BitCo Consumer Review

kianm said:
Thanks for the info. Do we have to use that DNS address always from now if we have problems and does this apply to business accounts as well, seeing some people use OpenDns for security and some use Uno for streaming? Am using OpenDns but haven't had problems so far
Click to expand...

Hi Kianm,

Ideally best to use the BitCo DNS when using our internet connection for web access.

We do support various others like Unotelly and openDNS

If you have problems with DNS you can log with [email protected] and they will bring it forward to the core team to evaluate if it should be opened.

Mike
 
OCD said:
I would like to add my 2c with the following extracts from The ISPA (http://ispa.org.za/code-of-conduct/) code of conduct that Bitco (in my experience) is falling foul of. Bitco's contracts and FUP point customers to the ISPA for fairness so:

B. Privacy and confidentiality

ISPA members must respect the constitutional right of Internet users to personal privacy and privacy of communications.
ISPA members must respect the confidentiality of customers’ personal information and electronic communications, and must not gather, retain, sell or distribute such information to any other party without the written consent of the customer, except where required to do so by law.

(think DPI tool Bitco recently boasted about) DPI = Deep Packet Inspection

In their dealings with consumers, other businesses, each other and ISPA, ISPA members must act fairly, reasonably, professionally and in good faith. In particular, pricing information for services must be clearly and accurately conveyed to customers and potential customers.

ISPA members may only offer service levels which are reasonably within their technical and practical abilities.


ISPA members must uphold and abide by this Code of Conduct and adhere to the associated complaints and disciplinary procedures.

Lastly

BITCO I do not like being contractually bound to a company that does not feel the same obligation.The point a couple of posts age to throttle our payments.......... OCD'S OCD JUST WENT ADD.
Click to expand...

Hi OCD

Please allow us to set your mind at ease with regards to your privacy concerns and our recently employed DPI methodology. For the benefit of other (perhaps not as technical) readers of this thread we have included an explanation on DPI.

Deep packet inspection (DPI) is an advanced method of packet filtering. The use of DPI makes it possible to find, identify, classify, reroute or block packets with specific data or code payloads that conventional packet filtering, which examines only packet headers, cannot detect.

Using DPI, communications service providers can allocate available resources to streamline traffic flow. For example, sending high priority emails over less important emails. It can also be used for throttled data transfer to prevent P2P (peer-to-peer) abuse, improving network performance for most subscribers.

Yes, DPI can make it possible to identify the originator or recipients of content containing specific packets, however, as we are governed by the ISPA Code of Conduct, all the relevant laws pertaining to our IECS & IECNS licenses as well as POPI, we are not using the technology for this purpose. We are using the technology solely for the purpose of prioritizing traffic over our network to enhance our users experience be it, streaming, gaming, general browsing or VoIP.

Mike
 
OCD said:
I would like to add my 2c with the following extracts from The ISPA (http://ispa.org.za/code-of-conduct/) code of conduct that Bitco (in my experience) is falling foul of. Bitco's contracts and FUP point customers to the ISPA for fairness so:

B. Privacy and confidentiality

ISPA members must respect the constitutional right of Internet users to personal privacy and privacy of communications.
ISPA members must respect the confidentiality of customers’ personal information and electronic communications, and must not gather, retain, sell or distribute such information to any other party without the written consent of the customer, except where required to do so by law.

(think DPI tool Bitco recently boasted about) DPI = Deep Packet Inspection

In their dealings with consumers, other businesses, each other and ISPA, ISPA members must act fairly, reasonably, professionally and in good faith. In particular, pricing information for services must be clearly and accurately conveyed to customers and potential customers.

ISPA members may only offer service levels which are reasonably within their technical and practical abilities.


ISPA members must uphold and abide by this Code of Conduct and adhere to the associated complaints and disciplinary procedures.

Lastly

BITCO I do not like being contractually bound to a company that does not feel the same obligation.The point a couple of posts age to throttle our payments.......... OCD'S OCD JUST WENT ADD.
Click to expand...


Wait what? You are very concerned about a trusted, reputable ISP using DPI on their network for traffic control, but you are completely happy with sending personal information over a wireless link?

I think you may need to re-think your security priorities.
 
