Cool Ideas Fibre ISP - Feedback

[Butterfly777]

I can't make that decision for you but you've seen wireless internet can be just as fickle as wired.

I can only tell you what I told @AfricanTech when he asked for advice about the same thing. Sadly getting internet in SA is a lottery. Based on whether your area is congested or not and since that information isn't public its really really hard to give anyone a definitive answer about whether they will get good internet or not. I'm not even sure if the companies themselves know half the time. The congestion however extends beyond just fixed providers, wireless towers too get congested.

Best I can give you is that from what I've seen almost no one from Sea Point has been complaining about Octotel.

That's good news. Thanks! We pay such high prices for internet here, one would think there would be an overviewing body that keeps tabs on this type of thing. Especially as internet is so important to our livelihoods. Just wondering out loud.

 

[image132]

I agree with what I highlighted in BOLD.

But let me remind you, I got, and still get BETTER SUPPORT and honest answers when dealing with Telkom and Vox Telecom. With CISP I have had to rely on feedback and pot in the dark answers. TelkomZA on this forum does a fantastic job of sorting things out and giving me honest answers as to what might be wrong. Hence I was so eager to get back onto ADSL. And boy, what is this FTTH CRAP... when a VDSL line synched at 20Mbit can kick this thing's butt any time of the day.
The thing is, its been over a month, and I have no clear answer as to whether Octotel are fixing this issue or not.
Nobody has come here to test this crappy line, nothing has been done, aside from being told it will be sorted "any day now (TM)".
If I did my job like this I'd be on the street but somehow Octotel has a license to be slapgat. It works both ways.

Who told you any day now? If you are still fixated on that quote that PBcool gave you. I'll ask you go back to that because if you reread it you'll see that CoCT's (city of cape town) network gave that "any day now" quote to fixing their issue to Octotel who gave it to CISP. So why aren't you raging at coct, its got nothing to do with octotel or CISP.

I've had extensive one on one conversations with Roelf about my issue who is chasing it up with the Octotel CTO. He's gone as far as shipping me a probe (completely free of charge) to install on my line so he can test it remotely. I've never had any ISP go that far before. There's literally nothing more he can do to fix my issue. Its on Octotel who are now investigating my area.

I'll remind you again that just because your Telkom line is working wonders it doesn't mean everyone's is. Case and point ME. I currently have active a telkom VDSL line and my Octotel Fiber line. NEITHER is able to stream twitch in the evenings off my pc, off my phone whatever. It just doesn't work.

 

[adamr]

hi @PBCool ... can you please check with accounts that my account will not be debited (seeing I have cancelled service with you)

I received an invoice this morning

 

[image132]

That's good news. Thanks! We pay such high prices for internet here, one would think there would be an overviewing body that keeps tabs on this type of thing. Especially as internet is so important to our livelihoods. Just wondering out loud.

Yeah I hear you. ICASA is far too busy trying to sort out their spectrum issues to worry about little things like that. What disappoints me is that the fiber network operators don't keep tighter tabs on their network. I expected it from telkom but I had hoped with all these smaller network operators it would be a chance for them to turn over a new leaf and implement higher quality control for our internet.

Anyway shout if you have any other questions. Hope everything works out for you.

 

[VegOtter]

I can't make that decision for you but you've seen wireless internet can be just as fickle as wired.

I can only tell you what I told @AfricanTech when he asked for advice about the same thing. Sadly getting internet in SA is a lottery. Based on whether your area is congested or not and since that information isn't public its really really hard to give anyone a definitive answer about whether they will get good internet or not. I'm not even sure if the companies themselves know half the time. The congestion however extends beyond just fixed providers, wireless towers too get congested.

Best I can give you is that from what I've seen almost no one from Sea Point has been complaining about Octotel.

I kind of disagree with your statement about getting internet in SA being a lottery. While the statement I'm going to make will probably result in lighting hitting me multiple times...

I think 99% of people on OpenServe do not experience any issues... Aside from the congestion in Pretoria and Cape Town recently, which I think was just aggravated by OpenServe installing a new service which should make this recurring in future even less.

