Official Crystal Web ADSL performance feedback thread Part 2...

Are you satisfied with your Crystal Web account?

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crackersa said:
well, I decided to try out Crystal Web. started a download for xbox one at 21h00 and it finished at 05h00, total of 10gbs. shouldn't a gig take just over 30 minutes to complete? so at max speed, what could have taken 5 to 6 hours to do, took 8 hours. not really that bad. will just have to watch it over the next couple weeks.

once I can get Netflix and hulu working, it'll help me decide if I got a quality product or not. it's to early to tell for now.
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30min per gig would be 4.5Mbps constant throughput. IIRC yours is a 2Mbps line? With DSL overhead you're looking at around 0.75GB max per hour.

EDIT: yours is 4Mbps. Apologies. With DSL overhead, max would be around 1.5GB per hour. So you'd expect it to finish with a quality line and connection in around 7 hours or so.
 
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killerbyte said:
@CW: Quick question, and this is not specifically aimed at CW, its just a general question on practices by CW and other ISPs.

Why is it that some ISPs require a full calendar months notice (MWEB, CW, etc) and other like Afrihost allow you to cancel your service or change it at any time as long as you make it before the next billing run.

This has always caused frustration on my part and its one of the things I love about AH, just that freedom to change my mind whenever and not have to endure extra cost because of processes.

I appreciate your reply.
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We're going to start to standardise these in the coming weeks as well now as we make a few changes on our end. Cancellation terms are there because of IPC bandwidth forecasts which one does in advance. The later you leave that the more likey you are to have issues here and there. Put very simply.
 
killerbyte said:
Why is it that some ISPs require a full calendar months notice (MWEB, CW, etc) and other like Afrihost allow you to cancel your service or change it at any time as long as you make it before the next billing run.
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In some cases its because they are reselling accounts from other providers.
 
Crystal Web said:
We're going to start to standardise these in the coming weeks as well now as we make a few changes on our end. Cancellation terms are there because of IPC bandwidth forecasts which one does in advance. The later you leave that the more likey you are to have issues here and there. Put very simply.
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So in other words you don't get shafted because you've purchased X amount of IPC and then a few customers cancel and you are left with IPC capacity that is not being used and is thus a waste of money.
I can appreciate your point, it makes sense.
 
killerbyte said:
So in other words you don't get shafted because you've purchased X amount of IPC and then a few customers cancel and you are left with IPC capacity that is not being used and is thus a waste of money.
I can appreciate your point, it makes sense.
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Correct. Each account has a set amount of IPC that is forecast for it. Hence why massive users skew those numbers substantially and why you see some ISPs go through an annual "load-shedding" of top tier customers, but we do try to work those in as well for uncapped to an extent to avoid that. But all in all, yes, it's so that we can forecast accurately without the network becoming unprofitable for months here and there, to put it simply.
 
quovadis said:
In some cases its because they are reselling accounts from other providers.
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Well since CW isn't a Tier 1 then its obvious that they are reselling. If I recall correctly CW resells IS bandwidth as do many other ISPs. There are only a handful of Tier 1 ISPs and while they may have the advantage of controlling their own networks they too have issues. No ISP is perfect, no matter what the fanbois tell you (and I am an AH fanboy).
 
Crystal Web said:
Correct. Each account has a set amount of IPC that is forecast for it. Hence why massive users skew those numbers substantially and why you see some ISPs go through an annual "load-shedding" of top tier customers, but we do try to work those in as well for uncapped to an extent to avoid that. But all in all, yes, it's so that we can forecast accurately without the network becoming unprofitable for months here and there, to put it simply.
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Again, it comes down to Telkom. If Telkom's IPC was much cheaper ISPs like CW could make it easier for clients to leave or change their package without it hurting the bottom line.
 
killerbyte said:
Well since CW isn't a Tier 1 then its obvious that they are reselling. If I recall correctly CW resells IS bandwidth as do many other ISPs. There are only a handful of Tier 1 ISPs and while they may have the advantage of controlling their own networks they too have issues. No ISP is perfect, no matter what the fanbois tell you (and I am an AH fanboy).
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I was just trying to give an answer to your question but OK I'm not sure why you feel the need to explain that non-resellers have problems?
 
killerbyte said:
Well since CW isn't a Tier 1 then its obvious that they are reselling. If I recall correctly CW resells IS bandwidth as do many other ISPs. There are only a handful of Tier 1 ISPs and while they may have the advantage of controlling their own networks they too have issues. No ISP is perfect, no matter what the fanbois tell you (and I am an AH fanboy).
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Tier 1 operators rarely engage with the public. Tier 2 operators will typically operate an IPC network. Tier 3 operators will typically resell accounts.

