Sentech details available [Archive]

ASF

27-11-2003, 02:38 PM

Before jumping on the "Hey there's a new provider in town - let's signup" bandwagon I would strongly suggest that anyone considering this service ask Sentech the following questions at the very least:
1. What is the contention ratio?
2. How many fixed IP's does one get?
3. Where can one download their SLA (that MUST cover throughput, uptime, latency - all by local & international and refund policy)
4. Proxy (transparent or otherwise) usage policy
5. Contract exit clause

Now don't get me wrong - I despise Telkom. They deserve what's coming to them. I hope they fumble the plot completly when we do finally get a proper competative marketspace BUT it's very tempting to just want switch over to a new provider purely because it's not Telkom. This approach would not be very wise.

New entrants MUST realise that us "sad & dumb" users DEMAND that they are transparent with respect to their service offering and we WILL ask sticky questions as above.

aels

27-11-2003, 02:59 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by ASF
 2. How many fixed IP's does one get?
5. Contract exit clause
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

why do you guys worry so much about static IP addresses ... even us in the UK see that as a luxury !!

If you use NAT, then you can connect as many PCs as you want with private IP address space

.... ,but I must admin, I don't like that 24 month contract thing .. I emailed and asked if I bought the modem/router, do I still have to sign the 24 month contract , cause I think the modem is about R5000 , so they work that into the contract

plenty

27-11-2003, 03:04 PM

It all looks good; i'm interested in the local latency; i would hate to be routed around the globe; anyone wish to take a stab at what they think it would be (/me hopes for 40 - 50ms or better :P local) not to worried about international

chopsky

27-11-2003, 03:16 PM

I cant seem to find the conditions of the contract on the website. With the 24 month contract, if the price should drop by R100/month on a certain package, because im contracted, does that mean i still have to pay what I initially paid per month, or will I pay the new monthly fee?
Also, what happens if a few months into the contract, I decide I want to upgrade my package? Due to the contract, am I bound to that specific speed/package for 24 months?
I'm quite sure I remember reading a post in this forum from a Sentech guy that stated that we would have more options than this. Not just a 24 month contract. I'd like the option to pay for my modem once off. Especially since this is a VERY NEW venture for this company, not everyone wants to straight away invest 24 months into them.

If a Sentech guy reads this...give it some thought doods

AcidRaZor

27-11-2003, 03:20 PM

i dont see pricing

aels

27-11-2003, 03:23 PM

click on description under MyWireless [:D]

AcidRaZor

27-11-2003, 03:29 PM

Yea....er... i would put it under PRICING, because thats all the info there is on there... pfffft

Any ideas what areas will be covered?

kaspaas

27-11-2003, 04:01 PM

[quote
why do you guys worry so much about static IP addresses ... even us in the UK see that as a luxury !!

If you use NAT, then you can connect as many PCs as you want with private IP address space
[/quote]

Very simply: Telkom charges such rediculous fees for bandwidth that businesses need to use "lower class" connectivity to be able to afford 24/7 connctivity.

As a business I need a fixed IP for a secondary DNS server;
Getting my mail straight and reliable to my office - at the moment I handle each incoming email 3 times which is 3x the bandwidth that is actually required (dyndns etc is not reliable enough)

It would enable roving employees to get hold of their email while on the road

Need anymore reasons for a fixed IP?

See http://www.myadsl.co.za/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=165

South Africa needs World Class Broadband at World Competitive Prices.

aels

27-11-2003, 04:19 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by kaspaas
As a business I need a fixed IP for a secondary DNS server;
Getting my mail straight and reliable to my office - at the moment I handle each incoming email 3 times which is 3x the bandwidth that is actually required (dyndns etc is not reliable enough)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

okay I can understand for business need, but I was coming from a residential point of few ...

