Neotel NeoConnect put to the test

We put Neotel’s first consumer offering, NeoConnect, through its paces.

Neotel is about to launch its NeoConnect products to consumers, and MyBroadband was given an opportunity to put it to the test.

The company highlighted that the product is a result of many months of research and testing, and that it aims to address various consumer issues – including long installation times, low Internet usage limits, poor support and pricing.

Neotel has opted for a staged approach, whereby the product is released to the market in phases. The idea is that this will help Neotel iron out problems and assist in managing user expectations.

A full commercial launch is expected in May, but consumers who signed up for the commercial trial can expect a call from Neotel in the coming days and weeks. The company said that these customers had to be connected first, after which the service will be marketed to the general public.

People who are interested in forming part of this commercial trial before the official launch are invited to email consumers@neotel.co.za with their details.

General offering

The NeoConnect product is a fully converged service offering consumers Internet access, a voice service and unlimited SMSs.

Neotel did not want to divulge too much information about the packages, but said that users can expect monthly usage limits (caps) which address market concerns while adding value through voice services and SMSs.

The trial price for the service is R 499.00 per month for unlimited usage, but this will change when the service is launched commercially to a wider audience in May. Despite a different pricing model Neotel reiterated that consumers can expect good value for money.

Assembling and Installation

Assembling and installing the NeoConnect ‘converged Internet phone’ device was very easy, and it took less than five minutes from opening the box to surfing the web.

It is as simple as assembling the device, installing the drivers and software, plugging the USB device into the laptop/PC, inserting your username & password and hitting the connect button.

Neotel also promises Mac and Linux drivers in addition to its Windows support.

Internet Access

The NeoConnect service is based on CDMA 2000 technology, a wireless mobile technology similar to 3G/HSDPA.

For the NeoConnect service Neotel is using CDMA EV DO, with maximum throughput rates of 2.4 Mbps. This will increase in future to 3.1 Mbps when EV DO Rev A is employed while EV DO Rev B promises peak speeds of up to 14.1 Mbps.

The general NeoConnect Internet experience is good with web based speed test results ranging between 93 Kbps and 700 Kbps. For multi-threaded downloads the speeds typically ranged between a few hundred Kbps and one Mbps, peaking at 1.3 Mbps.

Neotel did not skimp on international bandwidth. The speed test results to locations like London and New York are consistently higher than many local destinations.

The average speeds achieved on international web based speed tests were 397 Kbps, higher than the 373 Kbps on similar local tests. Upload speeds ranged between 40 Kbps and 100 Kbps with no discernable difference between local and international speeds.

Neotel pointed out that users can expect performance – especially local performance – to improve as they tweak their network and eliminate bottlenecks.

Local latency ranged between 150 ms and 700 ms, with most high latency results coming from Verizon servers. Ping times to servers on the Internet Solutions, MWEB and Telkom networks were typically between 150 ms and 200 ms.

International latency ranged between 400 ms and 500 ms, with average ping times of 399 ms and 456 ms to Google and BBC respectively.

Voice and SMS service

The NeoConnect service comes into its own when using the voice service.

The voice call quality is excellent and using the voice and SMS service is the same as any landline or mobile phone.

The NeoConnect voice service compares favorably with other fixed line or mobile voice services available today, and is a significant improvement on some of the Internet based VoIP offerings.

Overall impression

Neotel’s NeoConnect offering proved to be stable and there were no disconnections during the extensive testing session. The voice quality was good, the SMS service easy to use and the Internet experience acceptable.

Some broadband users – typically 4 Mbps ADSL and HSDPA subscribers – may find their surfing and download speeds sluggish at times, but most other Internet users will be more than happy with the NeoConnect speeds.

The fact that the CDMA converged device only has a USB connection – and no Ethernet ports - may not go down well with some consumers looking to share the connection.

Another drawback is that the device can not be used simultaneously for voice and Internet access. While the device does not disconnect the Internet access, it discontinues the Internet session when making voice calls.

The portability of the device is a definite positive and allows for interesting possibilities, like taking your office phone & Internet connection home and using it at multiple locations.

The service is easy to use, provides an acceptable Internet experience and gives consumers a good voice and SMS alternative.

Telkom should certainly be concerned if Neotel offer aggressively priced packages which address the current concerns of consumers.

Neotel NeoConnect discussion

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