Afrihost Uncapped ADSL Feedback (Pt3)

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I am currently on AH 4MBPS Uncapped, and have a question;

I am having trouble at times streaming SD to my TV (Ethernet or Wi-Fi, irrespective, router set-up to prioritise media), and not always, but often experience buffering issues. Does this mean that 4MBPS is not enough to stream SD content, let alone HD? I don't think so, because at other times, I am able to stream HD and even 3D flawlessly (streaming same series from same server, just different days)?

If Uncapped is 100% unshaped on realtime, why am I experiencing these intermittent issues? Would an Uncapped Business Account make any difference?
 
AfriMan said:
Great to hear that you're thinking of coming over to our family - appreciate the chance to win your trust :)

Speeds will always depend on the quality of your line. I would recommend grabbing a Free 1GB account to check what realtime speeds you can expect on our network. https://www.afrihost.com/microsites/freegb/?src=twitter

Since you're in the Uncapped thread, I'm assuming your looking at Uncapped. Remember that we shape HTTP downloads and P2P when demand necessitates it on the network. We do display the shaping profile you're on in CLientZone so you have an idea of what speeds to expect on shaped services. Realtime services are 100% unshaped at all times.

Gaming is never shaped and we generally see around 160-180ms latency to the EU/UK. This would be ping to a server. For in-game latency, it would depend on the amount of traffic and capacity/load on that specific server.

We don't use rolling windows and thresholds. We shape by overall demand on the network :)

Feel free to PM me if you have more Q's :)
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Thanks for the feedback Afriman. I am currently with you guys for my capped usage, so I may upgrade that account to an uncapped account in the near future. I just wanted to find out what the general experience is compared to the capped accounts, which are obviously unshaped.
 
jvzweel said:
I am currently on AH 4MBPS Uncapped, and have a question;

I am having trouble at times streaming SD to my TV (Ethernet or Wi-Fi, irrespective, router set-up to prioritise media), and not always, but often experience buffering issues. Does this mean that 4MBPS is not enough to stream SD content, let alone HD? I don't think so, because at other times, I am able to stream HD and even 3D flawlessly (streaming same series from same server, just different days)?

If Uncapped is 100% unshaped on realtime, why am I experiencing these intermittent issues? Would an Uncapped Business Account make any difference?
Click to expand...

No not really. Why I am saying this is because I have Turbo Charged my 4mbps account to test this theory. When looking at my Mikrotik router via winbox services like nowvideo.sx does 572kbps max. With mweb full 4mbps. I think Afrihost uses a different pipe to get to the sites like Nowvideo for instance. Oh BTW AfriMan still waiting for that PM regarding Nowvideo.sx. :) It's just a pity, because every site that offers free streaming services has working Nowvideo.sx links. :(
 
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jvzweel said:
I am currently on AH 4MBPS Uncapped, and have a question;

I am having trouble at times streaming SD to my TV (Ethernet or Wi-Fi, irrespective, router set-up to prioritise media), and not always, but often experience buffering issues. Does this mean that 4MBPS is not enough to stream SD content, let alone HD? I don't think so, because at other times, I am able to stream HD and even 3D flawlessly (streaming same series from same server, just different days)?

If Uncapped is 100% unshaped on realtime, why am I experiencing these intermittent issues? Would an Uncapped Business Account make any difference?
Click to expand...

4Mbps should generally be fine for SD - it would be good to see if you're either seeing more latency than usual or less throughput. Something like BitMeter OS is very good at showing if you're throughput is peaking somewhere or not able to burst as high as streaming usually needs.
 
saa044 said:
No not really. When looking at my Mikrotik router via winbox services like nowvideo.sx does 572kbps max. With mweb full 4mbps. I think Afrihost uses a different pipe to get to the sites like Nowvideo for instance. Oh BTW AfriMan still waiting for that PM regarding Nowvideo.sx. :)
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Sorry, I did caht directly with the guys who designed our shaping system. He says we wouldn't touch any video sites. So if you're seeing something different, I'm gonna need to prove this to them.

