Does faster internet = better streaming?

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Masta K

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So I currently have a 10mbps line which works perfectly for some streaming applications (such as 1080p Youtube) but really sucks for other (like eNCA & Sky News on my Roku).

My question is; will upgrading my line to VDSL have any effect on my streaming or is the problem generally from the source of the feed? Should I just accept that there are practical limits to the content I can enjoy via streaming?
 
I can't comment on VDSL, very unfamiliar with it.

But who is your ISP and what account do you have with them? Ie: A home account, or a business / premium account?
 
Your ISP makes the difference there. YouTube streams fast because it is cached locally.

For international streams, how your ISP does the routing, and how much international capacity they have makes the biggest difference.

Rather try other ISPs first. I'd suggest grabbing that free 1gig from Afrihost and test again.
 
I'm on Axxess and I actually do have a free Afrihost 1gig account which i've never tried so I'll fire that up tonight.

Thanks for the suggestion!
 
I have a 4 mbps line and in my experience different ISP's offer different results.

My previous ISP was Afrihost and the streaming was horrible, as soon as I switched over to Web Africa it was a 100 x better.
 
Chevron said:
Your ISP makes the difference there. YouTube streams fast because it is cached locally.

For international streams, how your ISP does the routing, and how much international capacity they have makes the biggest difference.

Rather try other ISPs first. I'd suggest grabbing that free 1gig from Afrihost and test again.
Click to expand...

+1 on this.

But does anyone know what protocol these streaming services use? Reason being, if it's P2P (or something like that), it could be Axxess shaping you.

I see some bloke on Roku's blog says 1.5 -> 3 megs should be enough to enjoy most content.

I'd rather drop my linespeed and get a premium / business account if shaping is the problem
 
mr_norris said:
+1 on this.

But does anyone know what protocol these streaming services use? Reason being, if it's P2P (or something like that), it could be Axxess shaping you.

I see some bloke on Roku's blog says 1.5 -> 3 megs should be enough to enjoy most content.

I'd rather drop my linespeed and get a premium / business account if shaping is the problem
Click to expand...

Its about how much they shape the line and what your contention ratio is.

I have a 8 meg line and sometimes it has issues... usually its fine though. Depends on the network congestion

I recommend that you get an account that does not have any kind of shaping.

The jury is out on uncapped. I have a high cap instead... uncapped accounts are easily throttled.
 
Nerfherder said:
Its about how much they shape the line and what your contention ratio is.

I have a 8 meg line and sometimes it has issues... usually its fine though. Depends on the network congestion

I recommend that you get an account that does not have any kind of shaping.

The jury is out on uncapped. I have a high cap instead... uncapped accounts are easily throttled.
Click to expand...

Haven't heard of Axxess/Afrihost Business uncapped?

No shaping or throttling.
 
mr_norris said:
+1 on this.

But does anyone know what protocol these streaming services use? Reason being, if it's P2P (or something like that), it could be Axxess shaping you.

I see some bloke on Roku's blog says 1.5 -> 3 megs should be enough to enjoy most content.

I'd rather drop my linespeed and get a premium / business account if shaping is the problem
Click to expand...

This is actually quite an interesting question given that I get buffering on Sky News (running at pretty decent quality) and eNCA (at very poor quality) but I can switch to Hulu+ or Netflix and immediately have HD streaming without any issues.

That would suggest to me that shaping isn't likely to be the problem unless Sky/eNCA is streaming on a different protocol to the Hulu+/Netflix as all these services would presumably be equally affected (noob assumption here). Also I'm currently not on managed status in the Axxess dashboard so I don't think I'm being shaped.

Kinda why I've been leaning towards thinking the issue is at the international link side and not between me and the ISP.
 
Masta K said:
This is actually quite an interesting question given that I get buffering on Sky News (running at pretty decent quality) and eNCA (at very poor quality) but I can switch to Hulu+ or Netflix and immediately have HD streaming without any issues.

That would suggest to me that shaping isn't likely to be the problem unless Sky/eNCA is streaming on a different protocol to the Hulu+/Netflix as all these services would presumably be equally affected (noob assumption here). Also I'm currently not on managed status in the Axxess dashboard so I don't think I'm being shaped.

Kinda why I've been leaning towards thinking the issue is at the international link side and not between me and the ISP.
Click to expand...

What are you using to bypass the IP checks? Unotelly?

Usually UK stuff streams better for us.

Are you on Axxess Business uncapped?
 
Chevron said:
Haven't heard of Axxess/Afrihost Business uncapped?

No shaping or throttling.
Click to expand...

How much is business uncapped 4 meg ?

Because I doubt they would let you go full speed 24/7.
Then cost becomes a factor... because I can get 75 gigs @ 8 meg speeds for under R1000. If they are similar prices I'd take the higher line speed.
 
Nerfherder said:
How much is business uncapped 4 meg ?

Because I doubt they would let you go full speed 24/7.
Then cost becomes a factor... because I can get 75 gigs @ 8 meg speeds for under R1000. If they are similar prices I'd take the higher line speed.
Click to expand...
4 meg business uncapped is the same price as 10meg home uncapped (i.e. R799 incl dsl rental).

My only concern is that the product is described as being "optimised for business protocols." I somehow doubt my streaming falls into that category :erm:
 
Masta K said:
4 meg business uncapped is the same price as 10meg home uncapped (i.e. R799 incl dsl rental).

My only concern is that the product is described as being "optimised for business protocols." I somehow doubt my streaming falls into that category :erm:
Click to expand...

This is the kind of thing you have to look out for. Also I have noticed that with Mweb business uncapped we get great speeds during the day but at night they give priority to the normal users.... that's actually fine for people who work 9-5.
Its not great for people who want to stream in the evening.
 
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