TerraNet DSL New Fair Use Policy

Nabz

I have TerraNet DSL 512 kbps with unlimited night and double speed, and would consider myself a heavy downloader (heavy for Lebanon standards...inno around 20GB per month...but nothing compared to US standards). Anyway, usually I haven't had a problem with downloading at night from TerraNet...I typically download stuff from 3 am till 7 am every night at around 100 KB/sec which is pretty decent for Lebanon. I'm only using half of my allotted "unlimited" time every night for downloading and I don't consider that abuse.

Anyway, today I just got the following email from TerraNet :rolleyes: Seems like they updated their fair use policy:

Your account with TerraNet Cable One DSL 512 has violated the Fair Access Policy by reaching 80% of traffic limit during Unlimited Night. This limit is part of Broadband Unlimited Night Traffic Fair Use Policy. Your speed has been reduced and download/upload is limited during Unlimited Night Traffic for 1 week. After 1 week, if your account is still active, the speed will be resumed with the remaining 20% traffic. If you violate the policy again during the same refill period, the policy of speed reduction and limited access will be re implemented until your account expires. Note: Speed goes back to normal during unlimited traffic and The policy is automatically renewed when you apply a new refill to your account.

The funny thing is...they advertise "unlimited night" and then say that I have reached 80% of my TRAFFIC LIMIT during UNLIMITED NIGHT lol. Apparently I'm only allowed to download 12 GB/month during unlimited night, then they limit your speed at night to 128 kbps!!!! :mad:

I understand that most ISPs worldwide use some sort of Fair Use Policy...but capping it at 12 GB/month is a joke. I have family and friends in Saudi Arabia and their internet is truly unlimited. In the States I know some companies will send you a warning if you download more than 300 GB per month, but you can't cap it at 12GB/month and call it unlimited! Only in Lebanon :rolleyes:

Are all other ISPs doing this right now? Putting a specific cap on so called "unlimited" downloads and calling it a Fair Use Policy? I really want to switch ISPs but only if their unlimited night is truly unlimited or unlimited with a reasonable fair use policy.

Here's a link (PDF) to TerraNet's new policy:

http://corp.terra.net.lb/TerraNetBroadbandFairUsePolicy.pdf

Kareem

Guess what ... Cyberia is no longer offering unlimited night traffic and double speed at night....

Nabz

Kareem wroteGuess what ... Cyberia is no longer offering unlimited night traffic and double speed at night....

Really? It's still advertised quite prominently on their website :/

Kareem

This was a message I posted yesterday..

I went to citymall today, to see what special offers Cyberia were promoting ( check website). They are reducing the prices to 39.99$ for the installation ( wifi router ) or 9$ for the modem.You get discount for the first 3 months of subscription. Say if you want 1mbps for 69.99$, you will only pay 39$ for a trimester and same applies for other speeds. However, they are no longer providing unlimited night traffic and double speed at night. They told me that the exhange points cannot handle the load anymore. Although they are advertising for it on their websites, they are not applying it. They told me it only applies for limited regions outside Beirut like chwayfet..

Nabz

Kareem wroteAlthough they are advertising for it on their websites, they are not applying it.

If that's true then they are even worse than TerraNet...at least Terra is transparent with their new policy, but I still think it's total BS to say you have "unlimited night" which is actually LIMITED to 12 GB/month.

Kareem

Dude, Terranet is the worst thing you can ever get. Cyberia is still way better than other ISPs. Ogero at the top of the list.

Nabz

Kareem wroteDude, Terranet is the worst thing you can ever get. Cyberia is still way better than other ISPs. Ogero at the top of the list.

I download a lot...not having unlimited night is a deal-breaker for me, otherwise I would get Ogero. And you're saying even Cyberia is not offering unlimited night anymore, so that's not an option for me.

Kareem

then try VISP , I think they are on the way back

samer

Kareem wroteDude, Terranet is the worst thing you can ever get. Cyberia is still way better than other ISPs. Ogero at the top of the list.

Can you give us concrete facts, figures and reasons? :)

Kareem

FYI, Ive tried the Terranet thing and I was like good lord what was that.. :

1- Very high latency Ping goes from 500 to 900ms. Online gaming ? forget about it.

2- Qos : worst thing every. Download rate is so not stable. Sometimes you get 5KB/sec download speed at midnight.

3-Support center: please stop joking.