Hi all,

I apologize if this has been asked and answered before but I haven't been able to find anything yet. I recently got my connection and love it so far. My main use for it is to use it with my Raspberry Pi to stream movies and series. So far I've done this through the Genesis add on, but I'm testing a bunch of different ways to find out what works best.

I was wondering what everyone’s experience with VPNs on Bitco is. I want to know if I can set up a vpn on the router to allow me to watch streams though something like Popcorn time. I’d prefer not to torrent anymore as I’m running out of hard drives. How do you guys stream?

Also, can someone perhaps PM me the default router log in? I want to change the default Wifi password.

Thanks!
 
stoffelsdutoit said:
Hi all,

I apologize if this has been asked and answered before but I haven't been able to find anything yet. I recently got my connection and love it so far. My main use for it is to use it with my Raspberry Pi to stream movies and series. So far I've done this through the Genesis add on, but I'm testing a bunch of different ways to find out what works best.

I was wondering what everyone’s experience with VPNs on Bitco is. I want to know if I can set up a vpn on the router to allow me to watch streams though something like Popcorn time. I’d prefer not to torrent anymore as I’m running out of hard drives. How do you guys stream?

Also, can someone perhaps PM me the default router log in? I want to change the default Wifi password.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Bitco supports Unotelly VPN service as well as others.

Just e-mail support and they will give you the router password. I suggest though that you change the DNS per device and not on the router. I just found it much better to manage. But that's just me (Personal preference)
 
Had a funny experience just now...

A few days back I saw Bitco brag on their twitter account about how their service provides low latencies... I couldn't resist and tweeted back that low latency doesnt mean **** if you get packet loss.. The Bitco rep replied very concerned that he'll investigate and get the issue sorted asap (poor guy probably has no idea how big of a problem packet loss really is in the service he's selling)

Anyway fast forward about 24 hours, and I dared to do a download during the night, and I got met by this reply "Hi, after investigating with out technical team we see your link was utilized at near 100%, that would account for the packet loss as the link negotiates traffic"

Thanks for clearing that up Bitco, so basically you are say that if I experience packet loss in a game while not downloading, that my downloads done the next day will account for my packet loss the previous day #theLogicIsStrongWithBitco
 
Last edited:
BitCo said:
Hi Kianm,

Thanks for the post

you statement above is not accurate, many customers have 5Mbps & 10Mbps packages who do not ever reach the FUP and are very happy with the service.

We find the power users reach the FUP on the 5Mbps line whereas the 10Mbps much less

Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

Would you consider someone maybe downloading the windows10 iso and gets throttled after 30 minutes a power user, or the one who just wants to watch a couple of shows after work are they considered to as abusers? I think the 10Meg people are managing to continue through probably due to the reason that when they get throttled the 5megs is still adequate for HD videos and the likes. So is it a case that you HAVE TO HAVE a 10+ meg line to actually experience frustration free internet with Bitco?

Is Bitco listening to and considering the concerns that are highlighted? Is it fair that business customers get the same FUP treatment as home users where they get throttled as well due to mostly updates?
 
BITCO.......Value for Money?

Howzit guys,

Hope all is well.

I have been relatively quiet lately on the Bitco review thread, took a bit of a sabbatical to try and put Bitco's FUP into perspective and try and see both sides of the story. For the record my link that i am using is running smoothly no complaints except for BF4 but that is a on going R&D issue, but the guys are getting there.

On the side of the forum(customers) everybody that has commented on the FUP has got some seriously valid points and reasoning however the one thing that keeps popping up is that the FUP impedes the performance or quality of performance and by that i mean you are paying R 1499.00/month for a 10mb/s service which throttles down to 5 mb/s after an hour.The other thing that annoys me is BITCO'S attitude, if you dont like it, lump it....... we will cancel your contract free of charge.What attitude is that,in today's day and age of ISP's the most important thing is choice.
Come to think of it what choice options do you have......!

