Capped accounts on 40Mbit VDSL (Comparison)

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Thought I'd share my results for a quick "real-world" test that I did to compare throughput on different capped accounts on a 40Mbit VDSL line.

I tested the following accounts:

• WebAfrica 1GB+1GB Free account
• Vox 50GB Fatpipe
• Afrihost 50GB Capped
• Telkom Internet 5GB capped (it came free with a bundle for my parents, no idea what account it is)

I tested by doing something that a lot of people may do on a daily basis and that is download iTunes from Apple's website. I performed the tests through a linux terminal using wget to accurately time each transfer.

I have graphed the results below:

Here are traceroutes done for each connection (I have cut if off after the first time outs, all hops after there time out).

WebAfrica

traceroute to 23.42.5.249 (23.42.5.249), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  196-210-117-1.dynamic.isadsl.co.za (196.210.117.1)  7.223 ms  7.599 ms  8.177 ms
 2  vlan2473.cdsl2-ctn.isdsl.net (196.38.72.193)  12.148 ms  12.544 ms  12.543 ms
 3  196.35.115.136 (196.35.115.136)  12.537 ms  12.535 ms  12.530 ms
 4  168.209.6.12 (168.209.6.12)  12.899 ms  12.897 ms  13.286 ms
 5  168.209.100.101 (168.209.100.101)  29.337 ms  29.728 ms  29.723 ms
 6  csw4-rba-gi8-4.ip.isnet.net (196.26.0.249)  30.825 ms  25.219 ms  25.162 ms
 7  * * *

Vox

traceroute to 23.42.5.249 (23.42.5.249), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  dsl-197-245-128-1.voxdsl.co.za (197.245.128.1)  7.720 ms  8.103 ms  8.102 ms
 2  196.41.29.166 (196.41.29.166)  21.980 ms  22.447 ms  22.843 ms
 3  196.41.29.233 (196.41.29.233)  22.842 ms  23.230 ms  24.119 ms
 4  41.193.118.98 (41.193.118.98)  54.630 ms  55.073 ms  55.446 ms
 5  mi-za-umh-pe6-gi0-3-425.ip.isnet.net (196.14.217.129)  43.449 ms  44.318 ms  44.717 ms
 6  168.209.218.40 (168.209.218.40)  56.571 ms  54.290 ms  44.011 ms
 7  core2a-bry-gi1-0-0.ip.isnet.net (168.209.218.2)  40.606 ms  41.714 ms  42.109 ms
 8  168.209.100.205 (168.209.100.205)  42.112 ms  42.108 ms core2a-pkl-te1-2.isnet.net (168.209.100.241)  42.480 ms
 9  csw4-rba-gi8-4.ip.isnet.net (196.26.0.249)  42.061 ms  42.924 ms  42.053 ms
10  * * *

Afrihost

traceroute to 23.42.5.249 (23.42.5.249), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  105-236-240-129-esr-lo.mtnbusiness.co.za (105.236.240.129)  7.165 ms  7.556 ms  7.551 ms
 2  ipc-recieve-tb-1a.mtnbusiness.net (41.181.53.150)  9.576 ms  9.576 ms  9.957 ms
 3  tb-dca-2.za--qux-c.za.mtnbusiness.net (41.181.198.188)  13.576 ms  13.574 ms  13.568 ms
 4  compj-cpt-1.mtnns.net (196.44.18.2)  13.127 ms  13.525 ms unc-cpt-1.mtnns.net (196.44.18.8)  13.540 ms
 5  196.44.31.106 (196.44.31.106)  13.913 ms ct-cr-2.za--tb-cr-1.za.mtnns.net (196.44.31.134)  14.310 ms  14.313 ms
 6  196.44.0.74 (196.44.0.74)  14.697 ms nl-ha-2.za--rb-cr-1.za-a.mtnns.net (196.44.0.121)  9.705 ms 196.44.0.74 (196.44.0.74)  9.924 ms
 7  41-208-29-209.mtnns.net (41.208.29.209)  10.543 ms  10.939 ms  10.936 ms
 8  168.209.6.12 (168.209.6.12)  11.734 ms  12.135 ms 168.209.2.12 (168.209.2.12)  13.435 ms
 9  168.209.100.101 (168.209.100.101)  31.613 ms  32.018 ms  31.998 ms
10  csw4-rba-gi5-2.ip.isnet.net (168.209.1.174)  31.166 ms  31.990 ms  31.982 ms
11  * * *

