Rain's LTE network is a firetrucking disaster...

[charlieharper]

Tethering from my iPhone now to write this...

Had very bad experience with Rain last month - constantly super slow.. eventually they sorted something out and speeds returned to normal. (20-30mbps).
But since last week it's been going south again, while still remain good in the evenings (15 - 30mbps)... however tonight is different.

Couldn't even open https://www.speedtest.net to do a speedtest, but I've got the CLI installed, and got to perform a test directly from the terminal of my Macbook Pro without having to go through the impossible task of waiting for the website to load.

➜  ~ date
Tue Mar 17 23:32:17 SAST 2020
➜  ~ speedtest-cli
Retrieving speedtest.net configuration...
Testing from rain (197.184.201.110)...
Retrieving speedtest.net server list...
Cannot retrieve speedtest server list
ERROR: ('The read operation timed out',)
➜  ~ speedtest-cli
Retrieving speedtest.net configuration...
Testing from rain (197.184.201.110)...
Retrieving speedtest.net server list...
Selecting best server based on ping...
Hosted by FirstNet Technology Services (Pty) Ltd (Johannesburg) [3.18 km]: 100.644 ms
Testing download speed................................................................................
Download: 0.06 Mbit/s
Testing upload speed................................................................................................
Upload: 0.91 Mbit/s
➜  ~

0.06mbps at midnight??? Are you guy utterly flipping kidding me?? What the firetruck 2.0. It's been like this all day.

 

[James946]

I usually get 30-50 past 11 but for some reason I can't exceed 10 today. Maybe it's Rain working on their network or something

 

[charlieharper]

I usually get 30-50 past 11 but for some reason I can't exceed 10 today. Maybe it's Rain working on their network or something

Yeah, I've been deliberately switching my body clock the last few days to work at night (I'm a remote software dev) specifically because the internet is as good as dead during the day, but fine at night... tonight however it's a friggen nightmare.

 

[James946]

Yeah, I've been deliberately switching my body clock the last few days to work at night (I'm a remote software dev) specifically because the internet is as good as dead during the day, but fine at night... tonight however it's a friggen nightmare.

I feel you man, Rain 4G has been getting super slow the past few months. I cannot wait to get Fibre or even 5G coverage in my area

 

[charlieharper]

I feel you man, Rain 4G has been getting super slow the past few months. I cannot wait to get Fibre or even 5G coverage in my area

Yeah man.. I've been collecting FTTH interest responses from people in the neighbourhood and in talks with Link Africa (they own the backbone fibre pipe).

Fingers crossed they would take us into consideration so I can dump Rain/Afrihost once & for all.

 

[Jake45]

Just wait until the new uncapped customers join the party! Rain continues to sell the same fixed capacity to more and more customers so it's not surprising that the service continues to deteriorate.

 

[charlieharper]

Yeah it's crazy.. Just filed a complaint with the ISPA against Afrihost / Rain.

I'm still on a legacy capped Rain package (R1350) via Afrihost, but clearly they give me the same QoS as those cheap uncapped network hoggers.

I find this ethically wrong, especially coming from ADSL.
Historically, compared to ADSL providers, ADSL providers usually distinct capped and uncapped services by keeping uncapped users shaped to avoid network abuse / congestion and capped users fast and unshaped so they can eat through the data they are paying for on a per gb basis as quickly as possible.

 

[Dretastic06]

Just wait until the new uncapped customers join the party! Rain continues to sell the same fixed capacity to more and more customers so it's not surprising that the service continues to deteriorate.

They messed up with this new package

 

[R4ziel]

I'm on the 5G premium package and its been absolutely wonderful, haven't gone below 500mb/s and I am loving it

 

[charlieharper]

I'm on the 5G premium package and its been absolutely wonderful, haven't gone below 500mb/s and I am loving it

Lucky.. I'm in a small town far away from a 5G area (KZN, South Coast)... and even Fibre seems to be a far fetched dream for this area.

 

[R4ziel]

Lucky.. I'm in a small town far away from a 5G area (KZN, South Coast)... and even Fibre seems to be a far fetched dream for this area.

So you are in a pretty crappy area, but then still want to make the claim that "Rains LTE Network is a firetrucking disaster"? That's like buying a Lamborghini and saying all Lambos suck because they get stuck on the dirt roads to your farm

 

[charlieharper]

So you are in a pretty crappy area, but then still want to make the claim that "Rains LTE Network is a firetrucking disaster"? That's like buying a Lamborghini and saying all Lambos suck because they get stuck on the dirt roads to your farm

No, my point is it's achieved 20-30mbps consistently in the past.... I think it's more the unmaintained Lambo that's choking when it shouldn't be..

 

[R4ziel]

No, my point is it's achieved 20-30mbps consistently in the past.... I think it's more the unmaintained Lambo that's choking when it shouldn't be..

But you stated the whole network is a disaster, which by my standard of internet is not true, maybe it is just in your area where there is maintenance being done on the tower or something more seriously wrong affecting you in the small town far away from the upgraded towers, which is probably something you should indicate when making the initial post

 

[rick9k]

But you stated the whole network is a disaster, which by my standard of internet is not true, maybe it is just in your area where there is maintenance being done on the tower or something more seriously wrong affecting you in the small town far away from the upgraded towers, which is probably something you should indicate when making the initial post

He said the LTE network and he is correct cause all of the packages on the LTE network are intentionally hindered