Staind

27-11-2003, 08:08 PM

Hi, ok this is pretty *** infact what info they giving us, just as megawan did, shweet we give u stuff but u pay for it in your monthly installment(SP), now why can't i pay it once off fee or even pay the modem off once off (like even TELKOM do it) and then pay lower monthly fee's u think my fathers going to pay 1400 bux pm? aaah, now i have to get a lower package to suite the fsking modem fee.. i can pay the modem fee straight and that wud sort out any problems but at the moment u paying off the modem for 24 months, what happens on the 25th month when uve payed off this hec of a modem? i don't see anywhere on the site where they stipulate that your monthly goes down.. Do u have to sign a new contract after 24 months and get a new modem? honestly if i was marketing this i would definately offer the modem as a once off.. or maybe even pay it off R200 bux a month for 400 years whatever but its not going to interest people in paying for a modem twice over when they start after 2 years.. this info they've given us it making us think a bit on the lines of megawan oo 24 month contract i don't want to sign that, remember what happend when i started d/l at 1k. someone please elaborate with some structured info pls

Dangerous

27-11-2003, 08:22 PM

still too expensive. that just killed it for me - i couldnt wait to see the cost of this.

Cerberus

27-11-2003, 08:38 PM

I talked to someone at sentech and basically I think the 256kb/s one is the best for it's price. It's R850 (though I am finding out if we can get it without the modem so that makes it around 750 or 650 depending) and that is what they assign you the only problem comes when everone is d/l but usually you'll get 256kb/s and on quieter times probably 1.5-2mb/s now since I last checked ADSL is around 250kb/s usually on quieter times so this is about the same as the 256kb/s package? Though I think I would love to see some feedback from JHB when it comes out there first and I will check out the Demo system that Sentech set up on premises :)

Regards
Cerberus

MaD

27-11-2003, 08:39 PM

The modem's 4 grand, which over 24 months is 166/month. So obviously after 2 years, the cost will be 166/mo less, and even less because the price of connectivity is going to start coming down if there's a lil' argy bargy between Hellkom and Sentech.

Personally i'd cancel my land line the second i hear that MyWireless rocks. Then TK can shove R7 call & 70 beans a month rental.

Imagine the feeling - pulling out all the TK wiring in your house....... ahhhhhhh.. can't wait! [:)]

.................................................. ..........................................
Just imagine where SA would be now if it weren't for Telkom

grubman

27-11-2003, 09:11 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by aels
 okay I can understand for business need, but I was coming from a residential point of few ...
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
well, i run my own mail server at home. I can't stand using the "free" web mail services. This is ten fold more convenient and I have full control over email names etc, etc.

Then there's web servers, and opportunity to start some or other ebusiness with not a lot of huge capital outlay ...

If you have a static ip, it's easier to get hold of a person when using VoIP - haven't actually tried this, so i'm making an assumption here - and many more reasons why one would want a static ip.

ProAsm

28-11-2003, 12:10 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I cant seem to find the conditions of the contract on the website. With the 24 month contract, if the price should drop by R100/month on a certain package, because im contracted, does that mean i still have to pay what I initially paid per month, or will I pay the new monthly fee?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
1. If the modem prices drop then you will still be bound to the original price.
2. If the subscription price drops however, I'm sure you will benifit by this as I dont think we would be very popular if you didn't.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Also, what happens if a few months into the contract, I decide I want to upgrade my package? Due to the contract, am I bound to that specific speed/package for 24 months?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
You can upgrade any time you like.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I'm quite sure I remember reading a post in this forum from a Sentech guy that stated that we would have more options than this. Not just a 24 month contract. I'd like the option to pay for my modem once off. Especially since this is a VERY NEW venture for this company, not everyone wants to straight away invest 24 months into them.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yes we are very new at this and thats the reason we have opted for one system as we currently lack personal etc to handle a zillion options but this will change in time.
There will however be another company that will offer and option of cash for modem and I think 570 pm - incl (dont quote me) for the 128k on a month to month basis.
Also I'm not sure exactly when they will come into play.

From other questions:

As was discussed in our meeting last week:

One Static IP - although I'm pretty sure you could negotiate more.
One email addy.
The Contention Ratio currently is approx 35mbits/1000 but will improve with time.
Regarding Uptime, well we guarentee our Radio and TV clients an Uptime of 98% (excluding acts of God) so I'm sure that would follow here - again dont quote me.
Latency - locally between 40 - 80 ms, internationally, currently 500+
Refund policy - here you will have to get hold of the marketing department.

chopsky

28-11-2003, 12:19 AM

Six-pack for ProAsm!
What a legend..

