Crystal Web (NEW ISP) ADSL Feedback

[Sinbad]

Snipers.

 

[MaximusZA]

Signed up for temp fix because of gaming. Otherwise, account makes me happy.

Yup i agree with Sinbad the only reason i signed up for the temp is for gaming. other than that i am very happy with Crystal web the service has been amazing and they seem to be doing everything in their power to keep their customers happy!

 

[Electric]

Snipers.

Yep, they'll do that lol.

 

[Soulcode]

I signed up for the temp solution as well because I do game a lot. I'm sorry if it costs Crystal Web extra, but I do appreciate it that there is at least one South African company that is prepared to take it in the butt to help their customers

 

[Aluroth]

Yup i agree with Sinbad the only reason i signed up for the temp is for gaming. other than that i am very happy with Crystal web the service has been amazing and they seem to be doing everything in their power to keep their customers happy!

Did I miss something? How do you signup for a temp account?

 

[Electric]

Did I miss something? How do you signup for a temp account?

Check your e-mails.

 

[MaximusZA]

Did I miss something? How do you signup for a temp account?

Septhiroth its to get around the current issue with the international connection. if you have a crystal web account you need to log a call via email to be included in the temporary solution they are rolling out.

 

[Aluroth]

Check your e-mails.

My bad. Didn't read the email properly. Thought they were still testing it for 48 hours before they start rolling the temporary solution out.

 

[Hectic]

It is not only gaming (PS3/PS4) for me?
Http downloads are very erratic, but tend to be in the region of 130kB/s - 280kB/s on my 4Mbps line.
It does at times run at the 370 - 432kB/s level, but mostly not.
Speedtests mostly end up in the 0.63 - 1.7Mbps region.
This is only on international.

Local seems to run very well, so I assume it forms part of the international link problem?

 

[zolly]

My bad. Didn't read the email properly. Thought they were still testing it for 48 hours before they start rolling the temporary solution out.

This is what I thought was going on:

1) CW have acknowledged there are issues
2) They are testing a new solution over the next 48 hours which will be applied if all goes well
3) If you don't want to wait, you can get a temp account that uses the IS network

Those of you who have the temp IS accounts, can you let us know what gaming/youtube/twitch is like? Also, I'm guessing IS accounts use the star system?

 

[ShoalDiverSA]

This is what I thought was going on:

1) CW have acknowledged there are issues
2) They are testing a new solution over the next 48 hours which will be applied if all goes well
3) If you don't want to wait, you can get a temp account that uses the IS network

Those of you who have the temp IS accounts, can you let us know what gaming/youtube/twitch is like? Also, I'm guessing IS accounts use the star system?

I'm thinking you're thinking wrong.

... last month we offered all affected users a free move to a new account on the Internet Solutions backbone to ensure that they weren't adversely affected by this, and while this is still an option we may introduce, we do believe that we have a better solution for those affected customers.

Tonight we will be testing this solution with a few customers who have volunteered as trial participants, and should it prove successful we will be migrating all affected customers over to this new system over the next 48 hours. We stagger this process to ensure that there is no constraint on the network during this time.

So, the IS backbone solution is the next step after this temporary solution, in the event that the temp. solution doesn't work as desired. The temp. IS accounts expired at the end of last month, so all of us should be on CW at the moment. The migration process, if you request to be included in the temp. solution will take place over the next 48 hours.

The permanent solution is being worked on at present, and will be applied ASAP.

 

[stefan9]

Signed up for temp fix because of gaming. Otherwise, account makes me happy.

Same. Still waiting for the temp account thought but have send a mail to support.

 

[saa044]

Are you high?


lol

Haha if it were only so easy.

 

[Crystal Web]

This is what I thought was going on:

1) CW have acknowledged there are issues
2) They are testing a new solution over the next 48 hours which will be applied if all goes well
3) If you don't want to wait, you can get a temp account that uses the IS network

Apologies for any confusion caused. The last part isn't correct - basically we're going to be migrating all customers to a new service which should sort the problems out. If they don't and we see that this is the case, we will instead migrate customers over temporarily to the IS backbone thereafter.

