Looking for ISP recommendations

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Nick_K

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Hey guys,

Hoping to get some recommendations for a new ISP. I have been with Afrihost Business for the past year or so and until recently was very happy. The last two months have been a nightmare though and it doesn't seem to be getting any better and I have decided its time to move on.

I have a 10MB line and the bulk of my usage is NNTP with a fair bit of gaming in between. My wife is also at home currently so she is using the internet during the day and mostly uses social networking and a fair amount of Youtube. Ideally I would like a service that is uncapped and unshaped for no more than R1000 per month but I haven't been able to find something that fits the bill (and works) at this point.

I have been considering Crystal Web but I am concerned about what will happen with my "large download" speeds once I go over my 200GB unshaped threshold and this morning when reading the feedback from this weekend it didn't look great. Can some of you who are using them give me an idea of what the download speeds are like once they are being shaped? I would also like to get an idea of what latency is like with them compared to Afrihost for gaming (I mostly play Diablo 3).

Thanks,

Nick
 
Nick_K said:
Hey guys,

Hoping to get some recommendations for a new ISP. I have been with Afrihost Business for the past year or so and until recently was very happy. The last two months have been a nightmare though and it doesn't seem to be getting any better and I have decided its time to move on.

I have a 10MB line and the bulk of my usage is NNTP with a fair bit of gaming in between. My wife is also at home currently so she is using the internet during the day and mostly uses social networking and a fair amount of Youtube. Ideally I would like a service that is uncapped and unshaped for no more than R1000 per month but I haven't been able to find something that fits the bill (and works) at this point.

I have been considering Crystal Web but I am concerned about what will happen with my "large download" speeds once I go over my 200GB unshaped threshold and this morning when reading the feedback from this weekend it didn't look great. Can some of you who are using them give me an idea of what the download speeds are like once they are being shaped? I would also like to get an idea of what latency is like with them compared to Afrihost for gaming (I mostly play Diablo 3).

Thanks,

Nick
Click to expand...

I can't comment on the shaping, as I'm not being shaped yet - but the latencies aren't fantastic or particulary bad either. I would say mostly on par. On WoW (therefore the same on D3) I used to get 170-180 with AH, and I get between 190 and 230 on CW.

Locally i get around 35-40ms on BF4, same as with AH.
 
Nick_K said:
Hey guys,

Hoping to get some recommendations for a new ISP. I have been with Afrihost Business for the past year or so and until recently was very happy. The last two months have been a nightmare though and it doesn't seem to be getting any better and I have decided its time to move on.

I have a 10MB line and the bulk of my usage is NNTP with a fair bit of gaming in between. My wife is also at home currently so she is using the internet during the day and mostly uses social networking and a fair amount of Youtube. Ideally I would like a service that is uncapped and unshaped for no more than R1000 per month but I haven't been able to find something that fits the bill (and works) at this point.

I have been considering Crystal Web but I am concerned about what will happen with my "large download" speeds once I go over my 200GB unshaped threshold and this morning when reading the feedback from this weekend it didn't look great. Can some of you who are using them give me an idea of what the download speeds are like once they are being shaped? I would also like to get an idea of what latency is like with them compared to Afrihost for gaming (I mostly play Diablo 3).

Thanks,

Nick
Click to expand...

What's your usage like per month?

You won't find another account like the AH Biz when it worked as they sell below cost. The closest accounts are double the price from other ISPs.

I'd recommend Web Africa Business, but depending on your usage, you'd need to schedule some stuff for 00:00.
 
Just had a look at my logs for January to October and I am averaging around 480GB per month this year. Most of my NNTP happens in the early hours of the morning as NZBDrone grabs stuff as it becomes available. I have quite a few episodes downloading each day though so they often finish after 7:00am and I don't want to get an account that has a 0:00am to 7:00am option because of that.

I'll have a look at the Web Africa business and see what it offers.
 