Karnaugh

28-11-2003, 02:48 AM

Just to be a pain ;)

Will Sentech provide native IPv6 or have any plans to do so? =)

<hr noshade size="1">iActive internet services
http://www.iactive.co.za

Sparks_Danny

28-11-2003, 07:22 AM

I don't have a lot to say, but it's usually good... We don't care about Telkom anymore, cause it's aparrent they don't give a damn about us... but those lovely people from Sentech understand us and our needs... all i can say is anyone who can show telkom up deserves to have every ex-adsl user under them... who knows maybe we can get enough people behind sentech and THEY'll be the next SNO...[8D]

PierreLeRiche

28-11-2003, 10:33 AM

Question to ProAsm:

What is the upload speed? You mention a contention ratio of 35mb/1000, is that the same for uploads as well? I.e. can I safely host a website?

Thanks,
Pierre

dojob

28-11-2003, 10:54 AM

Hi Guys,

I would like to know has this technology been used overseas?
What type of wireless modem they they using? If they provide more info we can do some research on the internet about the technology.

Just my 2 cents worth

AcidRaZor

28-11-2003, 10:56 AM

And to be a further pain in the ass, JHB areas covered with the initial roll out?

I'm about to spend a couple of grand on ADSL, now this thing... if you can tell me Constantia Kloof / Weltevreden Park / Florida / Northcliff will be covered on roll out I will call Telkom now and cancel my order for ADSL.

a speedy response would be appreciated

tommy

28-11-2003, 11:21 AM

HELLO GUYS ... YES NICE PRICING ... BUT WAIT FOR IT ... 128K shared 50:1 .. with that pricing everyone is going to go on it. Means you are guaranteed 1k up and 1k down... Worse than the dial up. I personally think that people on this package have no idea what they are doing. AND ALL THIS NEW STUFF ON SENTECH IS BEING POSTED BY SENTECH THEMSELVES I FOUND OUT. My personal opionion is that there service is shocking and they are ruining all wireless and satellite bandwidth by the way they are sharing it and I will never support them. I rather stick to Telkom.

Cerberus

28-11-2003, 11:33 AM

Tommy - Are you a Telkom customer or employee just curious becuase whenever Sentech is mentioned you start flaming them over a product which hasn't even been tested yet mmm? And 2nd question does ADSL give 1k up and down to international sites when capped? Anyone? would love to know what the contention ration is to that :P

Anyway the contention ration isn't on the 128k it's the total bandwidth of the tower i.e the actual contention ration is 35mb:1000 users which I worked is around garenteed 40kb/s if everyone is doing major d/l and the tower actually gets 1000 users. I hope they take off the blasted Contract thing it spoils the product. I will wait and see I've actually specifically asked what modem they are using as well as that blasted contract thing I hope they listen(unlike some company I know)

chopsky

28-11-2003, 11:33 AM

tommy, why dont you just wait for them to launch and hear what people have to say, before commenting on how terrible it is. The proof is in the pudding mate, and unfortunately we're no where near dessert yet.
Also, where the hell did you get 128k 50:1? ProAsm said it's going to be 34mbit:1000. He didnt mention anything else.

Karnaugh

28-11-2003, 12:42 PM

LOOK!

Now this is the kind of attitude that inhibits the progress of south african telcomunications.

The speed you pay for *is* your guranteed speed. If you understand the idea of contention. you would only end up with 1Kbps if *everyone* was using the same routes at the same time.

Sentech will upgrade the bandwidth as the contention increases.

<hr noshade size="1">iActive internet services
http://www.iactive.co.za

Cerberus

28-11-2003, 01:39 PM

Well this is the first service I know of that has offered a contention ratio nation wide so yes I am a little hazy on what I should expect from the service I take worse case senario. ADSL doens't have a public contention ratio so how do we as customers know what it's suppose to mean to us?

Regards
Cerberus

Staind

28-11-2003, 02:20 PM

please can someone explain to me how this contention ratio thing works? i know so far that each tower has a 35mbit connection and a maximum of 1000 users, now does each user share this in a ratio some how? say someones on a 128k package and anothers on a 512k package is the ratio 1:4 between them!?! ek weet niks. [8)] so can someone elaborate

aels

28-11-2003, 05:25 PM

if you look at the following page :

http://www.f2s.com/adsl/power.php

I am currently on the 1024k Power User package and it has a 50:1 contention ratio ... you get it everywhere in the world !!!

taken from adslguide.org.uk :

Contention - What is it?

