Afrihost Uncapped ADSL Feedback

[JMP]

Sounds like maybe the person who conveyed this might be misinformed. We are running daily training sessions to get our guys up to date

We are doing away with throttles and rolling windows. We assess network capacity/ bandwidth availability continously to determine the maximum amount of capacity we can divert to downloads without affecting other services. And when downloads are slow, real times services should run at max speed on your line, i.e. You Tube, SSH, VoIP, browsing, etc.

All the old guidelines of thresholds no longer apply. We are shaping dynamically, so there is no straight calculation. We look at usage trends, protocols used, projected use, and various other factors to determine how this is applied, and it varies on an individual basis. There are no more rolling windows and thresholds at all.

How can you go and sell us these accounts in May/June as "uncapped up to a fair usage limit followed by progressive throttling" and then out of the blue completely change the nature of the product? For those who only recently got these accounts do yourself a favour and read this thread which is just one of several threads where Afrihost told us that you can do 120GB on a 1Mb line before being throttled, or 250-280GB on a 4Mb line before being throttled and that on a 4Mb line you will never be throttled below 1Mb speed. For the months that followed these were the best performing uncapped accounts that money could buy. Fast-forward to November and suddenly your 4Mb line get "shaped" down to 0.25Mb on any download protocol (even http) during the evening regardless of usage. I have had bad service from many companies but I feel this is more than just crappy service; this is a bad faith attempt to change the characteristics of the product after the sale and I find it downright deceitful and dishonest. I gave up my 130GB RedAfrica special account for this and can never get it back.

Afrihost you sold out, you disgust me.

 

[prodigyX]

@quilabyte

what is your line speed/package and your current usage for november?

 

[lucifir]

I have had bad service from many companies but I feel this is more than just crappy service; this is a bad faith attempt to change the characteristics of the product after the sale and I find it downright deceitful and dishonest.

+1
should have been upfront with ur customers about the shaping changes you were planning as part of the move .. as all we heard was that with mtn, we will have "more capacity", so the expectation was that the service would remain the same at the very least or be improved!!!

 

[new_in_za2]

We are doing away with throttles and rolling windows. We assess network capacity/ bandwidth availability continously to determine the maximum amount of capacity we can divert to downloads without affecting other services. And when downloads are slow, real times services should run at max speed on your line, i.e. You Tube, SSH, VoIP, browsing, etc.

I think plenty of people have pointed out that that is a really bad idea. You're giving everyone a poor internet connection always, instead of just those who really max out their lines 24/7. If you plan on this remaining your policy 'forever', you really need to relabel all your products as other people have also suggested. The 1Mbps account gives you 256kbps. The 2Mbps account gives you 512kbps. The 4Mbps account gives you 1Mbps. Claiming anything else is in my opinion not fair.

Actually, I just had to download a log file from a colleague. It was 750kB big and it took me 52 seconds to get it for an average download speed of 14.2kB/s or roughly 116kbps, which is 1/17th of the advertised speed of my connection. Afriman, do you honestly think it is a great policy to throttle me to 1/17th of the speed you advertised when you sold me the internet connection despite the fact that I have as good as no downloads done the last 10 days?

Here is my Afrihost data usage graph. Please note that the 18th and 19th of this month are completely missing from this graph because I had exactly 0 bytes of data transfer on those two days.

 

[FreddyB]

We are doing away with throttles and rolling windows.

This is from Ashley at AH:
Uncapped accounts will be shaped if their usage is high and will be monitored over a 10 day rolling window

Fail cakes

 

[jackshiels]

I have done about 65 GB this month and am still able to download stuff ok (averages about 300-400KB/sec, which isn't wonderfully stable but not too bad either). Generally I get my files.

So basically P2P is going to be heavily shaped then? I don't do any of that so I shouldn't see any changes right?

Final word: Afriman, if I could switch to an 80GB capped bundle at the same price, I would. I never go over that and don't want to be lumped in with the mega abusers. Besides, I have a 10mb line and never get to experience full speed Please take note of this, there is a definite niche.

