Warning all gamers, don't join Afrihost.

[PsychoFish]

Seems the real problem is with telkom not really the isp's

Yes and no, Telkom is keeping the IPC costs highish and the ISPs don't want to pay for more/faster links.

 

[matt]

Seems the real problem is with telkom not really the isp's

I think that has long been the case, it's what the ISP's are all saying as well

 

[Weasley]

Yes and no, Telkom is keeping the IPC costs highish and the ISPs don't want to pay for more/faster links.

maybe what we need is a company that will invest in the last mile on a big scale. Not just where the easy money is like the current FTTH providers but that aim for the whole country with FTTH.

 

[PsychoFish]

We first need the LLU regulation to be passed, this will pave the way for other providers to complete last mile connectivity without having to involve Telkom. Unfortunately our minister of telecommunications barely understands what the job entails and ICASA is all but a puppet organization for Telkom. For ICT to really flourish in SA we need Telkom to become a public entity and not be a parastatal. ICASA then need to sever all Telkom ties and government ties and become truly independent. Then they must make up their minds about spectrum licencing, LLU, FMP, USAO and BTS. Once that is done we can operate in a freeish communication environment.

 

[Lothy]

Way to selective read..

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/473778-Afrihost-CAPPED-ADSL-Feedback-(MTN)/page714


714 pages of selective reading... I stopped around the 500 mark when I moved to WA, otherwise I was actively involved in that thread. So yes I have somewhat of decent perspective of AH and their services. So do u have a better perspective that I am missing?

 

[Glordit]

So do u have a better perspective that I am missing?

We all do, it is called an opinion.

 

[Dr3amHax0r]

Guys...don't conclude on an ISP based on a single report.

The service level received can and does vary on a regional basis due to a number of factors on ADSL.

OP is of course right to bitch...that level of packet loss is entirely unacceptable. Just that part about AH being a write-off as a whole is imo the wrong conclusion.

(No I'm not using AH - or any ADSL provider for that matter).

Ooh don't get me wrong. I know it's based on location and so on, but in all fairness, this problem has been with me when I lived in Kuilsrivier and still is with me in Brackenfell. Also, a friend of mine gets the same problem but not as regularly.

I think the ones that affected are the coastal people because maybe of being so far from their inla d servicese as they are ased in jhb i know i had that problem with mweb

Read above for where I live. I can't speak for people that do live on the coast, but I don't think this is the reason.

... TLDR : While some ISPs might suck for some users, it will be awesome for others.

I understand what you are saying, but I do believe something is up since, as I said, a friend not so far from my living area is getting the same problem, just not nearly as bad as my own (meaning, his internet is still usable while mine isn't).

That's what I've got, I switched to the AH Bus Uncapped because I was getting throttled badly on WA doing around 100GB pm on a 4Mbps home uncapped account. Everything seems to work fine for me. They have an option to shape P2P traffic that you can turn on and off as well if you do want that to take a lower priority.

I have been thinking of swapping to Business. Might end up doing it because of all the recommendations I have been getting.

Ye I don't know if the same can be said about AH. They were (maybe still are) shocking for everyone.

AH is a shell of their former selves in my books.

I believe this all started about the time MTN took over. I really did like Afrihost. I even recommended it to multiple friends (one of them not happy at all though...) Now they are just... well, look at the packet loss and you will get what I mean.

I cannot comment on AH's issues in detail (I know senior network people that work there). What I will say is that they have grown too quickly in a very short timespan and this is putting severe pressure on them to deliver. To fix what is wrong they need to spend money they don't have on infrastructure they cannot afford on a budget that is relatively flat. That is the story I have been told.

This actually makes since. Well in that case, they should work harder on fixing the issues since this has been a problem from around November last year...

I have a capped account with AH and have no problems. Having said that I also have an uncapped account with Openweb for downloads etc. That gets throttled to death in the day while the AH is fine. I can play on either at night with no problems. My mate has the same account but lives 300km away and has endless problems with connectivity... Just saying...

Capped or uncapped ?

This is for both Hiro and Joker. Capped accounts are always unshaped and throttled, therefore don't give issues like uncapped accounts. Now if my monthly usage wasn't so high, I might have been on a capped account as well...

All the home uncapped products are getting a bit crap these days it seems, people are wanting more and more bandwidth, and ISP's only have so much capacity, that's why they are trying to get Telkom to reduce their wholesale price, it's either that happens or we pay more.

This is the main reason shaping and throttling even existed, ever since the uncapped product got released, I knew this was going to cause big problems.

Seems the real problem is with telkom not really the isp's

Well there won't be any ADSL without Telkom. So this might be the case.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/473778-Afrihost-CAPPED-ADSL-Feedback-(MTN)/page714


714 pages of selective reading... I stopped around the 500 mark when I moved to WA, otherwise I was actively involved in that thread. So yes I have somewhat of decent perspective of AH and their services. So do u have a better perspective that I am missing?