Nick_K said:
Just had a look at my logs for January to October and I am averaging around 480GB per month this year. Most of my NNTP happens in the early hours of the morning as NZBDrone grabs stuff as it becomes available. I have quite a few episodes downloading each day though so they often finish after 7:00am and I don't want to get an account that has a 0:00am to 7:00am option because of that.

I'll have a look at the Web Africa business and see what it offers.
Click to expand...

WA Business won't work for you unless you can schedule about 200GBs of usage for midnight. You'd have to look at Business Pro which is a lot more expensive.

Have you considered MWEB Premium? Yeah it's shaped, but with your usage you won't come near the usage thresholds.
 
Thanks for the advice. I will have a look at the MWEB Premium offering as the WA Business Pro seems a little excessive.
 
Chevron said:
WA Business won't work for you unless you can schedule about 200GBs of usage for midnight. You'd have to look at Business Pro which is a lot more expensive.

Have you considered MWEB Premium? Yeah it's shaped, but with your usage you won't come near the usage thresholds.
Click to expand...

What's the threshold for 10mbps MWeb premium again? Isn't it something like 1TB?
 
OK so the MWEB premium looks pretty decent based on my usage. Can somebody who uses them comment on what latency is like to games like WoW or Diablo 3?
 
aktor said:
What's the threshold for 10mbps MWeb premium again? Isn't it something like 1TB?
Click to expand...

I think it's 950GB

Nick_K said:
OK so the MWEB premium looks pretty decent based on my usage. Can somebody who uses them comment on what latency is like to games like WoW or Diablo 3?
Click to expand...

MWEB has always been good for gaming.
 
MatthewMurdoch said:
anyone who recommends Mweb ... no just no. horrible ISP
Click to expand...

Let me guess. You used standard when you should have been on premium or business?

If you choose the right package for your needs there's nothing wrong with them.

The biggest problem is people who want expensive performance from cheap packages.
 
I am currently trialing the MWEB Premium 4MB as that is the highest speed they offer with their trial accounts. Haven't had much of a chance to use it yet but so far it looks pretty decent. Latency in Diablo 3 is around 210ms and when I switch to my AH Business it sits at around 230ms so not game changing but it is better.

I am also still keen on the Web Africa Business account as I have always had great service from them. I use a capped account from them as my backup and its always been very fast and stable. I think I need to come to terms with the idea of scheduling my large downloads for after hours if I want to go with Web Africa though.
 
Nick_K said:
I am currently trialing the MWEB Premium 4MB as that is the highest speed they offer with their trial accounts. Haven't had much of a chance to use it yet but so far it looks pretty decent. Latency in Diablo 3 is around 210ms and when I switch to my AH Business it sits at around 230ms so not game changing but it is better.

I am also still keen on the Web Africa Business account as I have always had great service from them. I use a capped account from them as my backup and its always been very fast and stable. I think I need to come to terms with the idea of scheduling my large downloads for after hours if I want to go with Web Africa though.
Click to expand...

I'm with Web Africa Business and they're brilliant.
 
Btw what's the threshold for MWeb 10mbps uncapped (normal, not premium)?
Anyone know?
 
Chevron said:
Let me guess. You used standard when you should have been on premium or business?

If you choose the right package for your needs there's nothing wrong with them.

The biggest problem is people who want expensive performance from cheap packages.
Click to expand...

My problem with them is they charged me 2 months upfront, so back then was R599 (4mb uncapped) x 2, when I joined.

Never again, never again, oh, and the shaping was horrible if you're a downloader.
 
wingnut771 said:
My problem with them is they charged me 2 months upfront, so back then was R599 (4mb uncapped) x 2, when I joined.

Never again, never again, oh, and the shaping was horrible if you're a downloader.
Click to expand...
Yes, but if you're not shaped streaming was great, gaming was awesome, etc.
Just saying. They're overpriced, yes. Their customer services is horrible. Their business ethics are in the toilet. But their connectivity is really good.
 
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