
We do offer a 300GB capped bundle option. At the price, it's still an excellent offer :)

How so? It's more than double the price of the 2Mb/s business uncapped and more than double the price of the 4Mb/s home uncapped. Waaaaay too expensive.

What I'm looking for is 4Mb 200Gb for R600 - R700 bundled. That would make me and I think a lot of others sit up and take notice, and would be happy with P2P shaping on it.
 
A lot of guys are obviously upset and/or angry about the current situation. But saying the same thing over and over and over (with more and more colourful language which is poor form imo) is just going to get the same response from AH over and over and over, and then you choose to get even more upset over and over and over. And yet you still think posting the same thing is going to get a different result for some reason when the fix has obviously not yet been implemented? Would you prefer the AH reps weave an elaborate tale to make you feel better while the reality is the complete opposite?

I do not in any way condone the current state of the network, but sheez, this thread reads more like some bad daytime soapie from Mexico than a channel discuss matters (good or bad). We know AH is working on it (unless you think they are lying), if your frustration is exceeding your patience to wait for their fix to the problem then exercise your right to take your money elsewhere.

I agree that people are upset, but I do not think that they are upset for the wrong reasons. And you are very right, we have been getting the same responses over and over and this is adding to the frustration. But I also do not think that it is right for paying clients to have been asking the same questions for almost 2 months and still not have a clue what is being done about the issue, or if AfriHost even has a clue of what the issue is.. Other than increased usage patterns?

Everything would settle down if we get some sort of reply that will point in the right direction, because currently there is no light at the end of this tunnel.
 
Trying to cancel my Afrihost account as I'm moving the 1st December. Go to Clientzone to cancel



So call up support. ja. hour later, still listening to elevator music and this wonderful line



shoot me :|

That's weird, you should be able to cancel by end of November. Are you cancelling your entire bundle or just the line?

Drop me a PM so I can help :(
 
I agree that people are upset, but I do not think that they are upset for the wrong reasons. And you are very right, we have been getting the same responses over and over and this is adding to the frustration. But I also do not think that it is right for paying clients to have been asking the same questions for almost 2 months and still not have a clue what is being done about the issue, or if AfriHost even has a clue of what the issue is.. Other than increased usage patterns?

Everything would settle down if we get some sort of reply that will point in the right direction, because currently there is no light at the end of this tunnel.

I think we have explained what went wrong here and how we have seen the issue from our side. We've explained how we originally analysed the problem and that we didn't see what we expected to pan out.

We have already committed to a long term solution for our capacity to meet the rapid increase in demand and usage that we're now seeing - the only thing we have not provided is a deadline. And unfortunately I am not in a position to do that until we receive official confirmation of what will be done and by when. As much as I would like to say that (believe I really do wish I had that info to share), at the moment that is still not confirmed.

I promise that as soon as I have the go ahead and details to publish what is going to happen, I will absolutely make that public. My job is to reassure our clients - and I know that it would be in my best interests to share whatever information I have with you :(
 
I think we have explained what went wrong here and how we have seen the issue from our side. We've explained how we originally analysed the problem and that we didn't see what we expected to pan out.

We have already committed to a long term solution for our capacity to meet the rapid increase in demand and usage that we're now seeing - the only thing we have not provided is a deadline. And unfortunately I am not in a position to do that until we receive official confirmation of what will be done and by when. As much as I would like to say that (believe I really do wish I had that info to share), at the moment that is still not confirmed.

I promise that as soon as I have the go ahead and details to publish what is going to happen, I will absolutely make that public. My job is to reassure our clients - and I know that it would be in my best interests to share whatever information I have with you :(

Thank you, I was not aware that you said you will be increasing the capacity. Will be waiting for the timeline. Looking forward to having a great time with AfriHost again. I think my biggest frustration is that things went from 100% to 20% in a day. There was no gap in between.

Hoping to hear some good news soon..
 
How so? It's more than double the price of the 2Mb/s business uncapped and more than double the price of the 4Mb/s home uncapped. Waaaaay too expensive.

What I'm looking for is 4Mb 200Gb for R600 - R700 bundled. That would make me and I think a lot of others sit up and take notice, and would be happy with P2P shaping on it.

Just meant it's a great price for a line and 300GB - I guess your budget is your budget :)

We would never shape a capped product though.
 
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