Yes, I said it... OpenServe seems to have quite a decent network...

 

[image132]

I kind of disagree with your statement about getting internet in SA being a lottery. While the statement I'm going to make will probably result in lighting hitting me multiple times...

I think 99% of people on OpenServe do not experience any issues... Aside from the congestion in Pretoria and Cape Town recently, which I think was just aggravated by OpenServe installing a new service which should make this recurring in future even less.

Yes, I said it... OpenServe seems to have quite a decent network...

I completely agree.

Openserve under Sipho Maseko has improved dramatically, they changed the industry with their 8ta deals and their fiber products seem to be humming along very well. The only complaints about Openserve I've seen are usually IPC related not last mile congestion or whatever you call it. Perhaps they're being more pro-active about it this time around.

However usually congestion is a uphill battle requiring lots of time, patience and most importantly mountains of evidence. Since you're asking FNOs to spend money on simply "improving" their customers experience rather than fixing it (which they can actually be held liable for) they usually aren't too receptive to it. Which then makes it a lottery whether the area you live it has lots of people using fiber or only a few people.

I have a great example of what I'm talking about. TTconnect are considered one of the worst FNOs in SA, so bad in fact CISP refuse to sign up new clients to their network. Yet I have a friend in JHB on TTconnect who's internet is flawless. He can stream or do whatever he wants with his line at full speed at whatever time he wants to do it. The only downside he seems to experience is that once a month his line will stop functioning completely for a day. Once it comes back he's back to having top class internet. Yet you balance that out with army of negativity on mybb towards TTconnect and the only reason I can see why is because he's won the internet lottery. He says only elderly people live in his area so he suspects that almost no one uses the internet making it entirely congestion free.

Perhaps I'm overgeneralizing a bit but that's been my experience.

 

[Fjorko]

I kind of disagree with your statement about getting internet in SA being a lottery. While the statement I'm going to make will probably result in lighting hitting me multiple times...

I think 99% of people on OpenServe do not experience any issues... Aside from the congestion in Pretoria and Cape Town recently, which I think was just aggravated by OpenServe installing a new service which should make this recurring in future even less.

Yes, I said it... OpenServe seems to have quite a decent network...

Agree - they are a bit more expensive than other FLP's but ... I rarely have issues.

 

[Butterfly777]

I kind of disagree with your statement about getting internet in SA being a lottery. While the statement I'm going to make will probably result in lighting hitting me multiple times...

I think 99% of people on OpenServe do not experience any issues... Aside from the congestion in Pretoria and Cape Town recently, which I think was just aggravated by OpenServe installing a new service which should make this recurring in future even less.

Yes, I said it... OpenServe seems to have quite a decent network...

Forgive my ignorance, but as Capetonians are we able to access Openserve's services?

 

[image132]

Forgive my ignorance, but as Capetonians are we able to access Openserve's services?

Yup. Its countrywide but you'll have to check on their coverage map whether you are covered by their fiber.

http://openserve.co.za/open/fibre/

 

[ArtyLoop]

Yup. Its countrywide but you'll have to check on their coverage map whether you are covered by their fiber.

http://openserve.co.za/open/fibre/

Wwwwwwait... according to that website... I am covered for Openserve....? My street address is on their website as covered.... WTF that cannot be right. I don't see any of their boxes here.
EDIT: Tried to apply... its listed as "FUTURE FIBRE" Oh well..

 

[image132]

Wwwwwwait... according to that website... I am covered for Openserve....? My street address is on their website as covered.... WTF that cannot be right. I don't see any of their boxes here.
EDIT: Tried to apply... its listed as "FUTURE FIBRE" Oh well..

Yeah I've heard their coverage map can be a bit wonky. Try this one:

https://secure.telkom.co.za/today/ucm/

No idea which is more accurate.

 

[ArtyLoop]

Yeah I've heard their coverage map can be a bit wonky. Try this one:

https://secure.telkom.co.za/today/ucm/

No idea which is more accurate.

Easy peasy, I will just drop TelkomZA a mail and find out.

 

[Butterfly777]

I kind of disagree with your statement about getting internet in SA being a lottery. While the statement I'm going to make will probably result in lighting hitting me multiple times...

