MWEB Uncapped ADSL Feedback - Part 2

[StevenC]

Ok just to pop in again...

For the last 2 evenings I have been trialing Openweb Gold (very kindly got hold of a 2MB account). News servers are flying at full speed ahead and GW2 performance is immaculate.

Will, I am always willing to give ISPs a chance to sort out problems, I am very patient but I also tend to kick up a bit of stink if it takes too long. At the moment, 2 weeks of extremely bad performance across the board has not made me a happy camper. There is nothing wrong with my line, this is all on MWEB. As it is, I don't even feel like switching back to make comparisons because this thread is all I need to see that all is not well in MWEBLand. The complaints on this forum are just a small portion of your userbase who actually know about this thread. Other MWEB clients of yours that I know don't frequent this forum are also complaining. Customers come in looking for new ADSL routers because their internet is slow and Telkom blows them off with the usual Router / ISP excuse. When questioned, most of them are on MWEB. Bearing in mind that I personally recommend MWEB to clients asking around for ISPs when they buy hardware from me, this is not a good advertising stance you guys are taking.

You aren't the most expensive, but you certainly are in the higher price bracket than most ISPs offering the same "package deals". I am happy to pay this, provided I get the service. At the moment, blanket denial or playing down glaring issues with your network is not a good customer interface. I have been a happy customer (95% of the time!) with MWEB and I really hope that these network woes don't continue for long or I may very well jump ship. We know what your quality of service is normally like and what it is now is unacceptable, even by most peoples standards. Yes, I read your posts above and that you have noticed network load and spiking and whatnot but to not even be able to play an online game (high priority) with low(ish) bandwidth needs is starting to grate on me.

 

[PeeVee]

Firstly the response you ... <snip>
<unsnip>
My conclusions currently:

Yes there has been an increased load on our own network, however we are monitoring the situation very carefully and have it well in hand. Any slight pressure we are feeling on our own network right now is having a minimal impact on the customer experience and will be alleviated by regular schedule IPC upgrades taking place within the next week.

We are also seeing a number of issues filtering through in terms of poor customer experience post line-speed upgrades and these simply have to be investigated on a case by case basis. Not all upgraded lines are achieving the desired speeds and the truth is that some customers may need to be realistic about what their physical lines and exchanges are currently capable of.

Hi Will / Mwebguy,

MWeb customer experience is currently NOT at all satisfactory, and no I have not upgraded my line. Still running the same 4Mb line I've had since MWEB first launched Uncapped.
IF I switch to either my Telkom account or my Afrihost account I get full speed so there is nothing wrong with my exchange or line.
If I connect to MWEB but specify the Google DNS instead of defaulting to the MWEB DNS speed is almost acceptable, (Torrents and non Mweb NNTP) but doing this constantly would violate MWEB's T&C (or so I think)

I suggest that you look at whatever shaping rules MWEB implemented beginning of October or you are going to lose a lot of customers. As it is, I can't justifiably recommend MWEB to anyone with the current very BAD Customer experience of the past month.

This is reminiscent of the Afrihost denials when things went pearshaped with their shaping rules three years ago.
I must admit that the other ISP's, including Telkom, uncapped products are starting to look very attractive from a customer experience point of view.

To get a true reflection of the current Customer experience, can I suggest that MWEB ask customers via an online survey, using your MWEB account login-id to to validate customer authenticity about their past and current customer experience.

Best Regards,
PeeVee

 

[Wall]

just put a torrent to download a few minutes ago and it's flying. Done 80MB in 15 minutes.

 

[MWEBHelp]

Cape Town 1mbps MWEB uncapped

Good morning stevenv, send me your MWEB dettails and trace route to a local and international site.

 

[arendshp]

LOL that's a good one "ask Telkom to recreate your port" your ass is throttled by them.

 

[Will@MWEB]

8 31 ms 31 ms 31 ms 196.44.0.75
9 92 ms 96 ms 99 ms rb-cr-1.za--ct-cr-2.za-b.mtnns.net [196.44.31.25

sorry seems the data is at the mtn data centre, but there cpt to jhb latency seems insane.

to get best pings to mtn , mweb should route the cpt data to jhb on there network , because mtn seems the problems

Unfortunately not much that we can do about it from our side We hand off the traffic at the closest peering point,, which is expected behavior so the JHB to CPT transit is handled by the destination network.