Telkom

traceroute to 23.42.5.249 (23.42.5.249), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
 1  ti-224-252-01.telkomadsl.co.za (105.224.252.1)  7.317 ms  7.695 ms  7.690 ms
 2  ti-226-0-246.telkomadsl.co.za (105.226.0.246)  10.818 ms  11.214 ms  11.208 ms
 3  ti-226-0-13.telkomadsl.co.za (105.226.0.13)  11.201 ms  12.008 ms  12.002 ms
 4  wbs-ip-ll-1-wan.telkom-ipnet.co.za (165.165.221.153)  11.564 ms  11.963 ms wblv-ip-hsll-1-wan.telkom-ipnet.co.za (196.25.39.45)  12.362 ms
 5  196.43.11.218 (196.43.11.218)  12.361 ms  12.356 ms  12.731 ms
 6  196.43.25.206 (196.43.25.206)  12.699 ms  9.186 ms  9.276 ms
 7  196.25.247.26 (196.25.247.26)  10.811 ms  11.208 ms  11.851 ms
 8  168.209.6.12 (168.209.6.12)  12.329 ms  12.724 ms  13.242 ms
 9  168.209.100.101 (168.209.100.101)  35.285 ms  36.366 ms  36.364 ms
10  csw4-rba-gi8-4.ip.isnet.net (196.26.0.249)  35.937 ms csw4-rba-gi5-2.ip.isnet.net (168.209.1.174)  36.346 ms csw4-rba-gi8-4.ip.isnet.net (196.26.0.249)  36.341 ms
11  * * *

Telkom loses this race by miles, Afrihost beats it but WebAfrica is still twice as fast. Vox is pretty close to the WebAfrica account.

Would be nice if some other 40Mbit users could post their results to compare with mine.

UPDATE (11 July 2014):

I have decided to add another quick test, this time run during the day and downloading a file from a local CDN. The test file was a Nvidia driver coming in at 264MB and appears to be hosted at a MWEB data center.

Here are the results:

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Another common thing most of us do is watch YouTube videos.

Here are the YouTube Stats for nerds run for 45 seconds on the Big Buck Bunny video at 1080p (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpg9yizPP_g).

All cache in the browser was cleared before each test, if that even matters.

Webafrica:

Vox:

Afrihost:

Telkom (struggled and buffered a bit in the beginning):

 

[Johnatan56]

Bad to pick itunes. Apple has x amount of bandwith that's shared with everyone, so they only give to their users at a certain speed depending on amount of users requesting itunes.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Bad to pick itunes. Apple has x amount of bandwith that's shared with everyone, so they only give to their users at a certain speed depending on amount of users requesting itunes.

The Youtube results seem to mirror the test with iTunes (except Vox wins this one by a little).

You have a suggestion for another common download link I could use?

 

[Necuno]

Reserved

 

[cavedog]

You are just here to show your 40Mbps VDSL line off

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

You are just here to show your 40Mbps VDSL line off

Downloading 230MB in under a minute is pretty cool

May as well enjoy it while I can, looks like next month I'll have to downgrade to 20Mbit (shakes fist at Afrihost).

 

[biometrics]

Downloading 230MB in under a minute is pretty cool

May as well enjoy it while I can, looks like next month I'll have to downgrade to 20Mbit (shakes fist at Afrihost).

I've got 3 Mbps ADSL considering Telkom LTE ...

 

[Johnatan56]

The Youtube results seem to mirror the test with iTunes (except Vox wins this one by a little).

