Afrihost Uncapped ADSL Feedback (Pt3)

[Mualliq]

The analogy I could make for the current home uncapped service is like a restaurant offering an all-you-can-eat buffet. They allow entry to a thousand people but only stock enough food for a hundred.

 

[stormiezzz]

+10 to the power of some ridiculously high figure. Oh, and an amen!!

The analogy I could make for the current home uncapped service is like a restaurant offering an all-you-can-eat buffet. They allow entry to a thousand people but only stock enough food for a hundred.

 

[adam_g]

What would happen if I get a 20meg line with a normal adsl 2+ netgear router. I just wanna test a 20meg out so I dont feel like waisting R1500 on a vdsl router

 

[Wall]

no shaping applied

 

[Mualliq]

A question for those who have capped - is streaming smooth on capped, or does it lag on all afrihost accounts? My streaming from services like crictime and cricfree always lags and always buffers on my 10 mbps home uncapped account, as if the service were throttled or shaped since I only ever watch in SD.

 

[RogueTr00per]

Is it just me or was anyone else experiencing inconsistent connectivity in the last 45 minutes? Things were pretty bad for me but results are a lot better now in the last 10 minutes. I'm on 2mbps uncapped.

Last Result:
Download Speed: 564 kbps (70.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 429 kbps (53.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 33 ms
29/4/2014 19:29:50

C:\>tracert www.google.com

Tracing route to www.google.com [173.194.41.144]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms <1 ms <1 ms home.gateway [192.168.1.254]
2 8 ms 6 ms 6 ms 105-236-6-1-esr-lo.mtnbusiness.co.za [105.236.6.1]
3 12 ms 24 ms 9 ms ipc-recieve-tb-1a.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.53.150]
4 19 ms 16 ms 12 ms tb-dca-2.za--qux-c.za.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.198.188]
5 9 ms 9 ms * compj-cpt-1.mtnns.net [196.44.18.2]
6 154 ms 153 ms 154 ms ls-cr-2.uk--tb-cr-1.za.mtnns.net [196.44.31.113]

7 164 ms 163 ms 164 ms am-cr-1.nl--ls-cr-2.uk-a.mtnns.net [196.44.31.183]
8 192 ms 192 ms 191 ms am-tpr-1.nl--am-cr-1.nl-a.mtn.net [209.212.111.141]
9 163 ms 163 ms 164 ms core2.ams.net.google.com [195.69.145.100]
10 194 ms * 194 ms 209.85.254.95
11 194 ms 198 ms 194 ms 209.85.253.247
12 168 ms 168 ms 182 ms 209.85.246.153
13 160 ms 170 ms 161 ms 209.85.253.95
14 162 ms 161 ms 160 ms 72.14.238.55
15 161 ms 160 ms 160 ms lhr08s03-in-f16.1e100.net [173.194.41.144]

Trace complete.

C:\>


-==============================================================

Last Result:
Download Speed: 1749 kbps (218.6 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 433 kbps (54.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 34 ms
29/4/2014 19:54:03

C:\>tracert www.google.com

Tracing route to www.google.com [173.194.41.147]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 1 ms <1 ms 2 ms home.gateway [192.168.1.254]
2 7 ms 6 ms 10 ms 105-236-6-1-esr-lo.mtnbusiness.co.za [105.236.6.1]
3 14 ms 22 ms 12 ms 41.181.51.182
4 8 ms 7 ms 8 ms tb-dca-2.za--qux-c.za.mtnbusiness.net [41.181.198.188]
5 9 ms 9 ms 10 ms compj-cpt-1.mtnns.net [196.44.18.2]
6 153 ms 156 ms 156 ms ls-cr-2--tb-cr-1.uk-b.mtnns.net [196.44.31.113]

7 163 ms 163 ms 164 ms am-cr-1.nl--ls-cr-2.uk-a.mtnns.net [196.44.31.183]
8 192 ms 192 ms 192 ms am-tpr-1.nl--am-cr-1.nl-a.mtn.net [209.212.111.141]
9 164 ms 167 ms 168 ms core2.ams.net.google.com [195.69.145.100]
10 162 ms 167 ms 162 ms 209.85.254.90
11 184 ms 172 ms 165 ms 209.85.253.249
12 164 ms 162 ms 162 ms 209.85.240.29
13 183 ms 161 ms 173 ms 209.85.253.95
14 160 ms 160 ms 160 ms 72.14.238.55
15 172 ms 176 ms 164 ms lhr08s03-in-f19.1e100.net [173.194.41.147]

Trace complete.

