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WAJeff said:Why are we moving to IS’ network?
It’s been a long and tough decision, but we’ve decided to move over to the IS network for a number of reasons. We always enjoy passing on any savings that are available through to our customers and this is no exception.
With the new network we’ll see improved products, some changes to our existing packages and definitely more savings.
What’s happened with the Web Africa network?
After much consideration it has been decided that relying on the IS backbone as opposed to our own network will allow a lot more time for us to concentrate on our customers, support and developing our products even further.
When comparing the Web Africa network to the IS backbone, IS came out on top with their exceptional redundancy and much larger network infrastructure.
When will the network upgrade take place?
All of our ADSL accounts will be moved over to the IS network between the 26th and 28th Feb 2013.
How will this affect me?
Your internet will simply get better! The migration is planned to go off as smoothly as possible, however there may be a chance of some initial teething problems. We’ll be doing everything in our power to make sure things run as smoothly as possible.
With regards to speed, performance and everything great you’ve become so accustomed to with Web Africa, there will be no decrease in performance.
What do I do if there are issues?
We’re here to help and don’t need much sleep. You can contact us via our usual Support channels or online. We’ll be addressing everything, and in normal Web Africa style – will be transparent about everything that’s going on. We don’t like being left in the dark, so we won’t do the same to you
Is there any expected downtime?
We’ll be doing our absolute best to ensure as little downtime as possible. As with any large and fairly complicated move – there may be initial teething problems. We’ll be monitoring everything extremely closely, tackling any issues should they arise.
What are the initial benefits of moving to IS network?
Once our network upgrade is completed and we’ve successfully moved over to the IS network we’ll have further redundancy available to us and an overall increased network performance.
Will I need to make any technical changes on my side?
Your ADSL username and password will stay with same during and throughout the network upgrade. Your email settings can also stay the same. You can use:
You will however need to change to the above two SMTP servers if you are using smtp.saix.net
- smtp.wa.co.za
Will concurrent connections change on capped ADSL?
Nope, we’re keeping them as is – on 4 concurrent connections for now.
Will Web Africa have a Speedtest.net server setup? Which one is the best to use to test my line speed?
We won’t be hosting a Speedtest.net server – you can use the IS Speedtest server, or any other listed.
Will the bandwidth priorities stay the same?
Yep, they’ll stay as close to the original bandwidth profiles as possible.
How does gaming perform on the IS network?
Very well from the tests we’ve run. Latency is fantastic both locally and internationally.
WAGE, Download Plus and Steam – what is happening with these services?
We’ll still be offering all of these services once the network upgrade is completed. The only major change to these will be that traffic is routed via the IS backbone as opposed to the Web Africa Network.
Will there still be a news server to use?
There will be! News.wa.co.za will no longer be in use but you are more than welcome to use the IS news server (news.isdsl.net)
How will latency perform around the country?
Previously, our main network was based in Cape Town which meant that a lot of traffic from the rest of the country (JHB, DBN, EL etc.) had to be routed via Cape Town, increasing some latency times. IS have a presence in Cape Town and Johannesburg., allowing for improved latencies
What cables do IS use to route traffic?
IS uses SAT-3, SEACOM, WACS and EASSy providing exceptional throughput and solid redundancy.
root@heaven-htpc:~# traceroute bbc.co.uk
traceroute to bbc.co.uk (212.58.241.131), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
1 router.heaven.za.net (10.0.0.1) 1.547 ms 1.538 ms 1.523 ms
2 196-210-201-1.dynamic.isadsl.co.za (196.210.201.1) 20.610 ms 23.265 ms 26.051 ms
3 196.38.72.125 (196.38.72.125) 26.435 ms 28.083 ms 28.428 ms
4 196.35.115.136 (196.35.115.136) 29.343 ms 30.780 ms 31.740 ms
5 core1b-ctn-gi0-1.ip.isnet.net (168.209.2.4) 33.956 ms 34.928 ms 35.894 ms
6 168.209.201.6 (168.209.201.6) 189.691 ms 190.537 ms 190.528 ms
7 bbc-linx.pr01.thdow.bbc.co.uk (195.66.224.103) 189.225 ms 174.568 ms 176.034 ms
8 * * *
9 ae1.er01.rbsov.bbc.co.uk (132.185.254.46) 162.811 ms 161.419 ms 165.500 ms
10 132.185.255.60 (132.185.255.60) 167.745 ms 168.418 ms 170.579 ms
11 virtual-vip.thdo.bbc.co.uk (212.58.241.131) 170.574 ms 170.886 ms 172.535 ms