Contention is basically sharing. If you live in a house with teenage girls then you contend the bathroom with them - which can mean waiting hours to get in. Your electricity is contended - normally not a problem as there's more than enough to go around however tell that to the residents of California last year who had rolling blackouts due to a lack of generating capacity. Everything in life is contended - it's an effective way to utilise a shared resource.

Regarding ADSL - there are two levels of contention on the BTwholesale network at the moment:

50:1 for the home user (Home 500, Home 1000 etc.)
20:1 for the business user (Business 500, 1000, 2000 etc.)

If you take the worst case scenario for the home user then that means you're sharing your 500kbs with 49 other people. If you are all downloading at the same time then you'll get 10kbs - about a quarter of the speed of a normal dial-up analogue modem. In reality, it's unlikely BT will allow this to happen. Despite extremely rapid broadband takeup during 2003, most users are still able to download and upload at the maximum quoted speed

ProAsm

29-11-2003, 12:39 AM

PierreLeRiche, the upload speed in all cases is 128.
128/128 - 256/128 - 512/128
Regarding a Website, mmm... well there is one way to find out is'nt there [:)]

LOL @ tommy, if I got my ADSL modem for free, only paid R280 pm and had no cap I would also be full of praise for ADSL [:D]

aels

29-11-2003, 01:42 AM

ProAsm,

When do you think this mywireless service will be available in and around Bloemfontein ?

ProAsm

29-11-2003, 10:34 AM

aels, I have no idea about the whens and wheres for other centers atm, but I'm sure once the 3 main ones are done the others will follow very soon afterwards as we have a massive installation drive in 2004.

FRISKET

29-11-2003, 12:07 PM

Hey everyone! I'm a bit new with this. Can you tell me if I take a 128k package form sentech does that mean I'm guarenteed say 14Kb/s,but I can dl more that that?? (for instance 40Kb/s)

and this contention ratio thing... is the 35mb:1000 for all packages?
I would think that if you have a 512k package you'd have a lower contention ratio as where 256k,128k would have a larger contention ratio.[?]

BTW is this for gamers aswell,cos I cant see ppl being happy with a 40ms-80ms ping. [B)]

chopsky

29-11-2003, 12:26 PM

Perhaps I lack the gaming experience...but isn't a ping of 40ms relatively good?

Andre

29-11-2003, 01:05 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by chopsky
 Perhaps I lack the gaming experience...but isn't a ping of 40ms relatively good?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

A ping of 40 is good, 80 is not so good. The higher the ping the greater your disadvantage. An ADSL user might have a ping of around 50 or less on the SAIX servers depending on where they connect from.

I imagine that Frisket would not be happy to have a higher ping than the ADSL people.

FRISKET

29-11-2003, 01:35 PM

Yeah your right I wouldn't be happy if adsl ppl got better ping than me [:p]

You do know that adsl ppl get between 10-30ms ping,don't u? (on SAIX servers)

O! and about that 128k thing what I meant was... ISDN 128k can only dl between 14-16Kb/s(8kbs = 1Kb),now what I wanted to know is,is this the same with wireless also or does it mean that you won't dl less than 128k?? [?]

kobie

29-11-2003, 04:19 PM

10-30 is fairley rare...pings are normally around 45-50 on saix servers. 80 is nearly as bad as isdn so i don't see gamers liking that.

jus

29-11-2003, 08:45 PM

The indication from a bit of reading about the IPWireless technology is that the speed rating (i.e. 128k, 256k and 512k) are only the average approximate maximums.. in other words it's possible that the connection will be burstable (one of the great advantages of wireless technologies over fixed line) from time to time.

FRISKET

29-11-2003, 10:50 PM

hmm.. ok

Here is a simple question for the sentech ppl... How fast wil I be dling with the 128K pacakge+- ?

PLZ lemme know

Nemesis

29-11-2003, 11:46 PM

Ok you've really drawn me into this Sentech thing, getting quite excited at having uncapped broadband!!

But I..., as well as many other people who would be willing to invest in Sentechs new service should be a bit worried. If ping/response times are in the 80's then that just flattens the whole idea of getting this... I live in Cape Town, I got ADSL and i get a 40-50 ping stable. If I get 80 I won't be happy, I won't be able to frag like on my adsl and I will lag... IF its bad then Sentech will be losing a lot of its potential customers

So please, I know this isn't on the highly important list for many of the people here, you're just interested in the we can download as much as we want 24/7 and host servers.

