Cybersmart...:(

[ponder]

Just tell me this, why would you drive all the way to engen or pnp to get a voucher to topup your internet?

I visit Engen on a regular basis either for petrol or Bimbo's take-away.

As the crow flies they are both within 600m from me. Drive wise it's about 1km.

This also saves me having to give the ISP my details which they want for some odd reason when you go online.

 

[Beetman]

I'm looking at possibly getting a Cybersmart account which includes the ADSL line rental for my flat? How has Cybersmart's service been lately and hoe are people finding the Knigh rider extra?

Also looking to get a low end ADSL line and account for my folks who have finally decided to get rid of Aerosat any recomendations.

 

[kilobits]

Ok, I've been doing some tests. I took a drive to Engen and got myself a normal 3GB prepaid voucher.

I did some pings & traceroutes with my Cybersmart account and checked my Counter Strike Source latency via ping and the game gui. Then I did the same with the Axxess account.

Everything with Axxess is way faster. Cybersmart also has a lot of packet loss, experiencing between 8-27% depending on site but this is probably due to their upstream provider. My browsing experience is way better with Axxess.

As for Counter Strike Source on SGS my latency with Cybersmart was a minimum off 82ms, with Axxess it has now dropped to 57ms, thats a 25ms improvement and for gaming thats huge!

I would encourage others to do the same tests and report back here. Just test with a cheap 1GB if you don't want to take to much of a chance.

My Cybersmart days are officially over. They are the cheapest and up and till recently I have had no complaints, things however have changed. I will pay the little bit more for better connectivity. It's a shame though for this to have happened, I hope they can rectify their problems.

Hey Ponder...

I am about to go the Axxess route... however... I have just read that CyberK@K do not allow any other ISP if you subscribe to their ADSL service... they even state "We will degrade your service should we find that you are using another ISP so that we can give better service to our loyal customers".

WTF... so by even trying Axxess I will have my service tampered with by Cybersmart.

 

[kilobits]

Yup...

Their helpdek have confirmed that if you subscribe to a Cybersmart ADSL account you can ONLY use CS as an ISP. ANY other ISP violates their terms and conditions.

So, I now must cancel account and have the line terminated with CS, re-apply with Telkom for a line only and then I can go with Axxess or another. What a friggen run-around. CS do NOT do transfers of lines only. Has to be a complete cancel and reapply.

Well, at least my month's notice is being served... time to get the Telkom ball rolling.

Grrrrrrrrrr.

 

[kilobits]

I'm looking at possibly getting a Cybersmart account which includes the ADSL line rental for my flat? How has Cybersmart's service been lately and hoe are people finding the Knigh rider extra?

Also looking to get a low end ADSL line and account for my folks who have finally decided to get rid of Aerosat any recomendations.

Hi Beetman

If the Knighrider option is the reason you are looking at Cybersmart... well then perhaps you should go for it as I do no think there is another ISP out there that provides this service.

My experience has been great with them for almost the entire 2008. HOWEVER, I have had TERRIBLE issues with their service since Dec 24th. Unreliable, slooooooow, frequent disconnects and pages refuse to load with a lot of retrying. Many calls to their helpdesk and frequent resets do nothing. It has been so bad this month that I am canceling my Cybersmart account and going with a Telkom ADSL rental only and probably Axxess as the ISP.

The reason I have cancelled is their total lack of any real help. They just repeated "no problem here" over and over again... it was on the MyBB forum that I discovered others having similar issues. Only THEN did Cybersmart start saying "Telkom" issues, "Bandwidth availability" issues, etc. No help at all.

 

[StoneCold]

I'm also thinking of leaving CS, mainly because international connectivity sucks these days..seriously, doing a tracert to www.google.com results in 24 hops ! I'm at work now, but will post my results as soon as I'm back home this afternoon. One can easily see how they send the packets back and forth locally and internationally via multiple routes before it reaches its end destination. This is pathetic from my point of view, and it has been like this since december. They shouldve made some horrific changes to that VPN of theirs, because international sucks with them... and that's bottomline...CAUSE I SAID SO

 

[kilobits]

Hey All

After ANOTHER call to the helpdesk... I was told that I "might" experience problems due to an "ongoing" upgrade and that I must phone them and let them know if all the service interruptions continue past 11 February.

