UUNet Uncapped. Don't do it!

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Brotund

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A friendly warning to all considering UUNet uncapped: don't. I've used it for two months now and its been nothing but trouble. It comes down to speed, and it sucks.

These days its pointless quoting pings, or even using established tests such as ADSLGuide.org.uk because everyone seems to have reasons for why each test is unrepresentitive; shaping, port prioritisation, proxies, etc. What I can tell you is that the moment you log in, you start remember the horrors of using dialup.

Some real application examples:
- Sending simple text email (UK IMAP+SMTP): UUNet 20s, SAiX 2s.
- Logon to MSN: UUNet 15s, SAiX 4s.
- Skype: UUNet *unusable*, SAiX perfect.
- Logon to UK corporate VPN: UUNet 10s, SAiX 1-2s.

Even web browsing is hit and miss. At first UUNet speed problems seemed to be caused by a lack of bandwidth from the DSLAM to UUNet backbone but that's been fixed now. The current problems are more sinister. For instance, I have access to a local corporate LAN via VPN which in turn is connected to UUNet by a 1Mbit Diginet, and the bandwidth over ADSL via VPN is fine.

Basically it seems that despite the price, UUNet is not really that interested in its ADSL service; naively hoping to lure small businesses like myself to diginet via uncapped ADSL. This whole episode has made that scenario very unlikely.

In summary, I suggest everyone stay away from UUNet for the next 6 months or until anyone starts to rave about it. In the meantime stay away!

Brendon.
 
I've yet to be impressed by UUnet but I'll give them a month to get their act together.
 
Telkom and UUnet adsl both sux atm. Telkom is quite a bit faster in my opinion, but who cares if you get capped after 2 days :(
Not being able to play WoW etc.. on UUnet is super annoying....not that WoW was very playable on telkom, when I last played it about a month ago at least.(and thats before u hit the cap :) )
Anywayz, I have more faith in UUnet to get deacent adsl going in SA then I have in telkom.......
While I deffinatly have alot of issues with the UUnet service atm, its the first time, that it feels like I have 24/7 connection. Dont have to swap accounts all the time, dont have to watch your bandwith......can listen to internet radio 24x7 and download 24x7, and that rocks! :)
 
The thing about UUNET's offering is it's month to month. Not a 12 month contract, not a 24 month contract, not a "give me your first born for 5kb/s" contract.

So if you're SO unhappy with the service, stop using it. Simple as that. It's fine telling others your opinion, and I appreciate it, but I'd rather try it myself (because I can easily switch again) than to take your word for it. And to be honest, I'd rather take harth's word above yours anyday.
 
Is anyone really disagreeing?

Many people have their hopes pinned on the likes of UUNet, primarily owing to the universal animosity towards Telkom. I count myself among those who would pay for the pleasure of not giving anymore cash to Telkom. But I work from home, use FTP, VPN, Skype, IMAP, etc on a daily basis and I need these to work. I actually don't really care about the cap to be honest - I don't use P2P and I don't generally hit the cap. I'm paying for what I hoped to be a better service and because I'm paying Telkom so much already.

I hate getting dragged into emotive diatribes, but some points anyway:

1. I'd be hard pressed to see Harth's findings as favourable to UUNet. If you actually read the results you'll see that his results on international bandwidth concur with my findings.
2. There are no configuration options to set. I've got a SAiX account that I use with the same modem. The username and password are the only options. It is only reasonable to assume the internation bandwidth problems are a UUNet problem.
3. Perhaps this all comes down to P2P? P2P actually is very fast UUNet for some reason, but everything else seems inferior. Harth's page seems to indicate this as well.
4. Telkom doesn't bind to you any contract. Its 30 days/1cm termination.

So I guess whether or not one should chose UUNet now boils down to what's important for you in particular. If you value the uncapped aspect above all else then this is the package for you (particularly P2P). If you want the rest of the Internet to work without headache, then it would be safer to play wait-and-see; at least for now.

Brendon
 
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It seems rather odd that UUNET would configure the service such that P2P works like a charm (which is definately does) to the possible detriment of other services like voip, gaming etc. (which hasnt been a problem to me but I've only tested them superficially).

