MTN Move – What to Expect?

We know that Gian’s open letter to ADSL clients raised a lot of questions, and we hope that we answered a lot of them. We have very big plans for the future, but we also have our eyes on the what’s important for our clients today. We are doing everything we can to prevent and pre-empt any possible problems on changeover, but ask our clients to be understanding and patient, and above all Don’t Panic!! A degree of teething is to be expected, but we will be monitoring the network closely to actively avoid any potential hassles.

To put you at ease (and arm you with information) here’s some things to look out for.

1) Problem Sending Outgoing Mail (SMTP)– Our normal outgoing mail server (smtp.afrihost.co.za on port 25) will continue to work as normal. If you are using an alternative smtp (e.g. smtp.isdsl.co.za) these will no longer work and will need to be changed. If you still have problems, new alternative SMTP’s are available through our support channels.
2) Fixed DNS – If you are using Static DNS, you will not be able to connect using your existing settings. We highly recommend using Dynamic DNS (Automatically Assigned), but should you require static settings, please use the following:
     a. primary: 196.7.7.7
     b. secondary: 196.7.8.9
3) IP Address -  You might notice that your IP address will change from 196.xx.xx.xx to 105.xx.xx.xx. This is normal and nothing to worry about. However, if you are using any IP based controls like firewalls or Spam Filters, you may need to update them with the new IP range.
4) No Connection / Internet on 16th October – You may find that you are not automatically redirected to the new network. It’s not serious, just switch off your router for about 5 mins and switch it back on. It may take some time to pick up the network (authenticate), especially if many people are authenticating the same time. We have anticipated this and catered for all clients to do so simultaneously, but give it a few minutes just in case.
5) Prioritisation on Uncapped – As we move clients over and really put the network to the test, we will be testing and tinkering with prioritization of Browsing, Downloads, VoIP and other protocols. While we’ve done everything possible to pre-test these settings, we can only really fine tune the network once all our users are transferred. While there may be a few minor ups and downs, we’ll actively monitor this to make sure the overall experience remains satisfactory.
6) Routing & Peering – While we have ensured that all peering with major networks is in place, there could be potential issues while we get the network off the ground. In our tests this has not been an issue, but please contact us so that we can look into any issues immediately. All traffic is currently routing to Johannesburg IPC so that we can control the network from our base of operations. Additional IPC rollout will only make sense once the network is running 100% smoothly.
7) News Servers – We will no longer be able to access IS’s News Server, as we are no longer going to be on their network. We are currently investigating launching our own server with MTN, or other alternatives.

This about all you could possibly expect to go south when the change happens, but we fully expect that mostly everything will go smoothly for most clients (especially if you know what to expect). 

Remember that our support team is just a tweet, SMS, email or phone call away to help with any problems or queries.