Afrihost Uncapped ADSL Feedback (Pt2)

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thomascmyk said:
no shaping, speedtests look great, trace routes look great, two torrents from different sites SUCK!

Been able to download a 3 gig file in under an hour... today... one 2 gig file is taking almost 3 hours to get to 50%

2nd torrent is even worse, thats only on 3.7%

Oh the joys of the internet in this beautifull country!

At least we have nature, pitty it's too dangerous to go anywhere on your own.
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Torrents are very difficult to use as a measure of throughput - except if you stack as many torrents as possible to saturate your line. A single torrent file could be well seeded (thousands of seeders) but you may get the one guy who is throttling his upload or doesn't have the entire torrent file.

A direct file download is a much better indicator, though it also depends on that server's capacity and load.
 
Please explain this to me :

Why is it that Axxess is offering a 2mb uncapped package at R195 and Afrihost is offering a 1mb uncapped package at R197 ?

Yet I get told this from Afrihost :

"Unfortunately to change this you will have to move to Axxess because we not reviewing our uncapped prices soon."

Real slick there Afrihost, after 3 years and referring a few people... That's the thanks I get
 
Over-Dose said:
@AfriaMan / @Afrigirl - Since about 2 weeks ago on a Sunday, when Telkom (who my 2Mb line is with) had an issue for a few hours, which was then fixed by later the same day, I have had VERY SLOW speeds on my downloads, which are mainly P2P via uTorrent.

Previous to that, the general day-to-day process would be that during the day my P2P download slow down to around 12kB/s and I was fine with that as I am mostly out and about during the day. Then at around 11pm or midnight, they peak back to what I would expect to get from my 2Mb line (+- 180 - 210kB/s).

However since the Sunday I mentioned, my P2P downloads have not EVER gone beyond 25kB/s at ANYTIME. I even thought there was a problem with the line, called Telkom, they confirmed it was fine. Then I called Afrihost, who asked me to activate my free 1GB capped account (which I'd never ever needed), so I could test the torrents and my line with it. Once on the 1GB capped account, speeds went back to what I know I can get, but that was capped within an hour or so.

Then I reverted back to my 2Mb uncapped account and speeds were a snail's pace. I asked why this is, as I would never experience a slow down of this nature, even after hours, I was told that my account was currently on a list of users who are being shaped / throttled for "network best service purposes". So I asked how long this will last for, and the person the phone said it depends on the demand on the network. I was also informed of the "Turbocharge" option and also the option to switch my account to a business uncapped 2Mb account (for R100 p/m).

However I chose to see how things go from when I made the calls to Afrihost. And still nothing but SLOW SLOW SLOW P2P speeds, ALL THE TIME. It's 2 weeks down the line, and I would assume by the speeds I get on P2P, the network is still under heavy loads (even on a Sunday night) or my account was maybe forgotten on the list of accounts that are being throttled / shaped.

I just feel that this is extreme "Cattle Herding" type of service, as now, all of a sudden (after being with Afrihost for a year with no issues with their shaping / throttling policy) I am now steered towards a business uncapped or Turbocharge options, to get the full potential out of my internet. Which by the sounds of the information I was given, is a conscious decision by Afrihost to limit my account purposely, irrespective of what the network demands are.

Or maybe Afrihost (like most other ISP's) don't want their customers to use P2P services. I am not happy and for the first time ever in the year I was with Afrihost, I am seriously considering moving ISP's, to resolve this. Really sad.
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It's not that we want to dictate how our clients should use the internet or their bandwidth - but we also have to do what's best for the network to ensure that everyone gets the very best experience possible - especially on priority realtime services. Torrents especially take a pretty vicious toll on a network due to the number of connections and the sheer amount of bandwidth they can draw as most torrenters will look to saturate their line on a constant basis - which is not how networks are designed to operate optimally.

At the moment, we are seeing very high demand for bandwidth on the network, which means we have to make some hard choices about which services need to protected. We have always shaped torrents, as you mentioned, but as demand is currently higher, we need to shape a bit harder to ensure that we deliver the best overall experience.
 
vangar316 said:
From the IPC to the DC does not equate exchange.......that's something on the afrihost network.
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The 2nd hop is generally to the "doorway" of the ISP network - and latency introduced is most likely introduced at the DSLAM or BRAS level on the Telkom network - except in very rare cases.
 
Calebmo1 said:
Please explain this to me :

Why is it that Axxess is offering a 2mb uncapped package at R195 and Afrihost is offering a 1mb uncapped package at R197 ?

Yet I get told this from Afrihost :

"Unfortunately to change this you will have to move to Axxess because we not reviewing our uncapped prices soon."

Real slick there Afrihost, after 3 years and referring a few people... That's the thanks I get
Click to expand...

We are always reviewing our pricing in line with our competitors and any possible savings we can pass on to our clients. I think the consultant here may have meant to say that we have not published any intent to revise our pricing just yet - but we definitely have some awesome new ideas in the pipeline.

We definitely won't let Axxess steal all the spotlight ;)
 
AfriMan said:
It's not that we want to dictate how our clients should use the internet or their bandwidth - but we also have to do what's best for the network to ensure that everyone gets the very best experience possible - especially on priority realtime services. Torrents especially take a pretty vicious toll on a network due to the number of connections and the sheer amount of bandwidth they can draw as most torrenters will look to saturate their line on a constant basis - which is not how networks are designed to operate optimally.

At the moment, we are seeing very high demand for bandwidth on the network, which means we have to make some hard choices about which services need to protected. We have always shaped torrents, as you mentioned, but as demand is currently higher, we need to shape a bit harder to ensure that we deliver the best overall experience.
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Very diplomatic response. Yet, on the very same package I am on, I can (for 300min per month) "Turbocharge" my account and get full speeds on P2P.