What about the gamers? :P

Plz provide more info on latencies/pings etc etc

Nemesis

29-11-2003, 11:48 PM

Oh yes, just adding on...

When u mentioned a 40-80 ping, you meaning that 512k would be 40 down to 128k being 80? Still not good...

I know I'm moaning a bit when the service hasnt even been released yet, but just want to get these questions off my mind...

aels

30-11-2003, 12:08 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by grubman
well, i run my own mail server at home. I can't stand using the "free" web mail services. This is ten fold more convenient and I have full control over email names etc, etc.

Then there's web servers, and opportunity to start some or other ebusiness with not a lot of huge capital outlay ...

If you have a static ip, it's easier to get hold of a person when using VoIP - haven't actually tried this, so i'm making an assumption here - and many more reasons why one would want a static ip.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

hahahaha ... and you want to do all this with a DSL line in South Africa, good luck ! ... if I buy webspace of you .... how many hours do I have to wait for my page to load [;)]

or if I want to call you ..... how many hours delay would there be [:D]

I have a static IP at the moment, but I don't really care .... why would you want a static IP just for surfing and email, thats what I meant

ProAsm

30-11-2003, 12:33 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Here is a simple question for the sentech ppl... How fast wil I be dling with the 128K pacakge+- ?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
hehe... thats a broad question [:)]
It like saying I have a motorcar than can do 128 mph - how fast can I drive my car ?
Well it depends if you are on the open road or in the center of town [:D]
But on a serious note at 128k 14 to 16 KB/sec but thats locally or where you have a good connection to over the borders.

Regarding pings - I just want to add to this and here I speak from my own experience and nothing to do with Sentech.

I too am a gamer (UT2003) and am also a ServerAdmin for Mweb UT2003 servers.
When I had ISDN + R7 Callplan and I dialed a local Pop my pings averaged 90 on most servers. If I however dialed a JHB Pop my pings averaged 45.
I then got ADSL and the wheels starting falling off.
Initially when we were routed directly to JHB my pings averaged 50 on Mweb and 40 on Saix servers which was great. Downloads averaged 52k and uploads about 30k.
Then all the grannys started moaning because the ADSLers were screwing their bandwidth up, Helscum re-routed all the Durban ADSL via PE to CT to JHB and man does this suck, my pings now to Mweb are 70 and 60 to Saix.
Like many of my mates here have now got ADSL and ISDN, one for downloading and surfing and the other for gaming and man does this suck.
Its also along time since I saw a download above 44k.
You guys in JHB with ADSL dont know how lucky you are.

The other thing many people dont consider or take into account is the copper "pipe" between your exchange and the Telkom backbone.
When I got my ISDN in 1998 there was a 1 mbit pipe here.
In Feb 1999 Telkom dug up 8 km of trench an replaced it with a 10 mbit pipe and this was great.
In August this year I got my ADSL and was the 29th installation in my area, things were still ok.
Today this has grown to 300 odd installations so far and boy am I feeling it as I'm again starting to get dropouts and all sorts of problems like I had in 1998 with my ISDN.
What happens when this reaches 1000's as Umhlanga Rocks and Gateway is one of the fastest growning property developements on the African continent atm.
At what point will this 8 km will ever get dug up and upgraded again... [|)]

Nemesis

30-11-2003, 12:50 AM

Ok thanks for the info what about gaming with regards to Sentech?

jus

30-11-2003, 08:25 AM

Maybe ask some of the ex Megawan guys? I believe they were getting very good local ping times (~20ms?)... latencies will probably depend on a number of factors that affect RF and the cellular system.. your signal strength and quality, distance from the cell node, how busy that cell is, weather conditions between you and the cell node, and so on and so forth.

If anything I would recommend Sentech set up some gaming servers on their network, this would probably mean everyone could get the full ~3mbit/sec to that server (because it need not be rate limited) and the best possible latencies.

-jus

Nemesis

30-11-2003, 09:32 AM

Well... setting up servers would be good for Sentech gamers, but the majority of the other gamers are still with Telkom land lines, but then again, I STRONGLY believe that if the service from Sentech is good enough, then many many gamers, possibly nearly all of them will go to Sentech...I know for sure that all ADSL users will swop over.

Lets just hope its good for gaming...