 

[Will@MWEB]

Hi Will / Mwebguy,

MWeb customer experience is currently NOT at all satisfactory, and no I have not upgraded my line. Still running the same 4Mb line I've had since MWEB first launched Uncapped.
IF I switch to either my Telkom account or my Afrihost account I get full speed so there is nothing wrong with my exchange or line.
If I connect to MWEB but specify the Google DNS instead of defaulting to the MWEB DNS speed is almost acceptable, (Torrents and non Mweb NNTP) but doing this constantly would violate MWEB's T&C (or so I think)

I suggest that you look at whatever shaping rules MWEB implemented beginning of October or you are going to lose a lot of customers. As it is, I can't justifiably recommend MWEB to anyone with the current very BAD Customer experience of the past month.

This is reminiscent of the Afrihost denials when things went pearshaped with their shaping rules three years ago.
I must admit that the other ISP's, including Telkom, uncapped products are starting to look very attractive from a customer experience point of view.

To get a true reflection of the current Customer experience, can I suggest that MWEB ask customers via an online survey, using your MWEB account login-id to to validate customer authenticity about their past and current customer experience.

Best Regards,
PeeVee

Peevee I completely get that your Internet connection not working the way you want it to is frustrating, but I see no interactions between yourself and MWEB Guy, or any prior posts indicating that you're having a problem other than a comment from the 15th saying that our 'DNS Servers are screwed'.

It would be really appreciated if you shared your experience with us, and PMed MWEB Guy with the data from your tests so that we can investigate properly before you just throw us under the bridge with the trolls

EDIT: In fact can I extend this request to any others posting in the thread currently who feel that our network is not performing as expected right now. I really want to help you guys but I'm simply not seeing the data on this side to confirm that the issues you guys are describing have their source on our network so you need to help me with some hard evidence.

Thanks
Will

 

[bradlesliect]

Morning all,

Not going to go through all 175 pages of thread. Hopefully what I am about to say is not something I am repeating. If so, apologies.

I'm on the Southern burbs of CTN and connect to the Wynberg xchange. Over the weekend my line went down. It came back up about a day later BUT...now NONE of my torrents will work. Normal downloads workED at awesome speeds(80-90k) but torrents worked at was ZIP, NADA. In another post, others have reported the same thing.

IMHO, it would appear that MWEB may have used this to identify where the most traffic is coming from and its given them time to put sniffers on the network. Now, since they have some information, they've "throttled" traffic not using the standard HTTP, SMTP, POP3, FTP and other standard internet browsing ports by applying access-lists to either prioritise this traffic normal internet browsing only and the rest is sent to a "blackhole". Others have also said the only time they get PEAK browsing is from 11PM to about 2AM every day. I'm paying for 1MB uncapped and now only getting about speed equivalent of about 512k. What happened to "you get what you pay for"?

@MWEB Guy - Comments please? Is what I'm say true or just an impression? I've tried a different router and another notebook, pc and it still the same.

 

[Will@MWEB]

Morning all,

Not going to go through all 175 pages of thread. Hopefully what I am about to say is not something I am repeating. If so, apologies.

I'm on the Southern burbs of CTN and connect to the Wynberg xchange. Over the weekend my line went down. It came back up about a day later BUT...now NONE of my torrents will work. Normal downloads workED at awesome speeds(80-90k) but torrents worked at was ZIP, NADA. In another post, others have reported the same thing.

IMHO, it would appear that MWEB may have used this to identify where the most traffic is coming from and its given them time to put sniffers on the network. Now, since they have some information, they've "throttled" traffic not using the standard HTTP, SMTP, POP3, FTP and other standard internet browsing ports by applying access-lists to either prioritise this traffic normal internet browsing only and the rest is sent to a "blackhole". Others have also said the only time they get PEAK browsing is from 11PM to about 2AM every day. I'm paying for 1MB uncapped and now only getting about speed equivalent of about 512k. What happened to "you get what you pay for"?

@MWEB Guy - Comments please? Is what I'm say true or just an impression? I've tried a different router and another notebook, pc and it still the same.

