M-Web uncapped 4096 - very poor performance on Skype

D

Donovan

Senior Member
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Apr 27, 2004
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Location
South Africa.
I'm trying to have a chat to someone in SA on skype on an M-Web 4096k uncapped, shaped line and it's worse than making an international call in the 1980s. It's sooooooo lagged and slow.

I also find that on weeknights, browsing and normal HTTP downloads are SO SLOW.

Accessing Gmail is also painfully slow and most of the time it doesn't even load.

Youtube videos take roughly 10 times their length in minutes to load (1 minute video = 10 mins download)

I do get good amounts downloaded on P2P if I leave it running over night, which is fine, but surely there is some kind of prioritisation going on? Isn't that the point of shaping is that protocols like Skype get prioritised?

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Hi Donovan,

Please can you provide me your Mweb account details so that I can look into this from our side.

Regards,
MWEB Guy
 
I must admit skype has been a nightmare of late.

Do you guys shape skype because i generally phone after 6 but in the last couple weeks it has been fairly poor. Could have been those international disruptions or something but ya skype has been performing poorly compared to the rest of the interwebs :D.
 
I have an unshaped, uncapped MWEB account and I must admit that even mybb is dead slow for me. Very painfull browsing the last couple of days, my donwloads are running fine, but browsing is dead even if I am not downloading anything.
 
iblade said:
I have an unshaped, uncapped MWEB account and I must admit that even mybb is dead slow for me. Very painfull browsing the last couple of days, my donwloads are running fine, but browsing is dead even if I am not downloading anything.
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Hi iblade,

Please provide me your Mweb account details and I will look into it from my side.

Regards,
MWEB Guy
 
Why must you first complain about mweb so they can look into your problem when they know whats causing it - THEM. Change your ISP you won't be sorry.
 
griffinbradley said:
Why must you first complain about mweb so they can look into your problem when they know whats causing it - THEM. Change your ISP you won't be sorry.
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Not a very helpful post. There are thousands of happy Mweb customers. My skype on Mweb works perfectly - every now and again it drops but I think its a Skype problem. Seems to happen to both parties.

Have you tried to download something from a local site (www.mirror.ac.za) - do you get full speed? What are your line stats like?
 
That does sound like there is an issue. I'd like to add though that ISPs should not be judged based on skype performance. Due to the technical details skype can be flakey even on a good ISP. In SA there are near zero supernodes so even SA-SA traffic usually gets routed via a supernode in say the UK. If that supernode is even slightly flakey (matter of luck), you've got lag and throughput issues.
 
gregmcc said:
Not a very helpful post. There are thousands of happy Mweb customers. My skype on Mweb works perfectly - every now and again it drops but I think its a Skype problem. Seems to happen to both parties.

Have you tried to download something from a local site (www.mirror.ac.za) - do you get full speed? What are your line stats like?
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If the reporters & commentators in SA we were allowed to criticize the SA Cricket team they wouldn't have ended up as the worlds CHOKERS. Even though they also have thousands of supporters. MWEB provides a basic internet product and if at this moment in time it fullfills your needs I'm happy for you. Just does not seem professional to respond on forums such as these to complaints about them. It obviously implies very little faith in their technical and/or complaints department if their subscribers are looking for answers here. Every week someone starts a new thread about their failures.
 
griffinbradley said:
If the reporters & commentators in SA we were allowed to criticize the SA Cricket team they wouldn't have ended up as the worlds CHOKERS. Even though they also have thousands of supporters. MWEB provides a basic internet product and if at this moment in time it fullfills your needs I'm happy for you. Just does not seem professional to respond on forums such as these to complaints about them. It obviously implies very little faith in their technical and/or complaints department if their subscribers are looking for answers here. Every week someone starts a new thread about their failures.
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I see them going out of their way to respond to people that doesn't use their normal channels, for whatever reason. That gives them some credit in my books. In addition, if you use a forum like this, other users that may have had similar issues may also be able to assist you. Advantages of a community and all.
 
With another ISP you can contact the CEO directly if you have any problems but I hardly see anyone looking on these forums for answers related to problems they might have with them. Makes you think doesn't it. I know it seems like I'm trying to knock MWEB but I'm not. They have a great product and have made internet available to many of those who never had it before. It's just, don't forget, their product is limited to use in a certain MWEB way and if you are an experienced internet user you going to experience lots of problems with all the politics they have applied. I for one am happy I moved over to using OPENWEB GOLD. No more nasty MWEB emails.
 
blaaislaai said:
The person you are talking to on skype probably have a 384k line, that could be one of the reasons
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Skype should be fine on a 384k line

Call type Minimum download / upload speed Recommended download / upload speed
Calling 30kbps / 30kbps 100kbps / 100kbps
Video calling 128kbps / 128kbps 300kbps / 300kbps
Video calling
(high-quality) 400kbps / 400kbps 500kbps / 500kbps
Video calling
(HD) 1.2Mbps / 1.2Mbps 1.5Mbps / 1.5Mbps
Group video calling
(3 people) 512kbps / 128kbps 2Mbps / 512kbps
Group video calling
(5 people) 2Mbps / 128kbps 4Mbps / 512kbps
Group video calling
(7+ people) 4Mbps / 128kbps 8Mbps / 512kbps
 
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