Staind

30-11-2003, 10:28 AM

Please tell me why we can't be guranteed the minimum speed of what we purchase? i know with mweb isdn i have never ping'd is.co.za above 40. i download at the same great speed between 7-8k wherever unless obviously if i'm d/l from someone else on a line with less bandwidth. but i just want to know what makes it so difficult that a speed per user can't be guranteed. i'd rather be guranteed 512k than have the possibiltiy of going above and below that. if there is 1000 people on a single mast which has a 35mbit line which means 8bits = 1 byte therefore 4.375mbyte line / 1000 = 4.4k downloads? thats awesome hey? no... please can someone elaborate on the factors and prove to me that this contention **** is'nt going to happen, we knows its all possible as it looms above us and by what i can see here the sandton mast will be the first to be full with a huge majority of adsl users will love to switch over.

[^]

FRISKET

30-11-2003, 01:10 PM

ProASM I apologise for asking such a stupid question,I just thought there would be a difference in speed with isdn(dl constant) and wireless(dl faster or same as ISDN). Guess I was wrong, I'm a bit dissappointed... wireless(can maybe achieve the speed of ISDN). Thats sad. Know that makes me wonder if adsl would be the better option... R680 line rental a month(ISP share with some1 a account).
And to avoid the cap I dl locally.There are alot of local sites to dl the same as what you would have wanted internationally. [|)]

Where as 256k wireless = R859.. no cap,24/7 etc but you have a chance of dling less than a ISDN 128k user? lol

I still have 2 weeks to decide which one I want to take :)

BTW the usb modem you get with MYwireless does it have ethernet support?

On sentech site they say you can dl upto 3mb/s... ermm.. that just confuses me. care to explain...any1?

Karnaugh

30-11-2003, 02:03 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Please tell me why we can't be guranteed the minimum speed of what we purchase? i know with mweb isdn i have never ping'd is.co.za above 40.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Wow.. shame dude.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 196.4.160.2, timeout is 2 seconds: !!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/2/4 ms

Might want to look into that bad latency...

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Where as 256k wireless = R859.. no cap,24/7 etc but you have a chance of dling less than a ISDN 128k user?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

You know, I think Sentech should have done what telkom does and just not tell people contension ratios etc, because most of them are too stupid to understand it.

Telkom gurantees what, like 9600bps or something? You saying you have *never* downloaded at less than 128Kbps on your ISDN? Utter tripe if you ask me.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">BTW the usb modem you get with MYwireless does it have ethernet support.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yes it does, it says so on the site actualy (I also missed it.)

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Where as 256k wireless = R859.. no cap,24/7 etc but you have a chance of dling less than a ISDN 128k user?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

There are many chances in life.

here are some examples

1) People who are confused by contension ratios may spontaneously combust
2) They may get a life
3) I might someday upgrade my router
4) One day if I walk out into the road, I could get
4 a) Stabed in the face
4 b) Hit by a buldoser
4 c) Abducted by aliens
5) Sentech MIGHT be like 100bps for 3seconds on every sunday night because everyone tries to read the Cartebalanch programs the missed.

<hr noshade size="1">iActive internet services
http://www.iactive.co.za

ProAsm

30-11-2003, 04:22 PM

FRISKET, never be afraid of asking stupid questions as you call it.
Rather learn smartly by asking questions than azarding a guess when you are ill informed [:)]

You say with ADSL if you download locally you dont hit your Cap... hehe, you get nailed towards your Cap regardless of where you download from or upload to, and that is the biggest gripe we have, one of the reasons myadsl was started in the first place.

Depending on your signal and your location, number of hops, local downloads on MyWireless would be approx:
128k = 8 to 15 KB/sec
256k = 15 to 30 KB/sec
512k = 30 to 60 KB/sec

If however only a few peeps are downloading or not many are on, the above numbers could go up by as much as 5 times in each case - if limiting is not used by Sentech which I doubt it will be, but you never know.

Local pings should be 30 to 80 depending on the system you have, location and number of hops etc.

