Looking for a 4mb home Uncapped option

[MrElementary]

Right so... here goes my 10cents.

Firstly, my brother and I(You'll note I refer to both of us together a lot since this ADSL will pretty much be for the two of us together for the duration of use) never actually owned an ADSL connection in any way shape or form so please bear with me if I seem a tad uninformed or perhaps in a "potato bracket" if you will, regarding the knowledge base I have about ADSL.

I've been looking at the different company packages regarding 4mb uncapped home packages, since business uncapped is a tad above our price bracket and 2mb really isn't enough.

So then, some info regarding my(our) situation past and present:

1. My brother and I are both students studying full time for another year at the most and invariably spend a lot of time still at home during the week therefore will most definitely be using whatever service we go for, during both day and night hours.

2. The use of our ADSL will generally be online gaming and plenty of streaming. Thing is, we basically GAME OUT about 20GB a month each. That's not making use of any downloading, hardly any streaming at 240p and virtually nothing else.

3. Taking the above into account, what we really would like is to be able to game and stream and occasionally download whatever we want at whatever time at the best available speed. Like I've said, we're at home and making use of what we'll be getting at all hours of the day.

Since we've never actually had the luxury of uncapped I honestly cannot tell you what our general vicinity of use will be, hence why we want to get an uncapped account. So that on worst case scenarios if we sit and stream twitch at 720p(sometimes at the same time) on two pc's for 4-6 hours a day for say a week(That's exactly what we did during The International 4) we won't get limited and told we have no more cap. Also, the prices for capped accounts in the usage range we estimate we'll have is virtually a stone throw from an uncapped account so I don't see why I would consider a capped account over uncapped especially since shaping doesn't much apply to us.

Giving a price range is hard since we've made no official commitment to this and this post is the first step in the direction of getting ADSL. But we currently pay 400/month for the two 10GB 8ta contracts which will be expiring soon. On top of that we can probably add another 200 or so. So for the purposes of this post, let's go with a price limit of R600 for the combination of a 4MB ADSL line and the Internet Package.


I have spent about 2-4 hours every night on this exact forum for 2 days now, reading through posts from both users and Company Reps, some users complain heavily without stating much facts. Others state facts and even printed screen pictures of said issues that they have. Hardcore stuff mind you, not that I would be able to comment on any of it.

So with literally no history of bad blood from any ISP I would really like to have some directions pointed out to me as to what ISP should and should not be considered. Please, if you want to give me advice on a specific ISP, back your info up with facts. I sincerely dislike commentary being thrown around without giving a reason for said commentary. I'm just going to ignore what you said;

Going through each of the big ISP's here is what I've found;

I'm not blissfully ignorant to the fact that no ISP is perfect. I'm just looking for the best option.

OPENweb - Definite no.

Telkom - Not exactly the people's choice.

Afrihost - I did consider them greatly at first, but then found this forum and started reading about some serious shaping during the general usage hours of 07:30-22:00. Which yes, applies to downloads on P2P and HTTP, not to gaming. But I've read quite a couple of posts on the Afrihost Feedback pt.3 thread of uncapped users getting shaped and limited when making use of streaming such as Youtube and Twitch, and like I said this is the brunt of what we will be using our ADSL for. So then I got turned off and decided rather not.

I realise though that there is no throttling from Afrihost so if the two of us together stream 200GB a month we're able to do that every month with no repercussions. But simply put if I cannot watch twitch at 720p during the day on two pc's for more than 3 hours everyday on a 4mb home uncapped, I'm not interested in the product.

Webafrica - Still a complaint about uncapped products here and there but again, most complaints are directed to not being able to download. Also MUCH LESS complaints than other long existing ISP's. Really favouring giving their 4mb Home uncapped option a go. The 4MB business uncapped is simply not an option considering the price.

CrystalWeb - New company, got nothing on them. Don't know their prices, throttling ranges, shaping policies... Nada. Really reading some seriously favourable reviews on this forum though. I guess when it all comes down to brass tax I'll communicate with them personally on the website(I see there is a live chat) and get some information from them directly before making a final choice.

Mweb - The throttling on their home uncapped 4mb is 110GB. Definitely too low. I'm almost 100% certain with two active users even without downloads we will go over that in a 30-day rolling window period.

Throttling on the 4mb Premium uncapped is 400GB which is definitely a ceiling I can picture us staying below. I just can't speak for their services, down-time, shaping etc. The forum posts I've read seems fairly straight forward though from what big dad is saying; Stay below 400GB and we won't have an issue.

Axxexx - Too many negative commentary on customer services and issues in dealing with Telkom if I get my line from them as well. Seems people are quite adamant on stating how little this company owned by AH does right for you if I let them deal with Telkom.


Feel free to add your own opinions and facts, anything I might be remiss in seeing. Constructive or otherwise.


So to summarize all my incoherent blathering, this is what we would like;

- 4mb uncapped home
- Expected usage is around 200Gb - 250Gb p/m (Rough guess here)
- Unshaped or semi-shaped is fine.
- No throttling(at least not within our range of use)
- No contracts (just month-to-month)
- Streaming Twitch or watching Youtube/Netflix/etc at full speed any time of day and night.
- Gaming also prioritized alongside streaming.
- Our budget is around R600-650 p/m (Incl. line rental)


Thanks in advance. I'll check in regularly to respond on comments with some more questions I might have.

