Sentech's new Capping idea on Classic package

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ekkesa

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This was sent to Sentech's helpdesk, will keep the forum posted on their reply:


To whom it may concern,

Regarding the situation which started to emerge where Sentech contacts the user and warning them that they have used more than what is allowed to them.

I would like to point out that on Sentech’s website it states under the Classic package that there is “unlimited internet access at one flat fee” and that there is “no “capping” on usage”, but still subscribers gets contacted and warned that if you go past your “cap”, or so called “soft cap”, again your account will be suspended till the beginning of the next billing month. If this is the case Sentech is guilty of false advertising and if they enforce this it will make them guilty of breaking the contract with the user. Sentech’s acceptable use policy (AUP) states the following regarding this issue:

Excess Utilization of Network Resources.
The excessive use or abuse of Sentech's network resources by one customer may have a negative impact on all other customers. Accordingly, you may not use the Service or take any action that will result in excessive consumption or utilization of the system or network resources, or which may weaken network performance, as determined in Sentech's sole discretion. Such prohibited actions include, but are not limited to: using the Service to host a web server site which attracts excessive traffic at your location, continuously uploading or downloading streaming video or audio, UseNet hosting, or continuous FTP uploading or downloading. In the event that Sentech detects excessive use by you, Sentech may restrict your access to Sentech's network, increase the fees associated with your Service, including upgrading you to a higher class of Service, or terminate your Service.

From this we can gather that Sentech can “govern” your usage as they please. But in the above mentioned AUP there is no mention of any amount of data, but only the sole discretion of Sentech, but when the helpdesk phones you they tell you have exceeded your “softcap” it contradicts the above mentioned advertising.

Also on the website Sentech states: “Connects to PPPoE router to support multiple users”, but in the real world when you phone the helpdesk they tell you sorry we do not support PPPoE. I can understand this to a certain extent since there is infrastructure part of the equation which is not owned & managed by Sentech. But the helpdesk is not willing to help if you experience problems.

These screen captures was taken from Sentech’s website on 25 September 2005, will confirm the above mentioned statements.


As advertisement emphasizing “unlimited internet access at one flat rate”
<screencaptures could not be added in the forum, feel free to check their website>

As features advertising “no “capping” on usage” & “Connects to PPPoE router for support of multiple users”
<screencaptures could not be added in the forum, feel free to check their website>

So from this I will please like to know what Sentech’s reaction is on these facts mentioned above.

I’m looking forward to your speedy reply.

Regards,
 
Received a phone call from their customer care manager, saying that he reffered it to the Product Manager. He will get back to me. I also asked him to look at the difference between local & international bandwidth.
 
They all say this. It really is for their own good, it would be nice if everyone could share the bandwidth equally. But they don't, thus in comes shaping.

BUT don't advertise prostitute yourself as a broadband service, and then ask you not to use it! Telkom mentions that "ADSL is not for gamers" and that heavy downloading is "abuse". No. Simply no.
 
Nice one Ekkesa, am with you 100% on this one.

I didn't even know about the cap untill they phoned me, b/c i was under the impression their service was uncapped (one of the main reasons i signed up)
I realise that sentech probably doesn't want users like us, that's why they introduced their new packages, with clear caps. The old packages offer much better value for bandwidth but it's obviously not profitable enough for them.
 
I was told when I signed up that Sentech were different to ADSL and iBurst in that their soft capping meant you would never be cut off! Basically I was told that "If you occasionally go over your cap , we won't even so much as give you a rap on the knuckles, however if you consistently go over then you will be sent a gentle email from Sentech suggesting that as you are using more gigs, perhaps you should upgrade! I was told their guarantee was tat they would never ever cap you!....hhhhmmm
 
i recon everybody should just download madly, get capped, and when sentech phones, make a HELL of a noise and rub their NO CAPPING WHY I SIGNED WITH YOU GUYS into their noise so they realise that they are now going to loose customers. I smell Death for Sentech, Not only are they too expensive, they Suck Great as Telkom :)
 
20GB for R699 is still a better deal than ADSL though :/

Can't believe I just said that. *sigh*
 
After a lot of discussions with Sentech we finally came to common ground on the capping issue.