C:\>

 

[AfriGuy]

Is it just me or was anyone else experiencing inconsistent connectivity in the last 45 minutes? Things were pretty bad for me but results are a lot better now in the last 10 minutes. I'm on 2mbps uncapped.

Sorry about this, we're seeing some authentication issues on our end.
Our team is investigating and should be sorted out ASAP.

 

[flashfire208]

Trying to watch twitch on my spare AH capped account and considering moving over to a uncapped account , is it always this bad ?

 

[Chevron]

Trying to watch twitch on my spare AH capped account and considering moving over to a uncapped account , is it always this bad ?

Just grab the free WA account and test again.

 

[MGRobinson]

Just grab the free WA account and test again.

Yup, currently streaming Twitch on my Web Africa account, no buffering

 

[Syco]

A question for those who have capped - is streaming smooth on capped, or does it lag on all afrihost accounts? My streaming from services like crictime and cricfree always lags and always buffers on my 10 mbps home uncapped account, as if the service were throttled or shaped since I only ever watch in SD.

I have a 50+50GB capped account and can confirm that streaming is not always good, like right now! AH GUARANTEE that capped accounts are never shaped/throttled but that has not been my experience for many months now. At certain times of the day particularly from about 2.00PM until around 5.00PM and then from about 7.00PM until late, streaming is hopeless. Right now it has pretty much ground to a halt and I have given up. I am on an exchange in CapeTown on a 10Mbps line. Have been strung along by the promise of increased capacity but so far can see no improvement. AH are obviously hopelessly over subscribed and I think it is immoral of them to continue advertising for new clients (promising them a service that they cannot deliver) until they get their current mess sorted out.

 

[Mualliq]

Can one of the Afrimen please explain to me why I only get 20 kbps on p2p when I am being shaped at 6.25%. Unless my maths skills are completely gone, I would have thought 6.25% meant around 60 - 65 kbps. So why I am getting less than a third of that? Does 6.25% actually mean some unknown percentage somewhere below 6.25% (like 2% in my case)?

I have a 10 mbps line

 

[AfriMan]

I have a 50+50GB capped account and can confirm that streaming is not always good, like right now! AH GUARANTEE that capped accounts are never shaped/throttled but that has not been my experience for many months now. At certain times of the day particularly from about 2.00PM until around 5.00PM and then from about 7.00PM until late, streaming is hopeless. Right now it has pretty much ground to a halt and I have given up. I am on an exchange in CapeTown on a 10Mbps line. Have been strung along by the promise of increased capacity but so far can see no improvement. AH are obviously hopelessly over subscribed and I think it is immoral of them to continue advertising for new clients (promising them a service that they cannot deliver) until they get their current mess sorted out.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having a poor streaming experience. This shouldn't be the case, but it depends on which network (region) you are connected to. As we upgrade the network, we've improved realtime services in the South and East, though we could be seeing some problems at peak times in North, while we're waiting for an imminent upgrade.

Generally streaming should still be good throughout most of the day though. Have you run any tests to see what your throughput and latency are like during the times when performance is poor?

 

[AfriMan]

Can one of the Afrimen please explain to me why I only get 20 kbps on p2p when I am being shaped at 6.25%. Unless my maths skills are completely gone, I would have thought 6.25% meant around 60 - 65 kbps. So why I am getting less than a third of that? Does 6.25% actually mean some unknown percentage somewhere below 6.25% (like 2% in my case)?

I have a 10 mbps line

Remember that it's only a guide, we can't guarantee that you'll get exactly that line speed, though generally you won't get more that that. It also depends on what other services you are running and how your QoS determines where to allocate bandwidth. It also depends on the torrent file itself, the seeder, and what limits have been set for the file to transfer (and whether the seeder has the complete file or not)

 

[Mualliq]

Remember that it's only a guide, we can't guarantee that you'll get exactly that line speed, though generally you won't get more that that. It also depends on what other services you are running and how your QoS determines where to allocate bandwidth. It also depends on the torrent file itself, the seeder, and what limits have been set for the file to transfer (and whether the seeder has the complete file or not)

So let me understand what you are saying - 6.25% is just a guide that means anywhere from 0% t0 6.25%? So, you shape lines sometimes to less than a fiftieth its actual potential speed? That is almost criminal! None of the other factors come into play, because I get that 20 kbps even when I am not using any other internet services, and it is not linked to the seeder or torrent file since, as soon as I am unshaped, I get over a 1 mbps.

