Article in Financial Mail - 2 July 2004 issue

[kickass72za]

Was just handed a copy of FM......

Article covers <b>"More flack for 'OBSCENE' Telkom"</b>

Just thought everyone might want to know...our headache of the system is mentioned near the end......

Facts stated by Michelle Potgieter

1. She is holding on to her 1% figure
2. large bandwidth users should not "abuse" MYwi for downloading large files ......should rather use satellite service VSTAR
3. wont declare how many current users they have, but 4000 are waiting for the service and they have a target of 30 000 by March

I am not even commenting on the above (not enough bandwidth)

will look for an online link and post if i find it

 

[kickass72za]

Here is the online version

http://free.financialmail.co.za/04/0702/technology/btech.htm

 

[regardtv]

Hehee ... and to think they've asked all their existing VSTAR customers to change packages ;-)

 

[gripen]

What I dont understand is that if these heavy users are currently able to download these "large files" then whats the incentive for them to use VSTAR? It was more expensive when I last checked. If they dont want people downloading then dont sell a &gt; 128kbps product.

 

[TheRoDent]

This is exactly my point greedyfly. They're claiming that it's the large file downloaders that are making MY service suck... But what on EARTH can I do about that? When am I a "power user" and when am I not? Does running kazaa 24/7 qualify as "power user"? Or does downloading a kernel image and debian packages from ftp.is.co.za?

Either way, they're copping out of the problem by saying it's the users' fault, not theirs. This is the main reason I suggested a packeteer to Raath. So that he can at least SHAPE the **** so I can at least download at reasonable speeds from ftp.is.co.za. At least that'd be ONE thing that MyWireless would be USEFUL for - keeping my debian boxen up to date. At the moment, it's USE-LESS. I only turn it on when I'm doing a speed test.


<center><h6> MyWireless <s>Hacks</s> Tweaks & Tech Info || Have you checked the fawking FAQ? <br /> <font color="red">Tired of Sentech's bad service? Want to compare speeds? We at least listen...</font id="red"></h6></center>

 

[gripen]

I honestly dont think its a lack of bandwidth in your case. There must be some other issue hampering your speed.. that said, of course they must always buy more bandwidth. My point is, I think there should still be no capping or shpaing of any sort.

But yeah, are you then "allowed" to download 500MB a day? or no movies? or what if you download academic or work related stuff that happens to be large? This whole power user concept is stupid (my definition of a power user is running a web server,VNC,ftp serv,squid,mailserver etc all on one modem or perhaps a more "technically oriented user"). They can and should limit the traffic throughput by package and shut the hell up. I mean you are paying for 128kbps so if you use it every second thats up to you. But to be fair, there havent been any *official* complaints by Sentech only mutterings.. and they did ask nicely that we keep it to 2GB a day which when you divide traffic by users, I think we are comfortably under that.

What bugs me also is that M.Raath basically said that being a technically oriented user means you are "taking down gigabits". I dont think thats fair.. it doesnt take much to install and run kazaa and download p0rn.

 

[TheRoDent]

Greedy, there's no other reason for my slow performance, other than that the Brixton tower is either to overcrowded (due to it being a concentration point for the network), or I keep getting heavily contended due to other people's towers taking priority over Brixton.

Brixton IS one of the star-network concentration points for Jhb, according to Raath, so it could have something to do with that. The fact is, that my connection was excellent during the first 2 months, up till May. My modem and setup works reasonably well on Rosebank, but considering that it's RIGHT at Internet Solutions that's to be expected.

I've tried other peoples' 256k accounts. All with no result.


<center><h6> MyWireless <s>Hacks</s> Tweaks & Tech Info || Have you checked the fawking FAQ? <br /> <font color="red">Tired of Sentech's bad service? Want to compare speeds? We at least listen...</font id="red"></h6></center>

 

[kickass72za]

Is there anyway of knowing if they are packet shaping????

Because if they are.......they are again not adhering to what they are advertising to the PUBLIC

Can we sniff the packet shaper out???

 

[gripen]

Another problem with Sentech is that (probably) a large majority of the subscribers are people that are signing up who want 24/7 access without the Telkom 3GB cap. Now what does that tell you? Yip, they gonna download. It was the main selling point of the service and as no limits were specified, they dont have a leg to stand on.

The lack of bandwidth doesnt really bother me that much, its more the days when you know theres bandwidth but there are other problems that make the service suck. These problems are also not always fixed very quickly. This (to me) is lazy and incompetent.

 

[TrXtR]

Ok, they holding to their, 5%, then their 4% and then 3%, and 2% and 1% ... and ... has anyone actually close tickets ? blah, it cannot be that their customer base is growing.
That would be horrid.