5mb/s which is only a 2.5mb/s link
10mb/s which is only a 5mb/s link


On the side of Bitco, their argument is the FUP policy allows them to manage the network accordingly, so the customer has a 1:1 contention no nonsense link.They have stipulated in the past that they have had many customers that abuse their links and download torrents etc 24/7. So in all fairness the FUP protects the customer just as much as it protects Bitco, making sure that all the promises that Bitco has committed to is adhered to.The other very impressive service that Bitco does stand by is their 99% uptime guarantee.One of the core network towers was struck by lightning about 2 weeks ago in Honeydew which fried it completely and within 4 hours the service was back up and running perfectly.I take my hat off to Bitco for the magic they provided, if it was any other service provider I would still be waiting for the service to be recommissioned.Thumbs up Bitco

So the FUP, as controversial as it is, actually covers everybody's arse, some may agree some may disagree.

Now this is where i have discovered the big FAIL on Bitco's side and it is a horrendous FAIL.

Value for money.....................putting the FUP policy in place, as mentioned above is a good thing, however when it implements it takes the "good value for money" formula away, so ultimately you are paying R 1499.00 for a 5mb/s service.

ADSL

Cybersmart Up to 10Mbps..Uncapped R189 R968
Axxess Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R988
Crystalweb Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,059
Afrihost Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,086
Web Africa Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,088
MWEB Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,088
do Uncapped Premium Plus Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,188

FTTH

ISPAfrika 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R799.00
Cybersmart 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R899.00
Comtel 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R895.00
Amobia 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R999.00
Smart Village 20Mbps Uncapped 12 Months R1,359.00
Cybersmart 50Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R1,499.00


Some examples above showing value for money and no FUP. (however soft-cap applies to some of the ISP,Softcap implemented from 300Gigs to 1 TB)

Now Bitco can argue the point that their links outperform an ADSL line, but not a fibre line, again this could be argued until the cows come home, however the crux of the matter is VALUE FOR MONEY.

Bitco 5/10mb/s Link R1499.00/month (which is reality is a 5mb/s Link)
ADSL 10mb/s line R1188.00 all inclusive(again performance of line and contention can be argued)
FTTH 50mb/s fibre R 1499.00 (Good Value for Money,uncapped,unshaped,soft cap 1TB)

So bar the arguments of hearsay

BITCO............ SHOW ME VALUE FOR MONEY?
 
Last edited:
I think BitCo is getting so many new installations that they don't have to change. They offer something at a price that other WISPS can't compete with and unfortunately to do so they have their FUP.

For me there was just no real alternative and I think that's the problem that most people face. So until there's no viable alternatives then BitCo will be happy with the FUP because even with it they are growing exceptionally fast.
 
disiza said:
Howzit guys,

Hope all is well.

I have been relatively quiet lately on the Bitco review thread, took a bit of a sabbatical to try and put Bitco's FUP into perspective and try and see both sides of the story. For the record my link that i am using is running smoothly no complaints except for BF4 but that is a on going R&D issue, but the guys are getting there.

On the side of the forum(customers) everybody that has commented on the FUP has got some seriously valid points and reasoning however the one thing that keeps popping up is that the FUP impedes the performance or quality of performance and by that i mean you are paying R 1499.00/month for a 10mb/s service which throttles down to 5 mb/s after an hour.The other thing that annoys me is BITCO'S attitude, if you dont like it, lump it....... we will cancel your contract free of charge.What attitude is that,in today's day and age of ISP's the most important thing is choice.
Come to think of it what choice options do you have......!

5mb/s which is only a 2.5mb/s link
10mb/s which is only a 5mb/s link


On the side of Bitco, their argument is the FUP policy allows them to manage the network accordingly, so the customer has a 1:1 contention no nonsense link.They have stipulated in the past that they have had many customers that abuse their links and download torrents etc 24/7. So in all fairness the FUP protects the customer just as much as it protects Bitco, making sure that all the promises that Bitco has committed to is adhered to.The other very impressive service that Bitco does stand by is their 99% uptime guarantee.One of the core network towers was struck by lightning about 2 weeks ago in Honeydew which fried it completely and within 4 hours the service was back up and running perfectly.I take my hat off to Bitco for the magic they provided, if it was any other service provider I would still be waiting for the service to be recommissioned.Thumbs up Bitco

So the FUP, as controversial as it is, actually covers everybody's arse, some may agree some may disagree.

Now this is where i have discovered the big FAIL on Bitco's side and it is a horrendous FAIL.

Value for money.....................putting the FUP policy in place, as mentioned above is a good thing, however when it implements it takes the "good value for money" formula away, so ultimately you are paying R 1499.00 for a 5mb/s service.