People want different things from their ISP I guess ...
 
That's not entirely accurate, with regards to the shaping of protocols (not ports, protocols), only Gnutella/Gnutella2 (eMule/eDonkey) and Kazaa have any shaping associated with them. Should BitTorrent be shaped? Probably, but as it stands it is not.
 
It's not what the IPS's like UUNET/SAIX & IS shape or not.
It's what they are able to shape with there present hardware/software configs!
Some of these ISP's are also bound by contracts to hardware/software suppliers and are unable to use a different product to manage there networks until there contacts come up for renewal.
Plus some of them rely on what there IT departments knows and are told that they can't do some things and in fact they just don't have the knowledge to implement the procedures.
 
My 5c worth

There's also the principle thing... UUNET are forced to purchase bandwidth from T31k0m as I understand it... EVERYTHING seems to end up squarely at T31K0M's table in this country... it seems they are using their unfair advantage to selfishly control the market and make themselves look like the heroes in my opinion. Another example of their selfishness is the ADSL reseller issue - I spoke to an ISP who charges R250 per month for an ADSL account - he tells me that around R200 of that goes to T31K0M - he makes R50 pm for his effort... so t31k0m take the line rental and R200 of the ISP fee...

I would gladly support any service that would compete with t31k0m, but unfortunately, somewhere down the line, t31k0m take some profit from the deal. WHETHER uunet or otherwise...
And don't think that 3g is any different - at this stage it's still VODACOM - and if you visit your local t31k0m sales office, you will realise that they are the same...

So I will at this stage have only as much connectivity as I really need - i'd rather not be online than pay t31k0m if i can...

SO.... POINT IS.... IF YOU HAVE BANDWIDTH OR OTHER PROBLEMS, BLAME THE SOURCE - IT'S ALL T31K0M'S FAULT (AND ALL THE OTHER COMPLACENT AND SELFISH PEOPLE OUT THERE ESPECIALLY THOSE IN HIGHER POSITIONS) SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE.... IMHO!
 
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EdRobinson said:
There's also the principle thing... UUNET are forced to purchase bandwidth from T31k0m as I understand it... EVERYTHING seems to end up squarely at T31K0M's table in this country... it seems they are using their unfair advantage to selfishly control the market and make themselves look like the heroes in my opinion. Another example of their selfishness is the ADSL reseller issue - I spoke to an ISP who charges R250 per month for an ADSL account - he tells me that around R200 of that goes to T31K0M - he makes R50 pm for his effort... so t31k0m take the line rental and R200 of the ISP fee...
Click to expand...

Thats R 219.00 (Incl.Vat)
So they only make R31.00 profit on the account.
Now minus the call costs that they make to the customer & debit order fees,marketing costs,etc.
There profit could end up at R10.00/R15.00 per customer.
So what is the point in being a ISP here in South Africa.
 
if you mweb charging 329 a month
or if you telkom who is getting everything really cheap

noone its funny how you dissed ayce and told no everyone they shouldnt use them, but when it comes to uunet well you basically say dont let people's opinion stop you from trying them.

how long you been workin for uunet?
 
Thats a bit rich

How long have you been working for AYCE kilad(h)oob(ie)?

`Dhoobie or not dhoobie....... what was the question again?'

p.s. just kiddin bro' - all in the name of free speech ;-P
 
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killadoob said:
if you mweb charging 329 a month
or if you telkom who is getting everything really cheap

noone its funny how you dissed ayce and told no everyone they shouldnt use them, but when it comes to uunet well you basically say dont let people's opinion stop you from trying them.

how long you been workin for uunet?
Click to expand...

Still UUNET got no contract, thats the point here.
 
The problem with AYCE is not their performance (I have no idea what the performance is like), it's their entrapping deceptive conduct.
 
bwana said:
I've yet to be impressed by UUnet but I'll give them a month to get their act together.
Click to expand...

so do I, I am now in my third month with UUNET, and there are ups and downs. But I still give them a chance, because I know they are working really hard to improuve. I went through the same, when in Germany the first ADSL was introduced and I was two days out of three without connection....
 
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