Yikes! Black Ops throttling projects and secret sniffers - take off the tin foil hat please We really don't do that stuff, but it sounds like something fun might have happened at your exchange this weekend. Please PM your details to MWEB Guy and we'll do a full investigation.

 

[bradlesliect]

Ummm... I like your comment! Made me laugh!

The thing is its not just me though. Some as far as Fish Hoek are having the same problem? Strange aint it? Will send the info.

I downloaded a Winbloze Service Pack last night using a download manager(Orbit). Initial speed started around 85k and later dropped to below 50k. Before this outage I used to max at about 80k for Int browsing and DL'ing.

I worked in networks for 2 ISPs already I know about access-lists for priority traffic on cisco routers and it is possible when you've put a sniffer device on the network that can go right down to packet level.

...just saying...

 

[Will@MWEB]

Ummm... I like your comment! Made me laugh!

The thing is its not just me though. Some as far as Fish Hoek are having the same problem? Strange aint it? Will send the info.

I downloaded a Winbloze Service Pack last night using a download manager(Orbit). Initial speed started around 85k and later dropped to below 50k. Before this outage I used to max at about 80k for Int browsing and DL'ing.

I worked in networks for 2 ISPs already I know about access-lists for priority traffic on cisco routers and it is possible when you've put a sniffer device on the network that can go right down to packet level.

...just saying...

We actually make extensive use of deep packet inspection on some very higher grade devices. The point though is not to kill off torrents or anything that mean and we don't have any mechanisms deployed to target the individual user. Our goal is quite simply to provide a level of QoS (I'm sure you're familiar with that term) to sensitive traffic.

So we give top priority to gaming, voice and video and then prioritize from there until we get down to p2p at the bottom of the pile.

These rules are in a very mature state though and we really haven't messed with it in quite a while because it works very well so whatever is causing the issue you're describing that isn't it.

 

[bradlesliect]

We actually make extensive use of deep packet inspection on some very higher grade devices. The point though is not to kill off torrents or anything that mean and we don't have any mechanisms deployed to target the individual user. Our goal is quite simply to provide a level of QoS (I'm sure you're familiar with that term) to sensitive traffic.

So we give top priority to gaming, voice and video and then prioritize from there until we get down to p2p at the bottom of the pile.

These rules are in a very mature state though and we really haven't messed with it in quite a while because it works very well so whatever is causing the issue you're describing that isn't it.

AH HAH! There are the key words "at the bottom of the pile" I do agree and it makes business sense to give other traffic a higher QoS and/or priority but in the same breath don't you think that gaming falls into the same category of "high usage" as p2p? Can we not remove the "restriction" on the access-list after business hours? From about 8PM - 5AM?

I know you not targeting individuals but rather a part of the network where you picking up the highest usage and most complaints from.

Thanks for feedback. Greatly appreciated.

 

[soulravanger]

Hello

I am having the exact same thing Torrents completely dead all of a sudden.
Its been like this for me for about 2 weeks now .
Http Downloads are awesome but torrents don't work at all.

Morning all,

Not going to go through all 175 pages of thread. Hopefully what I am about to say is not something I am repeating. If so, apologies.

I'm on the Southern burbs of CTN and connect to the Wynberg xchange. Over the weekend my line went down. It came back up about a day later BUT...now NONE of my torrents will work. Normal downloads workED at awesome speeds(80-90k) but torrents worked at was ZIP, NADA. In another post, others have reported the same thing.

IMHO, it would appear that MWEB may have used this to identify where the most traffic is coming from and its given them time to put sniffers on the network. Now, since they have some information, they've "throttled" traffic not using the standard HTTP, SMTP, POP3, FTP and other standard internet browsing ports by applying access-lists to either prioritise this traffic normal internet browsing only and the rest is sent to a "blackhole". Others have also said the only time they get PEAK browsing is from 11PM to about 2AM every day. I'm paying for 1MB uncapped and now only getting about speed equivalent of about 512k. What happened to "you get what you pay for"?

@MWEB Guy - Comments please? Is what I'm say true or just an impression? I've tried a different router and another notebook, pc and it still the same.

 

[Will@MWEB]

AH HAH! There are the key words "at the bottom of the pile" I do agree and it makes business sense to give other traffic a higher QoS and/or priority but in the same breath don't you think that gaming falls into the same category of "high usage" as p2p? Can we not remove the "restriction" on the access-list after business hours? From about 8PM - 5AM?