ADSL

Cybersmart Up to 10Mbps..Uncapped R189 R968
Axxess Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R988
Crystalweb Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,059
Afrihost Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,086
Web Africa Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,088
MWEB Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,088
do Uncapped Premium Plus Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,188

FTTH

ISPAfrika 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R799.00
Cybersmart 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R899.00
Comtel 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R895.00
Amobia 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R999.00
Smart Village 20Mbps Uncapped 12 Months R1,359.00
Cybersmart 50Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R1,499.00


Some examples above showing value for money and no FUP. (however soft-cap applies to some of the ISP,Softcap implemented from 300Gigs to 1 TB)

Now Bitco can argue the point that their links outperform an ADSL line, but not a fibre line, again this could be argued until the cows come home, however the crux of the matter is VALUE FOR MONEY.

Bitco 5/10mb/s Link R1499.00/month (which is reality is a 5mb/s Link)
ADSL 10mb/s line R1188.00 all inclusive(again performance of line and contention can be argued)
FTTH 50mb/s fibre R 1499.00 (Good Value for Money,uncapped,unshaped,soft cap 1TB)

So bar the arguments of hearsay

BITCO............ SHOW ME VALUE FOR MONEY?
Click to expand...

You must remember that you're comparing apples with oranges here.

I am with Bitco due to not being able to get FTTH or ADSl in my area.
So you need to compare Bitco with other WISP's not with FTTH and ADSL. It's 3 completely different things aimed at completely different clients :p In all honesty I would still use Bitco over ADSL as I won't have to deal with Telkom and their failing infrastructure. But Bitco vs FTTH there is no contest :o
 
disiza said:
Howzit guys,

Hope all is well.

I have been relatively quiet lately on the Bitco review thread, took a bit of a sabbatical to try and put Bitco's FUP into perspective and try and see both sides of the story. For the record my link that i am using is running smoothly no complaints except for BF4 but that is a on going R&D issue, but the guys are getting there.

On the side of the forum(customers) everybody that has commented on the FUP has got some seriously valid points and reasoning however the one thing that keeps popping up is that the FUP impedes the performance or quality of performance and by that i mean you are paying R 1499.00/month for a 10mb/s service which throttles down to 5 mb/s after an hour.The other thing that annoys me is BITCO'S attitude, if you dont like it, lump it....... we will cancel your contract free of charge.What attitude is that,in today's day and age of ISP's the most important thing is choice.
Come to think of it what choice options do you have......!

5mb/s which is only a 2.5mb/s link
10mb/s which is only a 5mb/s link


On the side of Bitco, their argument is the FUP policy allows them to manage the network accordingly, so the customer has a 1:1 contention no nonsense link.They have stipulated in the past that they have had many customers that abuse their links and download torrents etc 24/7. So in all fairness the FUP protects the customer just as much as it protects Bitco, making sure that all the promises that Bitco has committed to is adhered to.The other very impressive service that Bitco does stand by is their 99% uptime guarantee.One of the core network towers was struck by lightning about 2 weeks ago in Honeydew which fried it completely and within 4 hours the service was back up and running perfectly.I take my hat off to Bitco for the magic they provided, if it was any other service provider I would still be waiting for the service to be recommissioned.Thumbs up Bitco

So the FUP, as controversial as it is, actually covers everybody's arse, some may agree some may disagree.

Now this is where i have discovered the big FAIL on Bitco's side and it is a horrendous FAIL.

Value for money.....................putting the FUP policy in place, as mentioned above is a good thing, however when it implements it takes the "good value for money" formula away, so ultimately you are paying R 1499.00 for a 5mb/s service.

ADSL

Cybersmart Up to 10Mbps..Uncapped R189 R968
Axxess Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R988
Crystalweb Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,059
Afrihost Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,086
Web Africa Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,088
MWEB Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,088
do Uncapped Premium Plus Up to 10Mbps Uncapped R189 R1,188

FTTH

ISPAfrika 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R799.00
Cybersmart 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R899.00
Comtel 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R895.00
Amobia 20Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R999.00
Smart Village 20Mbps Uncapped 12 Months R1,359.00
Cybersmart 50Mbps Uncapped Month to Month R1,499.00


Some examples above showing value for money and no FUP. (however soft-cap applies to some of the ISP,Softcap implemented from 300Gigs to 1 TB)

Now Bitco can argue the point that their links outperform an ADSL line, but not a fibre line, again this could be argued until the cows come home, however the crux of the matter is VALUE FOR MONEY.