Nemesis

30-11-2003, 05:22 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by ProAsm
Local pings should be 30 to 80 depending on the system you have, location and number of hops etc.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Please expand on that a bit. Im in Cape Town.

dorris

30-11-2003, 07:19 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by ProAsm
You say with ADSL if you download locally you dont hit your Cap... hehe, you get nailed towards your Cap regardless of where you download from or upload to, and that is the biggest gripe we have, one of the reasons myadsl was started in the first place.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Proasm, we really appreciate your input, its really valuable, I wouldn't want to see something bad happen to you.
Since you are a sentech employee, certain people might see what u do on this site as some sort of advertising, and with this countrys half-assed laws, some Telskum advertising exec might just browse around here and decide this to be competitive advertising.

I don't know much about the laws, but I was nailed with something similiar a few years back.

I would recommend avoiding direct comparisons to named products (ie adsl, which is synonomous with telkom in this country).

Thankfully the rest of us can slander telkom as much as we like coz we aint affiliated with the opposition.

Karnaugh

30-11-2003, 07:31 PM

Doesnt look like he has ever mentioned a Telkom product or compared to a telkom service...

The fact that Telkom are the only ones that provide the service is entirely the fault of the government who makes the rules ;)

<hr noshade size="1">iActive internet services
http://www.iactive.co.za

ProAsm

30-11-2003, 09:10 PM

dorris, I fully agree with you but although I'm a Sentech employee I still have the right to speak my own opinion as seeing I'm currently a ADSL user which btw I'm quite ok with most the time.

Personally in a way Telkom served me well with my ISDN which I had for over 5 years and sorry I gave up, but my wife needs Internet 24/7 for her business so we switched to ADSL, otherwise I would still have my ISDN as that was great.

It is also very difficult to answer a question when the only comparison one has is Telkom.
On the other hand I only give information as I find it and I have never praised or boosted a Sentech product, and like you, I'm also in the wait and see queue and cannot wait for some test results to surface [:)]

Now if anyone slams the opposition then go read tommys posts [:D]

chopsky

01-12-2003, 02:33 AM

Out of interest, would it be possible to share, lets say, a 256kbps account/connection with a friend, thus splitting the costs? That means you could both get 128kbps at a cheaper than 128kbps price.
ProAsm said multiple users per account like ADSL because of PPPoE.
Also, what about people hacking our account usernames/passwords and thus gaining access to our accounts? How will this be controlled?
Does it all actually work the same as normal dialup accounts or what? Are there U/P's?
Sounds wierd.

LoneGunman

04-12-2003, 08:03 PM

Just a side note re gaming and pings - as an ex-Megawan customer (and damn, Megawan were like that little girl in the story which goes 'when she was good she was very very good, but when she was bad, she was AWFUL) :)
Anyhow, average ping times to Jhb Quake 3 servers as I recall, from Melville, through SABC roof tower and onwards through MW network to where ever the hell the signal started, you'd get around 40 -60 ms ping, which isnt shoddy at all. Was always enough to kill people on :)
Once or twice I recall a 20ms ping..
Also, playing Q3 Weapons Factory Arena (which is like a large scale wilder version of Counterstrike) - I'd hurt and kill gamers in the UK and US, even with pingtimes up to 300ms and beyond. So its a little obsessive to worry about pingtimes too much.. If Im in Jhb, and want to log into a game server based in CT, yup, of course there's gonna be lag, it comes with the territory (anyone remember the early days of QuakeWorld and sliding lagged all over the place?) Pingtimes in the 40-60 range arent going to get you killed or put you at a disadvantage..
With wireless and sharing sig on a tower, the geek next door using download accelerator or some other multi-threading app to absorb as much bandwidth as possible, is a greater threat and cause of packet loss..
Anyhow, just my two cents worth :)

mithrandi

04-12-2003, 09:11 PM

MegaWAN and MyWireless have practically nothing in common, however. And please don't compare WFA to Camper-Snipe... that's just degrading. [8D] As far as authentication goes, jus speculated that they may be using smart cards for that.

mithrandi

mithrandi

04-12-2003, 09:13 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> Please tell me why we can't be guranteed the minimum speed of what we purchase?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
The only way you'll get a guarantee anything like that is shelling out major cash for a leased line with a stunning SLA. As someone noted elsewhere, even leased lines aren't 1:1 contention in general. This is a shared internet service; hopefully, Sentech will keep up with the demand for bandwidth, unlike MegaWAN.

mithrandi

jus

05-12-2003, 09:44 AM

I'd suggest that everyone read the Contention Ratio's sticky post at the top of this forum.

