ihug - Going down the drain?
Ok, so about 3 weeks ago I was on ihug's fastest ADSL broadband plan (Broadband Power, 3.2 Mbit d/l and 512Kbit u/l). I noticed that they had released a new range of plans, so I upgraded to the fastest of the new plans ("Broadband 4", which is 7.6Mbit d/l and 800Kbit u/l). I ended up leaving and joining TelstraClear before the new plan took effect for a few reasons.
The reason why I changed to a higher ihug plan was because everything seemed to be slowing down. I used to get an average actual download rate of between 275Kbps and 350Kbps. When I left, I was really lucky to get 200Kbps. My net gaming suffered badly, especially that even if I got the measely 200Kbps, the connection cut out regularly (every 5 minutes, not my pc/modem, it had worked perfectly previously). When I upgraded to ihug's Broadband 4 plan, I also e-mailed them asking a few questions. When the plan never took effect in 24hrs like it said in their confirmation e-mail (clearly), I e-mailed again. I e-mailed a few more times after that, leaving a few days between each e-mail. I never received any replies from ihug, and when I called the call centre they said the plan would only take effect at the next billing cycle (not what the e-mail said), and that even when it, did the actual speed wouldn't change because my previous plan was running at their full practical speed anyway. Just goes to show that the 7.6Mbit advertised plans are just marketing, as ADSL can't support that in reality, at the end user side.
When I first upgraded my ihug plan, they advised that they were having big delays in the processing of e-mail through their server. A quick side story, when I cancelled my ihug broadband and changed to dial-up to keep my e-mail addresses (I hate changing details with everyone), the confirmation e-mail which they sent also included a short paragraph apologising for the delay in repling to all my e-mails. They added that it was now unnecessary to answer any of my questions, I guess they got of actually having to resolve a customer's issues. Isn't is a coincidence how they suddenly received all my delayed e-mails in time to shrug them off at the first opportunity?
Since then, I have noticed a number of issues with ihug which would have annoyed me immensely, had I still relied on ihug for my internet access. Everytime I call ihug's customer service, there is a preceeding automated message, advising that they are aware of the latest problem. Currently, they are experiencing long delays with their e-mail processing (in and out), are aware of issues affecting ADSL users connections (broadband) and now their website takes a long time to load, and even longer to log into webmail or account information.
ihug looks like a sinking vessle, and I was the wet rat running along the bow rope towards the dock as it sunk. I am surprised by this, when I first got ihug broadband, I was really happy with ihug, the connection, the speeds and customer service. All four are now in peril (customer service are friendly, but unhelpful, they obviously are tired of working for a company who only gets calls from irate "users").
ihug broadband users on the higher speed plans? If you're within TelstraClear cable coverage, make the change. TelstraClear's Cable "LightSpeed 40" is only $9.95 a month more than ihug's "Broadband 4". It's important to distinguish between baud rate and actual download speed. For example, on ihug's "Broadband 4" plan (Same effective speed as their "Broadband Power" plan I was on), the baud rate is 7.6Mbps download. The actual data transfer rate when you download a file (for example a demo from gameplanet.co.nz, a local server) is at the best I ever got about 375kbps (around 3 seconds per 1 megabyte (MB) ) and normally around 180 kbps to 225 kbps (5 or 6 seconds per 1 MB) - These times are obviously approximate and varying. For $9.95 a month more, you get a cable baud rate of 10Mbps, with a regular download speed of 1000 kbps to 1100 kbps (or as windows indicates, 1.1Mbps). That 1.1MB every second... Any contest?
Please shape up or ship out ihug? I'd prefer the former, as I want to keep my e-mail addresses and even possibly change back to ihug ADSL broadband IF I ever move into an area not covered by cable...
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Originally Posted by Lou Girardin
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