Octotel (Octofail) - You Have Been Warned!

[mercurial]

Unfortunatly Octotel is my only option, currently stuck on 3.5/0.5 Mbps ADSL, so surely fibre will be better irrespective. What ISP do you guys rate down in Cape Town area? RSAWeb? Vox? HomeConnect? Mweb? Speed of installation and Support considered.

I'm with Cool Ideas\Octotel in CPT and have no issues...

 

[Budza]

As mentioned before, I'm blaming RSAWEB for my woes.

As the ISP, they're they get my cash and my complaints. They haven't yet pointed fingers at Octotel. So either they don't know what they're doing or they're at fault.

Multiple line issues, disconnects and slow downs. All they can suggest is to run ping + traceroute from router diagnostics. Have done that many times but with no real feedback or interpretation of those results.

I rebooted my ADSL router monthly. I'm now rebooting my fibre router daily. RSAWEB Fibre is less reliable than ADSL (IME).

Something is up.

Claremont area, if that makes a difference...

 

[Imraan1]

Damn, I am currently on ADSL 10mbps with Telkom and its been really good so far. We have much less issues since I think its no longer congested. we have Octotel fibre in my area and I was looking to switch to fibre in November once my contract comes to an end but now I am in a catch 22. I am going to have to move to fibre because Telkom already tried to force me to move over to LTE. I am also getting mixed reviews with RSAWEB but I just stream and browse so will have to see closer to the time.

 

[ThatGuy_ZA]

As mentioned before, I'm blaming RSAWEB for my woes.

As the ISP, they're they get my cash and my complaints. They haven't yet pointed fingers at Octotel. So either they don't know what they're doing or they're at fault.

Multiple line issues, disconnects and slow downs. All they can suggest is to run ping + traceroute from router diagnostics. Have done that many times but with no real feedback or interpretation of those results.

I rebooted my ADSL router monthly. I'm now rebooting my fibre router daily. RSAWEB Fibre is less reliable than ADSL (IME).

Something is up.

Claremont area, if that makes a difference...

IIRC RSAWEB are part of the same group as Octotel so that could have something to do with it.

I'm in Kenilworth on Cool Ideas and have no problems. Have you tried another router?

 

[Budza]

Damn, I am currently on ADSL 10mbps with Telkom and its been really good so far. We have much less issues since I think its no longer congested. we have Octotel fibre in my area and I was looking to switch to fibre in November once my contract comes to an end but now I am in a catch 22. I am going to have to move to fibre because Telkom already tried to force me to move over to LTE. I am also getting mixed reviews with RSAWEB but I just stream and browse so will have to see closer to the time.

It's fine for light usage, it's just that fibre is supposed to be more stable than ADSL. I'm not finding that to be the case

I work from home quite often, so I notice the connection drops/slowdowns more than most.

Here's a long running speedtest to show the dips:

https://testmy.net/compID/15132142484?type=comp_id&q=15132142484&clientTime=1&limit=250

I'd expect those speeds to be much more consistent.

 

[chubster]

This thread reminds me of my saga with the resell of Internet Solutions on Cell C. It worked fine until everybody else jumped on the bandwagon. I ended up recommending it to people in Hermanus, because there it worked better than Telkom. That will probably last until everyone figures that out and the service will probably degrade there too.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

It's fine for light usage, it's just that fibre is supposed to be more stable than ADSL. I'm not finding that to be the case

I work from home quite often, so I notice the connection drops/slowdowns more than most.

Here's a long running speedtest to show the dips:

https://testmy.net/compID/15132142484?type=comp_id&q=15132142484&clientTime=1&limit=250

I'd expect those speeds to be much more consistent.

I work from home too and my connection is actually at it's best during the day. Octotel 200/200 (with Rockenet) and haven't really had much to complain about for quite some time.

What issues are you experiencing exactly? Speed tests (especially those to testmy) are not very representative of normal usage.

 

[Imraan1]

It's fine for light usage, it's just that fibre is supposed to be more stable than ADSL. I'm not finding that to be the case

I work from home quite often, so I notice the connection drops/slowdowns more than most.

Here's a long running speedtest to show the dips:

https://testmy.net/compID/15132142484?type=comp_id&q=15132142484&clientTime=1&limit=250

I'd expect those speeds to be much more consistent.

A friend of mine told me that RSAWEB and OCTOTEL's offices are in the same building in Sea Point just on different floors as it was easier for them to troubleshoot an issue one time as the agent could just go up and chat to someone at Octotel if an issue needs to be escalated. I was leaning towards RSAWEB as they are a Netflix Open Connect Partner since I mostly stream but if you check MYBB data hogs the top ISP is Cool Ideas.

