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I had a 384kb uncapped with another host who runs off IS. After a few days my internet was throttled to the point where a google search took nearly a minute. Literally, my net was unusable. I contacted them and they told me it was because my account was being throttled.

I then pointed out that in their TAC they mention an hourly check on network performance and asked them how come my speeds suck so badly for days on end. They then explained that all ISPs working off IS are subject to the same 10 day rolling window and 30 day rolling window thing but they offered me no explanation for what the hourly network performance was for then.

Upon further discussing this matter I was told that throttling goes into effect if they feel you are abusing the service and that abuse can be very simply defined as >5Gb in 10 days on 384kbps, >10Gb in 10 days on 1Mb, > 20Gb on 4Mb in 10 days.

So with that they basically admitted that any ISP running of IS gives uncapped internet with a 5Gb cap on 384 and uncapped with a 20Gb capon 4Mb. Anything over this, it's fair game on how much they can throttle you. Even if it means throttling you down to so slow that even browsing the WWW takes minutes per page.

I contacted them about this recently and they are not willing to repeat that info again, but instead I got an email saying:
"We are subject to limitations imposed by IS. We are sorry that you had a bad experience. If I could have done anything at all, I would have done so already. Please feel free to contact us if we can help you with anything"

So, after 3 bad experiences with uncapped in 4 months I was very happy to learn that WebAfrica, who has always given me fantastic service but no uncapped, finally also have an uncapped package now. I love the fact that their AUP is so transparent and don't hide the "It's uncapped with a 5Gb cap" aspect of their service. Even so, I've had too many bad experiences and am very much afraid to give them a try because i don't know if they are on IS also and if they are... with all good intentions in mind, if IS dictates when a user is abusing their uncapped, then how can they be any better than anyone else...

I would love to give them the benefit of the doubt but I've been burnt with uncapped too many times now and am very cautious about trying it again so I am now stuck on my capped account with WA...
 
CryingRaven said:
because i don't know if they are on IS also and if they are... with all good intentions in mind, if IS dictates when a user is abusing their uncapped, then how can they be any better than anyone else...
Click to expand...

WA are a tier 1 provider and as such they run their own network, so IS is not involved at all.
 
Hi guys,

We just updated the KB to be more accurate by changing the monitored usage hours to 06:00 -12:00 instead of 07:00 – 12:00.
Basically this is because of the delay of us receiving usage packets so are giving our customers the benefit of the doubt regarding this.

So if a client is using data at 5:30 and we receive his usage packet at 6:30 then all the data in that period is counted to the D+ hours as we give the customer that little extra benefit.
If he connects at 6:15 though and we receive the packet at 7:15, that usage was done outside the D+ hours therefore will be counted

To be clear that this is not a change in the rules, but just clarification around it :)
 
It's probably quite premature for anyone to give proper feedback on the uncapped product. I signed up on the day it was launched (4mb uncapped), but thanks to Telkom, my line is sitting at 384kbps until WA takes control of it, so I only had 1 full day of 4MB experience before it was dropped to 384 - and that full day was great, and since then.. as one would imagine, the 384k has been running at its best.

I've used Afrihost uncapped (roughly a month and a half) and MWEB's uncapped (about 2 months) and both were utter crap. I'm not sure if MWEB has improved as I tried them a long time ago.

WA was up front about their rolling caps and thresholds and that's admirable when looking back at all the other uncapped offers and drama that has come with them and their FUP's.

The product is a home product, very reasonably priced, the thresholds are not unreasonable at all (if you cap your downloads to around 100kb/sec constantly on the 4mb you won't hit your threshold).

It'd be nice if people weren't bitching and whining on here when they don't even have the product - this is after all a feedback thread.. hopefully aimed at feedback from actual customers.

As a CPT user, no ISP I have tried beats WA when it comes to latency and quality of bandwidth - and if the service levels (while im not "throttled") are as good as the normal WA home per-gig accounts, then there's nothing to complain about.

Just to add... It's great to be able to log in to the DSL console and actually SEE how close you are to being throttled rather than being surprised by a really **** connection.. does Afri / MWEB give you any idea how far away you are from being throttled?
 
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@WAJeff: two questions if you don't mind:

1) Will it be possible to track usage in the monitored period? I use my own bandwidth monitoring but would prefer to know whether you're coming up with the same figures.
2) How will prioritisation work in the unmonitored period? Will there be any shaping/throttling/limiting/blocking of traffic, and if so, how will it be shaped/throttled/limited/blocked?
 
Alright deciced to add some unbiased feedback. Doing a few tests and recording a video for everyone to see.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-nccAswV-I

I recommend switching to 720p so that the text is more readable. In this video I did a few basic download tests, NNTP and Bittorrent.

Watch the full video and decide for yourselves.

ps. It is the 4mbit account on a 4mbit line.
 