I know you not targeting individuals but rather a part of the network where you picking up the highest usage and most complaints from.

Thanks for feedback. Greatly appreciated.

Deprioritizing p2p I would dare to say is pretty much a standard practice with any large ISP globally. It's not that we don't want customers to do p2p, but the nature of p2p protocols (and users) is very aggressive and they have a tendency to try and bulldoze their way through your network if unchecked.

Gaming is in fact quite the opposite and the while the bandwidth usage on gaming is not, in the greater scheme of things, all that high it's traffic which is very sensitive to latency and packet loss of any kind which is why you keep it at a very high assurance level to 'protect it' from the p2p bulldozers.

Also just to clarify these rules are not region targeted, or anything like that - they're applied at a global level and apply to every single customer in the same way.

 

[bradlesliect]

Another user with same problem...It would appear that the "shaping" being applied is MORE aggressive now. I've checked the MWEB notices page and it would seem that the ppl having this probs are also the people in the areas and/or connected to the Telco networks mentioned in the notices.

Coincidence?

Just spoken to a few friends who use other ISPs...and they just peechy. No probs their side.

I rest my case.

 

[Will@MWEB]

Another user with same problem...It would appear that the "shaping" being applied is MORE aggressive now. I've checked the MWEB notices page and it would seem that the ppl having this probs are also the people in the areas and/or connected to the Telco networks mentioned in the notices.

Coincidence?

Just spoken to a few friends who use other ISPs...and they just peechy. No probs their side.

I rest my case.

Can you give me some solid data on your torrent performance please: times of day speeds achieved, etc? One of those utorrent graphs would be great. You can pixel blur anything you're not comfortable sharing

 

[Anthro]

I will add this, the MWEB connection has been treating me like a king.
Haven't had any lag issues whatsoever, I am on the 1MB profile - and looking at my stats, it is EXCELLENT value for money.
I will stick with the statement in my signature though, their prices still need to be more competitive

(I won't jump ship though because of brand loyalty)

 

[Mephisto_Helix]

Mweb has never been shy to look into things and for the most part provide feedback as long as we provide them the data/facts that they need. Guys, do all the tests, screenshots and what not over a period of a couple days and give it to Mweb to work with.

 

[arni1954]

Deprioritizing p2p I would dare to say is pretty much a standard practice with any large ISP globally. It's not that we don't want customers to do p2p, but the nature of p2p protocols (and users) is very aggressive and they have a tendency to try and bulldoze their way through your network if unchecked.

Gaming is in fact quite the opposite and the while the bandwidth usage on gaming is not, in the greater scheme of things, all that high it's traffic which is very sensitive to latency and packet loss of any kind which is why you keep it at a very high assurance level to 'protect it' from the p2p bulldozers.

Also just to clarify these rules are not region targeted, or anything like that - they're applied at a global level and apply to every single customer in the same way.

I can understand that you deprioritizing p2p during business hours Openweb Gold are doing the same . I can't understand shaping at 10:00 PM with Openweb Gold from 5:00 PM it is full speed .
I am a new customer and must admit very disappointed . I can see Afrihost's "game" is repeating itself.

 

[bradlesliect]

Can you give me some solid data on your torrent performance please: times of day speeds achieved, etc? One of those utorrent graphs would be great. You can pixel blur anything you're not comfortable sharing

It doesnt matter what time of day / night. I tried doing them just after 11 last night and nothing happened. Why I say this is because this morning when I got up, they were at 0% still. I then tested a download via HTTP and FTP and it was all hunky dory.

It took about 10mins to DL a file about 40MB in size.

At work at the mo, so cannot copy/paste any additional info. There was no latency on traceroute to local and/or international and ping response was very good too. No problem with DNS resolutions or any of the other standard Internet Protocol tests.

Again, thanks Will@MWEB but from the information posted by various users, the problem appears to be the same? I Users with other ISPs are not having the same problem? Explain that? I've even asked Telkom to disconnect port and drop my connection about 3-4 times in the last 72hrs. Same too with the MWEB Support Helpdesk.

I am not getting what I paid for. I've been a loyal customer with MWEB for several years and have been worked for them back in the day.