 

[ArtyLoop]

Doesn't help- if your ISP is great, because OCTOTEL's network is shyte.

 

[ArtyLoop]

I'm with Cool Ideas\Octotel in CPT and have no issues...

Where in CPT (location is relevant)
Also... you are likely not using it in popcorn hour if you are in one of the affected areas..

 

[mercurial]

Where in CPT (location is relevant)
Also... you are likely not using it in popcorn hour if you are in one of the affected areas..

Close to CBD.

 

[Budza]

A friend of mine told me that RSAWEB and OCTOTEL's offices are in the same building in Sea Point just on different floors as it was easier for them to troubleshoot an issue one time as the agent could just go up and chat to someone at Octotel if an issue needs to be escalated. I was leaning towards RSAWEB as they are a Netflix Open Connect Partner since I mostly stream but if you check MYBB data hogs the top ISP is Cool Ideas.

I'd go with them (and did so initially) due to the free 1GB MTN mobile data SIM they give you.

For my low end package, that's a lekker sweetner.

In the 'popcorn hour' I've not noticed any issues with Netflix(stats show local CDN). DSTV streaming is worse, but I put that down to being DSTV, as it's slow anywhere on any network.

My international speeds dip in the evenings- that I think could be put down to Octotel more than RSAWEB.

 

[ArtyLoop]

Close to CBD.

That's why.. that part of the network hasn't got issues...

 

[ArtyLoop]

Closure

So guess what, I was wrong. And I admit it, and I apologize unreservedly for this thread. Given the crap information I was given at the time I can be forgiven but I was wrong.
I reconnected my FTTH line via Vox Telecom and I made it clear that I would start with small packages and work my way up, because of two reasons:

1. In the absence of reliable technical info, I cannot be sure that my suspicion is anything other than just plain old suspicion that, at high speeds (the notorious 100/25 package) the network is not so nice
2. Because not everyone on the network has, or had the same issues.

I started on the 10/10 package... and so far so EXTREMELY GOOD! Every time there's been an issue, I traced it to the site/provider I was accessing... e.g. HP's website is notorious for slow downloads.
I have upgraded to the 20/20 package today, and will work my way up slowly, examining quality etc, and will downgrade if I see a problem.
I have had zero issues and zero need to complain. My only issue is that on the 10/10 package... Netflix HD streams will saturate the link and any other users on the line will suffer.

But I seriously doubt I will have issue.. I even had good experiences during loadshedding.

One thing is certain today as I write this... STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM COOL IDEAS!

 

[konfab]

I just got activated on Octotel with Afrihost's 100/25 package.

I honestly don't think I can complain
https://www.speedtest.net/result/8863042642

 

[GotToLuveIT]

Closure

So guess what, I was wrong. And I admit it, and I apologize unreservedly for this thread. Given the crap information I was given at the time I can be forgiven but I was wrong.
I reconnected my FTTH line via Vox Telecom and I made it clear that I would start with small packages and work my way up, because of two reasons:

1. In the absence of reliable technical info, I cannot be sure that my suspicion is anything other than just plain old suspicion that, at high speeds (the notorious 100/25 package) the network is not so nice
2. Because not everyone on the network has, or had the same issues.

I started on the 10/10 package... and so far so EXTREMELY GOOD! Every time there's been an issue, I traced it to the site/provider I was accessing... e.g. HP's website is notorious for slow downloads.
I have upgraded to the 20/20 package today, and will work my way up slowly, examining quality etc, and will downgrade if I see a problem.
I have had zero issues and zero need to complain. My only issue is that on the 10/10 package... Netflix HD streams will saturate the link and any other users on the line will suffer.

But I seriously doubt I will have issue.. I even had good experiences during loadshedding.

One thing is certain today as I write this... STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM COOL IDEAS!

Sorry dude, but your post is taking some leaps to reach a "flavor of the day" conclusions popular with the "sheepel" at the moment.
Some facts not in your current post, while you were away Octo lit more capacity, removed some carries, took some link management in-ho(u)se and upgraded switch gear.
So your comparison is flawed, the network is not the same as when you had your issues.
Also I notice you omit the fact that multiple folks on other ISPs had problems the same time you did, leading to "the great fault gathering" between ISPs at the time to push Octo to look at the network.

Anyway enjoy the FTTH, glad you are sorted in the end.

 

[Tkburn1439]

From my experience , their network has only been awesome. I’m on a 100/25 package with SEACOM on the Octotel network and at most have had 1 days downtime for the past year , speeds are also always consistent and exceed the rated values.

 

[Andre]

I'm satisfied with the performance as well and also on 100/25.

No sign of any slowdowns during "Netflix" hours.