You have a suggestion for another common download link I could use?

No, but itunes is just a bad example, but I would agree with the results from what I hear of others.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

No, but itunes is just a bad example, but I would agree with the results from what I hear of others.

I'm pretty sure though if I ran the test 100 times the results would differ by very little. We're only talking about 40Mbps here not like the overseas guys with their 1Gbps connections.

 

[Johnatan56]

I'm pretty sure though if I ran the test 100 times the results would differ by very little. We're only talking about 40Mbps here not like the overseas guys with their 1Gbps connections.

No, I did this as well for my grandparents in Austria, using the cheapest 16mbps. Itunes changed its tune all the time, downloaded it again on the same ISP and had a lot longer wait. This was all in the dead hours of the morning, also did a ping test and had no congestion issues.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

No, I did this as well for my grandparents in Austria, using the cheapest 16mbps. Itunes changed its tune all the time, downloaded it again on the same ISP and had a lot longer wait. This was all in the dead hours of the morning, also did a ping test and had no congestion issues.

I will update the thread sometime and include another download source, like nVidia drivers or something.

This is also just a single test run at a specific time, I don't have the time or patience to do a full data set of results but will add more when I can.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Johnatan56]

I will update the thread sometime and include another download source, like nVidia drivers or something.

This is also just a single test run at a specific time, I don't have the time or patience to do a full data set of results but will add more when I can.

Thanks for the info.

Np, like the idea and the thought of testing it for us. Now when will telkom finally upgrade my exchange...

 

[thewusman]

Great thread. Not loving the AH "real world" results except for recently testing out XBMCtorrent, which flies on AH but not WA home pro. Some shaping with WA I assume.

 

[MrNeedforSpeed]

I am considering moving from afrihost 50+50 to web africa 60+60 and from what I see here it might not be a bad move after all...

 

[Voyager73]

Thanks just what i was looking for.
Webafrica seems to be generally better than the other IPS's at the moment.
I just don't like the fact that half your capped data has to be used at 12 am to 6 am.
Not really good for a streaming account as I'm asleep at that time.

Not really happy with Afrihost at the moment.
on 40 mb and still have buffering issues... weird.

 

[envo]

Thanks just what i was looking for.
Webafrica seems to be generally better than the other IPS's at the moment.
I just don't like the fact that half your capped data has to be used at 12 am to 6 am.
Not really good for a streaming account as I'm asleep at that time.

Not really happy with Afrihost at the moment.
on 40 mb and still have buffering issues... weird.

The thing is, you'd do very well by doing downloads during those hours and streaming whenever you want when you're awake. Web Africa is definitely an excellent choice.

It's a month to month so you can cancel before the 25th and should be golden before month-end AFAIK. You won't go back

 

[thewusman]

THINKbroadband speedtests Friday 11 July 2:30PM (single and multi thread)

My 20Mbps VDSL line (Zyxel router, excellent line stats)

WebAfrica Home capped pro


Afrihost capped


VOX fatpipe


Just signed up for a VOX 50gb account, was expecting better to be honest.

Edit: for those using unotelly, which servers are you using as primary and secondary ?

 

[thewusman]

More thoughts but without data (yet):

WebAfrica home capped pro:
+ Good for downloads and streaming video on appleTV and Samsung smarthub apps (hulu, netflix);
+ NNTP works well, full line speed;
- Torrents seem shaped during office hours quite a bit, this includes things like XBMCtorrent and Popcorn Time which use torrent protocols.


Afrihost capped:
+ Also good for downloads and streaming video on appleTV and Samsung smarthub apps (hulu, netflix), but not quite as good or as "instant";
+ solid NNTP downloads (max out line speed);
+ Torrents not shaped like WA above;
- can be a bit slow at random times (IPC capacity).

To early to say for Vox, will do more testing.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

THINKbroadband speedtests Friday 11 July 2:30PM (single and multi thread)

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Could you tag the images so that we don't have to click through to each image?