I think 99% of people on OpenServe do not experience any issues... Aside from the congestion in Pretoria and Cape Town recently, which I think was just aggravated by OpenServe installing a new service which should make this recurring in future even less.

Yes, I said it... OpenServe seems to have quite a decent network...

Forgive my ignorance, but as Capetonians are we able to access Openserve's services?

Yeah I've heard their coverage map can be a bit wonky. Try this one:

https://secure.telkom.co.za/today/ucm/

No idea which is more accurate.

Sea Point is only covered for Openserve: VDSL, LTE, LTE A, 2G, 3G. I'm sure I'll be ok with Octotel though. Artyloop, there might still be hope for the situation. I do hope that you are covered. Let us know.

 

[blacklung]

Still seeing packet loss, iperf also showing consistent +- 2% loss even going sown to 20M

 

[image132]

@TheRoDent Is there just less traffic tonight or did Octotel change something? I've got almost no packet loss now.

Connecting to host trcvmh01.cisp.co.za, port 17001
Reverse mode, remote host trcvmh01.cisp.co.za is sending
Cookie: Strix.1551380971.244188.24f1ac0f2213
[ 4] local 192.168.1.247 port 58861 connected to 154.0.15.181 port 17001
Starting Test: protocol: UDP, 1 streams, 1400 byte blocks, omitting 2 seconds, 10 second test
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 9.74 MBytes 81.6 Mbits/sec 0.064 ms 127/7423 (1.7%) (omitted)
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 9.48 MBytes 79.6 Mbits/sec 0.070 ms 35/7139 (0.49%) (omitted)
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.066 ms 0/7148 (0%)
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.086 ms 0/7142 (0%)
[ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.080 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.094 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.070 ms 3/7143 (0.042%)
[ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.102 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 6.00-7.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 79.9 Mbits/sec 0.056 ms 3/7143 (0.042%)
[ 4] 7.00-8.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.128 ms 0/7142 (0%)
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 79.9 Mbits/sec 0.079 ms 6/7142 (0.084%)
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.061 ms 0/7138 (0%)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Test Complete. Summary Results:
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 95.8 MBytes 80.3 Mbits/sec 0.072 ms 12/71438 (0.017%)
[ 4] Sent 71438 datagrams
CPU Utilization: local/receiver 17.3% (8.4%u/8.9%s), remote/sender 1.3% (0.2%u/1.1%s)

iperf Done.

Coreix:

Speeds looking a whole better. Not fantastic but its good progress.



Twitch without the proxy was struggling but was borderline watchable and WAY better than its been for months.



With the proxy its flawless.

Now is this a change from Octotel or is just less people using the internet in Claremont tonight than usual?

 

[alwaysthankful]

@TheRoDent Is there just less traffic tonight or did Octotel change something? I've got almost no packet loss now.

Connecting to host trcvmh01.cisp.co.za, port 17001
Reverse mode, remote host trcvmh01.cisp.co.za is sending
Cookie: Strix.1551380971.244188.24f1ac0f2213
[ 4] local 192.168.1.247 port 58861 connected to 154.0.15.181 port 17001
Starting Test: protocol: UDP, 1 streams, 1400 byte blocks, omitting 2 seconds, 10 second test
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 9.74 MBytes 81.6 Mbits/sec 0.064 ms 127/7423 (1.7%) (omitted)
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 9.48 MBytes 79.6 Mbits/sec 0.070 ms 35/7139 (0.49%) (omitted)
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.066 ms 0/7148 (0%)
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.086 ms 0/7142 (0%)
[ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.080 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.094 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.070 ms 3/7143 (0.042%)
[ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.102 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 6.00-7.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 79.9 Mbits/sec 0.056 ms 3/7143 (0.042%)
[ 4] 7.00-8.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.128 ms 0/7142 (0%)
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 79.9 Mbits/sec 0.079 ms 6/7142 (0.084%)
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.061 ms 0/7138 (0%)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Test Complete. Summary Results:
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 95.8 MBytes 80.3 Mbits/sec 0.072 ms 12/71438 (0.017%)
[ 4] Sent 71438 datagrams
CPU Utilization: local/receiver 17.3% (8.4%u/8.9%s), remote/sender 1.3% (0.2%u/1.1%s)

iperf Done.

