MWEB Uncapped ADSL - Official Q & A

[MWEB]

Mine has just dropped from about 35k to 11k and its been constant at that speed since about 9am....so much for no "throttling" and "BW Management"....

Hi bradlesliect,

As per http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?227899-Seacom-planned-maintenance-24-April we are current in a maintanance period while a part of the Seacom cable path is under repair. We have re-routed via alternate capacity which may result in a certain levels of throughput unpredictability.

So in short our network will not running in standard operating mode until these repairs are complete.

MWB.

 

[AntiThesis]

@seeyou I did edit that bit after I reread your statements.

Here's the thing. You guys have been given answers, you've been shown threads full of 384, 512 and 4MB users who are happy but assume that everyone is as unhappy as you.

I'm done arguing on the internet with you. I and my pathetic, awful 400k+ speeds will go and spend some quality time together. I hope you achieve the internet nirvana you're looking for but I suspect even with 4MB speed on a 384k line there would be complaints.

Enjoy.

 

[Gordon_R]

Or it's Saturday morning, half the users are asleep and chunks of them aren't downloading in anticipation of SEACOM maintenance? I could be wrong but I think that's the simplest answer. Same goes for MWEB not answering your questions - chances are they were missed in the flurry. If it's important, PM MWEB or MWEB Operations. Personal vendettas are unlikely.

You are aware that there is SEACOM maintenance being performed, starting at 9am? Also, 9am sounds about right, when people wake up, had a cup of coffee and is starting to browse the net, resulting in a higher load.

You'll notice my biggest gripe with the service is that there is little to no discernible difference in download speeds after hours and on weekends, which according to the MWEB rep should be when we would see a big increase as the majority of the country goes offline. (not everyone has ADSL, and even less have uncapped accounts, and Mweb have a LOT of bandwidth).

I find it quite useful to look at the actual (live) traffic graph from JINX (Joburg Network Interchange). Mweb does not disclose their data, but traffic this morning (9-10am on Sat 24th) does look slightly lower than usual.

As soon as total traffic drops below 50% of capacity (around midnight) is is likely that shaping becomes less noticeable. As soon as traffic approaches 50% again (between 6am and 8am) then shaping becomes more noticeable.

This has nothing to do with 'after-hours' or weekends, its just the cumulative total of all traffic on the nework. This has been explained before, and if you assumed otherwise, you are mistaken...

 

[rambo919]

I think those that get good speeds should shut the hell up and realise how privilidged they are, thats right privilidged because you get what you have been promised. The rest of us, who does not even want to download 1% of the internet believe it or not, dont like dodgy answers and half-lies because of clear incompetance. If you label something 384 anything less is fraud, it does not matter how you wheel and deal it its fraud. This situation happened because MWEB dived in arse-first and still refuse to take reactionary actions like stopping new sign-ups. or at least stopping new 4MB sign-ups, yes sometimes it actually IS the right thing to prioritise the little man over the big one.

@MWEB
If I had the money for a faster account I would get that faster account, stop trying to get more money, or at least stop trying to do it in such a obvious fashion. You are now allmost as bad as telkom, has no one ever tought your company the value of a good brand?

 

[SabreWolfy]

I think those that get good speeds should shut the hell up and realise how privilidged they are, thats right privilidged because you get what you have been promised. The rest of us, who does not even want to download 1% of the internet believe it or not, dont like dodgy answers and half-lies because of clear incompetance. If you label something 384 anything less is fraud, it does not matter how you wheel and deal it its fraud. This situation happened because MWEB dived in arse-first and still refuse to take reactionary actions like stopping new sign-ups. or at least stopping new 4MB sign-ups, yes sometimes it actually IS the right thing to prioritise the little man over the big one.

@MWEB
If I had the money for a faster account I would get that faster account, stop trying to get more money, or at least stop trying to do it in such a obvious fashion. You are now allmost as bad as telkom, has no one ever tought your company the value of a good brand?

Look here -- according to Telkom, 384kbps is rated minimum 256kbps. 4096kbps is rated minimum 640kbps. MWeb has nothing to do with the ADSL itself -- at least not the last Telkom kilometer. Always read the T&C before shouting your mouth off about getting what you pay for or accusing Telkom/MWeb of fraud. Yeah, flame me for that. I'm expecting it. These kinds of discussions always degenerate into hurling insults instead of discussing a point, so do your best.

Mouse over the "More info" here for Step 1. It says 384kbps is good for 1 or 2 people browsing the net and doing email. The next option is where they mention downloads. Explain to me again how you've intentionally been misled? Flame away.

Read 8.2 here too.

