Openweb's LITE vs STANDARD vs GOLD uncapped accounts

[Krypt0n1te]

Hi Guys

Can Someone please take a look at http://www.openweb.co.za/index_uncapped.asp and explain to me what differentiate the one from the other.

On the STANDARD and GOLD they explicitly say... "...* Shaped: P2P, torrents and similar services are given the lowest priority on the network..." and not on the LITE account.

Please help.

I am NOT a heavy downloader. I will use the 384kbps service and use a MAX of say 500mb per day. Will I get Shaped and/or Throttled?

1. If I take the LITE, how will this affect me. ?
2. Roughly how much do you need to DL on a 384 line to fall in the top 20%
[-]3. On a side note who sells SAIX local only?[/-]


Thanks in advance.

 

[stevenv]

I personally have Gold for the lower contention ratios and option of switching backbones if required. I think that Lite is for really low usage (not as low as Openbrowse), maybe 15GB per month will be too much on that account. Also, considering this package has a top 20% rule, this is probably an IS network which means you can get throttled quite quickly, I'm sure many people who reach the top 20% switch to other ISPs or upgrade to Gold to get on a better network. The top 20% fluctuates, depends on the type of people on the network and what they're doing. Basically I don't think you can't put an exact figure on it, which also makes it easier for ISPs to use this as a reason for getting more out of their network by throttling subscribers.

 

[Krypt0n1te]

@stevenv Thx for the input will go and read up on contention ratios


Anyone else want to shed some light here.

PS. Mods, I realize I should've posted this in the ADSL ISP DISCUSSIONS Sub-forum...please move it there!

 

[Chevron]

Standard and lite aren't aren't true uncapped accounts. You get punished for using them as such.

On GOLD though you can do what you want. No throttling.

 

[Krypt0n1te]

Qwikslver... thanks for making the effort to reply, much appreciated.

However it does not seem that anybody know what the differences are.

Secondly, OpenWeb advertise these products with no clear indication of how they differ.

In other words... you sit with OpenBrowse, LITE and Standard, and none of them should really be used for downloading??

On the LITE package they say...

"...Don't get us wrong, P2P and torrents will be a breeze, until you enter the 20% bracket, upon which they will be drastically shaped..."

Anyone care to explain.

 

[Chevron]

Qwikslver... thanks for making the effort to reply, much appreciated.

However it does not seem that anybody know what the differences are.

Secondly, OpenWeb advertise these products with no clear indication of how they differ.

In other words... you sit with OpenBrowse, LITE and Standard, and none of them should really be used for downloading??

On the LITE package they say...

"...Don't get us wrong, P2P and torrents will be a breeze, until you enter the 20% bracket, upon which they will be drastically shaped..."

Anyone care to explain.

I see you are new. All the CHEAP IS accounts have a threshold at which you get shaped. They look at your usage and if you fall in the top 20% og highest users you will be shaped.

Openbrowse as the name implies is just for browsing.

Take GOLD if you want no worry internet.

 

[Krypt0n1te]

I see you are new. All the CHEAP IS accounts have a threshold at which you get shaped. They look at your usage and if you fall in the top 20% og highest users you will be shaped.

Openbrowse as the name implies is just for browsing.

Take GOLD if you want no worry internet.

Thanks man... I'm glad that you are trying to help out here. Last night I've read up from page 275 to current on the OpenWeb Uncapped thread...so I do have an idea what is going on. As you mentioned about 95% of the posts was re the GOLD accounts.

The thing that is still boggling my mind is the following.... Lets assume I'm held at gunpoint and need to decide between LITE and STANDARD. How should I know what the difference is?

Some background. I've been using SAIX (Do 2 and Do3) news servers for the past 3 years with GREAT success. So this is a mere exercise to learn more and obviously to give me more options.

Again thx for trying to explain this stuff.

OK LITE vs Standard?

 

[stevenv]

OK LITE vs Standard?

Sorry to be Captain Obvious ...

Lite:

Users are divided into two groups. 80% and 20%. 80% of the user base will always experience full speed access, with no shaping. 20% of the user base will be shaped. The fair usage policy on our Lite accounts is dynamic. Low to mid range users will always experience unshaped, superior access.

Standard:

P2P, torrents and similar services are given the lowest priority on the network

If you choose Lite, better be in the bottom 80% otherwise you will be throttled. End of story.

If you choose Standard, so long as you don't use P2P, torrents or similar services you will be fine. If you do use these services and still choose Standard, you will be throttled on those services.

 

[stevenv]

Take GOLD if you want no worry internet.

+1

I use as much data as I currently need and never exerience performance degradation (except when there is a technical problem).