 

[Syco]

I'm sorry to hear that you're having a poor streaming experience. This shouldn't be the case, but it depends on which network (region) you are connected to. As we upgrade the network, we've improved realtime services in the South and East, though we could be seeing some problems at peak times in North, while we're waiting for an imminent upgrade.

Generally streaming should still be good throughout most of the day though. Have you run any tests to see what your throughput and latency are like during the times when performance is poor?

Thanks for the response. BTW I am in the South - CapeTown. Yes, obviously I have run all the tests! (I have paid other people, who know a lot more about computers than me, to run tests and they concur that the problem is with the ISP!) I am not the only one with a capped account to report streaming problems so we can conclude that my experience is not unique. I have suspected that capacity allocated to capped accounts has to be diverted at times of peak demand just to keep your uncapped accounts from totally failing. (Much like Eskom having to reduce the voltage during peak demand. Electricity is spread a little thinner but at least the lights stay on. Have you ever measured it around 6.00PM -in my area it goes right down from 220v to about 180v!)
I have hung on (as I have been with AH since before the switch to MTN and it will really be a hassle to move all my accounts) but will have to seriously start considering this option as the promised improvement does not seem to be happening. I will wait for a bit longer though, as I am still living in hope that AH will once again be able to deliver the awesome service that we used to get.

 

[Acid0]

Dear Afrihost, I want to move my uncapped account from Telkom do broadband to Afrihost, but seeing all this issues I wonder if it is worth it?

Can you you justify the move that is a bit more expensive than Telkom itself all included?

Is it a temporary thing or are we going to start experiencing problems

 

[AfriMan]

So let me understand what you are saying - 6.25% is just a guide that means anywhere from 0% t0 6.25%? So, you shape lines sometimes to less than a fiftieth its actual potential speed? That is almost criminal! None of the other factors come into play, because I get that 20 kbps even when I am not using any other internet services, and it is not linked to the seeder or torrent file since, as soon as I am unshaped, I get over a 1 mbps.

As I mentioned, it's not that we're shaping you more or less. The policy is set to shape, but how that performs in real time will always be unpredictable, which is the nature of Peer 2 Peer. The percentage is a guideline to let you know a ballpark of what speeds to expect, but it would never be guaranteed - it would be impossible to do that

 

[AfriMan]

Thanks for the response. BTW I am in the South - CapeTown. Yes, obviously I have run all the tests! (I have paid other people, who know a lot more about computers than me, to run tests and they concur that the problem is with the ISP!) I am not the only one with a capped account to report streaming problems so we can conclude that my experience is not unique. I have suspected that capacity allocated to capped accounts has to be diverted at times of peak demand just to keep your uncapped accounts from totally failing. (Much like Eskom having to reduce the voltage during peak demand. Electricity is spread a little thinner but at least the lights stay on. Have you ever measured it around 6.00PM -in my area it goes right down from 220v to about 180v!)
I have hung on (as I have been with AH since before the switch to MTN and it will really be a hassle to move all my accounts) but will have to seriously start considering this option as the promised improvement does not seem to be happening. I will wait for a bit longer though, as I am still living in hope that AH will once again be able to deliver the awesome service that we used to get.

That's not how it works. Shaping is our way of controlling Uncapped consumption to ensure that Capped and Business accounts are always running at premium unshaped levels. So it would be important to see some test results that show whether you are seeing increased latency (and where the latency originates) or if you are seeing diminished throughput. Then whether that is prevalent on local and/or international routing, which helps us narrow down the issue.

If you'd like some of our experts to assist with these tests (for free) please drop me a PM so I can get this started for you. It will be a great help to us if there is a problem on our side so we can see exactly where it is.

 

[AfriMan]

Dear Afrihost, I want to move my uncapped account from Telkom do broadband to Afrihost, but seeing all this issues I wonder if it is worth it?

Can you you justify the move that is a bit more expensive than Telkom itself all included?

Is it a temporary thing or are we going to start experiencing problems

Remember that many of our competitors entry level Uncapped products are throttled or shaped for fixed times throughout the day, etc. So it's important to compare to a similar performance product, which is shaped by demand.

I know some clients are experiencing shaping more severely than they (or we) would like, and we are working hard to improve their experience. We are still waiting for a full upgrade across the board to ensure that we continually provide the kind of experience that we envision. To be realistic, this will always involve some degree of shaping, so we're currently using the most recent upgrades to find a good balance between satisfying demand and protecting the network. This way we can have a better idea of where to set the shaping levels for the best overall experience and network performance, especially on priority realtime services.

I think our products still offer great value, for the price and overall experience, and I also believe our internet experience gets better and better as we learn more about our clients needs and how to maximise the resources we have.