New to South Africa

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akamoke

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Hi guys

Im moving to Johannesburg from New York in July and I want to know the best (fastest) and perhaps cost effective way of obtaining internet access at home

My specific questions are:

1. What is best, Cable internet, DSL or Broadband
2. What is the regular monthly outlay for each
3. Any websites with useful information?

In the US, I use cable access and it operates at T1 speed

Thanks in advance
 
4Mbit DSL - 4096/384, slowly upgrading to 4096/640.

Telkom's DoBroadband 3 is 4Mbit + 3GB international bandwidth (thereafter 30GB local) for R520 per month.
 
Thanks for the input

Re: relocation - Im going for 2yr secondment

Re: South Africa - I ve heard mixed views about South Africa and I realize the best way to form an opinion is to see for myself

re: my name: It is best not to make assumptions about people you don't know

re: broadband limits - can you please explain further, does this mean after you have got to a usuage limit, you do not get any more feeds, is 520 rand a regular price, thats about $70 and you can get cheap ADSL here for $19
 
akamoke said:
Thanks for the input

Re: relocation - Im going for 2yr secondment

Re: South Africa - I ve heard mixed views about South Africa and I realize the best way to form an opinion is to see for myself

re: my name: It is best not to make assumptions about people you don't know

re: broadband limits - can you please explain further, does this mean after you have got to a usuage limit, you do not get any more feeds, is 520 rand a regular price, thats about $70 and you can get cheap ADSL here for $19
Click to expand...

ADSL is expensive here akamoke, well when compared to other parts of the world. Due in part to the Telecoms monopoly we have had here for a long long time. things are changing, so do not get yourself tied into a contract if possible.

This may explain caps in a little more detail :

# What is a cap ~ A cap is the amount of traffic or Gigs per service a subscriber may use or consume over a given period, and is determined by the product you have subscribed to initially. An example would be 2, 3 or 4 Gig. Capping has no relation to the ADSL speed that you have chosen.

# When your shared service cap is reached~ As a TelkomInternet subscriber you have access to our unique threshold management service. This service operates as follows: should you exceed your initial individual service threshold, 1GB, 2 GB, 3 GB or 4 GB service, you will automatically be transferred into our collective threshold option. This will enable you to stay online until such time that the average usage for all our subscribers reaches the collective service threshold. The 1 GB service has no collective threshold however will allow restrictive access once capped.

# NEW capping policy w.e.f 1 February 2008 ~ Once your service threshold and collective threshold have been exceeded, you will be placed within your allocated Local Only bandwidth which is on promotion. As you will not be capped on local bandwidth, we reserve the right to bill you for anything exceeding the allocated local bandwidth that is on promotion. The charge for local bandwidth is R25,55 per gig. If you desire international surfing you can top-up your current username with additional blended bandwidth.
Click to expand...

You can also try http://www.telkomsa.net/ for more information. Click on "our products" and then "access services" for internet information.

Good on you for being open minded about this country and forming your own opinion. It is the only way to do something. I know you will enjoy your stay.
 
Thanks Lancelot and PostmanPot

I admit, I will struggle with the limits, but I guess that means I should get out more, generally a limit of 3Gb, how is that applied, is that saying you can only download only up to 3gb, if so what is the time frame, a month, a year?
 
you respond too fast , lol

You ve answered my questions

Thanks again
 
akamoke said:
Thanks for the input

Re: relocation - Im going for 2yr secondment

Re: South Africa - I ve heard mixed views about South Africa and I realize the best way to form an opinion is to see for myself

re: my name: It is best not to make assumptions about people you don't know

re: broadband limits - can you please explain further, does this mean after you have got to a usuage limit, you do not get any more feeds, is 520 rand a regular price, thats about $70 and you can get cheap ADSL here for $19
Click to expand...

Hey man... there is a good page here where you can see the best of what is available...

http://www.hellkom.co.za/ispprices/

Unfortunately there is no cable internet here... but our wireless options are pretty good. Maybe even better than what you are used to.

We have strict caps on our bandwidth though... so downloading a lot is very very expesnive. :(
 
3G is around R350 for 2GB... and you have to use it in the billing period (Month), no data carry over... also out of bundle rates are around R1.20 to R2.00 per MB.
 
akamoke... in what area are you going to live... maybe we can recomend a safe area to stay. (If you are coming, we might as well help you out.)
 
akamoke said:
Thanks Lancelot and PostmanPot

I admit, I will struggle with the limits, but I guess that means I should get out more, generally a limit of 3Gb, how is that applied, is that saying you can only download only up to 3gb, if so what is the time frame, a month, a year?
Click to expand...

The caps are upload and download, so all data sent and received, and the period in question is usually a month.

You need to bear in mind that you pay for a number of things when connecting here in SA. You get them bundled but effectively you have :

*Telephone line - compulsory even if you don't use the phone and a bane of contention for all of us in this country!

*ADSL line - this is where you decide what speed ADSL you want. Currently the entry level is 384k with the fastest being 4Mb... don't laugh! :)

*Service provider for your data - this is the amount of data you choose to pay for in a month ie from 1Gb fro example up to 10Gb or more. You can get top ups during the course of a month if you run out. You also do not carry over any data. If you buy 10Gb and use 7Gb in a month, too bad you lose 3Gb. So best to start low and increase if needed.

As stated you do get these altogether in packages but these are the three things to look out for, well the last two as these are your choices.
 
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PostmanPot said:
It's a pleasure.

P.S. Did you consider living in Cape Town? :p :o
Click to expand...

No, pick Durban, pick Durban!! We may not have a mountain but you can swim in the sea and still look like a man when you get out! :)

(For the benefit of those not familiar with CT waters, ie akamoke, the water in CT is freezing!)
 
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Welcome to SA. Be prepared to lower your expectations broadband wise.

Starter adsl your looking at about R200 for 1 gig limit running at 384kbps.

If you can, avoid 24 month contracts.

Try to blend in while you're here & good luck.
 
LancelotSA said:
No pick Durban, pick Durban!! We may not have a mountain but you can swim in the sea and still look like a man when you get out! :)

(For the benefit of those not familiar with CT waters, ie akamoke, the water in CT is freezing!)
Click to expand...

Pfft, Capetonians are way too cool for speedos. :p
 
@akamoke: Take a look at www.do.co.za. The Do Level 3 broadband is the fastest home connection available. You should be able to get ~6GB of international access from the Do Level 3 product or ~4GB from the Do Level 2 one. Maybe you could purchase a cheap Netgear DG834GT ADSL modem router for ~$25 on eBay while you are still in the US and save yourself some money as routers are quite expensive over here.
 
I hear Johannesburg is where the $$$ or RRR is :), and that is also where my company is headquartered (Sandston I believe)
 
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Yotch, I have a router here and I was contemplating giving it away (until now) Thanks
 
I think you mean Sandton! Many Americans think it's very similar to Beverly Hills so I don't think that things will be too bad. What router is that?
 
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