We all do, it is called an opinion.

No cat fights please


Anyway, sorry for taking so long to reply to you all and sorry for replying to so many, I do like having an opinion and reading others as well.

 

[Avatar]

I have been with afrihost for 3 years now no issue. But for gami g i usually have a back up 10gb capped account for when i feel lag is a bit rough ut that normally only happe s when i hit about 250 or 300gb


Fot the guy with xbox live dropping i have never had that issue check your firewall settings cos i have never been dropped unless it was down

Just get a high cap account, 100 - 200gb. It's unshaped and no BS.

Uncapped accounts are heavily overrated among the users

That's what I've got, I switched to the AH Bus Uncapped because I was getting throttled badly on WA doing around 100GB pm on a 4Mbps home uncapped account. Everything seems to work fine for me. They have an option to shape P2P traffic that you can turn on and off as well if you do want that to take a lower priority.

I have a capped account with AH and have no problems. Having said that I also have an uncapped account with Openweb for downloads etc. That gets throttled to death in the day while the AH is fine. I can play on either at night with no problems. My mate has the same account but lives 300km away and has endless problems with connectivity... Just saying...

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/473778-Afrihost-CAPPED-ADSL-Feedback-(MTN)/page714


714 pages of selective reading... I stopped around the 500 mark when I moved to WA, otherwise I was actively involved in that thread. So yes I have somewhat of decent perspective of AH and their services. So do u have a better perspective that I am missing?

From the ten or so people that have replied here. It's certainly not everyone.

 

[Dr3amHax0r]

From the ten or so people that have replied here. It's certainly not everyone.

View attachment 15299

If you are referring to me, then I did use the words "...replying to so many...", not "replying to all" and just in case you haven't noticed yet, I did reply to blaaislaai and Lothy (although the last one was to stop a fight )

 

[Lothy]

If you are referring to me, then I did use the words "...replying to so many...", not "replying to all" and just in case you haven't noticed yet, I did reply to blaaislaai and Lothy (although the last one was to stop a fight )

Ever the diplomate lol.

Agh i dont mind being called out on been narrow minded, but at least give me some reason not to be or proof to the contrary.

 

[Tent]

Can someone explain to me where the shaping happens? I was with afri (line and data) as well and moved my data to axxess because the gaming is awesome there haha but my downloads are being shaped horribly. Who am I supposed to moan at? Afri or axxess?

Edit: they both say no problems on their side.

 

[Glordit]

Can someone explain to me where the shaping happens? I was with afri (line and data) as well and moved my data to axxess because the gaming is awesome there haha but my downloads are being shaped horribly. Who am I supposed to moan at? Afri or axxess?

Edit: they both say no problems on their side.

The problems could be from the exchange to your router and everywhere in between.

Are you using p2p, newshost, fileshare websites?

The IP's and protocols for all these are all logged into the ISP's traffic control and are usually slowed down during working hours to stop people abusing the lines when they are needed the most.

The shaping will happen at the ISP, the account you use will be shaped due to reaching a weekly or monthly threshold. Can you log into your account and see if there is not notice of shaping? (AFAIK Mweb does notify users if they are being shaped).

 

[Tent]

The problems could be from the exchange to your router and everywhere in between.

Are you using p2p, newshost, fileshare websites?

The IP's and protocols for all these are all logged into the ISP's traffic control and are usually slowed down during working hours to stop people abusing the lines when they are needed the most.

The shaping will happen at the ISP, the account you use will be shaped due to reaching a weekly or monthly threshold. Can you log into your account and see if there is not notice of shaping? (AFAIK Mweb does notify users if they are being shaped).

Mostly p2p, problem the dl speed doesn't get better during off peak. I leave it on overnight and it dls like 400mb and on a 4mb line thats just cruel [emoji21]

I'm on a 150gb capped account (no notice of shapimg) and at that rate I'm barely tickling my limit.

 

[Dr3amHax0r]

Mostly p2p, problem the dl speed doesn't get better during off peak. I leave it on overnight and it dls like 400mb and on a 4mb line thats just cruel [emoji21]

I'm on a 150gb capped account (no notice of shaping) and at that rate I'm barely tickling my limit.

Are you new to torrents? Do you understand how they work? What I am trying to say is, are you downloading torrents that has multiple seeders? If you have no idea what I am referring to now, you might want to read up on how torrents work. Also on how to get good quality torrents with seeds.

Since you are on a capped account there should never be shaping or throttling applied to your account. The only conclusion I can make is that you are using dead torrents. Sorry I could not be of much help.