Nowhere in the world do you get guaranteed bandwidth, unless you are willing to pay for it. This is known as a CIR, which is a committed rate from your ISP which generally costs a lot. Almost all bandwidth, from dial-up, to ISDN, to ADSL, Diginet, anything, is contended. This is necessary for ISP's to operate, make efficient use of their bandwidth, and remain in business. Most people are completely unaware of this fact, and how heavily contended their connections actually are. Nothing Sentech are doing are outside of internationally accepted norms and practices, and in fact MyWireless may even be better seeing as the contention policy is looser than common policies for say ADSL.

-jus

mithrandi

05-12-2003, 11:48 AM

Cosmic_Nomad

06-12-2003, 11:40 AM

AELS
you're in the UK.. have a look at f2s.com
static IP at £22.50 / month

Nemesis

08-12-2003, 12:03 PM

yes mithrandi but bear in mind that this is a 24/7 connection so it will ALWAYS be busy, people will download 24/7, so I hope we get good speeds always

aels

08-12-2003, 03:37 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Cosmic_Nomad
 AELS
you're in the UK.. have a look at f2s.com
static IP at £22.50 / month
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

[:D] i am with f2s and they gave me the 1024k power user package for £22.50 (just becuase they like me so much)[:D]

mithrandi

08-12-2003, 04:29 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">yes mithrandi but bear in mind that this is a 24/7 connection so it will ALWAYS be busy, people will download 24/7, so I hope we get good speeds always<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
How does this differ from ISDN? I connect 12/5 + 24/2 (ie. callmore time), and I ALWAYS download during those periods. I know lots of other people do the same, but there are also people who do not download constantly at maximum bandwidth during those periods. The same will apply to MyWireless; there will be a group of people, "Power Users" if you like, who max their connection out 95% of the time, and there will be a group of people who just use it for e-mail, surfing the web, etc. Granted, the ratios of people in these groups may differ from ISDN to MyWireless, but they'll still be there.

mithrandi

freeek

11-12-2003, 10:19 PM

i agree with him, there will always be ppl like me who are constantly dl'ing, while we not playing online games. Then there are those people who don't. I have normal 56k dial-up with R7 so far it works fine. i get 5-6 Kbs, this sucks but its ok. they said earliar sentech local gaming pings will be 40-80. That is awesome!! my ping in warcraft is usually 188 (saix) / 203(mweb) which is ok, it works with almost no lag. 40-80 wud be unreal to me! I would sign up tommorrow if it wasn't for the contract(parents don't like tht word).

..- dot dot dash ;)

antowan

30-12-2003, 10:56 AM

Not much info on there at the moment. Just a good looking site with no info of use in terms of My Wireless. Or am I pulling a Stevie Wonder on myself? [8D]

Cheers
Ant

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by jerriep
 Sentech's new website is up with details on the mywireless offering (including pricing) at http://www.sentech.co.za
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

He who does not understand the value of war at the right time, cannot comprehend the value of life at any time - Anonymous

Doomy

31-12-2003, 12:06 PM

Hi Guys,

Some of your question are very valid and one has to always try to see all the players point of view. This said, Mywireless is quite new, not only in SA, but in alot of parts of the world. The fact that 5 National roleouts in other Countries does attest to the viability of this kind of service, not to mention to amount of $$$ required to manage such a roleout. We all have to adopt the same "Wait and see" attitude. I always give someone an opportunity to prove (or fail) themselves. The contention ratios mentioned by Sentech is a work in progress and I know they are trying to improve even that. We should still, however reserve judgment for when the time comes.

"We Think...and thats the problem!"

theriched

31-12-2003, 01:21 PM

What is your ping from saix or mweb, when you arent active on the net or gaming? Im interested... coz mine is 60 and 19 respectively...

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by freeek
 i agree with him, there will always be ppl like me who are constantly dl'ing, while we not playing online games. Then there are those people who don't. I have normal 56k dial-up with R7 so far it works fine. i get 5-6 Kbs, this sucks but its ok. they said earliar sentech local gaming pings will be 40-80. That is awesome!! my ping in warcraft is usually 188 (saix) / 203(mweb) which is ok, it works with almost no lag. 40-80 wud be unreal to me! I would sign up tommorrow if it wasn't for the contract(parents don't like tht word).

..- dot dot dash ;)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Telkoms dying breath better be sooner, rather than later!