Screamer: The consensus?

[AntiThesis]

So, has Screamer improved enough to be called a real ISP? Or are they hanging on the edge of a large and tutu-fillled chasm?

Have things improved to a point that you feel the service is worthwhile? What (if anything) has been promised but not delivered?

Yesterday, howzit (Screamer Rep) posted this:

Hi Guys
As per normal we are very busy making sure our systems are able to handle the volumes that we hope to be able to supply. Although our systems are rhobust we were let down by some up stream providers and the recognition of our IP's which meant that we were forced to NAT our network which prevented some of our clients using our system for what they needed.

We are committed to providing the SA Consumer with the most affordable broadband available, be it on our own WiMAX network or over ADSL.

We should have our IP's recognised on all networks within the next 2 weeks and we will then stop NAT'ing and will operate as a Tier 1 ISP.

A lot of our clients have been very complimentary about out service but we do realise that there are those that feel we have not given them the ultimate service that we are aiming for and that they expect from us.

As a token of appreciation to those clients who feel they have not received a great service but have stayed with us and helped us by stress testing our systems I have been authorised to offer you a full discount for your November bill.

So if you feel you were not able to use the system to its maximum in Nov please PM me your account no and you will be credited for your Nov invoice. As the debit order runs have already gone through this credit will be applied against your invoice at the end of Dec.

Thanks again for your help and patience. We promise it will be worth it in a week or two.

ps. Please don't vote me into a Tutu

I guess it really comes down to a vote as well - does howzit's solution work for you?

Things to consider:

1) cda has never stepped up and put his tutu where his mouth is
2) Screamer promised that things would improve by the end of 27/11/2009
3) Screamer also bought into the challenge to wear a tutu in an apologetic video if things didn't improve

Aand go.

 

[Necuno]

you got flagshipped™

but give them a chance

 

[Eyenstyn]

how is the speed on digichilli, on the mild package?

 

[Eyenstyn]

ok i found out, sorry about highjacking the thread

 

[saffakanera]

I think UPTIME should be the big word in play here, not speed.

 

[Eyenstyn]

I think UPTIME should be the big word in play here, not speed.

r u currently using digichilli?

 

[AntiThesis]

So far the responses have been mediocre at best. I don't think anyone doubts that howzit has done some good work but the problems still exist and public IPs aren't here yet.

Some of the comments from people I asked:

I am on the 384 uncapped option, have to say..web browsing and http downloads suck donkey balls, but news server connection is flying!!

Ill happily join up with the guys again if they get the network at an acceptable level!

Using a 384 line and the R399 ADSL uncapped offer, I managed to download close on 2gig over 24hrs by Friday 13H00. Between 12H00 and 14H00 on friday there were some major gaps in service of up to 20 minutes each. Probably still sorting issues out on their side. If they can get rid of those teething problems within the next few weeks... I would say that I'm very happy.

@howzit: So far they're all keen for the tutu - take it as it's meant though; we're very much behind the idea of Screamer. I firmly believe there's a bright future for them if they can sort out the issues - we've seen what competition can do for the market and there's a huge potential here.

The question is: has the recent offer of a refund by Screamer done enough for people to be happy?

Can we have a tutu or not poll?

 

[Srack0verflow]

just how much can a 384 move in 24 hours? 4 gig theoreticaly, right?
personaly, with my 384 i've managed 3 gig per day before

 

[qinglung]

just how much can a 384 move in 24 hours? 4 gig theoreticaly, right?
personaly, with my 384 i've managed 3 gig per day before

After taking overheads into account, you should get about 3.2GB on a 384 line.

 

[SirFooK'nG]

After taking overheads into account, you should get about 3.2GB on a 384 line.

My most this month is 1.5gig over a 24hr period and my lowest so far is 1gig over 24hr period. This is running Utorrent for 4 days solid over the weekend with no browsing or HTTP downloads, just torrents.

Today it is slower than a 56k dialup....

 

[MetalCut]

hi, does anybody know if there is wimax/wifi coverage in the meyersdal area, is there anyone staying there thats allready using screamer wimax/wifi service?

 

[naeem]

i'd rather stick to the bigger names

Afrihost, Openweb, Webafrica etc.

I'm still hoping on Webafrica to come to the party with something soon though

 

[vernonh]

Hi All

It seem to me that the initial 6kbps has jumped to +-30kbps on my 384kbps uncapped option....

I did get a phone call from a Screamer Representative who explain the hiccups and atleast showed commitement to fix the problems, which I respect, I would rather know the problem and have them be completly honest about the oversubscription and trying to catchup with getting more bandwidth priovisioned than been in the dark....

I will test out the service for the next month and make a call.... If all goes well will upgrade form 384 to 512....

I will check tonight was the average daily throughput looks like, cause it been running 24/7 for the last few days.....

Keep you posted....

 

[bmchunu]

i'd rather stick to the bigger names

Afrihost, Openweb, Webafrica etc.

I'm still hoping on Webafrica to come to the party with something soon though

Yeah me too .. one more month of Webafrica while trialing uncapped Cybersmart!

 

[bradlesliect]

Hi,

I'm trying to follow this discussion as I need to make a decision about which ISP is going to get my bizniz... Currently with Web Africa - was one of their trial users last month - but I don't think I'm getting value for the buck I am spending. E.g. I pay R290pm for 6GB and this includes local and international browsing. Some of the other ISP's offer 10-30GB local cap on top of your shaped cap.

I was looking at Afrihost...what's the feeling out there? Good? Bad? Disgustingly poor?

With Seacom now a reality, I would have thought by now that ISPs would have dropped pricing radically but ...I dont see it?

In terms of ranking, how would you rate ISPs currently selling ADSL data bundles? Lets see if we can get a rough idea of how users are feeling?

Sure this has prolly been done many times before but would be interesting to see now.

 

[robkowa]

To give a bit more balance to the discussion, I've logged in to Screamer today for the first time, and here's my results:
local server (Johannesburg): ping 183ms, down 0.32 Mb/s, up 0.1 Mb/s.
Uk server (coventry): ping 316ms, down 0.43 Mb/s, up 0.09 Mb/s
US server (New York): ping 386ms, down 0.29 Mb/s, up 0.1 Mb/s

Not a whole lot different from what I used to get with Afrihost!

 

[digital]

just how much can a 384 move in 24 hours? 4 gig theoreticaly, right?
personaly, with my 384 i've managed 3 gig per day before

I did 3.1 gb,could of done little bit more i think

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

To give a bit more balance to the discussion, I've logged in to Screamer today for the first time, and here's my results:
local server (Johannesburg): ping 183ms, down 0.32 Mb/s, up 0.1 Mb/s.
Uk server (coventry): ping 316ms, down 0.43 Mb/s, up 0.09 Mb/s
US server (New York): ping 386ms, down 0.29 Mb/s, up 0.1 Mb/s

Not a whole lot different from what I used to get with Afrihost!

Those pings are still pretty high though - where are you situated?

EDIT: I'm pinging at 90ms to Joburg server and 63ms to PTA server. (Afrihost)

 

[Adventurer]

The speed on my 512 a/c has jumped dramatically and has been running at over 500Kb for the last 4 hours!!!

Do you think they have finally got it sorted??

http://www.speedtest.net/result/637884711.png

 

[robkowa]

Hmmm, I'm bang in the middle of Joburg, Westdene, in sight of the SABC. But what the hell, am not a gamer, pings aren't as important to me as unlimited data. Can say that it immediately just "feels" different to surf when you're not worried about the cap anymore. Free at last...