Web Africa ADSL general feedback

mrlgm007 said:
Correct i also think this also like on IS if you dont use there DNS wont push you to the local youtube / google server farms in CPT.
Click to expand...

OpenDNS and the Google DNS servers will still resolve Google/YouTube to the local Google caching servers, use nslookup to test this for yourself if you don't believe me.

The ISP's DNS server will only have the best results on cached queries.

Here's some results from a test I did now, I used the top 2000 websites as ranked by Alexa to test with so it wasn't done using random obscure data:

Code: 
IP              Hostname	                        Avg (ms)	Diff	         Min	 Max	 TO
8.8.4.4	        google-public-dns-b.google.com	        213.79	                         189.2	 582	 0
8.8.8.8	        google-public-dns-a.google.com	        216.19	       -1.10%          	 193.4	 600     0
208.67.220.220	resolver2.opendns.com	                317.71	       -32.70%           190.7	 3500	 2
208.67.222.222	resolver1.opendns.com	                341.54	       -37.40%	         192.6	 3500	 3
196.220.59.188	dnscache1.wa.co.za	                837.81	       -74.50%	         31.7	 3500	 20
196.220.58.189	196.220.58.189	                        35438.32		                 25312.9 8

From this you can see that Google's DNS servers are about 75% faster than the WA servers on average and that WA 2nd DNS server is stuffed.
 
Fulton17 said:
Hi Skimread

I really appreciate your feedback - my technical skills are such I am not too sure how to do all this :(

Basically my wa account is now mainly for big downloads. My MWeb account is so much better for browsing etc, so now when I have a big DL, then I just use WA. This way seems to minimise my frustration levels (which since using MWeb have dropped greatly).

It really is annoying that WA just says the problem does not exist - or does not even bother to acknowledge your comment or query. On the MWeb thread, all issues that I have seen raised are responded to. With WA some they do; many they don't.

Anyway let's hope maybe they will eventually get round to sorting this out or else I will have to work on improving my technical skills :)

Thanks again
Click to expand...
I was also hoping they would fix it but they haven't. Browsing will get greatly improved on your WA account and it its not that difficult to do.

What is the name of the ADSL router/modem you are using? Possibly same as mine so I can give you screenshots. If it is a router you have to log into the router interface in your browser if it is a modem (dumb router) it is a windows setting.
 
grim said:
OpenDNS and the Google DNS servers will still resolve Google/YouTube to the local Google caching servers, use nslookup to test this for yourself if you don't believe me.

The ISP's DNS server will only have the best results on cached queries.

Here's some results from a test I did now, I used the top 2000 websites as ranked by Alexa to test with so it wasn't done using random obscure data:

Code: 
IP              Hostname	                        Avg (ms)	Diff	         Min	 Max	 TO
8.8.4.4	        google-public-dns-b.google.com	        213.79	                         189.2	 582	 0
8.8.8.8	        google-public-dns-a.google.com	        216.19	       -1.10%          	 193.4	 600     0
208.67.220.220	resolver2.opendns.com	                317.71	       -32.70%           190.7	 3500	 2
208.67.222.222	resolver1.opendns.com	                341.54	       -37.40%	         192.6	 3500	 3
196.220.59.188	dnscache1.wa.co.za	                837.81	       -74.50%	         31.7	 3500	 20
196.220.58.189	196.220.58.189	                        35438.32		                 25312.9 8

From this you can see that Google's DNS servers are about 75% faster than the WA servers on average and that WA 2nd DNS server is stuffed.
Click to expand...
If you run a ping to those servers (You have to be using your WA account to test though)
Mine:
ping 196.220.59.188 (36ms)
ping 8.8.8.8 (198ms)
and you should see the difference between those response times. It looks like you are currently not on the WA network. Your response times are also really bad.
If you run a tracert it will show more clearly how many less hops it is due to it being on the WA network.
 
skimread said:
I was also hoping they would fix it but they haven't. Browsing will get greatly improved on your WA account and it its not that difficult to do.

What is the name of the ADSL router/modem you are using? Possibly same as mine so I can give you screenshots. If it is a router you have to log into the router interface in your browser if it is a modem (dumb router) it is a windows setting.
Click to expand...

Thanks Skimread

It is a Netgear DG834GT - yep I access it via my browser
 
skimread said:
If you run a ping to those servers (You have to be using your WA account to test though)
Mine:
ping 196.220.59.188 (36ms)
ping 8.8.8.8 (198ms)
and you should see the difference between those response times. It looks like you are currently not on the WA network. Your response times are also really bad.
If you run a tracert it will show more clearly how many less hops it is due to it being on the WA network.
Click to expand...

Doing a DNS query != ping

Sure you can talk to the WA DNS quicker, but it still needs to do the lookup and return the results back to you.

If you look at the minimum response you'll see the WA server at 31.7ms and the Google servers at 189.2ms and 193.4ms, the WA server averages 837.81ms to return a DNS query where the Google servers average 213.79ms and 216.19ms which is 4 times faster.

The WA server also timed out 20 times whereas the Google servers had 0 timeouts.
 
Hi Fulton 17.

I also have a Netgear but not that model but the interface is the same.

Type in your browser http://192.168.0.1

and in the username type in admin
and your password


On the left click basic settings

NETGEAR_Router.png

Change the Domain Name Server (DNS) Address
from Get Automatically from your ISP
to
Use these DNS Servers. Type in the primary DNS as in the screenshot 196 220 59 188 and make sure the secondary DNS is empty.
Click the button Apply and then Test.

Seeing you say you use multiple ISPs If you change your Login and Password in that same screen to switch between Mweb and Webafrica then you should when switching back to Mweb username change the DNS setting you changed back to automatic or whatever mwebs DNS servers are (or you could use an open DNS) but I prefer using my ISPs DNS addresses.
 
