Vox - blocked protocols

Kingofmybbknowitalls said:
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Yea - I also get the video issue. And sometimes after 4 or 5 attempts, it'll play

So Whatsapp, videos, Google Play, online PS4 games are all pretty useless. But get this - I've just got a CrystalWeb test account because I planned on getting getting rid of Vox as well, but the speed difference on downloads/uploads is substantial.

Vox gave 13mbps (XB1) and 9mbps (PS4), while CW gave 8mbps (XB1) and 4mbps (PS4).

I'm wondering if there is a perfect ISP that allows me to Whatsapp, play multiplayer games and give me decent download speeds

EDIT : Technical asked me for a tracert, which I gave them tonight. Unsure how that helps though?
 
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lestoran said:
So I cancelled VOX and will increase the size of my CrystalWeb account
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Do you have a console to test speed? Vox worked almost 5mbps faster than CrystalWeb when I just tested now
 
The Crystal Web test account is rate limited. Hence the difference in speed. I suspect you'll find no issues reported from paid accounts and existing customers...
 
Ah I didn't even think about hat ; they did flash 10mbps only on the screen and I didn't take that into account ...

EDIT : Just changed back to the test account and when using SAIX speedtest, I am getting full line speed (ie 16mbps). Are the limits on international only?
 
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If I used a different dns setting other than the ISP's or Googles, I would get a VAC blocking error that prevented me playing on any VAC protected server. I know, it sounds made up.
 
Set up an iPhone this morning while connected to the Vox account and the phone could not even connect to the Whatsapp network to do the intitial verification of the number. :(

Switched to the backup account at Afrihost and it connected at the first try.
 
Rickster said:
If I used a different dns setting other than the ISP's or Googles, I would get a VAC blocking error that prevented me playing on any VAC protected server. I know, it sounds made up.
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Interesting ...
 
Dolby said:
Do you have a console to test speed? Vox worked almost 5mbps faster than CrystalWeb when I just tested now
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I have both Xbox One and PS4 - not sure how to do a speed test with them though. Just go to web site maybe?

I have not noticed a big difference in either download speed or browsing with VOX vs CrystalWeb. Its media thats often a problem and XBox live specifically is slower (logging in + browsing).

No complaints about CrystalWeb + Gaming from my side. Don't play online but 2 kids who do on both console and pc are happy.
 
On both consoles, you can go to network settings / network test.

Much appreciated if you can :)
 
Dolby said:
On both consoles, you can go to network settings / network test.

Much appreciated if you can :)
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What are you trying to test here? On the Crystal Web network we treat test data and actual throughput data differently, to avoid the problem traditionally associated with ISPs prioritising test servers to hide issues. So ironically this means test data and real world performance may be vastly different, as we don't assign much data to test pools and instead assign the bandwidth to actual throughput pools. i.e. better real-world performance...
 
Sending a pic via Telegram while on Vox does not work here. Seems it is blocked by Vox or something. Need to disconnect WiFi or switch to AH or another provider. Annoying.
Some ShowMax movies or episodes also does not play while on Vox, yet perfect on AH or WebAfrica.
 
Exactly what I get on Whatsapp.

Have cancelled
 
Ok finally did some gaming / media testing between CrystalWeb and VOX.

As expected speed tests show very little difference, but there are a few things I could measure (PS I sync at 22Mb (VDSL) after Telkom's recent changes)

Steam downloads:
VOX: Peak 1.9MB Average 1.5Mb
CrystalWeb: Peak 2.2Mb Average 2.0Mb

XBox Live login on XBox 1 (2 attempts):
VOX: 14, 18 seconds
CrystalWeb: 4, 5 seconds

Did not test Xbox 360 login time but pattern is much the same.

Netflix Movie start (on PS4 - 2 attempts again):
VOX: 11, 8 seconds - started SD and shifted to HD after about a minute.
CrystalWeb: 3, 4 seconds - started SD and shifted to HD in under 10 seconds.

Did not run Netflix test on XBox 1 as with VOX it just does not work well at all. I prefer XBox 1 as media device as its much quieter.

This was all done with a stopwatch so not very scientific, but does add some actual numbers to everyone in my household's complaints about VOX performance. Tests were done around 9pm - in general you can forget about VOX Netflix in HD between 6:30 and 8pm.

Online gaming seems to be a tie. Asked my son who plays Dota2 quite a bit and he's happy either way.

Something is definitely up with Xbox live - performance difference is much less pronounced on the PS4.

- After hours downloads (12-6) is a tie - both max out my line with NZB downloads.
- Browsing - can't tell the difference
- VPN to office network - can't tell the difference

I really hope VOX sorts out their problems (both performance and support) as they used to be excellent and competition is good for everyone. But for now I'm happy with my decision to go CrystalWeb only.
 
Tried to download some newly purchased games on Xbox last night. I bought Life is Strange Complete and Unravel. The Life is Strange episodes are about 2 gigs each, and Unravel is 3gigs. On a 4 meg line, I should overnight, be able to download almost all of it. But VOX struggled big time last night. My Xbox one only managed to download 4 gigs over 10 hours.

Not sure if it is the Microsoft servers that are having issues, or VOX. The complaints on this list tell me it might be VOX, but I will test again tonight!
 
lestoran said:
Ok finally did some gaming / media testing between CrystalWeb and VOX.
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Much appreciated, thanks!

I've cancelled Vox, so should stop end of the money and then next month I can look at Crystal for my needs. It's a little sad though that 99% of the time they were fantastic but that other 1% was the crucial WhatsApp and Google Play issue. It isn't great saying to your guests, 'oh - turn off the Wifi, send your photo, then turn it back on ... ' when they struggle
 
ainsin said:
Not sure if it is the Microsoft servers that are having issues, or VOX. The complaints on this list tell me it might be VOX, but I will test again tonight!
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I never tried online on my Xbox - but the PS4 speedtest gave 9mbps down, but then it wouldn't even let me log onto the servers to actually play the games. Telkom, by comparison, reported half the speed in download, but I could connect everytime and play.

For what it's worth, this has been brought to attention of the engineers and has been an ongoing problem for months. I don't see it being fixed anytime soon
 
Sinbad said:
You get what you pay for
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For sure.

Seems VOX have taken another step backwards this last week.

NZB (Usenet) downloads are now basically disabled during the day and after hours I'm only managing 8Gb between 12 and 6 whereas with CrystalWeb I've never done less than 30Gb with a loaded queue. Made sure it was not my line by switching back and got 21Mb/s again (middle of the day).

I'm really just using up my remaining VOX data before fully switching but even that seems a struggle.

Every ISP has issues sometimes, even CrystalWeb did for a few months last year. The difference is they owned up, explained what was going on and kept everyone up to date on what they where doing to fix it.

If VOX was doing the same I may well have stuck around.
 
Also cancelled.

It took Vox two weeks to respond to the cancellation request after I emailed the instruction to the accounts department and the help desk with no explanation whatsoever why they are blocking WhatsApp attachments.

In comparison, I also cancelled an unused USA Amazon account recently, and a received a friendly personalised response from a help desk agent within 10 minutes.
 
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