How slow it actually is

[kaspaas]

I've been capped.

Telkom states that once you are capped, your international traffic will be routed via a slower link.

How slow?

I decided to do some testing by downloading 2 ISO images for Linux versions.

I'm using lftp on a SuSE9.0 machine.

The first is Vectorlinux from ftp.ibiblio.org
(see www.vectorlinux.org).
Since 17:00 14 May 2004 till now, I've managed to download 1 454 040 bytes of about 225 MB. This download uses FTP.


The second is the System Rescue CD from http://unc.dl.sourceforge.net
(see http://www.sysresccd.org)
Since 17:30 14 May 2004 till now, I've managed to download 3 771 708 bytes of about 105MB. This download uses HTTP.

I also ran a Ping to www.google.com through the night
53193 packets sent of which 46% got lost along the way.
Times (min/avg/max in ms) 329/677/1651

It is obvious that Telkom provides just enough capped bandwidth to bluff the judges.




South Africa needs World Class Broadband at World Competitive Prices.

 

[BTTB]

The Capped Speeds are not a service at all. Don’t even try to download files like you tried; you are wasting your time. I strongly believe that Telkom has deliberately made the capped speeds unusable by excessive port shaping. Their aim is that you should go and buy more bandwidth or I like to call it "internet time". They forget that telephone lines are part of the old setup of Telkom and the costs have been recouped long ago, unlike cell phone which is newer technology. One cannot apply this type of product models on hard lines as you do on mobile systems. But however this ensures that they continue to make more money out of us while they hold the country to its monopolistic blackmail. They might be riding the crest of the wave now, but we all know that with any “wave” it has a crest and a trough. In any business ups and downs occur. They might be enjoying their position for the moment, but will eventually be knocked down from its high horse. And this user for one will leave Telkom for greener pastures, maybe not because they might at that stage offer better services or product, but on principle, because they have the impudence to rip the SA Consumers off with their pig headed ideas and sub standard products.

I for one am disappointed in the SA Consumer. They take too much for granted.


<b><hr noshade size="1"></b><font size="2"><font color="red"><b>You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can't take the Post Office out of Telkom.</b></font id="red"></font id="size2">

 

[kaspaas]

I did the experiment to prove the point:

Telkom fails to provide functional capped bandwidth. Their ads are misleading as it creates an impression of functional efficient bandwidth being provided to capped users.

Unfortunately our legal eagles will find for Telkom .... as they did when somebody submitted a complaint to the advertising standards body.



South Africa needs World Class Broadband at World Competitive Prices.

 

[ASnogarD]

I recall one of our forum members tried to complain - he said that 9 out of 10 times a connection timed out, the legal answer ? The complainant stated that 9 out of 10 time the connection timed out, so at least 1 out of 10 connections succeeded therefore there is some form of connection.

Basically saying, as long as theres technically a connection its alright, the quality and usability of the connection is of no concern.

 

[podo]

According to someone at a local ISP who helped Telkom test ADSL before the roll-out, capped users are routed through a shared 64kbps international link.

Basically, all the capped users have to share a line more or less equivalent to one single-channel ISDN line, or a fast dial-up modem.

Try to picture hundreds or even thousands of users all using your old dial-up modem, all at the same time.

Port shaping has nothing to do with the poor quality of capped connections, it's just because the line Telkom are (apparently) using to route traffic from the capped users just simply can not handle the load.

Willie Viljoen
Web Developer

Adaptive Web Development

 

[BTTB]

Thanks for clearing that up Podo.
However the service is a disgrace none the less.

<b><hr noshade size="1"></b><font size="2"><font color="red"><b>You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can't take the Post Office out of Telkom.</b></font id="red"></font id="size2">

 

[caroper]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by ASnogarD</i>
<br /> so at least 1 out of 10 connections succeeded therefore there is some form of connection.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

If I pay 1 out of 10 of my bills there is some form of payment, but Telkom will still block my service. Is that the scales of Justice[}]

Cheers
Chris

 

[Darkstar]

Spot On caroper!!!!!!!!!