Essentially we're looking at putting customers on to the new bandwidth now without any shaping other than p2p and nntp during the day - the way it was meant to be! Because the fix hasn't rolled on to the "main" network (it's incredibly complex), this would mean running these accounts almost separately from others on the network for now, giving you superb performance. That's what we're testing - an isolated pool of bandwidth just for you guys. If this is not operating as expected, rather than fiddle and faff and complicate matters for our customers, we'll just switch you guys over to the IS backbone instead. but this requires proper testing to be sure, which is what we're doing, and whichever "fix" we adopt will start to roll out over the next 36 hours. We just need a little time to make sure that whichever route we adopt is the best for everyone.

I hope this helps to clarify things.

 

[OMB]

Apologies for any confusion caused. The last part isn't correct - basically we're going to be migrating all customers to a new service which should sort the problems out. If they don't and we see that this is the case, we will instead migrate customers over temporarily to the IS backbone thereafter.

Essentially we're looking at putting customers on to the new bandwidth now without any shaping other than p2p and nntp during the day - the way it was meant to be! Because the fix hasn't rolled on to the "main" network (it's incredibly complex), this would mean running these accounts almost separately from others on the network for now, giving you superb performance. That's what we're testing - an isolated pool of bandwidth just for you guys. If this is not operating as expected, rather than fiddle and faff and complicate matters for our customers, we'll just switch you guys over to the IS backbone instead. but this requires proper testing to be sure, which is what we're doing, and whichever "fix" we adopt will start to roll out over the next 36 hours. We just need a little time to make sure that whichever route we adopt is the best for everyone.

I hope this helps to clarify things.

cool, the sooner the better for me, downloading a 2MB file from an international site really shouldn't be taking me 5 minutes

 

[savage]

Without wanting to sound pessimistic, but... Yet again, just another band aid on top of another band aid? It's been asked many times before and I'll ask it again. When are we going to stop seeing band aids being applied? Personally, I'm not interested in band aids - it's a short term fix that causes pains for both you as a ISP, as well as me as a end user due to the constant changes that needs to happen the whole time.

I just get the feeling that there's cowboys at work here doing whatever they want when they want, and poor CW sits with the brown stuff putting out the fires. Things like massive international bandwidth upgrades are not small items that gets done quickly. These things are planned, properly, to the hair. Yes, it does not always go to plan, yes, there can be delays, but the fact that theres NO information forthcoming on exactly what is going on, or when it will be fixed can only lead me to believe that either CW does not know, or CW does not want to disclose it (or commit to dates) due to a lack of planning.

Now this is nothing against CW at all, but if this is how upgrades and network maintenance are done, that is, with zero planning, and just "taking things as they come," then I'm not sure I want to be using CW as a ISP, because it spells absolute disaster in the longer term when it comes to maintenance, fault resolution, and general day to day operations. What happens when you have 10K customers and the cowboys decide to unplug some cables affecting 95% of your userbase? Do you just apply a band aid again and migrate all your customers to some other magical, mythical network?

Surely, there are scheduled times when network maintenance is done, there are a certain degree of planning into what that maintenance will entail, there is a start date, and a stop date, and most importantly, there is SLA's in place, yes? This is afterall a production network, not only used by CW, but used by Cybersmart as well. Yet, the work done, the performance of it... It's like a yo-yo...

Just my 2c. Use it, don't use it.

 

[Electric]

Without wanting to sound pessimistic, but... Yet again, just another band aid on top of another band aid? It's been asked many times before and I'll ask it again. When are we going to stop seeing band aids being applied? Personally, I'm not interested in band aids - it's a short term fix that causes pains for both you as a ISP, as well as me as a end user due to the constant changes that needs to happen the whole time.

I just get the feeling that there's cowboys at work here doing whatever they want when they want, and poor CW sits with the brown stuff putting out the fires. Things like massive international bandwidth upgrades are not small items that gets done quickly. These things are planned, properly, to the hair. Yes, it does not always go to plan, yes, there can be delays, but the fact that theres NO information forthcoming on exactly what is going on, or when it will be fixed can only lead me to believe that either CW does not know, or CW does not want to disclose it (or commit to dates) due to a lack of planning.

Now this is nothing against CW at all, but if this is how upgrades and network maintenance are done, that is, with zero planning, and just "taking things as they come," then I'm not sure I want to be using CW as a ISP, because it spells absolute disaster in the longer term when it comes to maintenance, fault resolution, and general day to day operations. What happens when you have 10K customers and the cowboys decide to unplug some cables affecting 95% of your userbase? Do you just apply a band aid again and migrate all your customers to some other magical, mythical network?