 

[Hiro]

whats the best alternative ? I am considering either Web Africa or Openweb. But i see that Web Africa capped accounts are all SHAPED. is this noticeably problematic ?

 

[Thadin]

whats the best alternative ? I am considering either Web Africa or Openweb. But i see that Web Africa capped accounts are all SHAPED. is this noticeably problematic ?

Well as i have said in the past I still rate the premium service from Mweb as one of the best uncapped offerings out at the moment but that is my personal experience after dealing with Vox/Telkom/afrihost/wa/IS

 

[PsychoFish]

Can someone explain to me where the shaping happens? I was with afri (line and data) as well and moved my data to axxess because the gaming is awesome there haha but my downloads are being shaped horribly. Who am I supposed to moan at? Afri or axxess?

Edit: they both say no problems on their side.

The problems could be from the exchange to your router and everywhere in between.

Are you using p2p, newshost, fileshare websites?

The IP's and protocols for all these are all logged into the ISP's traffic control and are usually slowed down during working hours to stop people abusing the lines when they are needed the most.

The shaping will happen at the ISP, the account you use will be shaped due to reaching a weekly or monthly threshold. Can you log into your account and see if there is not notice of shaping? (AFAIK Mweb does notify users if they are being shaped).

Mostly p2p, problem the dl speed doesn't get better during off peak. I leave it on overnight and it dls like 400mb and on a 4mb line thats just cruel [emoji21]

I'm on a 150gb capped account (no notice of shapimg) and at that rate I'm barely tickling my limit.

Are you new to torrents? Do you understand how they work? What I am trying to say is, are you downloading torrents that has multiple seeders? If you have no idea what I am referring to now, you might want to read up on how torrents work. Also on how to get good quality torrents with seeds.

Since you are on a capped account there should never be shaping or throttling applied to your account. The only conclusion I can make is that you are using dead torrents. Sorry I could not be of much help.

First of all, torrent clients/peers will try to connect on TCP ports 6881 thru 6999. ISPs will apply QoS (Quality of Service) on traffic hitting these ports. QoS can be applied on traffic class (class name or CoS), protocol header description files, Real-Time Protocol (RTP) protocol port, port type, peer-to-peer traffic, etc, etc. Essentially what the ISP will do is (very cleverly) apply the lowest QoS priority to based on the traffic class for P2P traffic by matching the outbound packet with a number of rules. Essentially even if you ONLY allow your torrent client to connect on port 80, 443 or 8443 (HTTP & HTTPS ports) you will still get caught by one or more traffic classification rules. Blocking by IP for torrents is an absolutely futile effort BTW, as mentioned is some of the above posts. Blocking on port numbers alone is also completely futile as torrent clients will revert to port 80 if all else fails. Torrents clients have also started with Protocol encryption (PE), message stream encryption (MSE) or protocol header encrypt (PHE) which proved effective for a while until ISPs learnt how to identify traffic better. It's a constant cat and mouse game though to block/classify P2P traffic.

Certain types of traffic (specifically the real-time protocols) will always get the highest QoS rules applied to them, this is generally things like Skype & SIP type traffic.

 

[PsychoFish]

whats the best alternative ? I am considering either Web Africa or Openweb. But i see that Web Africa capped accounts are all SHAPED. is this noticeably problematic ?

No, you'll find that virtually all ISPs will shape traffic in some way or shape, where uncapped accounts are very aggressively shaped, capped accounts will have less aggressive shaping. Business accounts tend to have almost no traffic shaping, but I can guarantee you that the ISP will have something in place to limit/monitor abuse.

The only surefire way of getting completely unshaped internet connectivity is to get a business fibre link installed to your house (not FTTH), which will rip you about R35k+ per month, and even that is not a guarantee.

 

[Cicero]

I cannot comment on AH's issues in detail (I know senior network people that work there). What I will say is that they have grown too quickly in a very short timespan and this is putting severe pressure on them to deliver. To fix what is wrong they need to spend money they don't have on infrastructure they cannot afford on a budget that is relatively flat. That is the story I have been told.

I'm not disputing this, but the fact that they were just bought by MTN should mean there's plenty of budget around surely. I've also seen a degradation in service from AH, especially with streaming though. I use a capped account, and it used to be bulletproof...but now when I swap to my WA smaller capped account it outperforms it every time.

 

[PsychoFish]

I'm not disputing this, but the fact that they were just bought by MTN should mean there's plenty of budget around surely. I've also seen a degradation in service from AH, especially with streaming though. I use a capped account, and it used to be bulletproof...but now when I swap to my WA smaller capped account it outperforms it every time.

Hahahaha, don't get me started on MTN. MTNs backbone network must be held together by duct tape and prayers if you ask me.