 

[Krypt0n1te]

Sorry to be Captain Obvious ...

If you choose Lite, better be in the bottom 80% otherwise you will be throttled. End of story.

If you choose Standard, so long as you don't use P2P, torrents or similar services you will be fine. If you do use these services and still choose Standard, you will be throttled on those services.

Thanks for your input, seems like I'm getting somewhere.I just still feel from reading the website they don't give you any clear indication.. so with all due respect, I do not think it is so obvious!

1. Any rough estimation where that 80%/20% is?
2. Is Shaped and Throttled the same thing?
3. On LITE I can use torrents and P2P as long as I stay within the 80%
4. On STANDARD I can for instance stream media ALL DAY LONG as long as I stay away from P2P.

Lastly thanks for myBB community helping out here, don't see this thread as an attack to members who try to help out. I just think for a leading ISP the site description is NOT as obvious for the average Joe.

I will contact Keoma and see if I can get more specifics.

 

[Chevron]

Thanks for your input, seems like I'm getting somewhere.I just still feel from reading the website they don't give you any clear indication.. so with all due respect, I do not think it is so obvious!

1. Any rough estimation where that 80%/20% is?
2. Is Shaped and Throttled the same thing?
3. On LITE I can use torrents and P2P as long as I stay within the 80%
4. On STANDARD I can for instance stream media ALL DAY LONG as long as I stay away from P2P.

Lastly thanks for myBB community helping out here, don't see this thread as an attack to members who try to help out. I just think for a leading ISP the site description is NOT as obvious for the average Joe.

I will contact Keoma and see if I can get more specifics.

I'd strongly recommend you don't bother with those accounts and just get the GOLD special that's on at the moment.

 

[Krypt0n1te]

Last one before I rest my case...

5. On both the STANDARD and GOLD they say: "* Shaped: (P2P, torrents and similar services are given the lowest priority on the network)" so my issue still lies with the lack of info from the site!

ANYWOOOOOOOOO

Qwikslver & stevenv, thanks so much for helping out!! Much appreciated, may you be blessed with many happy GBytes

 

[stevenv]

1. Any rough estimation where that 80%/20% is?

It depends on what the user base is doing.

2. Is Shaped and Throttled the same thing?

Open to interpretation depending on the ISP and wording in the FUP. Many uncapped (and capped) accounts are shaped which basically means that certain protocols are given lower priority whereas more frequently used (common) protocols such as HTTP, FTP, POP, SMTP etc. are given higher priority so that the downloaders don't affect the non-downloaders. Throttling is an approach taken by ISPs to "punish" abusers or excessive users of their networks by limiting either all or some protocols either all the time or during certain periods. So there are some similarities but throttling has more negative connotations.

3. On LITE I can use torrents and P2P as long as I stay within the 80%

Probably but using those services will get you into the top 20% pretty quickly unless you hardly use them. Think about it this way: people who do use those services tend to stay away from 80/20 accounts because of this exact issue. As a result it is easy to get into the top 20% if you're one of the few people on the network using these that result in large amounts of traffic.

4. On STANDARD I can for instance stream media ALL DAY LONG as long as I stay away from P2P.

Well, according to the information on the site there is no 80/20 policy but you would have to find out about the shaping policies on such services to figure out if the account is good for you. For example, if you want to stream during office hours, they might be shaping entertainment services (such as audio streaming) to give "business" services more bandwidth on the network. Only the ISP can give you that information though.

Lastly thanks for myBB community helping out here, don't see this thread as an attack to members who try to help out. I just think for a leading ISP the site description is NOT as obvious for the average Joe.

Definitely, their explanations of the differences between packages could do with improvement. Not saying it's the case with Openweb but a number of ISPs keep the information intentionally vague as possible in order for them to apply any shaping/throttling rules they want without the user base having anything to fight back with.

 

[stevenv]

5. On both the STANDARD and GOLD they say: "* Shaped: (P2P, torrents and similar services are given the lowest priority on the network)" so my issue still lies with the lack of info from the site!

You basically need a concrete definition of the difference between the two accounts, will have to contact the ISP to get that. My understanding is the gold have lower contention ratios i.e. less people on the network, so during peak times you won't see a dip in performance. I haven't personally tried standard but have zero complaints with gold. And for a saving of R3.30 per day, I'm not going to change to find out.

 

[Krypt0n1te]

@stevenv Now this is what I call INFORMATIVE! Big up to you for the very clear and accurate answers that you gave me (and other members).

I now also understand why they keep the info on the sites fairly/very vague!

Will keep you on my PM shortlist if I need any other info.

As they say... Buy that man a Bells!