Afrihost Uncapped ADSL Feedback (Pt2)

[vicv]

Oh, and Happy New Year everyone
I can see 2014 is going to be filled with nothing but awesome!

All the best to you and may we require your help as little as possible

 

[AfriGuy]

All the best to you and may we require your help as little as possible

Thanks

 

[GreatD7007]

Indeed

Does anyone know if Steam downloads are shaped?

Yes unfortunately they fall under downloads section in client zone

 

[GreatD7007]

Oh, and Happy New Year everyone
I can see 2014 is going to be filled with nothing but awesome!

Happy New year this will be another good year for your ISP I'm certain

 

[AfriGuy]

Happy New year this will be another good year for your ISP I'm certain

It most certainly will

 

[Heksmeester]

AfriGuy, I sent you a PM. Please check it out. Rather urgent billing stuff up.

 

[AfriGuy]

AfriGuy, I sent you a PM. Please check it out. Rather urgent billing stuff up.

Sure, will have a look at it as soon as I can

 

[SeaSickMama]

I just received this from afrihost with regards to throttling.

I trust that you are well.

Kindly read the ffg;

Throttling is a sensitive issue.I would however like to state that "throttling" is not set to a " beginning of the month "or " end of the month",but rather dependent on bandwidth demand.Also,there are other factors which contribute to slow access ....the number of users connecting at any given time to that specific exchange.......other excess users of bandwidth from that exchange.The throttling system is fully automated ( by all ISP')...it is not directed at directed at any specific user.Kindly note that currently all uncapped clients are being shaped irrespective of usage.

Why is there such severe shaping on Afrihost at the moment?

Recently we've seen a large increase in demand for bandwidth across all our clients, and in all 3 of our network regions (North, East and South). While our reports initially showed that this was due to Apple Software updates, we found that demand did not decrease as expected after a reasonable period and the high usage on the network continued. We have had to implement much more severe shaping than we would like in order to bring demand in line with available capacity- to ensure that we can offer the very best internet experience under the circumstances.

Our shaping system is designed to shape the absolute least amount of clients (and to the least extent) at all possible times, which is why we have been able to allow many clients to be completely unshaped for long periods of time. We start shaping from the most aggressive users, so that we can shape less clients to achieve the usage reduction we need to ensure that speeds and latencies remain stable, especially on priority real time services. Remember that our shaping only affects P2P File Sharing (and Downloads to a lesser extent), and we never ever shape real time services like web browsing, gaming, audio and video streaming, VoIP and terminal services like VPN and SSH.

What is causing this?

We are still investigating what has triggered the current trend in high usage. While Apple downloads may have been a "tipping point", we are seeing largely normal usage proportionally - there just appears to be more demand across the board. Although some regions seem to be slightly more affected than others, the trend has been consistent across the country.

Is this because Afrihost has too many clients?

We do not believe that this is the case. Prior to the current status of the network, our usage analysis showed that we still had plenty of capacity to meet the usage demands of our clients and shaping was still minimal in most cases (apart from perhaps very heavy bandwidth users). The increase in demand was very sudden, and is not consistent with new user signups - which we track very closely to ensure that we always maintain adequate network capacity to deliver the best experience to our clients.

Who is this affecting?

Shaping will only affect Uncapped clients. Capped and Business DSL clients will be unaffected by the demand, as they remain completely unshaped. Our network management system is designed to respond to demand dynamically to protect speed and latency across our network.

What can I do if I don't want to be shaped?

Any Uncapped client can make use of their 5 FREE Turbocharge sessions to remove any shaping on their account for a one hour session at a time. If your FREE sessions are used up, you can also top up at R29, and the number of sessions per top up will depend on your Uncapped speed. You can also sign up for a FREE GB account, which is a monthly 1GB capped account, which can be used at any time on your main DSL line. You can use this as your unshaped option and also top up affordably at our 2 for 1 top up rates.

What are Afrihost doing to fix this?

We are continually revising and refining our network management and shaping rules to deliver the best possible experience. We are pushing the network to it's limit (while preserving latencies and speeds) to keep as many clients as we can unshaped or shaped as lightly as we possibly can. We are also considering several long term solutions, along with our network partners, to ensure that we do not encounter this kind of problem in the future.

How long will I be shaped like this?

