Let's thank MyBB for posting the article; they have assisted us consumers, even though it may only feel as if it is to a certain extent. It's not the answers that many will accept, but nonetheless, in between the lines you might find your answers.
On usage tracking and account sharing:
Keoma did not answer why they blocked users from accessing userstats.isdsl.net
2 years ago we made a decision to not actively monitor usage stats on our uncapped accounts by default after some ISPs started throttling their users after a certain amount of GB’s used.
We then setup our radius and network accordingly. Many of our clients prefer us not to know how much they have used. However, due to client demand most of the new accounts purchased have usage stats activated by default.
1. How were they able to provide MyBB with the stats on their "bandwidth hogs" if it is not actively monitored?
2. My usage stats on userstats.isdsl.net and userstats.adsl.saix.net was perfectly aligned with my usage patterns, my own monitoring and my own IP address, so after validating those systems, I'd put a relative level of reliance in them. Both tools also accurately confirmed each time I reset my sessions. So, if a tool that works 100% and is relatively reliable, why can I not use it? Is it because I could see an additional connection on my profile? A connection that was based somewhere in the Eastern Cape, whilst I'm in the Western Cape? Is it because there's still an active connection on that profile, which had collectively done 1.7GB download on Monday night....whilst I hadn't used the account in more than 5 days? Why would that other connection's session end every time that I asked for a password reset; authentication issues much?
On shaping/throttling:
How busy it is at the time;
The service level the client has purchased – e.g. Gold, Standard, etc.; and
The priority the client has on the network related to the selected service level.
Shaping is then applied from the heaviest protocols to the lightest, excluding browsing
Based on the service levels experienced first hand, browsing has most definitely been shaped in the past. Like myself, there are various other members that experienced a totally unusable account during office hours. Why would my account, without fail, die from 08h00~08h30 every week day and then miraculously jump back to life around 17h00, and in the entirety of that time, the account would be an absolute waste of money. Totally unusable.
Although we do not have concrete evidence, there's members that were on the lowest tiered accounts that outperformed gold user accounts.
OpenWeb has suffered and continues to suffer irreparable reputational damage, which they will never walk away from, and it's going to hurt and continue to hurt their bottom line for a long time.