They are not planning on or wanting to cut anyone off, cause that will create more customer dissatisfaction.

They stated however that this is only a temporary measure to eliminate certain trends which formed.

So I wont worry to much about this.

Cheers
 
That's cool. Turns out that I can't get ADSL so I have to renew my contract (month-to-month obviously :)) with Sentech :(
 
So if I download a hypothetical 30gigs instead of the normal 10 allocated with the 128k policy, nothing will happen?

Also, is it 10gigs 'downloaded' or does upload count as well?
 
Just btb, from what I have known and experienced, by connecting your Sentech modem to your PC, you are in fact using a PPPoE connection (thats for the folks using the ethernet cable extension like I used)

So I can't see why Sentech would deny supporting this if they themselves (and their resellers) actually sells these cables... (which I bought directly from their supplier in PTA)

This is a classic example of people in Sales/Marketing not knowing the terms and conditions set out by people in Legal and the Support team not knowing which way is which because nobody really tells them anything thats going on.

I wonder if that fat bastard (Casper) is still in charge of support...
 
Izan said:
So if I download a hypothetical 30gigs instead of the normal 10 allocated with the 128k policy, nothing will happen?

Also, is it 10gigs 'downloaded' or does upload count as well?
Click to expand...

Back in June and July, I managed 28GB for both months. They won't cut you off if you eventually back off. If you get 3 phone calls from them, one a month, and then don't have a 10GB month, they will apparently cut you off.
Both upload and download count towards the softcap, although it seems to me that local bandwidth may not be included in the softcap.
 
A friend of mine on a 512k account recently got his first phonecall (and, naturally, went into orbit about it) as a result of having done 44GB one month and then over 60GB the next. Long story short, I asked them what the resolution process is and got told the following:

For the first two phone calls you are 'yellow carded' and these are considered as warnings only. For the third call you get a 'red card' (yes, their terminology) and from there on out they hard-cap you a-la Telskum ADSL: while you may be able to connect you don't get a bit's worth of traffic: no web, no email, nada until the end of the month rolls around and your account gets reset to zero again. It appears they're using the aforementioned "Excess Utilization of Network Resources" (GRRR at damnable Yank spelling!) clause as the club to beat people into submission to enforce this, notwithstanding what they used to say about not capping. That said, from what I worked out, they *are* capping at 25% the theoretical max capability of the accounts which is a WHOLE lot more than what anyone else is allowing!

So it's a case of 'choose your poison' for (non)broadband in sunny .za (I, for one, am not about to hold out any hope for the "SNOjob" doing anything useful any time soon).
 
bandwidth

So why the heck dont they give us local bandwidth for free? Intl and local the same? Thats just stupid...

Whats else did they say about this topic?
 
this is completely unbelievable. how can they do this? its like buying 512K adsl for R500 a month and then a year down the line telkom decides that u must have 192K for R500 instead! its complete madness. The main reason i picked sentech over adsl was because it was uncapped! Oh well, my 2 year package is nearly up. If im gonna be capped, im atleast gonna be capped at a high speed. Hullo adsl
 
<i>A friend of mine on a 512k account recently got his first phonecall (and, naturally, went into orbit about it) as a result of having done 44GB one month and then over 60GB the next.</i>

BULL****! 60GB in one month i.e 2GB per day i.e. > 83 MB ph.

I'm calling you a liar to your face!
 
sorCrer1 said:
<i>A friend of mine on a 512k account recently got his first phonecall (and, naturally, went into orbit about it) as a result of having done 44GB one month and then over 60GB the next.</i>

BULL****! 60GB in one month i.e 2GB per day i.e. > 83 MB ph.

I'm calling you a liar to your face!
Click to expand...

Well if u ran at an average speed of jus less than 200kb/s u cud do that... And he was on a 512k account.

Im on a 256k account and i can do 40-50 gigs in a month easily. Upload can go as high as 70.
 
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