Netrunner by Cytanet
- company: Cytanet
- website: www.cytanet.com.cy
- support email: no email support
- support phone: 8000-8080
Cytanet, a department of the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CYTA), is one of the oldest Internet Service Providers in Cyprus offering a wide range of connectivity, hosting and other related products and services. The ADSL product of Cytanet is called Netrunner and is available on the i-choice platform.
Netrunner packages
Netrunner offers packages for home and business users. The packages differentiate based on the maximum available speed, the number of static IPs included in the package, and the priority in bandwidth they receive during peak hours (Contention Ratio). Following is a quick overview of these packages. Prices do not include VAT.
| Package Name | Max Speed Down/Up | Required i-choice Connection | Static IPs | Bandwidth Priority | Installation Fee | Monthly Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetRunner 256 | 256Kbps / 64Kbps | i-choice256 | no | low | - | €9.40 |
| NetRunner 512 | 512Kbps / 128Kbps | i-choice512 | no | low | - | €11.96 |
| NetRunner 1000 | 1Mbps / 128Kbps | i-choice1000 | no | low | - | €16.23 |
| NetRunner_plus | 1Mbps / 128Kbps | i-choice1000 | no | average | - | €30.75 |
| NetRunner_businesslite | 1Mbps / 512Kbps | i-choice business lite | 4 | high | €68.34 | €76.89 |
| NetRunner_business | 2Mbps / 512Kbps | i-choice business | 4 | high | €136.69 | €170.86 |
Please see the i-choice platform page for the other fees you will have to pay in order to get ADSL connection. The ISP (Netrunner in this case) is just one of costs.
Cytanet Netrunner review
Netrunner is the most popular ADSL product in Cyprus. However its popularity has a lot more to do with Cytanet's relationship with CYTA and the i-choice platform rather than the quality of the service. Usually Netrunner is offered to all clients applying for the i-choice ADSL platform and many of them do not know that they have an option for a different ISP.
While Netrunner is sufficient for basic web browsing and http downloads, it is totally inadequate for about everything else. P2P downloads, gaming etc suffer with Netrunner since Cytanet blocks or filters many commonly used ports and the ping times to some parts of the world are very slow.
For support, Cytanet has a toll free phone number available until midnight on weekdays and until noon on weekends. Unfortunately the wait times can be quite long during peak hours.
On the positive side, the Netrunner service fee will be added to your phone bill and therefore you will not have to worry for one more thing to pay at the end of the month. Another benefit of this service is that you can enable it within minutes by calling Cytanet (provided that you already have i-choice installed) and disable it just as easily and you will be billed only for the days you had the service. So if you enable Netrunner and then disable it after two days, your next phone bill will include a small charge for those 2 days and not the whole monthly fee.
Netrunnet (Cytanet) User Reviews
If you have tried the broadband services of Cytanet please write a review about your positive and/or negative experiences.
If your review is based on past experiences please include the time period you have been using this ISP.
Please post reviews about Cytanet only, and not about any other ISP or service. However feel free to compare Cytanet with other Internet Service Providers offering similar products.
Don't forget to cast your vote with your rating for Cytanet.
Reviewer: Sotos
May 07 2007 08:45AM
Cytanet was the first ISP for ADSL i tried. Browsing the web was fast compared to the ISDN I was used but when I tried out to download with FTP I was shocked. It was slower than dial-up! I called Cytanet support to ask them why but they were just wasting my time and I saw no improvement. After I did a bit of research it turned out that Cytanet filters many ports and many things work very slow with them. They could at least tell me this themselves when I called them instead of wasting my time! This was a couple of years ago but from what I hear they didn't improve. Stay away from Netrunner!
Reviewer: yottie
May 10 2007 10:19AM
I used Net Runner until a couple of years ago when I discovered they use filters that prevented me downloading software updates from legitimate sites. The tech support staff initially denied it until we convinced we actually KNEW they did so. I switched to Spidernet but am now planning another change to rid myself of I-Choice, which until recently meant NO-Choice
Reviewer: falconcy
July 08 2007 03:06PM
In all honesty, you will get what you pay for. All packages offered by any ISP will have restrictions, whether that be blocking certain ports or traffic shaping. This is particularly so with the lower priced packages.
If you are paying for a Lada, will it perform like a Ferarri?
I decided on the Business Lite package as I use it in a SOHO situation. I do not have any login problems, there is no login necessary on a Business package. I am direct to Cytanet, there is no NAT to go through. I also cannot get MiVision. This is because they cannot guarantee QoS, if your connection is slow and you have MiVision on at the time, I guess MiVision might just be the cause.
Faster packages are on offer from other providers, all with some kind of restrictions. I have no restrictions and pretty much full speed as advertised most of the time. The only problems have been where Cyta have had problems with their external bandwidth, which is not often.
Cyta's external routing is actually not bad and the way it is set up, there is a certain amount of redundancy built in. There may be a slight issue with Latency, ping times can be a bit higher than they might be, this is something I can live with.
I've gone through most of the serious ISP's over the years. I was one of the first people online here. 9600 modems with the external connection being a 64k ISDN line to the Internet, those were the days, Netscape took hours to come down 
Logosnet was good in those days, can't say the same now.