Coreix:

Speeds looking a whole better. Not fantastic but its good progress.

View attachment 626136

Twitch without the proxy was struggling but was borderline watchable and WAY better than its been for months.

View attachment 626138

With the proxy its flawless.

Now is this a change from Octotel or is just less people using the internet in Claremont tonight than usual?

Lets be positive and say they fixed something.

 

[TheRoDent]

hi @PBCool ... can you please check with accounts that my account will not be debited (seeing I have cancelled service with you)

I received an invoice this morning

Hi. Unfortunately I left your PPPoE service active until the 28th and the invoice has gone into a debit batch. The refund will be processed immediately. Apologies.

 

[TheRoDent]

@TheRoDent Is there just less traffic tonight or did Octotel change something? I've got almost no packet loss now.

Connecting to host trcvmh01.cisp.co.za, port 17001
Reverse mode, remote host trcvmh01.cisp.co.za is sending
Cookie: Strix.1551380971.244188.24f1ac0f2213
[ 4] local 192.168.1.247 port 58861 connected to 154.0.15.181 port 17001
Starting Test: protocol: UDP, 1 streams, 1400 byte blocks, omitting 2 seconds, 10 second test
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 9.74 MBytes 81.6 Mbits/sec 0.064 ms 127/7423 (1.7%) (omitted)
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 9.48 MBytes 79.6 Mbits/sec 0.070 ms 35/7139 (0.49%) (omitted)
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.066 ms 0/7148 (0%)
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.086 ms 0/7142 (0%)
[ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.080 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.094 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.070 ms 3/7143 (0.042%)
[ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.102 ms 0/7143 (0%)
[ 4] 6.00-7.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 79.9 Mbits/sec 0.056 ms 3/7143 (0.042%)
[ 4] 7.00-8.00 sec 9.54 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.128 ms 0/7142 (0%)
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 79.9 Mbits/sec 0.079 ms 6/7142 (0.084%)
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 9.53 MBytes 80.0 Mbits/sec 0.061 ms 0/7138 (0%)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Test Complete. Summary Results:
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth Jitter Lost/Total Datagrams
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 95.8 MBytes 80.3 Mbits/sec 0.072 ms 12/71438 (0.017%)
[ 4] Sent 71438 datagrams
CPU Utilization: local/receiver 17.3% (8.4%u/8.9%s), remote/sender 1.3% (0.2%u/1.1%s)

iperf Done.

Coreix:

Speeds looking a whole better. Not fantastic but its good progress.

View attachment 626136

Twitch without the proxy was struggling but was borderline watchable and WAY better than its been for months.

View attachment 626138

With the proxy its flawless.

Now is this a change from Octotel or is just less people using the internet in Claremont tonight than usual?

We have not received any specific information from Octotel regarding any changes or upgrades, but those loss statistics do look pretty good compared to what you usually experience.

 

[TheRoDent]

Sea Point doesn't seem to have many issues with Octotel. Right now from what I can tell the majority of the issues stems from congestion in and around the Southern Suburbs. However this is South Africa, nothing is guaranteed so your mileage may vary. If you need 10/10 for your job I'd personally go a bit faster so you aren't maxing your line and you'd have a bit of wiggle room should you need it so 20/20 sounds fine. As for RSAweb I have no experience with them and asking in a Coolideas thread about another ISP is a bit of slap in the face

If you are referring to the court case artyloop brought up a while ago someone explained it was because Octotel trenched in a gated off area where another fiber provider had exclusive rights and they are now taking Octotel to court.

Hope you come right and everything works out for you.

I had a 100/100 fibre line on Octotel in my apartment in Seapoint and it worked very well.

 

[bakkies]

We have not received any specific information from Octotel regarding any changes or upgrades, but those loss statistics do look pretty good compared to what you usually experience.

Wow your call centre reminds me of Hellkom waiting on the line 15min already bad impression