OpenWeb Research

[MrBEEP]

Hey Friends,

We are researching a new product. We would love your input.

Would a product that offers x amount of capped data during the day, unshaped, then rate limited during office hours, and uncapped after hours have space in the market?

The thought behind it is that some folks wish to have surety as to what they are getting during peak, yet want the freedom of uncapped off peak.

You will be able to load a topup during peak to increase your daytime bandwidth if you so wish.

We look forward to your response.

 

[Aharon]

Would it be uncapped and unshaped after hours? Would it running at line speed or be different prices for different line speeds?

 

[DJ...]

Sounds good. Since scheduling my downloads to go off after hours I don't necessarily have an issue with daytime speeds, but I can see the benefit of having guaranteed unshaped data during the day. A hybrid might work...

 

[Ancalagon]

Not sure I understand - there will be three different, uh, settings?
1. Capped during the day
2. Rate limited during office hours (doesnt this overlap with above?)
3. Uncapped after hours.

EDIT: Nevermind, I get it. Capped during the day, then rate limited once your cap runs out.

I think it could work, but it would depend on the hours, and the cap. And obviously the uncapped part will still be shaped/throttled. Personally, its not for me, I'm happy on uncapped gold.

But then again, if this were cheap enough...

 

[DJ...]

I presume that's rate limited after reaching daytime cap...

 

[MrBEEP]

Correct yes. Only once your cap has been reached.

I'm presume that's rate limited after reaching daytime cap...

 

[MrBEEP]

Yes, once the cap is reached, it is rate limited during office hours.

After hours it is shaped on a normal uncapped level. Eg, if the network is busy it will be shaped, if quiet, unshaped. It will run at the speed of your line after hours, not at the daytime rate limited speed, even if you have reached your daytime cap.

Not sure I understand - there will be three different, uh, settings?
1. Capped during the day
2. Rate limited during office hours (doesnt this overlap with above?)
3. Uncapped after hours.

EDIT: Nevermind, I get it. Capped during the day, then rate limited once your cap runs out.

I think it could work, but it would depend on the hours, and the cap. And obviously the uncapped part will still be shaped/throttled. Personally, its not for me, I'm happy on uncapped gold.

But then again, if this were cheap enough...

 

[HavocXphere]

I would not go to it personally - just because it means going back to setting up schedules and all that schlep. I'd rather just not worry & have the shaping sort it out during the day.

That being said, I was recently home during a week day & the internet was entirely unusable...both OW and AH. TI was slow but functional. I'm talking browsing...as in getting a mybb page to load. To me that indicates a more fundamental problem rather than a gap in the market for a new product. Maybe I'm misjudging events though - doesn't really affect me either way...I'm mostly at work.

I'd be cautious with "rate limited"...that kind of thing draws bad PR like a magnet.

I can see a small market for it...but it seems like a real niche product.

 

[MrBEEP]

That is our worry.

Anything 'throttled' or 'rate limited', call it what you may is terrible for PR.

Right now we do not throttle anything. Perhaps its best it remains this way? Even if it only applies to one product?

I would not go to it personally - just because it means going back to setting up schedules and all that schlep. I'd rather just not worry & have the shaping sort it out during the day.

That being said, I was recently home during a week day & the internet was entirely unusable...both OW and AH. TI was slow but functional. I'm talking browsing...as in getting a mybb page to load. To me that indicates a more fundamental problem rather than a gap in the market for a new product. Maybe I'm misjudging events though - doesn't really affect me either way...I'm mostly at work.

I'd be cautious with "rate limited"...that kind of thing draws bad PR like a magnet.

I can see a small market for it...but it seems like a real niche product.

 

[HavocXphere]

Given my dubious encounter with daytime usage I don't think loading a pile of people with unshaped data onto the net will help things.

Alternative idea: Keep the uncapped packages as is, but allocate like 50mb of unshaped data to each package per day during day time. For the light users this will improve the browsing experience while the heavy users will smoke through the 50mb in 2 minutes flat & then hit the usual shaping wall.

Its a bit of a band aid solution to the day time browsing, but it should help limit complaints.

 

[Ancalagon]

Well you could market it as soft capped during the day, and uncapped at night, which is technically true. Just make sure people know they will be throttled once they hit their cap.