 

[Necuno]

I think plenty of people have pointed out that that is a really bad idea. You're giving everyone a poor internet connection always, instead of just those who really max out their lines 24/7. If you plan on this remaining your policy 'forever', you really need to relabel all your products as other people have also suggested. The 1Mbps account gives you 256kbps. The 2Mbps account gives you 512kbps. The 4Mbps account gives you 1Mbps. Claiming anything else is in my opinion not fair.

Actually, I just had to download a log file from a colleague. It was 750kB big and it took me 52 seconds to get it for an average download speed of 14.2kB/s or roughly 116kbps, which is 1/17th of the advertised speed of my connection. Afriman, do you honestly think it is a great policy to throttle me to 1/17th of the speed you advertised when you sold me the internet connection despite the fact that I have as good as no downloads done the last 10 days?

Here is my Afrihost data usage graph. Please note that the 18th and 19th of this month are completely missing from this graph because I had exactly 0 bytes of data transfer on those two days.

Works fine on Mweb. Openweb is coping. Why is this bad then? In fact if rolling windows was such a success why isn't everyone using it?

 

[new_in_za2]

Works fine on Mweb. Openweb is coping. Why is this bad then? In fact if rolling windows was such a success why isn't everyone using it?

I think you need to read my post again... You managed to read the exact opposite of what I wrote.

 

[FapCop]

I really don't see the point in having uncapped if you can't download on it. Im starting to regret canceling my cancellation.

 

[Necuno]

I think you need to read my post again... You managed to read the exact opposite of what I wrote.

Oh, I thought you were not agreeing with:

AH: "We are doing away with throttles and rolling windows."

I wanted to point out it is actually working like that on other networks

 

[Gadget Man]

@AfriMan

There are many complainants on this thread, and I too am a Normal Uncapped customer (2 Mbps normal package).

I had excellent download speeds (at full capacity) last week up until Saturday when it all slowed down. Then there was an issue on Sunday (authentication) which means very little got done during the day on my AH account.

Monday and again today, downloads are very slow. Literally 5 to 10 Kbps on my 2 Mbps package (4 Mbps line).

I have cancelled my account, but what I would like to know is that whether or not the service would be the same on the Business Uncapped accounts? Can I expect the same download speeds or are these shaped fundamentally differently?

Please respond, as I would like to give the Business Uncapped a try before going elsewhere completely.

 

[new_in_za2]

Oh, I thought you were not agreeing with:

AH: "We are doing away with throttles and rolling windows."

I wanted to point out it is actually working like that on other networks

OK, maybe I also misunderstood you.

Given that Afrihost obviously do not have enough network capacity to meet their needs, they need to throttle someone. As it is right now, both the guy who downloaded 1TB this month and the guy who averages less than 1GB per day get throttled exactly the same. Right now I am getting 1/17th of my promised speed despite that my connection has been mostly idle the past 15 days. The guy who downloaded 1TB, and is one of the big reasons Afrihost have to throttle, get exactly the same 'punishment' as me. That's a really bad idea. It's a bad idea because Afrihost are punishing the 'good' majority for what the 'bad' minority are doing, which means that Afrihost will lose all their low-bandwidth users, which are the ones they are making money on.

Now, Afrihost can do three things:
1) Get enough capacity to satisfy demands. This is of course the preferred option, but obviously also the least likely thing to happen.
2) Throttle users based on usage. The more you've used, the more you get throttled. After option 1, that is the most fair thing to do.
3) Stay with the status quo. Give everyone a super bad internet experience.

Which one would you prefer?

 

[grapjas]

Now, Afrihost can do three things:
1) Get enough capacity to satisfy demands. This is of course the preferred option, but obviously also the least likely thing to happen.
2) Throttle users based on usage. The more you've used, the more you get throttled. After option 1, that is the most fair thing to do.
3) Stay with the status quo. Give everyone a super bad internet experience.

Which one would you prefer?

Option 2 is the obvious no brainer.
If it was just p2p and news servers that gets shaped hectically it would be a bit better but at the moment its all downloads and that is just unacceptable.

