Contention Ratio

HowTo

HowTo

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Somebody out there that knows the contention ratio.
From Telkom to ISP's. Rule of thumb.

I was given a Saix Test account. No contention from Saix side full speed all the way.:D
Gaming was a blizz. No latency issues. 220ms latency gaming wise.
So this means my line has no issues Telkom does not have any issues.

ISP's
Most of the ISP's have latency issues. You need to supply test results etc. time and time again. Nothing gets done because they know there issues. Then the blaming game starts, finger pointing exercise.

What is the ratio here and what is the ratio abroad.

Feelings?
 
Where can I get one of these "test accounts" from? :whistle:
 
@Shaun108
Was given to me for a test. I could not download the internet from this. Test only.
 
HowTo said:
Somebody out there that knows the contention ratio.
From Telkom to ISP's. Rule of thumb.

I was given a Saix Test account. No contention from Saix side full speed all the way.:D
Gaming was a blizz. No latency issues. 220ms latency gaming wise.
So this means my line has no issues Telkom does not have any issues.

ISP's
Most of the ISP's have latency issues. You need to supply test results etc. time and time again. Nothing gets done because they know there issues. Then the blaming game starts, finger pointing exercise.

What is the ratio here and what is the ratio abroad.

Feelings?
Click to expand...

All ISPs offer accounts with better contention ratios. They are just called "Business".
 
@Chevron

Ratio's that is what i'm looking for.
What i'm looking for not to fight over bandwidth.
 
http://www.mweb.co.za/helpcentre/Moreinfo/Contentionratio.aspx

This is a measurement of the number of other subscribers you are "contending" with for your share of ADSL bandwidth leading to your local exchange. For example, the contention ratio as published by Telkom is 20:1, this means that you would share your bandwidth with no more than 20 subscribers on the Telkom Network.
Click to expand...
 
I remember seeing a table with actual numbers from one of the ISP's. Seems it was Cybersmart:

Home Uncapped: Between 15:1 and 20:1
Business Uncapped and Home Capped: 5:1 and 10:1

So like Chevron said, Business accounts perform the same as normal capped accounts usually (might have different priorities at different times).
 
Ok I here what you say.

2mbps ratio?
4mbps ratio?
10mbps ratio?
20mbps ratio?
40mbps ratio?
100mbps ratio?

The above can't be all on 20:1 ratio. Telkom
Do we have enough bandwidth available in this country?
Available but can demand outperform this?

Anyhow what is the contention ratio for ISP's then.
Is it getting bleaker?
Who feeds us peanuts and they think we all are monkeys.
 
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HowTo said:
Ok I here what you say.

2mbps ratio?
4mbps ratio?
10mbps ratio?
20mbps ratio?
40mbps ratio?
100mbps ratio?

The above can't be all on 20:1 ratio.
Do we have enough bandwidth available in this country?
Available but can demand outperform this?

Anyhow what is the contention ratio for ISP's then.
Is it getting bleaker?
Who feeds us peanuts and they think we all are monkeys.
Click to expand...

The problem is people want cheap internet. So to do that the ISPs sacrifice contention.

Just compare the pricing here for example:
http://www.webafrica.co.za/home/adsl/

http://www.webafrica.co.za/business/adsl/business-adsl/pro/

That's 150% increase in price.

So you can choose. Cheap data or good data. You can't have both.
 
I don't think the ratio is dependent on speed. The ISP's buy a certain amount of throughput, there is no contention on this. But they have to oversell this capacity to keep cost down. The amount of overselling determines the quality of this data.

You can get a 1:1 ADSL line if you want, but it will probably set you back in the tens of thousands of Rand a month. There have been articles before showing what a true connection costs (something like R13 000 per Mbps IIRC, it's a lot).

But to answer your question, the demand will always be bigger than supply. ISP's bargain on everybody not trying to use the internet at the same time. 10 home users might use the capacity of one business, and because they operate at mainly different times it is usually not a problem. Typical home users only use internet after work in the evenings, so their capacity can be shared with businesses during the day. The problems come in if there are too many users at the same time, then you get exchange congestion and shaping (even on capped accounts).

Follow Chevron's advice, and pay for what you want. Don't go for the cheapest if you want the best.
 
@chevron

Did not ask for ISP info.
Ratio what I want. Not who gives me the best bang for my bucks.
Who treads my money fairly or respect.
I have a WebAfrica home capped account. I still get latency spikes in gaming situations.
When I spoke to them they blamed Telkom.
Now i'm telling you with the SAIX test account no line problems. Pure internet joy.
No gaming latency issues.
 
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@furpile

I don't think the ratio is dependent on speed. The ISP's buy a certain amount of throughput, there is no contention on this. But they have to oversell this capacity to keep cost down. The amount of overselling determines the quality of this data.
Click to expand...
Is this applicable only here in SA. What are the world trends in this regard. No honest dealings?

