What does uncapped broadband really mean?

[system32]

Not necessarily as Asynchronous data transmission does not work this way.

Care to explain how 4Mbps Asynchronous DSL using a 1:20 can exceed the minimum of 256Kbps as requested by ISPA
According to "bc -l"

• 4Mbps/20 will give 204.8Kbps
• 1Mbps/20 will give 51.2Kpbs
• 384Kbps/20 will give 19.2Kbps

For example:
http://speedtest.net/result/1279790268.png
0.22Mbps download.

 

[Stevie G]

That's an odd question. It's not really ISPA's role to police advertising. That's more the ambit of the ASA. ISPA holds its members to the ISPA Code of Conduct, and if a member is discovered to breach the Code, we take action against them. But in any case, I'm afraid I don't really understand from your post what blatantly false advertising you think is going on.

@Ant
How the hell is that an odd question? you just mentioned that the standard was 256kbps. with the contention ratio of 1:20 indicates clearly that 256kbps is not the minimum. According CPA this means false advertising. and who the fak can run their business on those speeds. Looks like the ISPA are useless like Telscum, raping the customer as usual.

 

[tortured]

@Ant
How the hell is that an odd question? you just mentioned that the standard was 256kbps. with the contention ratio of 1:20 indicates clearly that 256kbps is not the minimum. According CPA this means false advertising. and who the fak can run their business on those speeds. Looks like the ISPA are useless like Telscum, raping the customer as usual.

You should calm the **** down

 

[Mouse]

Only >5Mbps ADSL qualifies as Broadband by ISPA definition.

Let me explain why 5Mbps - ISPA Guidelines state:


Telkom's ADSL conditions state that Telkom are legal up to a 1:20 contention ratio.
http://www.telkom.co.za/products_services/dsl/conditions.html


Using simple maths, you need 5Mbps ADSL with a 1:20 to give a minimum download speed of 256Kbps.

As you can see:

It's not an ISP issue, it's a Telkom issue.
During "prime time" the contention will reach 1:20 and you will only get 0.2Mbps which is below the ISPA/DoC/ITU minimum requirement of 256Kbps.
This happens to lots of ADSL users where during "Prime Time" the speed drops to below 256Kbps due to 1:20 rule - just check these forums.
PS. The 1Mbps, 384Kbps 1:20 simple calculation is left to the reader.

@Ant_Brooks, What is the ISPA going to do to prevent this blatantly false advertising?

Actually, in my case it is an ISP issue,
I can switch to a per gig account from a different ISP and the problem goes away. If it was an issue with Telkom's exchange then the speed problem would remain.
Also, if I call the ISP providing the uncapped account, they are able to fix the problem on their end, again indicating that they are the people causing it in the first place.
And this problem even occurs at night when the lines are supposedly "not busy"

 

[Ant_Brooks]

According to ISPA guidelines, members should not advertise anything that cannot provide a minimum of 256Kbps as broadband. What does ISPA do when members are not following ISPA Code?

System32, you seem to be confused.

This is the ISPA Code: http://ispa.org.za/code-of-conduct/

This is the recently released discussion document on broadband terminology: http://ispa.org.za/code-of-conduct/terminology-guidelines/

The Code is something we expect all ISPA members to abide by, and we make sure that they do. The discussion document is something we've only just released to the public for comment. If you are expecting us to immediately start enforcing the proposals in a discussion document on our members, then I'm afraid that you are going to be disappointed. That's not really what "discussion document" means, is it?

 

[Ant_Brooks]

@Ant
How the hell is that an odd question? you just mentioned that the standard was 256kbps. with the contention ratio of 1:20 indicates clearly that 256kbps is not the minimum. According CPA this means false advertising. and who the fak can run their business on those speeds. Looks like the ISPA are useless like Telscum, raping the customer as usual.

Please don't put words in my mouth. ISPA has released a document suggesting some broadband terminology that we think makes sense for the Internet industry. It's flattering that you think that ISPA could issue a document which states that "broadband is at least 256 kbps" and have it immediately be a breach of the Consumer Protection Act for someone to offer something different from that, but also ridiculous.

If you don't want to support ISPA's initiative to try to provide some much needed clarity to the marketing of broadband services, that's fine. If you think all of the proposals in the discussion document are rubbish, you are welcome to have that point of view. But accusing ISPA of "raping the customer as usual" is neither fair, helpful or polite.

 

[Dosti]

256kbps download speed as documented by OECD/ITU is very different to what some boffins are harping about as 256Kbps, It is an international accepted document for developing economies. Finland have legislated 1 meg for all it's citizens now and 100 mbs by 2015, SA indicates 256k for 15% of population by 2019. SSsssOOOO unfair this is SA.

K is constant for 8.192k me thinks.

DSL speed in Telkom is lower case k, transfer rate is measured by uppercase K, therefore overheads + txrate * 8.192k = dsl offered bursty.
Then another factor of contention to be considered, Telkom's design contended 16:1 instead of 20:1 allowing for bursty requirements, however failure to monitor upgrades for speeds caused some backhauls to be challenged, Telkom responds with moving port to less congested Dslams or UMCs or upgraded backhaul if interfaces supported. Imaxs are connected to MetroLAN allowing for easier backhaul upgrading based on peak frequency reports, monitoring when exceed the 20:1 contention. However it must be noted that sometimes local line copper characteristics affect transfer rate and not DSL sync rate, so although you see sync at 4096 and acceptable ATTN/SNR, the conditions can cause extremely low tx rate, therefore test with another ISP before complaining that ISP is throttling or applying AUP/FUP. Telkom test account is guest@telkomadsl and password guest, access ftp://ftp-test.telkomadsl.co.za and transfer file noting the transfer rate.

 

[PsyWulf]

Actually, in my case it is an ISP issue,
I can switch to a per gig account from a different ISP and the problem goes away. If it was an issue with Telkom's exchange then the speed problem would remain.
Also, if I call the ISP providing the uncapped account, they are able to fix the problem on their end, again indicating that they are the people causing it in the first place.
And this problem even occurs at night when the lines are supposedly "not busy"

ISP contention ratios or exchange pipe contention would have the same effect. Capped users are just less likely to attempt to max out their lines permanently,making usage selective and chances at congestion lower.

Simply put,the more uncapped users attempt continuous downloading per area/ISP at the same time,the worse it gets. ISPs can either upgrade to cater for the 10% using all that extra bandwidth or slow them down. All that happens when you plead and beg your ISP is you're likely dumped in a block of accounts that is less utilized at that time,later it evens out and you complain again

 

[zamicro]

@Ant
How the hell is that an odd question? you just mentioned that the standard was 256kbps. with the contention ratio of 1:20 indicates clearly that 256kbps is not the minimum. According CPA this means false advertising. and who the fak can run their business on those speeds. Looks like the ISPA are useless like Telscum, raping the customer as usual.

It is an odd question, because advertising is outside the scope of ISPA. Complain to ASA. If these guidelines are implemented, then ASA will have nice guidelines to work with.