Last edited:
Tinuva said:
Alright deciced to add some unbiased feedback. Doing a few tests and recording a video for everyone to see.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-nccAswV-I

I recommend switching to 720p so that the text is more readable. In this video I did a few basic download tests, NNTP and Bittorrent.

Watch the full video and decide for yourselves.

ps. It is the 4mbit account on a 4mbit line.
Click to expand...

Why don't you just tell us? Buffering a 720p on a 384k isn't nice. :(
 
WAJeff said:
Hi guys,

We just updated the KB to be more accurate by changing the monitored usage hours to 06:00 -12:00 instead of 07:00 – 12:00.
Basically this is because of the delay of us receiving usage packets so are giving our customers the benefit of the doubt regarding this.

So if a client is using data at 5:30 and we receive his usage packet at 6:30 then all the data in that period is counted to the D+ hours as we give the customer that little extra benefit.
If he connects at 6:15 though and we receive the packet at 7:15, that usage was done outside the D+ hours therefore will be counted

To be clear that this is not a change in the rules, but just clarification around it :)
Click to expand...

Are you sure you've got those times the right way round? Is it from 18h00 to 00h00? or 00h00 to 06h00? ( 6pm to 12am or 12am to 6am) ( 6pm to midnight or midnight to 6am)
 
NomNom said:
Why don't you just tell us? Buffering a 720p on a 384k isn't nice. :(
Click to expand...


The reason is that some people wont believe a fact until they see it with their own eyes. But I do agree that waiting for a 720p video on 384 is a pain.

hereticangel said:
video pretty much shows maxed line speed on torrents or usenet :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I stopped waiting for the video to buffer :)
 
WAJeff said:
Hi guys,

We just updated the KB to be more accurate by changing the monitored usage hours to 06:00 -12:00 instead of 07:00 – 12:00.
Basically this is because of the delay of us receiving usage packets so are giving our customers the benefit of the doubt regarding this.

So if a client is using data at 5:30 and we receive his usage packet at 6:30 then all the data in that period is counted to the D+ hours as we give the customer that little extra benefit.
If he connects at 6:15 though and we receive the packet at 7:15, that usage was done outside the D+ hours therefore will be counted

To be clear that this is not a change in the rules, but just clarification around it :)
Click to expand...

Since 06:00 -12:00 monitored, makes the D+ hours an hour shorter, I don't see how this is giving the users the benefit of the doubt. Shouldn't it be changed to monitored 06:00 - 11:00 and D+ from 11:00 - 06:00, since the readings are an hour behind. Or why don't you just minus an hour on the readings, then you can just keep it the way it is?

However this product seems very interesting, might move next month. Thanks everyone who posted feedback, its great to see the packages in real world tests. Also interested in the gaming test.
 
You guys can watch the video on 360p or 480p, the text will just be blurry, but you should be able to make out whats happening, its just clearer on 720p.
 
So I got myself the 1mb account on a 4mb line. Will see how it goes. i am going to intentionally go into the shaping pool to see performance there cause that is whats going to set this account apart from the other ISP's

I know that IS shape quite badly during peak times so I would see hows this account performing and would post here. But now its a newly created account and should perform at max speed. So we will see. :-)
 
Think i will sign up and start in Jan 2012, i think this is a nice account for me because i am never at home during 8am -6pm, so the throttling does not bother me.
 
■If you use more than a certain amount of Gigs in a 6 hour period, then your service will be deprioritised until those 6 hours are up. Your ADSL account will then be restored to normal priority.
■Similarly, if you use more than a certain amount of Gigs in 7 day period, then your service will be deprioritised until that 7 day period is up. Your ADSL account will then be restored to normal priority.
Click to expand...

Can anyone say just how much those certain amounts are? I have no issue with WA, but that is far too open and broad a statement for my liking. Today it could be 20GB and a week from now it could be 2GB. Need some clarification please.
 
DenSweep said:
Can anyone say just how much those certain amounts are? I have no issue with WA, but that is far too open and broad a statement for my liking. Today it could be 20GB and a week from now it could be 2GB. Need some clarification please.
Click to expand...

It's all here: KB article
 
who.is.michael said:
Don't be fooled by local ISP's that encourge uninformed users to utilise "tests" like speedtest.net - do some research of your own.

When testing via XP ensure your system is correctly set, review:

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadband/37723-your-broadband-speed-not-what-you-expected.html

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadband/37284-are-you-getting-the-broadband-speed-you-pay-for-2.html

afterthought: For comparison purposes, Altech 4 Mbps Uncapped @ +/- R 650.00 delivers an international throughput of > 1.2 Mbps
Click to expand...
By using a method that evades shaping right :)
 
WAJeff said:
To be clear that this is not a change in the rules, but just clarification around it :)
Click to expand...
I want to readup on what my speeds will be if I download 10 gigs in 6 ours on 4meg line. Far as I can tell the product just switches to shaped from not being shaped, is that correct? or will I get 2meg, 1meg, 512k, 384k up too 0k ?

Still bit confused, point me to KB or clarify :)

Thanks.
 
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