Drop me a PM and I'll talk you through the tests I need to do this :)
 
zolly said:
Thanks for the feedback Afriman. I am currently with you guys for my capped usage, so I may upgrade that account to an uncapped account in the near future. I just wanted to find out what the general experience is compared to the capped accounts, which are obviously unshaped.
Click to expand...

I guess the guys can give you their feedback - but let me know if you need any other info or assistance :)
 
PM sent AfriMan. As you can see on my PM everything from Afrihost regarding trace and ping's are way better than that from mweb. Even the route via Afrihost is shorter than that from mweb, why I suspect your shaping program does not see nowvideo as a real realtime service.
 
saa044 said:
PM sent AfriMan. As you can see on my PM everything from Afrihost regarding trace and ping's are way better than that from mweb. Even the route via Afrihost is shorter than that from mweb, why I suspect your shaping program does not see nowvideo as a real realtime service.
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Coolios, AfriMan should reply soon :)
 
Arksun said:
What does p2p speed look like after 7PM on home uncapped?
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It depends on how busy the network is at the time. Sometimes it's really quiet and no shaping is present, other times it could be a little busy with some shaping being applied.
 
I have been very happy with the 4 meg normal uncapped package. Yes, the fact that HTTP downloads are limited during busy network periods is a bit sucky, but I understand the reasoning beghind the decision.

Torrents fly down at night, and otherwise performance is very good.

I have a decision now, going forward - Do I choose the 4 Meg business, or the 10 Meg home?

Provided I understand the shaping situation (specifically, does the 18.5% at heavy shaping mean that an HTTP download will get close to 20% of the full line speed [in the case of a ten Meg line, that would be approaching 200 Kb/s], in which case, I'm perfectly happy with that?

Thanks!
 
Arksun said:
What does p2p speed look like after 7PM on home uncapped?
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Generally shaped in the evenings. I can't imagine that AfriGuy can be more specific, as as he says - It's dependant on how under load the network is.

If you just make the decision to download torrents after 00:00, you will get loads between then and breakfast time.
 
Arksun said:
But whats is it like in general?
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It's hard to give you a general idea, remember it's based on the network usage at the time - something we can't really predict.
Just keep in mind, that even if your account is shaped, your realtime services are left untouched.
 
copacetic said:
I have been very happy with the 4 meg normal uncapped package. Yes, the fact that HTTP downloads are limited during busy network periods is a bit sucky, but I understand the reasoning beghind the decision.

Torrents fly down at night, and otherwise performance is very good.

I have a decision now, going forward - Do I choose the 4 Meg business, or the 10 Meg home?

Provided I understand the shaping situation (specifically, does the 18.5% at heavy shaping mean that an HTTP download will get close to 20% of the full line speed [in the case of a ten Meg line, that would be approaching 200 Kb/s], in which case, I'm perfectly happy with that?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

P2P and HTTP can be shaped at different levels. The worst case scenario, most we'll ever shape is 12.5% of the line.
 
i see Cape town is having issues with slow speeds it might be also in Joburg coz im struggling to watch YouTube in HD
 
AfriGuy said:
P2P and HTTP can be shaped at different levels. The worst case scenario, most we'll ever shape is 12.5% of the line.
Click to expand...

Yeah, P2P shaping is not relevant, as it thunders down just fine after hours.

So, cool, I think I'm going to be happy with the ten Meg home option.
 
adam_g said:
i see Cape town is having issues with slow speeds it might be also in Joburg coz im struggling to watch YouTube in HD
Click to expand...

This doesn't seem to be affecting everyone, but we have seen a few reports around slow speeds in the area :(
What's your latency like?
 
AfriGuy said:
This doesn't seem to be affecting everyone, but we have seen a few reports around slow speeds in the area :(
What's your latency like?
Click to expand...

Between 9ms and 32ms

Last Result:
Download Speed: 8814 kbps (1101.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 844 kbps (105.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Latency: 29 ms
5/15/2014 3:06:34 PM
 
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