Telkom Internet Uncapped User Feedback.

Status
Not open for further replies.
I don't think it's Telkom ISP at fault there... it's most likely the DNS service you use to be able to stream Hulu from SA. I just finished watching a 2 hour long movie which did not buffer once since it started. In fact, I never have had a stream need buffering once it get's going.
I'm on 4Mb account with someone else gaming and Youtubing at the same time. There are quite a few US DNS services out there. Give them all a try and see which works for you. I use the Media Hint plug-in and found their free service to be faster than Unotelly and Unblock-us. I set up my Hulu and Netflix account with the Spotflux free DNS app but use Mediahint to stream as it is a faster more stable connection.
 
Hmmm, will definitely give that a shot. I've set my DNS for Joburg, then use the Hola plugin to get round the region restrictions. I have also tried using the DNS settings given on tunlr (as per a post on roguecode) with no luck. Which would be a better option: to change the DNS settings on the machine i'm streaming from or to change the DNS settings on the router itself? I'm trying the google DNS settings now, will see how that goes. Otherwise I just google for american DNS settings and sift through them?
 
Last edited:
Nope, adjusted my DNS settings on the Macbook for Joburg, then tried Mediahint, it buffered halfway through a movie trailer :/ Also tried watching a movie, it buffered for about a minute, 5 minutes into the movie...I'll give Unotelly a shot later today.
 
Okay just tried UnoTelly, MediaHint, Hola and Tunlr. Of all of them, Hola and Mediahint had the best results, but still no luck in watching anything without it pausing and buffering. In fact, since this morning my streaming has gone down to basically non-existent. Whatever I open buffers within 5 seconds of opening, then it just sits there buffering for about 2 - 5 minutes every time. I've noticed my download speeds have also gone down to about 1 - 1.5mbps locally (bar the odd burst to 2 or 3 here and there). I'm no expert but that sound terrible for a 4mb line...
 
UnitShift said:
Okay just tried UnoTelly, MediaHint, Hola and Tunlr. Of all of them, Hola and Mediahint had the best results, but still no luck in watching anything without it pausing and buffering. In fact, since this morning my streaming has gone down to basically non-existent. Whatever I open buffers within 5 seconds of opening, then it just sits there buffering for about 2 - 5 minutes every time. I've noticed my download speeds have also gone down to about 1 - 1.5mbps locally (bar the odd burst to 2 or 3 here and there). I'm no expert but that sound terrible for a 4mb line...
Click to expand...

Sounds like something is iffy. I use TI on a 4Meg uncapped, synced at 10meg, and using Unotelly on the UK Netflix dynamo I stream HD with Zero buffering whatsoever. The US dynamo setting let's me steam HD, with occasional switching to SD and back to HD, but no buffering. I can also watch 1080p YouTube without buffering most of the time...

What is your YouTube performance like?
 
minerva said:
I can also watch 1080p YouTube without buffering most of the time...

What is your YouTube performance like?
Click to expand...

Just tried Youtube streaming as well. On low res streaming (360p and under) it works perfectly, but anything higher than 360p it buffers almost immediately. Even on very short videos, the moment I set it to 480p or upwards, it almost immediately hits a snag and starts buffering.

Just by the way: is this not something I should post in a new thread...? Kind of feels like I'm hijacking this one O_o
 
UnitShift you seem to have some wierd issues.
I originally had a 2mb line and streamed Hulu and Netflix perfectly.
4mb line now and it's even better.

Using Unotelly.
 
Electric said:
UnitShift you seem to have some wierd issues.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it :/ I've tried with WiFi and with an ethernet cable, same results. I can't imagine that is is only the DNS service that could be the problem if Youtube and the like are also streaming slowly? I've just run another speedtest internationally and locally: 3.4mbps down, 0.4 up. Local ping is about 25ms, international 300ms. Better results than yesterday, but streaming is still terrible?
 
Okay, I've flushed my DNS, removed UnoTelly and reinstalled Mediahint. Restarted the machine, cleared all my caches and (touch wood) it LOOKS like its working now...Been able to stream content in full HD with no buffering off Hulu and Youtube for the past couple of minutes...Let's hope its sorted...if it isn't, you guys will be the first to know ;)
 
Spoke too soon :/ It FLEW for about two episodes, no buffering whatsoever. Now on episode three its has been buffering like crazy, even on low quality stream from Hulu. Buffers for quite a while, every couple of minutes. But that's how it usually is: first two or three episodes of the day are great, then after that it all goes down the tubes.
 
UnitShift said:
Spoke too soon :/ It FLEW for about two episodes, no buffering whatsoever. Now on episode three its has been buffering like crazy, even on low quality stream from Hulu. Buffers for quite a while, every couple of minutes. But that's how it usually is: first two or three episodes of the day are great, then after that it all goes down the tubes.
Click to expand...

I've tried Web Africa, OpenWeb, Afrihost, PluGG and TI with Hulu and all of them buffer like crazy, sometimes you get a patch where its good but it always goes to hell - so I think it's an issue with Hulu - I've tried Unotelly and Tunlr to see if it made a difference and it didnt.

Netflix works fine on all though, I don't stream HD because I have multiple devices streaming at the same time, most of the time - so I can't say how that works.

ps - im on 4mb.
 
blunt said:
I've tried Web Africa, OpenWeb, Afrihost, PluGG and TI with Hulu and all of them buffer like crazy, sometimes you get a patch where its good but it always goes to hell - so I think it's an issue with Hulu - I've tried Unotelly and Tunlr to see if it made a difference and it didnt.

Netflix works fine on all though, I don't stream HD because I have multiple devices streaming at the same time, most of the time - so I can't say how that works.

ps - im on 4mb.
Click to expand...

Even on my 4mbps line I've never had issues with Hulu or Netflix on TI. Now that I have a 10Mbps line it is much better though as I'm able to maintain a constant HD stream on Netflix apart from last night when streaming and all international traffic was broken. Everything's back to normal again.

I would, however, say that my best streaming experience was with Afrihost Business Uncapped. Waiting for things to improve over at Afrihost before I go back.
 
Hmm, my streaming has gone entirely pear shaped now. Buffering every 2 minutes on Hulu, even on SD. Youtube videos still buffering on anything above 480p. Not even able to watch a trailer from start to finish, nevermind anything else :/ And I can forget about doing anything while streaming as well. Same results on WiFi and cable. Sure its not my line...? O_o

EDIT: My international download speed has dropped to a whopping 0.3mbps :/ Netflix won't even open a video and Hulu and Youtube are basically down to 2 minutes buffer, 1 minute stream the whole time. Seriously?
 
Last edited:
So apparently there is "metallic interference" on my line, which could lead to "noise", which affects my download speeds and line consistency. Apparently. Telkom's sending a technician out tomorrow to hopefully fix it. Will see if that solves the issue...
 
Is Telkom limiting iTunes HD traffic?

When I stream the same show in SD it's blazing fast. A 500MB SD show will completely load in about 8 - 10 minutes which is anything from 7Mbps - 8.5Mbps by my calculations. HD content, however, buffers which shouldn't be the case at those speeds.
 
Is anyone having problems streaming twitch.tv? I have constant buffering on medium/low. I'm on 4Mbps uncapped.
 
Internet has been really crappy the last few days :(
Even Youtube is struggling.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X