Spidernet's Proxy was a pain in the bum, smoke and mirrors does not work for me.
I've been bitched at by Thunderworx for downloading too much on a 128k ISDN line, I was paying premium and they wanted to tell me how I could use it, I guess I will not be going with their latest reinvention Primetel for that very reason.
I've done the one way satellite route too, whilst waiting 3 years for the local exchange to be wired up for ADSL. I worked in the industry too, so I have seen both sides of it. That said, getting a decent package as a perk was great. So was testing a 4mbit downlink for a week.
I ended up with Cyta and despite what some others may think, I'm satisfied with what I get.
I will be glad when the Competition Comission finally allow Cyta to roll out faster packages, this is pending and will come soon, I'm hearing the end of August on the grapevine. Hopefully this will give a sensible bandwidth increase without any financial hit.
Hopefully uplink speeds will increase too. A 128k uplink that is maxed out will saturate any connection and seriously decrease your download speed. Put simply, if you are doing P2P and your speed is slow, before you blame the ISP, check out things on your own system. Get a bandwidth meter and see what uploading is going on, if it is maxed out, you will find that the connection will slow down.
On the subject of DSL enabling services, they are all using a big buzzword, ADSL2+, to me that means the possibility of 10-20mbit connections (theoretically it can go up to 24mbit) yet all I see is it being used as a platform to push TV signals down a telephone line. The Internet is not their main priority.
I look at parts of Europe, where 8mbit is the norm for a basic package, with most having 10mbit, Sweden is moving to 100mbit with some areas rolling out 1gbit (sure, it's not realistic as hard drive speeds cannot handle it) - we on the other hand are just going up to 4mbit with a cable service offering 10mbit in very limited areas and practically no expansion going on.
The lack of planning by the government here has created this situation. All of the network should have been separated from the providers and set up as an infrastructure. Fiber should have been rolled out everywhere and a carrier neutral fiber to home network set up. This would have put Cyprus in the forefront and the size of the island would have made it viable. A further carrier neutral wimax network would have provided the necessary infrastructure to put in place the next generation of wireless data and telephony network, basically doing to mobile telephony what the internet and VoIP did to regular telephony. Wireless data, alowing PDA's and Laptops to be used anywhere would create a fantastic environment for business. This network would be carrier neutral too. All this would enable service providers to provide services and maximise their profits without needing to invest a fortune in their own networks.
It is way too late for that now and as a result we now have the legacy of bad planning for the forseeable future.
Reviewer: falconcy
August 15 2007 04:56AM
According to my sources, Cytanet will be modifying their packages in September. There are some price reductions and some speed increases. I only have rumors so far and not confirmation of the exact speeds that will be available. It is possible that uplink speeds will be increased.
Reviewer: Nico
August 16 2007 09:41AM
New NetRunner Monthly Subscription rates from 1 Sept 2007
Current Name New Name Current Rate New Rate
NetRunner NetRunner256 - £5,50
NetRunner NetRunner512 £9 £7,00
NetRunnerfast NetRunner1024 £12 £9,50
NetRunnerplus NetRunnerplus £27 £18,00
Note: The above rates do not include VAT.
Reviewer: falconcy
August 18 2007 07:43PM
Businesslite 4IP is down to £45 from £50
Business 4IP is down to £100 from £130
All excluding VAT
Connection charge for NetRunnerbusinesslite is £40 and for NetRunnerbusiness £80
For customers with annual subscriptions, the 12th month is offered free
Additionally, you are now offered the following:
- Free corporate email facility (annual fee £72-£120).
- Free antivirus και antispam email protection (annual fee £48).
- Free webpage hosting space of up to 50 MB for NetRunnerbusinesslite and up to 100MB for NetRunnerbussiness (annual fee £120 for 50MB and £162 for 100MB).
- Free DNS management.
We would like to remind you that the above products come with additional free facilities such as a connection to CYTANET via ISDN for NetRunnerbusinesslite and via NetRunner for NetRunnerbusiness.
I have heard that the uplink is being increased to 512k on the business packages ....might mean that home packages are increased to 256k uplink, don't quote me on that though. It seems that packages will be available with up to 4mbit in both home and business. No details as of yet as to actual packages/pricing. Expect more info once the whole island wakes up again at the end of August.
Reviewer: kwacka
November 02 2007 11:22PM
Is it possible to separate Netrunner from i-choice?
I-choice works OK (OK Cyprus is behind the rest of the world in speeds) with other ISPs - but not Netrunner.
Why don't I get the numerous service interruptions with my current provider that I had with Netrunner - and was forced to wait in CyTA's 40+ minute queue listening to their dire music, only to hear someone tell me to "turn off my computer and modem, wait 5 minutes, turn on the modem, wait for the lights to stop flashing then turn on your computer".
"I tried that when I spoke to your colleague an hour ago"
"Click on 'run' and type 'cmd'"
"I use linux"
"Fine, just click on 'run"
or
"turn off your modem"
"I have a router"
"OK turn off your modem then turn off your router"
"The modem is part of the router - its a modem/router/switch"
"OK but turn off your modem then your router".