We manage our own IPC capacity and operate our own shaping. At present we use some standard profiles on home capped and similar services, but that will all be changing soon as we move to customised profiles we are currently trialling.
 
killerbyte said:
Again, it comes down to Telkom. If Telkom's IPC was much cheaper ISPs like CW could make it easier for clients to leave or change their package without it hurting the bottom line.
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No matter what the price of IPC is, ISPs will all still try to maximise the network efficiently. So relatively the impact remains the same, but bottom line it can be less of a financial impact.
 
killerbyte said:
You just seem to be hating on CW today. I'm all about the love man... :P
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Killerbyte - I was SIGNING UP for CW today but unfortunately their website although advertising a SSL seal is not enabled for SSL and on querying I was told that it's up to me if I want to proceed. Now I find that unacceptable - its not hate its a fact of life. If Nedbank or FNB disabled their SSL "temporarily" and still kept their facilities functional there would be uproar. But OK it would seem that I cannot be critical of CW for a major flaw.
 
quovadis said:
Killerbyte - I was SIGNING UP for CW today but unfortunately their website although advertising a SSL seal is not enabled for SSL and on querying I was told that it's up to me if I want to proceed. Now I find that unacceptable - its not hate its a fact of life. If Nedbank or FNB disabled their SSL "temporarily" and still kept their facilities functional there would be uproar. But OK it would seem that I cannot be critical of CW for a major flaw.
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What details do you enter on their site? I can't remember what they asked for.
 
Crystal Web said:
30min per gig would be 4.5Mbps constant throughput. IIRC yours is a 2Mbps line? With DSL overhead you're looking at around 0.75GB max per hour.

EDIT: yours is 4Mbps. Apologies. With DSL overhead, max would be around 1.5GB per hour. So you'd expect it to finish with a quality line and connection in around 7 hours or so.
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so 8 hours wasn't so bad and easy to live with. thanks for the quick feedback.
 
CW: I had a question from that previous thread which was closed by mods which I never got a straight answer.

At what date specifically was the paragraph starting with "Bypassing of shaping or network management systems employed by Crystal Web or its upstream providers, either intentionally or unintentionally, by use of third party tools, encryption services, or services intended for use to download traditionally shaped services over alternate ports or protocols, is a contravention of this agreement, and may result in either deprioritisation of your account, irrespective of the account type you have purchased, and/or suspension of services without refund. You are required to rectify any such contravention within 24 hours of notice of such a breach being served on you by way of official communication from Crystal Web by any traditional support channels (including live chat)." added to the terms? And was this communicated to customers when it was made/added?
 
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@CrystalWeb, I'm still having problems with some websites on all my IS accounts. Are you able to access www.betonline.ag?

Been out since last night and works fine from my other accounts, sent a ticket to WA but haven't heard anything back yet. Could you take a look if there is something weird going on here?

TIA
 
quovadis said:
CW: I had a question from that previous thread which was closed by mods which I never got a straight answer.

At what date specifically was the paragraph starting with "Bypassing of shaping or network management systems employed by Crystal Web or its upstream providers, either intentionally or unintentionally, by use of third party tools, encryption services, or services intended for use to download traditionally shaped services over alternate ports or protocols, is a contravention of this agreement, and may result in either deprioritisation of your account, irrespective of the account type you have purchased, and/or suspension of services without refund. You are required to rectify any such contravention within 24 hours of notice of such a breach being served on you by way of official communication from Crystal Web by any traditional support channels (including live chat)." ? And was this communicated to customers when it was made/added?
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That part of our Ts and Cs hasn't even been built yet to automate. So not in effect yet. It relates to deprioritisation of the accounts and suspension. It's not related to the previous thread which was just general network management. Once the automations for this are built and this comes into effect, we'll be informing all customers with the relevant notice of the enforcement of the changes.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
@CrystalWeb, I'm still having problems with some websites on all my IS accounts. Are you able to access www.betonline.ag?

Been out since last night and works fine from my other accounts, sent a ticket to WA but haven't heard anything back yet. Could you take a look if there is something weird going on here?

TIA
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Nope. I can't access it either on my end. I'll log a service request for this one.
 
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