 

[Chevron]

I'd suggest MWEB Premium.

 

[Former member 61586]

The fact that you want to do these things during the day, would strongly suggest you need a business account. 2MB on business is better than 4MB on home in my opinion.

 

[MrElementary]

The fact that you want to do these things during the day, would strongly suggest you need a business account. 2MB on business is better than 4MB on home in my opinion.

The business end of a 2MB will give me more control of the reigns with a less strict throttling policy. But a 2mb will essentially mean that each of us will get a 1mb share to use. Correct me if I'm wrong, but for the purposes that we want the line for, it won't be enough. Will a 2mb run two streams flawlessly? Game online flawlessly? If one is playing online, another watching youtube/twitch, will the 2mb not affect one another?

 

[MWEBHelp]

Right so... here goes my 10cents.

Firstly, my brother and I(You'll note I refer to both of us together a lot since this ADSL will pretty much be for the two of us together for the duration of use) never actually owned an ADSL connection in any way shape or form so please bear with me if I seem a tad uninformed or perhaps in a "potato bracket" if you will, regarding the knowledge base I have about ADSL.

I've been looking at the different company packages regarding 4mb uncapped home packages, since business uncapped is a tad above our price bracket and 2mb really isn't enough.

So then, some info regarding my(our) situation past and present:

1. My brother and I are both students studying full time for another year at the most and invariably spend a lot of time still at home during the week therefore will most definitely be using whatever service we go for, during both day and night hours.

2. The use of our ADSL will generally be online gaming and plenty of streaming. Thing is, we basically GAME OUT about 20GB a month each. That's not making use of any downloading, hardly any streaming at 240p and virtually nothing else.

3. Taking the above into account, what we really would like is to be able to game and stream and occasionally download whatever we want at whatever time at the best available speed. Like I've said, we're at home and making use of what we'll be getting at all hours of the day.

Since we've never actually had the luxury of uncapped I honestly cannot tell you what our general vicinity of use will be, hence why we want to get an uncapped account. So that on worst case scenarios if we sit and stream twitch at 720p(sometimes at the same time) on two pc's for 4-6 hours a day for say a week(That's exactly what we did during The International 4) we won't get limited and told we have no more cap. Also, the prices for capped accounts in the usage range we estimate we'll have is virtually a stone throw from an uncapped account so I don't see why I would consider a capped account over uncapped especially since shaping doesn't much apply to us.

Giving a price range is hard since we've made no official commitment to this and this post is the first step in the direction of getting ADSL. But we currently pay 400/month for the two 10GB 8ta contracts which will be expiring soon. On top of that we can probably add another 200 or so. So for the purposes of this post, let's go with a price limit of R600 for the combination of a 4MB ADSL line and the Internet Package.


I have spent about 2-4 hours every night on this exact forum for 2 days now, reading through posts from both users and Company Reps, some users complain heavily without stating much facts. Others state facts and even printed screen pictures of said issues that they have. Hardcore stuff mind you, not that I would be able to comment on any of it.

So with literally no history of bad blood from any ISP I would really like to have some directions pointed out to me as to what ISP should and should not be considered. Please, if you want to give me advice on a specific ISP, back your info up with facts. I sincerely dislike commentary being thrown around without giving a reason for said commentary. I'm just going to ignore what you said;

Going through each of the big ISP's here is what I've found;

I'm not blissfully ignorant to the fact that no ISP is perfect. I'm just looking for the best option.

OPENweb - Definite no.

Telkom - Not exactly the people's choice.

Afrihost - I did consider them greatly at first, but then found this forum and started reading about some serious shaping during the general usage hours of 07:30-22:00. Which yes, applies to downloads on P2P and HTTP, not to gaming. But I've read quite a couple of posts on the Afrihost Feedback pt.3 thread of uncapped users getting shaped and limited when making use of streaming such as Youtube and Twitch, and like I said this is the brunt of what we will be using our ADSL for. So then I got turned off and decided rather not.

I realise though that there is no throttling from Afrihost so if the two of us together stream 200GB a month we're able to do that every month with no repercussions. But simply put if I cannot watch twitch at 720p during the day on two pc's for more than 3 hours everyday on a 4mb home uncapped, I'm not interested in the product.

Webafrica - Still a complaint about uncapped products here and there but again, most complaints are directed to not being able to download. Also MUCH LESS complaints than other long existing ISP's. Really favouring giving their 4mb Home uncapped option a go. The 4MB business uncapped is simply not an option considering the price.

CrystalWeb - New company, got nothing on them. Don't know their prices, throttling ranges, shaping policies... Nada. Really reading some seriously favourable reviews on this forum though. I guess when it all comes down to brass tax I'll communicate with them personally on the website(I see there is a live chat) and get some information from them directly before making a final choice.

Mweb - The throttling on their home uncapped 4mb is 110GB. Definitely too low. I'm almost 100% certain with two active users even without downloads we will go over that in a 30-day rolling window period.

