RSS Feeds
Networks
iiNet naked DSL counts your uploads
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 9:56 AM on November 19, 2007
One caveat we missed when sharing news of iiNet's naked ADSL2+ release is the inclusion of uploads in the usage limits. This is a nasty trend that is now spreading beyond just Telstra, something we were hoping would decline rather than spread. According to Whirlpool, iiNet feels their caps are higher than otherwise to compensate (we thought the caps could have been better even before hearing this) and no other plans are affected.iiNet is correct that more serious users are now uploading a lot more than they used to, whether through P2P traffic or offsite storage. But in our books, counting uploads is a double dip - an ISP somewhere else is counting downloads when you are sending uploads, so is it fair to be 'charged' on both streams?
Another factor Whirlpool spotted is slow transition to naked ADSL, even if you are already with iiNet. This sounds very much like an issue with Telstra control of exchanges, as they have to action the transfers while having zero interest in doing so. The Whirlpool story sees iiNet point to further action through the ACCC to get a 2-3 day process in place as their negotiations with Telstra are "going nowhere fast."
We're happy to see a naked service now available on the market, so big ups to iiNet for taking that massive first step. Next stop: competition due to arrive early next year. Then we'll see who lays down the gauntlet as a price vs features war begins. [Whirlpool]
Comments
Zac
Posted November 19, 2007 5:13 PM
um... im staring at a large iinet advertisement on your site right now... surely your sponsor cant be cool with you talking about how much they suck ?
Seamus Byrne
Posted November 19, 2007 5:53 PM
Maybe we'll point back to this next time we get accused of giving sponsors positive commentary. We call things as we see them, and it's our honest opinion readers come for, and the respect from our audience that the sponsors accept. It means when we do say great things about a sponsor, readers know it's the real deal.
I've got plenty of respect for iiNet - they've worked hard to go from small Perth ISP to real challenger to the mega-corps of Optus and Telstra. But we don't like the upload count, so we have to call it out.
Keith Lewis
Posted November 19, 2007 8:15 PM
I think Internode might do that too
audioboxer
Posted November 20, 2007 12:35 AM
Yeah, they need a bit of work on this new plan. It looks good on paper but when you get down to it... it's not that great. It would save me a whopping $10/mo
I'm on their Home5 plan already $99/mo with 20gb peak/40gb offpeak.
Furthermore iiNet in general is slow as crap to turn on any sort of service. A week to turn on a phone? Another week after that to start up DSL Service?! Is it really that hard to "flip a switch". Point being, they aren't just slow to switch people over... they are just slow. WA, as I'm learning does really mean Wait Awhile.
Haakon
Posted November 20, 2007 2:14 PM
I work in the ISP industry (not in retail ADSL) and you will most likely see this happening more often in Australia.
The reason for this is that the upstream to downstream utilization ratio is quickly heading towards 1:1 and at current growth rates end users are going to be net publishers of data not consumers soon. Once that happens ISPs are going to have to provision bandwidth on their outbound traffic levels and trying to recoup those costs on measuring just the inbound traffic just isn't going to fly.
3DFun
Posted November 22, 2007 8:50 PM
I was looking forward to iinet's naked DSL. Well now that it is released I can see iinet have lost touch of the market. They are forcing people to buy their naked DSL with a hidden $20 surcharge for the packaged VoIP. People will see this as they will question why are they not simply getting charged $30 less. They should offer Naked DSL stand alone with no bundled VoIP. Just like Exetel are doing here:
www.exetel.com.au/a_plan..._adsl2_naked.php
I hope they see the market they have missed and make a product to fill the gap.
Also another gotcha is the uploads are now counted as part of your download limit.