And if you want, I can link you to threads on different forums talking about Terranet shitty service.

yet, they are still a bit better than IDM... If you get IDM, you will be officially done.

WizaRd

Actually, my IDM in Beirut is really really and I mean really stable with low-latency all day long.

My ping returns 180-220 ms on bbc.co.uk // it is stable at ~200-360ms in WoW and on Garena (for all the DOTA players), I play in USA rooms for a 188ms to almost all the hosts.

Not to forget unlimited download at night and the double speed - and yes, the GBs are added to every new month meaning if you spent 3 out of 4 GBs this month, next month you get 5GB instead of 4.

Pretty neat if you ask me.

belal

idm is really great.. the best in this fked up country.

Nabz

Flyingwizard wroteActually, my IDM in Beirut is really really and I mean really stable with low-latency all day long.

My ping returns 180-220 ms on bbc.co.uk // it is stable at ~200-360ms in WoW and on Garena (for all the DOTA players), I play in USA rooms for a 188ms to almost all the hosts.

Not to forget unlimited download at night and the double speed - and yes, the GBs are added to every new month meaning if you spent 3 out of 4 GBs this month, next month you get 5GB instead of 4.

Pretty neat if you ask me.

Does the double-speed start exactly at 8pm and is it truly double? With TerraNet I typically wouldn't get true double speed till around 3 am.

Also, is the unlimited night truly unlimited, or is their a hidden cap/strict fair use policy similar to the policy I described above for TerraNet? Would I be able to download 20-25GB per month (only during off-peak, unlimited night time of course) without facing a penalty?

If it's as good as you say it is, then screw TerraNet and their new policy...I'll gladly switch to IDM.

Nabz

So, I made some calls to the different ISPs. TerraNet is sticking to their policy...it's not truly unlimited night anymore. IDM told me they are not doing unlimited night or double speed for the time being, unless they are able to increase their network capacity, and according to Kareem, Cyberia are also not really giving unlimited night anymore either. Sodetel, however, told me that their Fair Use Policy ONLY applies to their DSL unlimited plans (which are unlimited 24 hours day and night 128kbps or 256kbps) but does NOT apply to regular connections with double speed and unlimited night...the customer service lady assured me that their unlimited night is truly unlimited.

So I'm thinking of switching to Sodetel...does anyone here have any experience with them? Is it a stable, good-quality connection? Although I'm not a heavy online gamer (download is much more important for me), I do play online with my PS3 occasionally...does anyone know anything about their latency? Any major problems with Sodetel I should know about before switching? Thanks.

Kareem

I wouldnt consider DSL for the time being.

samer

It seems like our ISPs sat down and decided to tone down the last bit of existent competition in the Internet–providing market :/

Furthermore, I'm on TerraNet and my night speeds have gone down from 100KBps to 15KBps.
BUT latency seems to have been improved (I'm getting ~200ms instead of ~500ms at 10PM).

samer

IDM told me they are not doing unlimited night or double speed for the time being, unless they are able to increase their network capacity

My friend has IDM, he sent me this:

Dear IDM ADSL customer, your telephone line is Unlimited nights and double the speed enabled thus allowing you to download freely from 11 PM to 7 AM at double the speed.
You have consumed a total of (...) MB in upload and (...) MB in download free of charge during the Unlimited Night traffic period.

Unless they meant that they're not giving it to new customers, the offer is still there.

Nabz

samer wrote
IDM told me they are not doing unlimited night or double speed for the time being, unless they are able to increase their network capacity
My friend has IDM, he sent me this:

Dear IDM ADSL customer, your telephone line is Unlimited nights and double the speed enabled thus allowing you to download freely from 11 PM to 7 AM at double the speed.
You have consumed a total of (...) MB in upload and (...) MB in download free of charge during the Unlimited Night traffic period.
Unless they meant that they're not giving it to new customers, the offer is still there.

Hmm...so either the person I spoke to at IDM support was misinformed, or like you said, they're not giving it to new customers. All I know is, I'm fed up with TerraNet, and it seems that Sodetel does not have any hidden cap for the unlimited night period. I know someone who has sodetel DSL and will ask about it, and again, if anyone else here has feedback on sodetel's ADSL service I would greatly appreciate it.

Kareem

They all are lying :)

Nabz

Kareem wroteThey all are lying :)

What about visp? I gather that you're currently one of their customers. I read about lots of problems they had recently but it's getting fixed now (?).

What are their plans/prices?