As I've said before, if there are specific problems with your service, investigate them yourself thoroughly and carefully. Report them officially to MWeb by calling them or sending a PM to one of the reps here. Or, report the line fault to Telkom officially. Bleating endlessly here about how slow your connection is and how evil MWeb is and how they are out to dishonestly squeeze as much money from you as possible is getting really tiresome. Flame away.

PS: I'm sure that if you're so dreadfully and miserably unhappy with the poor uncapped performance, you could discuss with the MWeb rep. here about reverting your account back to a high-speed, high-reliability, perfect capped account. MWeb doesn't want unhappy customers I'm sure.

 

[SabreWolfy]

PPS: I know that it is very frustrating to pay for a service and then feel that you are not getting what you paid for. However, it is important to ensure that your expectations are in line with what is being offered. It is also important to take proactive steps to isolate the problem and then to officially approach the service provider with clear details. Bleating here that "my line is slow" and expecting the heavens to open and fix it is delusional. We have not yet explained how subscriber A on a 384 or 4096 line can download as much as they want as fast as they want and subscriber B claims that the service is unusable. We know that MWeb is not shaping/throttling individual Telkom exchanges or individual users. ADSL is a dynamic system as we know -- it changes over time. If you believe that the service you are paying for is not meeting your expectations, PM the MWeb rep. with clear details and the steps you have taken to show that it is the fault of MWeb and/or Telkom and I am sure they will deal with it. They cannot, however, deal with "my line is slow" or "my downloads take too long". Some areas of the country have experienced much rain lately. Maybe Telkom needs to repair the line? Maybe there is a problem at the exchange. Maybe the cables running into your house need to be checked. Maybe you have a dirty telephone adaptor on your line. Take the fax machine off the ADSL. Try a different telephone cable. Try a different router. Check the network card on your PC. Try a different computer. Test thoroughly. Saying "ISP A is always faster" is rubbish. Test them at the same time -- at 8pm two days in a row, for a few days. Record the results. Then PM the rep. with your report. No company wants people to be unhappy with the service they offer and most will take steps to assist their users, as MWeb has and does. But hurling insults and accusations at them here is unproductive.

 

[Gordon_R]

As I've said before, if there are specific problems with your service, investigate them yourself thoroughly and carefully. Report them officially to MWeb by calling them or sending a PM to one of the reps here. Or, report the line fault to Telkom officially. Bleating endlessly here about how slow your connection is and how evil MWeb is and how they are out to dishonestly squeeze as much money from you as possible is getting really tiresome. Flame away.

PS: I'm sure that if you're so dreadfully and miserably unhappy with the poor uncapped performance, you could discuss with the MWeb rep. here about reverting your account back to a high-speed, high-reliability, perfect capped account. MWeb doesn't want unhappy customers I'm sure.

Well said, (and clearer than I would have put it...) The bottom line is that for R219pm you can't expect 384Kbps for 24/7 on all protocols (or 100GBbtes per month). You get what you pay for, although some more options would be nice IMO.

Unfortunately all existing MWeb capped customers have been migrated to the new network. There is no way to go back to the previous setup (AFAIK), short of leaving MWeb and switching to another ISP (Telkom/SAIX). We are all in the same boat now (MWeb Business customers excepted). That's the only way to run a large ISP, and to spread bandwidth usage evenly.

 

[rambo919]

@SabreWolfy
If 384kbps is rated minimum 256kbps, then a line that constantly gets a minimum of less than or equal to 156kbps cannot be a 384 line correct?

I do not mind having such lower speed for paying R349 pm, not at all, what i DO mind is having my intellegence insulted with a massive smile by basically being told that "384 is just slow that way, we can make it even slower if ud like or you can spend more money for a 512 line that acts like a 384 line"

 

[Tanya35]

The problem with the 384 kbps users is a ratio-related one. A 4Mbps (500 kB/s) that is running downloads in a non-priority pool that is cut down to 20% is still running at 100kB/s, while a 384 kbps link (48 kB/s) in the same situation is cut down to 9.6 kB/s. Both are penalised in exactly the same way, which is fair, but the 384 kbps user will feel this a lot more than the 4Mbps user will. This is not something MWEB can control, unless they prioritise 384 kbps users above 4Mbps users by reducing their line speeds less. This will reduce the 4Mbps users' speeds a lot more, while they pay more for the service.

What you say makes sense. It would help to actually provide a broadband ADSL product as stated in the ads, instead of glorified dialup. It would also stem the volume of complaints.

 

[Tanya35]

@seeyou I did edit that bit after I reread your statements.

Here's the thing. You guys have been given answers, you've been shown threads full of 384, 512 and 4MB users who are happy but assume that everyone is as unhappy as you.