So, this K@K internet service will be the norm until 11 Feb. AAARRRGH. "Ongoing upgrades" is their new excuse!

 

[sand_man]

Give them a chance... If it continues to be bad, dump them but don't be too impulsive...

 

[kilobits]

Give them a chance... If it continues to be bad, dump them but don't be too impulsive...

Hey Sandmanm34

I HAVE been patient with them. I HAVE given them a chance, but have had nothing but K@K from them since Dec 24th. Story from them has been;

No problems our side
Telkom problem
Bandwidth shortage
Power failures in CT
Upgrade to more expensive SAIX account
Now its "incomplete upgrades until Feb 11th"

Really, if they cannot be upfront from the start then I have very little motivation to stay with them. I have drafted the cancellation letter and it is going off tomorrow morning.

To be threatened with a "We will degrade your service should we find that you are using another ISP" if I even think of trying Axxess really is the straw that broke this camel's back....

 

[StoneCold]

Hmmm 11 Feb you say.. I'll wait till then and see if things are better international wise with them,as I have other accounts that I use for local. If it stays the same, then I'm off to Axxess or Webafrica.

 

[mlungu1]

Putting it into perspective

A lot of frustrated cybersmart users here and understandably so. However, let's not slate Cybersmart without understanding the issues. I am a cybersmart user as well and like most people here I have been happy with their service. Currently, like most people I am frustrated with the speeds. But - for those who have generally been happy in the past with them - I prefer to give them some time to sort the issues out.

The ongoing upgrade that is being referred to is not in their hands but in Telkom's hands. And we all know Telkom don't we? It is obviously not in Telkom's interest to provide a speedy service to opposition. Cybersmart have run into bandwidth constraints and it is Telkom's job to sort that out. As I understand it the upgrade was applied for well in time but Telkom is dropping the ball. While that is frustrating for all of us, we should maybe look at it differently and support Cybersmart for what they are trying to do which is to provide cheap, quality ADSL. They cannot do completely without Telkom though and their hands are tied in that respect.

There is light at the end of the tunnel and I know it is being frantically worked on behind the scenes!

 

[ponder]

So, this K@K internet service will be the norm until 11 Feb. AAARRRGH. "Ongoing upgrades" is their new excuse!

I don't buy the 11 Feb story. Word from the horses mouth was that the current routing situation will persist until April when the Seacom cable comes online.

It would be nice if they could get their story straight and be honest, at least then we all know where we stand.

 

[kilobits]

Hi All

Then why did they not state this at the very beginning of all the issues

It is NOT just a speed issue, it is the constant reload, disconnects, page error, etc.

I tend to go with ponder on this, cutting corners now until they can get cheaper routing costs later... and if it affects you, tough, swallow another half-baked story from our helpdesk for now.

To even threat to "degrade my service" if I "try" another ISP is the migrating factor for me. Support them if you fell the need, but I will take my money elsewhere thank you!

 

[kilobits]

A lot of frustrated cybersmart users here and understandably so. However, let's not slate Cybersmart without understanding the issues. I am a cybersmart user as well and like most people here I have been happy with their service. Currently, like most people I am frustrated with the speeds. But - for those who have generally been happy in the past with them - I prefer to give them some time to sort the issues out.

The ongoing upgrade that is being referred to is not in their hands but in Telkom's hands. And we all know Telkom don't we? It is obviously not in Telkom's interest to provide a speedy service to opposition. Cybersmart have run into bandwidth constraints and it is Telkom's job to sort that out. As I understand it the upgrade was applied for well in time but Telkom is dropping the ball. While that is frustrating for all of us, we should maybe look at it differently and support Cybersmart for what they are trying to do which is to provide cheap, quality ADSL. They cannot do completely without Telkom though and their hands are tied in that respect.