Surely, there are scheduled times when network maintenance is done, there are a certain degree of planning into what that maintenance will entail, there is a start date, and a stop date, and most importantly, there is SLA's in place, yes? This is afterall a production network, not only used by CW, but used by Cybersmart as well. Yet, the work done, the performance of it... It's like a yo-yo...

Just my 2c. Use it, don't use it.

The same applies for the CW account usage really.
Use it, don't use it.... it's your choice.

 

[saa044]

The same applies for the CW account usage really.
Use it, don't use it.... it's your choice.

I don't think savage was trying to be a ass. Although it is out of CW's control that they could not launch July 1st and the piece of hardware that must fix the international was not implemented last week as we all hoped, he is just trying to say in my opinion that he wants a working account and does not want to change to temporary accounts / fixes every month to have a 100% service. It is his and anyone's right to voice their opinion in this manner if they pay for a service, albeit having launched already or not having officially launched yet. Just how I see his post and not my opinion.

 

[savage]

I don't think savage was trying to be a ass. Although it is out of CW's control that they could not launch July 1st and the piece of hardware that must fix the international was not implemented last week as we all hoped, he is just trying to say in my opinion that he wants a working account and does not want to change to temporary accounts / fixes every month to have a 100% service. It is his and anyone's right to voice their opinion in this manner if they pay for a service, albeit having launched already or not having officially launched yet. Just how I see his post and not my opinion.

It's more to do with HOW things are being done, rather than WHAT is being done really. A band aid is a band aid and will always remain a band aid.

But yes, I've learned to not bother with snotty remarks and to take things with a pinch of salt. DJ and co will most certainly read and understand properly what I am implying in my post (which took the better part of 30 minutes before being posted too - I might add).

 

[Crystal Web]

Without wanting to sound pessimistic, but... Yet again, just another band aid on top of another band aid? It's been asked many times before and I'll ask it again. When are we going to stop seeing band aids being applied? Personally, I'm not interested in band aids - it's a short term fix that causes pains for both you as a ISP, as well as me as a end user due to the constant changes that needs to happen the whole time.

I just get the feeling that there's cowboys at work here doing whatever they want when they want, and poor CW sits with the brown stuff putting out the fires. Things like massive international bandwidth upgrades are not small items that gets done quickly. These things are planned, properly, to the hair. Yes, it does not always go to plan, yes, there can be delays, but the fact that theres NO information forthcoming on exactly what is going on, or when it will be fixed can only lead me to believe that either CW does not know, or CW does not want to disclose it (or commit to dates) due to a lack of planning.

Now this is nothing against CW at all, but if this is how upgrades and network maintenance are done, that is, with zero planning, and just "taking things as they come," then I'm not sure I want to be using CW as a ISP, because it spells absolute disaster in the longer term when it comes to maintenance, fault resolution, and general day to day operations. What happens when you have 10K customers and the cowboys decide to unplug some cables affecting 95% of your userbase? Do you just apply a band aid again and migrate all your customers to some other magical, mythical network?

Surely, there are scheduled times when network maintenance is done, there are a certain degree of planning into what that maintenance will entail, there is a start date, and a stop date, and most importantly, there is SLA's in place, yes? This is afterall a production network, not only used by CW, but used by Cybersmart as well. Yet, the work done, the performance of it... It's like a yo-yo...

Just my 2c. Use it, don't use it.

I appreciate the feedback.

From our perspective the following is happening:

There is an international issue and we're reliant on other partners to resolve it on time. This is being delayed for reasons that if we disclosed would breach every commercial agreement in place. We are in no position to disclose this sort of information. If we could, we would.
Rather than move customers over to an IS account we've come up with a plan to change routing for our customers which would in fact be a permanent solution at the same time. This means no more hassles moving forward.
This agreement was finalised shortly before we sent out our email.
This requires us to test as it needs to be up to scratch on all fronts and operate in the manner agreed.

I honestly don't see this as a band-aid treatment.

I have reached out privately to you, as I have identified the issue with your account and it can be resolved very quickly and easily for you. The vast majority of the issues on your account are not related to the international issue.

I appreciate the feedback though, and will take it on board.