Throttling on the 4mb Premium uncapped is 400GB which is definitely a ceiling I can picture us staying below. I just can't speak for their services, down-time, shaping etc. The forum posts I've read seems fairly straight forward though from what big dad is saying; Stay below 400GB and we won't have an issue.

Axxexx - Too many negative commentary on customer services and issues in dealing with Telkom if I get my line from them as well. Seems people are quite adamant on stating how little this company owned by AH does right for you if I let them deal with Telkom.


Feel free to add your own opinions and facts, anything I might be remiss in seeing. Constructive or otherwise.


So to summarize all my incoherent blathering, this is what we would like;

- 4mb uncapped home
- Expected usage is around 200Gb - 250Gb p/m (Rough guess here)
- Unshaped or semi-shaped is fine.
- No throttling(at least not within our range of use)
- No contracts (just month-to-month)
- Streaming Twitch or watching Youtube/Netflix/etc at full speed any time of day and night.
- Gaming also prioritized alongside streaming.
- Our budget is around R600-650 p/m (Incl. line rental)


Thanks in advance. I'll check in regularly to respond on comments with some more questions I might have.

Hi MrElementary

What I will say is give our Network a test run and see if it meets your needs.

Drop me a PM with your contact details and I'll arrange a 7 day trial account

 

[ryu]

for 200gb to 250gb i'd say go capped. i think its around R399 for 200+ 200GB from afrihost (i'm cant remember now and that site is blocked here at work).

webafrica have been good to me lately so also check them out (capped) not too sure of the prices (havent really looked)

 

[XperiAnce]

Review your usage and find a Capped Package that suits your needs. It's just easier.

I was with an Afrihost 150GB Package but switched to a WebAfrica 60GB + 60GB package as my 150 Afrihost GB's were useless for anything real-time (Streaming).

 

[MrElementary]

for 200gb to 250gb i'd say go capped. i think its around R399 for 200+ 200GB from afrihost (i'm cant remember now and that site is blocked here at work).

webafrica have been good to me lately so also check them out (capped) not too sure of the prices (havent really looked)

Thing about these packages are the fact that the Double value expires on the 30th of September and will then as stated on the website be either extended or revised and replaced with a different option. Now, if it gets revised to something that lets me pay R399 for 200GB a month(which is more than we will use I rate) then I essentially got what I wanted for a month perhaps two... but not thereafter?

 

[MrElementary]

Review your usage and find a Capped Package that suits your needs. It's just easier.

I was with an Afrihost 150GB Package but switched to a WebAfrica 60GB + 60GB package as my 150 Afrihost GB's were useless for anything real-time (Streaming).

The webafrica deals for capped accounts only allow half of the total amount given in daytime. More than likely we'll end up with a circumstance where I'll have all this cap to use during night and I'll be twiddling my thumbs in the day.

Also as mentioned in the first post, I have no usage to review. What we have at this very moment is a prepaid telephone(no voice line yet, getting that and then the ADSL in the next two months) and two contracts from 8ta for 10GB a month.

Once my contract with 8ta expires only then will I be looking towards getting the rest.

 

[dblumenau]

Right so... here goes my 10cents.
...So then, some info regarding my(our) situation past and present:
1. My brother and I are both students studying full time for another year at the most and invariably spend a lot of time still at home during the week therefore will most definitely be using whatever service we go for, during both day and night hours.
2. The use of our ADSL will generally be online gaming and plenty of streaming. Thing is, we basically GAME OUT about 20GB a month each. That's not making use of any downloading, hardly any streaming at 240p and virtually nothing else...

If you are studying full time then where do you have any time for gaming or YouTube?
*grabs popcorn*

But seriously, I recommend that you go with a capped account, and as regards this concern of yours:

Thing about these packages are the fact that the Double value expires on the 30th of September and will then as stated on the website be either extended or revised and replaced with a different option. Now, if it gets revised to something that lets me pay R399 for 200GB a month(which is more than we will use I rate) then I essentially got what I wanted for a month perhaps two... but not thereafter?

The thing is that until now, you have been used to being locked into an 8ta contract, and who knows what before that. The point is that all that you have known is contracts.
I think that they will extend their double data deals, and if they don't it is very likely that someone else will introduce one of their own. It is so easy nowadays to change your ISP settings on your router, so definitely sign up for a 4 mbps line with Telkom, and then go with a capped account with Afrihost (in my experience I get YouTube, Bittorrent et al, all unshaped) for now, and then if another deal comes along, jump ship to them.

Those are my 2 cents.

Oh and NEVER sign a contract again! They suck donkey kong!

Either way I hope that you are able to make the right decision and don't forget to let us know what it was!

 

[Former member 61586]

The business end of a 2MB will give me more control of the reigns with a less strict throttling policy. But a 2mb will essentially mean that each of us will get a 1mb share to use. Correct me if I'm wrong, but for the purposes that we want the line for, it won't be enough. Will a 2mb run two streams flawlessly? Game online flawlessly? If one is playing online, another watching youtube/twitch, will the 2mb not affect one another?

Guarantee you, that 4MB home uncapped throttled will not give you what you want either.