There is light at the end of the tunnel and I know it is being frantically worked on behind the scenes!

And this Cybersmart told you when exactly ?

I have had nothing but "there is no problem" from the helpdesk. Only AFTER I mentioned MyBB users issues did their story begin to change from "Telkom" to "bandwidth" to "power failures" to "upgrades" to "incomplete and ongoing upgrades"... this story I received this week after more than a MONTH of issues beyond endurance. No stability. 4k speeds. Having to reload, reload, reload, reload. I used IBurst for a week - perfect, not a single issue. I am using an MWeb account now (stuff their degrade my line threat) and guess what, no issues AT ALL. If I switch to Cybersmart, the K@K starts again, I must phone again, they reset my port again after telling me their is no problem again.

Thanks, I will stick to any provider that provides a consistent and transparent service over one with flakey and unconvincing excuses anyday!

 

[LFX]

Hi All

Then why did they not state this at the very beginning of all the issues

It is NOT just a speed issue, it is the constant reload, disconnects, page error, etc.

I tend to go with ponder on this, cutting corners now until they can get cheaper routing costs later... and if it affects you, tough, swallow another half-baked story from our helpdesk for now.

To even threat to "degrade my service" if I "try" another ISP is the migrating factor for me. Support them if you fell the need, but I will take my money elsewhere thank you!

omg! you forgot to say "K@K" in this post!

 

[Blaze786]

Wont use anyone but Mweb or Web africa

 

[mlungu1]

Hi

Hi All

Then why did they not state this at the very beginning of all the issues

It is NOT just a speed issue, it is the constant reload, disconnects, page error, etc.

I don't know why they did not state that at the start and you're right they should have. They have to me but maybe I was lucky. I have not had the runaround that some people seem to have been given....

the reloads by the way are related to the same bandwidth issues and so are page errors. Disconnects I don't know about and am not experiencing those on any of our 9 accounts.

 

[sand_man]

The ongoing upgrade that is being referred to is not in their hands but in Telkom's hands. And we all know Telkom don't we? It is obviously not in Telkom's interest to provide a speedy service to opposition. Cybersmart have run into bandwidth constraints and it is Telkom's job to sort that out. As I understand it the upgrade was applied for well in time but Telkom is dropping the ball.
There is light at the end of the tunnel and I know it is being frantically worked on behind the scenes!

Agreed, I've stated this in previous posts too which is why I'm prepared to be tolerant of the issues at hand and suggest fellow Cybersmart users to do the same...

 

[kilobits]

K@K!
^
|
For Lord Fubar

I have been on an Mweb ADSL account today... beautifully reliable! Nothing to make me scream K@K 'n FAIL! Speed is OK, pages just load, downloads complete 1st time, updates just happen, mail just goes and all without a hiccup.

That OTHER account (I shall refrain from uttering its name for fear of unleashing a torrent of K@Ks) is still the same... a tad better this evening, but STILL time outs, etc.

At the risk of having my service "degraded" I am trying Axxess prepaid this weekend... it shall be an interesting experiment.

 

[ponder]

...however... I have just read that CyberK@K do not allow any other ISP if you subscribe to their ADSL service... they even state "We will degrade your service should we find that you are using another ISP so that we can give better service to our loyal customers".

I have always been aware of this clause since I signed up. At the time it did not bother me as I did not see the need to ever use a different ISP. I did not expect for the service to degrade to this level though and I needed another ISP to prove to myself (& them) that their service did in fact take a turn for the worse.

As for that clause I wonder about the legallity of it. Just because it's in a contract does not mean it will hold up in a court. Many clauses in contracts are outright illegal and have been so determined by courts. As consumers/people we have certain inherent rights guarenteed to us by the constitution & common law and they cannot be waivered by some clause in a contract.

We could test this by lodging a complaint with the competition commission for starters...