Capped? Do the maths!

[donn]

Consider this:

3GB = 3 072 MB = 3 145 728 kB = 25 165 824 kb (kilobits)

1 Month = 31 days = 744 hours = 44 640 mins = 2 678 400 secs

So 25 165 824 kb/2 678 400 secs = 9.395842294 kb/sec

i.e. 9.39kbps which is roughly what I'm getting on international bandwidth right now.

So while it isn't "capped" in the strict sense of the word, it's just had all the performance "managed" right out of it!

I guess that's what they mean by "shared" bandwidth. If you get any performance better than this it's because they are letting you "steal" someone else's quota for the moment.

To put it another way:
128kb/sec = 7680 kb/min = 460 800 kb/hour = 11 059 200 kb/day
= 342 835 200 kb/month = 42 854 400 kB/month = 41 850 MB/month
= 40.86914063 GB/month

We pay for 40, we get 3.

Remember how outraged Sentech management was that "some users" were getting 40 or 60 GB /month! It was outrageous only because they were actually getting what they were paying for, rather than what they were being rationed to. (If these users ever existed and weren't just a figment of their proxy server imaginations)

The maths doesn't lie. I may have miscalculated, but I don't think so.

<hr noshade size="1">
Donn Edwards
<div align="right">Privacy SA: <b>Metropolitan Life</b> wants to sue me. [:O]</div id="right">

 

[dorris]

you get 9kbps HAHAHAHAHA
thats the only miscalculation I can see there. If it takes you on average 18 minutes to download a MB, SHAME, u are getting shafted more than most, what package r u on!

I made a similiar calculation a while back, when 128k users were told the limit of 10GB, and seemed capped at 48kbps,at 48kbps, the max download in 30 days was around 12 GB .
Since now the speeds are better on 128, all is good for me, and I'm not too annoyed anymore,
/me donns flameproof gear, and humbles himself to ask Donn a question

<font size="1">r u sure you aren't getting 9KB/s, 9kb seem impossibly slow, even for Sentech.</font id="size1">

 

[guest2013-1]

Of all theories this might be the one which ring true...



Then again, you need a beer, too much time on your hands

Hell, my gran on a scooter with a memory stick is faster than Sentech's MyWireless!

 

[nocilah]

well if you are getting 9kbs then I dont feel so bad after all... but I would um... complain...

myWireless 128, 64, 48, 16 - depends on its mood.

 

[donn]

If I listen to the BBC audio stream (it's only a 16kbps stream) for anything longer than 10 minutes it drops from 16k to 11k. Then it drops to 8.5k, if it doesn't stop altogether.

If you look at the RealPlayer Playback graph it's all over the place like a yoyo. By comparison, a 128k leased line has none of these hassles. The packets arrive in order, at the correct speed, and sustained 16k is possible. Even a 33.6k modem gives better results.

So basically the "bandwidth management" system is designed to manage the bandwidth in such a way that you can't get broadband speeds, unless it's 4am, during which time the orcs are busy working on the towers. That's why its "128k shared"+AUP.

&gt; Then again, you need a beer, too much time on your hands

Thanks for the beer. I got pissed off because all I wanted to do was listen to the news. Now after several beers I feel much better. []

"Acceptable Usage Policy" =&gt; "you pay for 40GB, but don't try to get 40GB because we won't let you have it. 3GB should be enough"

&gt; MyWireless 128, 64, 48, 16 - depends on its mood

I couln't have summarised it better myself, except maybe should read

myWireless 128: 90, 64, 48, 16 - depends on its mood

because I can't get more than 88k on the Sentech speed test, and I have yet to get more than that for more than 1 sec at a time.

"128k shared" =&gt; "less than 128k, much less"

&gt; when 128k users were told the limit of 10GB,

10GB instead of 40GB seems in line with their "target contention" ratio of 4:1. It's all starting to make sense now.

 

[aborg]

Just remember the difference between contention and sharing...one is unequal based on who is on the net at what speed the other is equal nevermind the speed etc.

 

[donn]

Well, this is neither. It's more likely
<b>managed + proxied + shared + shaped + contended + orc'd</b>
i.e. the management system decides on how much bandwidth to give you
this is shared between other users too
and when you hit the international pipe it's contended as well
and it will depend of course on what port you are using.

If the management system is overworked (are they running 386's with Linux, perhaps?) then the response times are AWFUL.

Whatever the case, it still sucks. I'm still getting better speeds from my dial-up modem. And I'm sure they don't have all this management nonsense. Alternatively their management system is sane, and not written by orcs.

 

[fairplay]

donn, you forgot <b> capped </b> in some form or other.

their management sucks. they couldnt manage to find a wall in a dark room. idiots

 

[donn]

It's *not* capped according to the FAQ:

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
5. Is my usage capped o­n my MyWireless account?
You’re throughput rate is defined by the package you purchase. Sentech does however not limit the amount of data via your connection and does not vary the quality of service according to the amount of data transferred. Thus the maximum amount of data transferable is defined by the speed of your chosen package, not a usage cap.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

But if you get too close to your maximum usage then the the AUP kicks in. Talk about a contradictory, ever-changing, business model!

It goes something like this:<ul><li>Advertise broadband
</li><li>Sell sub-broadband as broadband
</li><li>Configure it badly with open proxies and bad signal
</li><li>Try to whitewash complaints and blame users in the press
</li><li>Promise to fix it by September
</li><li>Re-Configure it badly with "bandwidth management"
</li><li>Get rid of Power Users by means of the AUP
</li><li>Wonder what went wrong
</li></ul>
It's a bit like the old Nat government: blame it on the communist instigators even when you know it's your fault.