I'm done arguing on the internet with you. I and my pathetic, awful 400k+ speeds will go and spend some quality time together. I hope you achieve the internet nirvana you're looking for but I suspect even with 4MB speed on a 384k line there would be complaints.

Enjoy.

FB is full of complaints. Go look there.
From what I can see, the 'happy' people are almost always on 4Meg or don't do anything apart from light browsing. They certainly don't 'need' uncapped anything.

 

[SabreWolfy]

FB is full of complaints. Go look there.
From what I can see, the 'happy' people are almost always on 4Meg or don't do anything apart from light browsing. They certainly don't 'need' uncapped anything.

No need -- this thread is full of complaints. Don't we just love to complain. It's always someone else's fault and it's never good enough and there's always an evil conspiracy and we're always getting ripped off. I was driven to distraction with my "stalling downloads" problem last week, so I took initiative, tested extensively and then approached MWeb with all the details. Telkom fixed the line and now I'm happy. No, I don't want a Noddy badge.

@seeyou I did edit that bit after I reread your statements.

Here's the thing. You guys have been given answers, you've been shown threads full of 384, 512 and 4MB users who are happy but assume that everyone is as unhappy as you.

I'm done arguing on the internet with you. I and my pathetic, awful 400k+ speeds will go and spend some quality time together. I hope you achieve the internet nirvana you're looking for but I suspect even with 4MB speed on a 384k line there would be complaints.

Enjoy.

@AntiThesis: I'm with you on this, except that I spend quality time with my 384kbps line and 38.5kBps speeds.

This thread is moving in ever-decreasing circles: "My line/service is too slow to download internets. Evil MWeb. How dare they shape. Evil other users. Damn them. They don't know what they're talking about. They're in cahoots with MWeb. Damn them for being "lucky" and getting what they pay for. Here, try this solution. Here, consider this explanation. My line/service is too slow to download internets. Evil MWeb. How dare they shape..."

 

[rambo919]

@SabreWolfy
Basically you are happy with your line so there is nothing for the rest of us to be worried about and f#@k those that disagree, and furthermore if they keep insisting on disagreeing you will keep "re-educating" them as to the correct demeanor till they give in to your superior intellect.

Did i miss anything?

 

[absk300]

i have been getting k@k speeds whole day! anybody else?

 

[Tanya35]

No need -- this thread is full of complaints. Don't we just love to complain. It's always someone else's fault and it's never good enough and there's always an evil conspiracy and we're always getting ripped off. I was driven to distraction with my "stalling downloads" problem last week, so I took initiative, tested extensively and then approached MWeb with all the details. Telkom fixed the line and now I'm happy. No, I don't want a Noddy badge.



@AntiThesis: I'm with you on this, except that I spend quality time with my 384kbps line and 38.5kBps speeds.

This thread is moving in ever-decreasing circles: "My line/service is too slow to download internets. Evil MWeb. How dare they shape. Evil other users. Damn them. They don't know what they're talking about. They're in cahoots with MWeb. Damn them for being "lucky" and getting what they pay for. Here, try this solution. Here, consider this explanation. My line/service is too slow to download internets. Evil MWeb. How dare they shape..."

People don't complain for nothing. You seem to want to complain about the complaints. Do you see the irony?

 

[rambo919]

i have been getting k@k speeds whole day! anybody else?

they have been doing maintanance on the lines today, starting at 9

 

[absk300]

they have been doing maintanance on the lines today, starting at 9

i see, hope its better tomorrow

 

[Soljaah]

they have been doing maintanance on the lines today, starting at 9

Any news as to when the maintenance will be over? I remember MWEB showing it on a page somewhere, but I lost the link

 

[Playing]

SabreWolfy you started off complaining about everyone else. Then you had a problem and got a lot of help from everyone on this forum. Now that your problem is solved, you have nothing left to do but complain about everyone again. Please take a moment to think before you hit back at this post.

 

[lizl]

@rambo919

You see here is where the BRILLIANCE of mumbo jumbo PR comes in, ISPs(MWEB and other) are saying "look, we promised you unlimited downloading viz. 'uncapped services' BUT we did not say that you WILL NOT be throttled! WE(ISPS) reserve that right....so sure, download all you want but WE(ISPS) will determine at what speed we give it to you.

The ONLY reason why the 1MB+ users are getting "decent" speeds is cos they not on 384 or 512k services so they dont feel the pain as much as we do. I mean I'm getting between 8k-13k on a download...not even a torrent!

I have the same problem, in fact last night I was downloading at 2.3k-- and M web is trying to tell me they have migrated my line from 384 to 512!! I am at the stage where i just shout pass me the wine bottle.

 

[Rosaudio]

Getting full line speed on torrents