Must say, I've never had issues with WA, but the last 2 days have been really bad.

I cannot connect to Facebook at all and most websites only partially loads or not at all ( Seems to be international as grim stated )

Edit.

Just tried to get into WebAfrica's website to log a ticket and it does a nice time-out on me ...
 
Last edited:
CPTBoy said:
Must say, I've never had issues with WA, but the last 2 days have been really bad.

I cannot connect to Facebook at all and most websites only partially loads or not at all ( Seems to be international as grim stated )

Edit.

Just tried to get into WebAfrica's website to log a ticket and it does a nice time-out on me ...
Click to expand...
Use your browser refresh button after the initial load.(partial or timeout) If that works then the it sounds like the issue described here.
 
International is dead,
There goes my second half FFS.

Edit 1 Uuuhm, ok, it came back to life, go figure.

Edit 2 Uuuhm meh, it died again.
 
Last edited:
Yup, same here, I've tried the primary DNS of WA as skimread suggested just for Shizz and Giggles and it doesn't make the problem go away.

Same thing happens with OpenDNS or Google's DNS servers or automatic settings. Something is cooking.
 
grim said:
OpenDNS and the Google DNS servers will still resolve Google/YouTube to the local Google caching servers, use nslookup to test this for yourself if you don't believe me.

The ISP's DNS server will only have the best results on cached queries.

Here's some results from a test I did now, I used the top 2000 websites as ranked by Alexa to test with so it wasn't done using random obscure data:

Code: 
IP              Hostname	                        Avg (ms)	Diff	         Min	 Max	 TO
8.8.4.4	        google-public-dns-b.google.com	        213.79	                         189.2	 582	 0
8.8.8.8	        google-public-dns-a.google.com	        216.19	       -1.10%          	 193.4	 600     0
208.67.220.220	resolver2.opendns.com	                317.71	       -32.70%           190.7	 3500	 2
208.67.222.222	resolver1.opendns.com	                341.54	       -37.40%	         192.6	 3500	 3
196.220.59.188	dnscache1.wa.co.za	                837.81	       -74.50%	         31.7	 3500	 20
196.220.58.189	196.220.58.189	                        35438.32		                 25312.9 8

From this you can see that Google's DNS servers are about 75% faster than the WA servers on average and that WA 2nd DNS server is stuffed.
Click to expand...
What tool did you use there? Are you sure the tool you are using is not testing from outside the WA network?

My results are as following:

Code: 
C:\>ver   | time
The current time is: 18:19:07,81
Enter the new time:

C:\>nslookup www.mybroadband.co.za 196.220.59.188
Server:  dnscache1.wa.co.za
Address:  196.220.59.188

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.mybroadband.co.za
Addresses:  2001:43e8:64::29cb:1589
          41.203.21.137


C:\>ver   | time
The current time is: 18:19:07,95
Enter the new time:

C:\>nslookup www.mybroadband.co.za 8.8.4.4
Server:  google-public-dns-b.google.com
Address:  8.8.4.4

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.mybroadband.co.za
Addresses:  2001:43e8:64::29cb:1589
          41.203.21.137


C:\>ver   | time
The current time is: 18:19:08,62
Enter the new time:
 
skimread said:
What tool did you use there? Are you sure the tool you are using is not testing from outside the WA network?

My results are as following:

Code: 
C:\>ver   | time
The current time is: 18:19:07,81
Enter the new time:

C:\>nslookup www.mybroadband.co.za 196.220.59.188
Server:  dnscache1.wa.co.za
Address:  196.220.59.188

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.mybroadband.co.za
Addresses:  2001:43e8:64::29cb:1589
          41.203.21.137


C:\>ver   | time
The current time is: 18:19:07,95
Enter the new time:

C:\>nslookup www.mybroadband.co.za 8.8.4.4
Server:  google-public-dns-b.google.com
Address:  8.8.4.4

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    www.mybroadband.co.za
Addresses:  2001:43e8:64::29cb:1589
          41.203.21.137


C:\>ver   | time
The current time is: 18:19:08,62
Enter the new time:
Click to expand...

I used namebench (http://code.google.com/p/namebench/)

It tests locally from your pc, you can clearly see by the minimum response that it was testing from the WA network.

As I said cached queries should be faster from the WA servers than other DNS servers, but the average response on looking up the top 2000 websites the WA server is a lot slower with it's responses than the Google and OpenDNS servers.
 
WA - what is going on?

I haven't had an issue for the past 4 days.... Cause I switched to Mweb 4 days ago.
 
NeBo said:
I haven't had an issue for the past 4 days.... Cause I switched to Mweb 4 days ago.
Click to expand...

:)

Yep, my frustration level is radically changed when I use MWeb!! So good just to have things happen as they should
 
Using DNS cache 1

mybroadband.co.za
gq.co.za

and youtube videos will not load. Using google's DNS for now. Come on webafrica please fix this :(
 
Question on the WA 7 day rolling window: When does it reset? Monthly?


Edit: Hmm, I see it rolls back slowly. At what rate does it roll back (eg. gig/hr?)
 
Last edited:
Jase said:
Question on the WA 7 day rolling window: When does it reset? Monthly?


Edit: Hmm, I see it rolls back slowly. At what rate does it roll back (eg. gig/hr?)
Click to expand...

It looks at your last 7 days worth of usage.
 
WAJeff said:
It looks at your last 7 days worth of usage.
Click to expand...

Yes, so I noticed. As I see it, one is limited to a set cap/day before being throttled. In my case (4meg line), that would be 10gig/day (or 71gig per week). Does that seem right?
 
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