I think it could work provided the price was right. Still not for me, but I imagine it might appeal to some.

 

[whatwhat]

Why do we need more complicated products?

 

[Keigo]

Sound like Openweb's current product "After Hours Uncapped" and plus a office hour cap limit.

Few question brings up to my mind.

Is the cap limit shaped or unshaped?

How much cap do the account get? for eg. 1mb get 2gb a day or 60gb a month

After the cap is finished, is the account shaped or throttled? (I prefer throttled)

Will there be a specific time for uncapped or will change base of how busy the network is?

Will Openweb upgrade or change the current control panel interface to suite this product to confirm office hour usage or top up?

 

[DJ...]

Part of the brand image of Openweb is based on the no throttling policy and the simplistic product management. Taking other comments on board, it might pose a risk breaching this rule for the sake of appeasement of what appears to be a very small niche of the market.

I get that you need to keep your products evolving with the times, but while you're still limited by Telkom exorbitant IPC costs, there's no point in doing so just for the sake of it. This appears to be an effort to cover all aspects of the market. That's not entirely necessary imo.

You've carved out a brand based on certain principles. Probably best not to move from them. We all know how well that went down with MWEB subscribers...

 

[Avenue]

With the vanilla uncapped, there are times you can sit for minutes waiting for a web page to load. I think there is absolutely a place for this in the market, dependant on price of course and how much data you get during the day.

 

[HavocXphere]

I must say I'm kinda impressed by OPs confidence in the mybb community...creating a thread like this and then calling it a day...

 

[F1 Fan]

Part of the brand image of Openweb is based on the no throttling policy and the simplistic product management. Taking other comments on board, it might pose a risk breaching this rule for the sake of appeasement of what appears to be a very small niche of the market.

I get that you need to keep your products evolving with the times, but while you're still limited by Telkom exorbitant IPC costs, there's no point in doing so just for the sake of it. This appears to be an effort to cover all aspects of the market. That's not entirely necessary imo.

You've carved out a brand based on certain principles. Probably best not to move from them. We all know how well that went down with MWEB subscribers...

Fully agree. OW is well known for their "No Throttling" policy. Don't change that. While I fully understand that there have been a lot of complaints about browsing during the day, I don't think anyone wants to move back to "capped". Personally I think you should just try your best to ensure everyone's accounts are at least usable during the day. Or perhaps give all your uncapped customers 1gig of data to use during the day?

 

[TEXTILE GUY]

Part of the brand image of Openweb is based on the no throttling policy and the simplistic product management. Taking other comments on board, it might pose a risk breaching this rule for the sake of appeasement of what appears to be a very small niche of the market.

I get that you need to keep your products evolving with the times, but while you're still limited by Telkom exorbitant IPC costs, there's no point in doing so just for the sake of it. This appears to be an effort to cover all aspects of the market. That's not entirely necessary imo.

You've carved out a brand based on certain principles. Probably best not to move from them. We all know how well that went down with MWEB subscribers...

I think DJ has hit the nail on the head here. Open Web - Its just so easy - that's your brand, and hey worked for me,

I may bitch and complain - but hey, I am one of those crappy consumers we all have to deal with - but I love the simplicity and the modus operandi of Open Web. If anything, I would suggest bolstering your technical backup, and if that were 100%, I personally would say that you are the dream ISP for my needs.

Edit .. Daytime browsing is a bit difficult to say the least ... but I am sure that you could fix this pretty quickly?

 

[Gtx Gaming]

Sounds good.

I would like a 50gb capped account during office hours and uncapped after hours. ( looking at my 1mps account that i only use during the day)

Because atm i manually switch over to my afterhours uncapped account each day.

Thee offer should be like this one :
https://www.lantic.net/connectivity/adsl/fat-pipe

+

https://www.lantic.net/connectivity/adsl/uncapped-adsl/adsl-uncapped-bolt-on

 

[rorz0r]

I don't think it's a bad idea but I do think it's more effort than its worth. I'm on OW gold but I probably only do about 50gb a month. Maybe it's 100. I don't know, don't care and an happy to pay to not have to worry about it. Managing an account like that would require more effort and there's always the possibility of "mistakes" and then tears.