But to answer your question, the demand will always be bigger than supply. ISP's bargain on everybody not trying to use the internet at the same time. 10 home users might use the capacity of one business, and because they operate at mainly different times it is usually not a problem. Typical home users only use internet after work in the evenings, so their capacity can be shared with businesses during the day. The problems come in if there are too many users at the same time, then you get exchange congestion and shaping (even on capped accounts).
Click to expand...
Now it depends were they slot you in. If you get 10 hungry data users at the end you will suffer?
 
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HowTo said:
@furpile

Is this applicable only here in SA. What are the world trends in this regard. No honest dealings?

Now it depends were they slot you in. If you get 10 hungry data users at the end you will suffer?
Click to expand...

I think I understand your problem a bit better now. You could simply be in an area with an old exchange, or too many users causing exchange congestion, or your ISP's network is overloaded in your area. Your only real option is to try different ISP's (most have free accounts to test with) and see if any of them perform better. Stick with a capped account / business if you have to.

I think this is a global problem, although it might be a bit worse in SA due to infrastructure shortages. It will get better once fiber deployment really kicks off.

If you phone some ISP's they might be able to give more details on the contention ratio's they use for their accounts.
 
HowTo said:
@Chevron

Ratio's that is what i'm looking for.
What i'm looking for not to fight over bandwidth.
Click to expand...

So what you want is a 1:1 contention ratio. I hope you are a billionaire coz that won't come cheap.
 
HowTo said:
@furpile

Is this applicable only here in SA. What are the world trends in this regard. No honest dealings?

Now it depends were they slot you in. If you get 10 hungry data users at the end you will suffer?
Click to expand...

ISPs all over the world use a contention ratio.

Just look how many times the phrase "Contention Ratio" comes up on this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_the_United_Kingdom

If you want 1:1 then you're just being unreasonable.

Home accounts are usually 50:1 or 20:1

Business accounts get better at 10:1, 5:1 or even 3:1.

Here's a south african ISP that lists the contention ratios for their different accounts:
https://cybersmartisp.wordpress.com/tag/contention-ratio/

If you want 1:1 here's where you can see pricing:

http://www.imagine.co.za/business/leased-lines.html

Yes that's R5700 a month for 256k access.
 
@Chevron

If you want 1:1 then you're just being unreasonable.
Click to expand...
Not what I ask.
I'm a type of person that say's once bitten twice shy.
I want 100gig of capped data. I don't want to fight over bandwidth. If I want to download I want to download. Don't want to wait 2hrs for download to complete when it should take 15min to complete.
Any how we mostly get internet access after work. When you on holiday once in a blue moon I don't want to be handy capped all day. Then have to wait till night time to get my fair share of bandwidth.
 
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@furpile

I think I understand your problem a bit better now. You could simply be in an area with an old exchange, or too many users causing exchange congestion, or your ISP's network is overloaded in your area. Your only real option is to try different ISP's (most have free accounts to test with) and see if any of them perform better. Stick with a capped account / business if you have to.
Click to expand...
Exchange is no issue. Saw that with the SAIX account. It boils down to ISP's. I want to see what I get for my bug. I always shy away from these cheap accounts.
Currently with WebAfrica, TI and CW. They all have problems.
Before:
TI old 20gig account before SoftCapped
Mweb premium uncapped
Openweb capped and Uncapped
Axxess Business and capped
Afrihost Business
WebAfrica home capped
CW capped
TI 10 GB SoftCapped
 
HowTo said:
@furpile


Exchange is no issue. Saw that with the SAIX account. It boils down to ISP's. I want to see what I get for my bug. I always shy away from these cheap accounts.
Currently with WebAfrica, TI and CW. They all have problems.
Before:
TI old 20gig account before SoftCapped
Mweb premium uncapped
Openweb capped and Uncapped
Axxess Business and capped
Afrihost Business
WebAfrica home capped
CW capped
TI 10 GB SoftCapped
Click to expand...

Then try the Vox fatpipe account. Its supposed to be really good.
 
HowTo said:
@furpile


Exchange is no issue. Saw that with the SAIX account. It boils down to ISP's. I want to see what I get for my bug. I always shy away from these cheap accounts.
Currently with WebAfrica, TI and CW. They all have problems.
Before:
TI old 20gig account before SoftCapped
Mweb premium uncapped
Openweb capped and Uncapped
Axxess Business and capped
Afrihost Business
WebAfrica home capped
CW capped
TI 10 GB SoftCapped
Click to expand...

Try Plugg.
 
HowTo said:
@furpile


Exchange is no issue. Saw that with the SAIX account. It boils down to ISP's. I want to see what I get for my bug. I always shy away from these cheap accounts.
Currently with WebAfrica, TI and CW. They all have problems.
Before:
TI old 20gig account before SoftCapped
Mweb premium uncapped
Openweb capped and Uncapped
Axxess Business and capped
Afrihost Business
WebAfrica home capped
CW capped
TI 10 GB SoftCapped
Click to expand...

Well there's your mistake there. You are buying the writing account. Don't blame the ISP.

Web Africa has Business Capped accounts if you want to download during the day. If you bought a home capped account that's your own fault.
 
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