Bitco 5/10mb/s Link R1499.00/month (which is reality is a 5mb/s Link)
ADSL 10mb/s line R1188.00 all inclusive(again performance of line and contention can be argued)
FTTH 50mb/s fibre R 1499.00 (Good Value for Money,uncapped,unshaped,soft cap 1TB)

So bar the arguments of hearsay

BITCO............ SHOW ME VALUE FOR MONEY?
Click to expand...

You must remember that you're comparing apples with oranges here.

I am with Bitco due to not being able to get FTTH or ADSl in my area.
So you need to compare Bitco with other WISP's not with FTTH and ADSL. It's 3 completely different things aimed at completely different clients :p In all honesty I would still use Bitco over ADSL as I won't have to deal with Telkom and their failing infrastructure. But Bitco vs FTTH there is no contest :o
 
Solitude said:
I think BitCo is getting so many new installations that they don't have to change. They offer something at a price that other WISPS can't compete with and unfortunately to do so they have their FUP.

For me there was just no real alternative and I think that's the problem that most people face. So until there's no viable alternatives then BitCo will be happy with the FUP because even with it they are growing exceptionally fast.
Click to expand...

^^ this is 100% spot on.
 
Pitbull said:
You must remember that you're comparing apples with oranges here.

I am with Bitco due to not being able to get FTTH or ADSl in my area.
So you need to compare Bitco with other WISP's not with FTTH and ADSL. It's 3 completely different things aimed at completely different clients :p In all honesty I would still use Bitco over ADSL as I won't have to deal with Telkom and their failing infrastructure. But Bitco vs FTTH there is no contest :o
Click to expand...

Its all the same,suppliers of internet access just the delivery system differs, like i said bar the hearsay and Pitbull you can't honestly tell me we are getting value for money.....................show me the value for money, where is the value.Comparing it to other ISP's with even more expensive delivery systems Bitco still doesn't show value.

The only thing i see is 10mb/s price for a 5mb/s service!
 
Solitude said:
I think BitCo is getting so many new installations that they don't have to change. They offer something at a price that other WISPS can't compete with and unfortunately to do so they have their FUP.

For me there was just no real alternative and I think that's the problem that most people face. So until there's no viable alternatives then BitCo will be happy with the FUP because even with it they are growing exceptionally fast.
Click to expand...

Granted and I agree with your statement so true, but that should then give BITCO the scope to provide choice to there existing customers and not sit back and get fat!

I have always viewed Bitco as a dynamic company however it seems the fatter they get the faster the dynamic thought is thrown out of the window.
 
disiza said:
Its all the same,suppliers of internet access just the delivery system differs, like i said bar the hearsay and Pitbull you can't honestly tell me we are getting value for money.....................show me the value for money, where is the value.Comparing it to other ISP's with even more expensive delivery systems Bitco still doesn't show value.

The only thing i see is 10mb/s price for a 5mb/s service!
Click to expand...

But if you have access to other more cheaper options why Bitco then if money is the issue?

It's about providing a service people are prepared to pay for. If you have a choice between Bitco, ADSL and FTTH yet you complain about Bitco's pricing/FUP I don't think Bitco is the issue then do you?
 
disiza said:
The only thing i see is 10mb/s price for a 5mb/s service!
Click to expand...

And a mostly 2Mbps link sold as 5Mbps at 5Mbps pricing. Bottom line is the leaky bucket algorithm doesn't seem to offer a balance between ISP and the Customer, the ISP is benefiting way more form it. I don't know but they are starting to remind me of monochoice and their monopoly, where despite the ridiculous prices for dstv they are about the only worthy operator in their field and still manage to get new installations. I sure hope Bitco reconsiders their methods of bandwidth control
 
disiza said:
The only thing i see is 10mb/s price for a 5mb/s service!
Click to expand...

Still never get throttled on 10 MB/s with Netflix/gaming/YouTube. Only with torrents/large downloads.

Value for money, no. But it's the best service for money I can get seeing as I can't get ADSL or FTTH.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X