Or better yet, for R100 extra, I can switch to a 2Mb uncapped business account and get full speeds on everything, all the time.

This "network takes strain" story seems to be able to be alleviated by extra Rands that you can get out of your clients and a mere click of a button on your side. :(
 
No reply to business thread, so I am posting here. Could you please explain why the streaming on Youtube is so bad lately?? I am struggling to get a vid to stream at 360p!! It is constantly buffering. I used to be able to stream at 480p on my 2mb account, but my 4mb account is even slower?
 
AfriMan, quick question. Over the weekend I did some video streaming. On my uncapped account the video would constantly buffer (about every 5 seconds for 5 seconds long). Switching to my capped account, the video would only buffer a little bit at the start and then run smoothly all the way. Why is this? I'm unsure if I was shaped at the time, but again it's not supposed to make a difference in video streaming.
 
Thanks :)

At least you know how to answer a question properly unlike some other users on this thread who think snotty remarks are great feedback! :)

AfriMan said:
Torrents are very difficult to use as a measure of throughput - except if you stack as many torrents as possible to saturate your line. A single torrent file could be well seeded (thousands of seeders) but you may get the one guy who is throttling his upload or doesn't have the entire torrent file.

A direct file download is a much better indicator, though it also depends on that server's capacity and load.
Click to expand...
 
I have to say that my youtube has been suffering this weekend as well, not running any downloads when I stream. 10mbps bundle. Meh... quite frustrating.
Type RSA said:
No reply to business thread, so I am posting here. Could you please explain why the streaming on Youtube is so bad lately?? I am struggling to get a vid to stream at 360p!! It is constantly buffering. I used to be able to stream at 480p on my 2mb account, but my 4mb account is even slower?
Click to expand...
 
Axxess's package is already active and I don't want to move away from Afrihost but if the competitor is going to offer better deals, so how long do we have to wait for newer revised pricing to be released ?
 
I'm on a 1 meg uncapped package. Shaping has been quite harsh lately - I know why, so this isn't a complaint.

Because I virtually can't download anything, I'm considering moving to a business account.

That's all good and well, but I am quite sad about parting with that tiny bit of cash, however it seems to have gotten to that point.

I'm just wondering if people experiencing the same as me will upgrade their account like I am, and with the line speed increases, how it'll affect AfriHost and everyone using them.

Seems like more trouble on the way, unless the IPC / Network bandwidth upgrades will cater for them both?
 
vicv said:
AfriMan, quick question. Over the weekend I did some video streaming. On my uncapped account the video would constantly buffer (about every 5 seconds for 5 seconds long). Switching to my capped account, the video would only buffer a little bit at the start and then run smoothly all the way. Why is this? I'm unsure if I was shaped at the time, but again it's not supposed to make a difference in video streaming.
Click to expand...

That's an awesome question. Would like to know as well, as we are always told that Youtube is not affected by shaping.
 
Over-Dose said:
Very diplomatic response. Yet, on the very same package I am on, I can (for 300min per month) "Turbocharge" my account and get full speeds on P2P.

Or better yet, for R100 extra, I can switch to a 2Mb uncapped business account and get full speeds on everything, all the time.

This "network takes strain" story seems to be able to be alleviated by extra Rands that you can get out of your clients and a mere click of a button on your side. :(
Click to expand...

Remember that Business and Capped DSL get priority on the network and essentially are provisioned differently. On an individual basis it's definitely a quick way to not be shaped when there is heavy demand on the network. Some may feel that the additional cost does not justify the benefit of getting torrents a little faster - while it may be a priority for others.

At the end of the day, we'll always be shaping Uncapped accounts to some extent - it's a very necessary component of managing the network - but if you never want to be shaped, it's maybe not the right product for you.
 
Type RSA said:
No reply to business thread, so I am posting here. Could you please explain why the streaming on Youtube is so bad lately?? I am struggling to get a vid to stream at 360p!! It is constantly buffering. I used to be able to stream at 480p on my 2mb account, but my 4mb account is even slower?
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like this might be a throughput issue on these accounts. I'v asked our team to make some changes to make sure that our contention is what it should be and Business and Capped are getting full speeds as they should.

Please retest for me as I think those changes have taken effect :)
 
AfriMan said:
Sounds to me like this might be a throughput issue on these accounts. I'v asked our team to make some changes to make sure that our contention is what it should be and Business and Capped are getting full speeds as they should.

Please retest for me as I think those changes have taken effect :)
Click to expand...

Thanks bud, will have a look tonight and confirm if it is better or not.
 
vicv said:
AfriMan, quick question. Over the weekend I did some video streaming. On my uncapped account the video would constantly buffer (about every 5 seconds for 5 seconds long). Switching to my capped account, the video would only buffer a little bit at the start and then run smoothly all the way. Why is this? I'm unsure if I was shaped at the time, but again it's not supposed to make a difference in video streaming.
Click to expand...

It shouldn't make a difference, but it really depends on whether you are running any other services at the time. Uncapped accounts have a QoS component to ensure best performance while capped accounts do not.

This could also be ore apparent if there are any throughput or latency issues on your line. Remember that Telkom start their upgrades today, so depending on where on their schedule your area sits, they could be doing all kinds of stuff in and around your area. I'm seeing a lot of reports of sync rates dropping unexpectedly, especially on on 10Mbps lines. One of my colleaugues on a 4Mbps line went from 4Mbps to 2Mbps to 500kbps in the space of a week or so.

We'd need to do some further troubleshooting to see what could be responsible for the poor performance :(
 
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