 

[zeely]

just signed up with mweb for 6months. first 2 months is free, so effectivly paying R360/month for 4mb uncapped. And its decent internet. I never had issues with them and should never had left them 6mths ago

bye bye afrihost

 

[FreddyB]

Now, Afrihost can do three things:
1) Get enough capacity to satisfy demands. This is of course the preferred option, but obviously also the least likely thing to happen.
2) Throttle users based on usage. The more you've used, the more you get throttled. After option 1, that is the most fair thing to do.
3) Stay with the status quo. Give everyone a super bad internet experience.

Which one would you prefer?

Their going to claim option 1 but use option 3

 

[Piesang]

My overall browsing experience is fine. Sometimes a bit slow but most of the time very fast. Torrents download at about 200kB/s but I only get 65kB/s from the news server.

That is on a 10mb line.

 

[Necuno]

OK, maybe I also misunderstood you.

Given that Afrihost obviously do not have enough network capacity to meet their needs, they need to throttle someone. As it is right now, both the guy who downloaded 1TB this month and the guy who averages less than 1GB per day get throttled exactly the same. Right now I am getting 1/17th of my promised speed despite that my connection has been mostly idle the past 15 days. The guy who downloaded 1TB, and is one of the big reasons Afrihost have to throttle, get exactly the same 'punishment' as me. That's a really bad idea. It's a bad idea because Afrihost are punishing the 'good' majority for what the 'bad' minority are doing, which means that Afrihost will lose all their low-bandwidth users, which are the ones they are making money on.

Now, Afrihost can do three things:
1) Get enough capacity to satisfy demands. This is of course the preferred option, but obviously also the least likely thing to happen.
2) Throttle users based on usage. The more you've used, the more you get throttled. After option 1, that is the most fair thing to do.
3) Stay with the status quo. Give everyone a super bad internet experience.

Which one would you prefer?

I'm not talking about right now.

I'd be happy with 1 or 2 and then working towards no more rolling or throttle. It can be and has been done. I have no issues at all on my mweb and they seem to be able to pull it off.

 

[htpc]

I have also moved more data during this month than I did since joining them 6 Odd months ago. I will however stick it out for the time being.

+1

Somehow this new setup is actually working, although I still download the same TV Shows. NZB setup to download from 23h00 until 07h30 and the pause. Does not really see any difference there, but the normal day 2 day browser is much better.

 

[AfriMan]

I think there is definitely a misconception. Surely we are not treating all clients the same if some clients are still reporting full line speed at times on torrents and nntp, while others are getting lesser priority. The guys who are moving say 500-700GB (and just the fact that they can do this shows we have plenty capacity) are getting lowest priority on their downloads, while other users will have a different experience. That's just an example, please don't use that as any indication other than we have clients still moving significant data.

I saw a report this morning that shows that over 50% of the network traffic is still consumed by Bit Torrent and Nntp. So clearly the throughput and bandwidth are accessible and clients are accessing it.

We are going to continue to work on this, and find the best way of managing bandwidth/traffic in a way that is fair. And we are moving towards increasing local capacity (IPC) so that clients routed to those areas are not affected by what happens in others in terms of capacity.

I don't think we have been dishonest about what we're doing. When we were talking about the move, I told everyone here that we want to move away from throttling towards priority shaping. I said at that stage I wasn't sure if it would happen immediately, so maybe we weren't all ready for such a dramatic change - but it was definitely on the cards.

 

[AfriMan]

@AfriMan

There are many complainants on this thread, and I too am a Normal Uncapped customer (2 Mbps normal package).

I had excellent download speeds (at full capacity) last week up until Saturday when it all slowed down. Then there was an issue on Sunday (authentication) which means very little got done during the day on my AH account.

Monday and again today, downloads are very slow. Literally 5 to 10 Kbps on my 2 Mbps package (4 Mbps line).

I have cancelled my account, but what I would like to know is that whether or not the service would be the same on the Business Uncapped accounts? Can I expect the same download speeds or are these shaped fundamentally differently?

Please respond, as I would like to give the Business Uncapped a try before going elsewhere completely.

Business Uncapped should not be shaped or have any QoS priority settings.