Internet Solutions (IS) is currently trialing their fiber based per-GB ADSL service – an offering which promises low latency and high speeds. <\/p>\n
The service has the added advantage of being unshaped after hours which is a big bonus for gamers and other users looking for low latency on non-standard ports.<\/p>\n
The burning question however is how it performs in comparison to Telkom’s current shaped offering.<\/p>\n
Comparing the two services<\/strong><\/p>\n From the outset it should be noted that IS has not launched this service yet, which means that further improvements to the service may be in the pipeline to enhance performance.<\/p>\n In a basic comparison four different upload, download and latency tests were performed on each service – one set of tests during business hours and one set of tests after hours. The tests were also done using local and international servers to get an idea of the performance in each case.<\/p>\n Business Hours<\/strong><\/p>\n During business hours the Telkom\/SAIX shaped ADSL service outperformed the new IS Fiber service. <\/p>\n The Telkom shaped ADSL account produced an average download speed of 1553 Kbps from international servers and 3478 Kbps from local servers. <\/p>\n The IS account in comparison showed an average speed of 122 Kbps from international servers and 417 Kbps from local servers.<\/p>\n In the upload department IS compared far more favorably with Telkom’s offering. IS’s average upload speed of 213 Kbps was not too far off Telkom’s average of 255 Kbps.<\/p>\n For local latency during business hours Telkom once again reigned supreme with an average ping time of 37 ms to local servers – far superior to IS’s 121 ms. When it came to international latency the result was however reversed – at 237 ms IS easily outperformed SAIX’s 347 ms.<\/p>\n After hours<\/strong><\/p>\n The after hours results – when IS’s offering became unshaped – provided more balanced results than those captured during business hours.<\/p>\n IS’s service had an average international download speed of 1699 Kbps, far closer to Telkom’s 1886 Kbps. On local downloads IS produced an average speed of 3483 Kbps, slightly faster than Telkom’s 3481 Kbps.<\/p>\n IS also outperformed Telkom on upload speeds with an average of 309 Kbps compared to SAIX’s 291 Kbps.<\/p>\n For local latency IS came much closer to SAIX than during business hours – 37 ms compared to Telkom’s 35 ms. <\/p>\n IS once again took the lead on international latency with an average ping time of 245 ms compared to Telkom’s 358 ms.<\/p>\n While SAIX was the clear winner for performance during business hours, IS’s fiber based offering came into its own after hours showing far better results than during peak periods.<\/p>\n