We do not have a confirmed timeline, as shaping is usage based, and essentially our clients control usage (and thereby shaping). We are seeing a gradual decrease in usage, but it has still not returned to what we consider normal levels. As soon as we have more information regarding solutions that can be implemented, we will make this available to our clients publicly. For now we are continuing to investigate and research the best options to ensure that we can deliver the quality of experience that our clients are accustomed to. We do understand that the current situation is not ideal, and that this has caused some frustration to affected clients. Please be assured that we are fully aware of this, and everything possible is being done to ensure that we find and implement the best short and long term solutions.





Afrihost.com
Pure Internet Joy!

Please visit your Afrihost Client Zone, https://clientzone.afrihost.com to activate your account, update your details, make changes to your account and packages and much much more.

 

[Zertop]

Yup, I'm shaped again. *sigh*. Oh well, I can't really complain can I

 

[AfriGuy]

Hi under_sky

Shaping has been discussed at length on this thread, our higher usage trends are being seen in the North region which serves traffic to JHB and surrounds.
We've already implemented provisional capacity - just waiting for the rest to be pushed live on our network. We don't have a date when this will be done, but it will be soon.

This will ease shaping for most of our clients. Please remember, the accounts are subjected to shaping - so some shaping may be applied during peak hours.

 

[AfriGuy]

Yup, I'm shaped again. *sigh*. Oh well, I can't really complain can I

In CPT? That's odd - there shouldn't be any shaping being applied in the South.
PM me your deets and I'll check this out for you

 

[Zertop]

In CPT? That's odd - there shouldn't be any shaping being applied in the South.
PM me your deets and I'll check this out for you

Chilled, Thapelo was awesome this morning and checked out the usage. Apparently there was a usage spike this morning First time since Sept I was shaped

Mustve been all the businesses opening again. All good now

 

[lilggg]

Hi Afriguy, any idea when AfriMan or AfriGirl will be back? Do you guys have like a myBB schedule you follow?

 

[SeaSickMama]

Hi under_sky

Shaping has been discussed at length on this thread, our higher usage trends are being seen in the North region which serves traffic to JHB and surrounds.
We've already implemented provisional capacity - just waiting for the rest to be pushed live on our network. We don't have a date when this will be done, but it will be soon.

This will ease shaping for most of our clients. Please remember, the accounts are subjected to shaping - so some shaping may be applied during peak hours.

Hi Afriman

Thanks for the reply, I have not been capped but I am based in PTA well that's where that adsl account is by my varsity, I was thinking maybe shaping will chick in at a certain number regardless of who you are, but as you have said I'm pleased to know that it can be temporary during the day or something.


Kind regards

 

[DeathStrike]

So far so good. Reaching the max download speeds on my line. The news server seems to be missing articles for a new download but I am hoping that it will be added later.

 

[GreatD7007]

Hi Afriman

Thanks for the reply, I have not been capped but I am based in PTA well that's where that adsl account is by my varsity, I was thinking maybe shaping will chick in at a certain number regardless of who you are, but as you have said I'm pleased to know that it can be temporary during the day or something.


Kind regards

Hey there, shaping is based on the amount of usage on the network within one of the three regions you are based. Peak ( from like 7 to 5 PM) you most likely may experience shaping but when Off peak comes around ( from like 6 to 6 am ) you may most likely be unshaped. It all depends on the networks activity and usage irrespective of the amount of data you have used for the month. That's why I highly approve of Afrihost In this regard and it makes complete sense. Hope that helped Again I want to say thank you for the Afri team for the amazing effort you guys have showed the past year. Keep it up!! A++++++

 

[AfriGuy]

Chilled, Thapelo was awesome this morning and checked out the usage. Apparently there was a usage spike this morning First time since Sept I was shaped

Mustve been all the businesses opening again. All good now

Ah OK awesome. Looks like there was some light shaping earlier today. Back to normal now though

 

[AfriGuy]

Hi Afriguy, any idea when AfriMan or AfriGirl will be back? Do you guys have like a myBB schedule you follow?

Greetings

AfriGirl is around, she just doesn't post around this part of the interwebz that much.
AfriMan and myself usually go hunting here

Anything I can help you with in the mean time?

 

[AfriGuy]

Hi Afriman

Thanks for the reply, I have not been capped but I am based in PTA well that's where that adsl account is by my varsity, I was thinking maybe shaping will chick in at a certain number regardless of who you are, but as you have said I'm pleased to know that it can be temporary during the day or something.


Kind regards

Shaping is adjusted according to our network load, we don't pre-define any set times around it

 

[AfriGuy]

So far so good. Reaching the max download speeds on my line. The news server seems to be missing articles for a new download but I am hoping that it will be added later.

Awesome
Missing articles could be due to a DMCA takedown/ incomplete upload. Depends on the content you're pulling down.