Fibre for Durban businesses

LoL

"uShaka Marine World has a 512kbps Metro Ethernet Line, with 512 kbps of bandwidth across it. “Approximately 60 users are connected, "

Take it the service is symmetrical but imagine 512kbps divided by 8 = 64Kb divided by 60 users = A whole 1.02Kb per user.

Now thats SUPER FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
CharlO said:
LoL

"uShaka Marine World has a 512kbps Metro Ethernet Line, with 512 kbps of bandwidth across it. “Approximately 60 users are connected, "

Take it the service is symmetrical but imagine 512kbps divided by 8 = 64Kb divided by 60 users = A whole 1.02Kb per user.

Now thats SUPER FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!
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My sentiment exactly. Why bother to use fibre - just tie a string between two cans.

This article shouldn't even go to press and fibre below 2mbits/s (even 10 mbit's is not news in any respectable metro-ethernet country.

It may be metro - but it's not 'ethernet'.
 
They are probably only running business applications with small data requirements. Not internet.
 
I must say that I was also surprised to see that 512 Kbps is offered. I am sure Wi-Fi would have done just fine in that environment. If it does not at least beat ADSL, then why incur the additional costs?
 
rpm said:
I must say that I was also surprised to see that 512 Kbps is offered. I am sure Wi-Fi would have done just fine in that environment. If it does not at least beat ADSL, then why incur the additional costs?
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Marketing from MWeb Business? Maybe they provide it cheap :sick:
 
We moved onto fibre a couple months ago, if anything the connection is slower, think we are running 2x 4mb lines & a 512k. We have done a lot of network changes lately so I cant say the slower speeds are necessarily related to the fibre
 
Metro-Fibre + VOIP

We're using 2MB Metro-fibre to MWeb ISP for VOIP with our asterisk systems for our call centre. We have begun testing yesterday with some success, hopefully I can replace all the 1984k Diginets with Metro-Fibre!
 
MyFailband sucks at reporting. Just seems to dump press releases on their site without researching anything...

Soooooooooooo, metro-connect then. For the record, IS has been doing it for a lot longer than MWeb business..

Regarding consumers, you won't ever get MetroConnect - Sorry! But the main thing is that ISP's can provision more efficiently so nothing stops someone from being clever and running MetroConnect MPLS ring to a bunch of access points - viola, instant network. DO IT!

The main problem is metro-connect is just like a dark fibre, you need to get upstream from somewhere. Through some witchcraft and voodoo accounting the ISP's have decided bandwidth is worth 10000 times more than ADSL when it goes over a piece of fibre. (there are several complicated reasons - not withstanding that even though it makes no sense at all, everyone hubs their networks in Jhb so you pay a premium on transit to Jhb only to have your bandwidth sent back to Capetown or Mtnzini).

rpm said:
I must say that I was also surprised to see that 512 Kbps is offered. I am sure Wi-Fi would have done just fine in that environment. If it does not at least beat ADSL, then why incur the additional costs?
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Because Wi-Fi is a heap of unreliable junk for business use? That and it would require spectrum licensing and stuff from the munic, when they can already just use their fibre infrastructure. Fibre is more long term viable investment than WiFi AP's that will be obsolete in a year - whereas the MetroConnect can take each last mile to 10GE right now (although a 10GE node would require some exponentially higher costs than 100M which I think is the currently standard port).

MetroConnect comes in minimum blocks of 512Kbps, up to almost infinity. It's not remotely comparable to Wifi or ADSL.

The actual metro connect costs (excluding upstream) compare to DSL ;) So you can see why everyone in Durban is throwing away Diginet...
 
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Excuse me for being a bit cynical, but... what... on... earth...

Seriously, its a fiber network. Its DWDM Lit, its provisioned on real hardware, WHY are they selling 512kbit circuits? This is the *VERY* example of the problem with South African Internet.

If the fiber is there, and lit with DWDM hardware as in the case of the metro network, even if you are handing off to your main routers on gigE ports (which is about the smallest port you can stick in on a metro router) and you sell 20 x 100meg connections, you are going to spend the same amount of cash as selling 20 x 512kbit connections, and you are going to have much happier customers.

Why on earth are we doing stupid things like 512kbit connections. I don't blaim Mweb for this btw, I put the blaim squarely on the people controlling the fiber. You can light a single fiber now days at 1.6 terabit using the right equipment, once the base kit is there, every additional 10G wave on a metro ring sets you back a coupla hundred grand, and even if its a million per 10G in lighting costs, you can sell *100* non oversubscribed 100meg links on *1* 10G circuit, work that out in cost of bandwidth. 512kbit links... come on, can we please get into the 21st century and say goodbye to the mid 90s.

And the other comment about the uplink ISP bandwidth is also true, but why is an ISP going to commision more bandwidth (which is going to reduce their input cost per megabit substantially) if they can't deliver it because the access circuits are such a rip off. Look at the price of bandwidth at the 155mbit/second international level vs the price of buying 10G international, your price per megabit input cost is *WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY* lower at the higher level. If we had decent access networks, it would be feasible to buy 10G pipes on international cables and sell far higher bandwidths at lower costs, because of the vast price differentials based on economy of scale.

Seriously, lets get real here....
 
There are several issues

For starters, they wanted a product people could understand and see as a replacement for Diginet WITHOUT pricing basically everything else out of the water which would probably pi$$ off the ISP's and especially Neotel and Telkom. And without getting an Infraco boot up their rear end.

They *should* have pi$$ed them off, but such is politics.

It basically seems to ensure MetroConnect is used for last mile (at the moment).

This comes with some issues

DiData has some sort of exclusivity contract to maintain the network and is misleading (or uninformed) about the network capabilities in order to keep costs high. For example, a business can't just go get their own 10Mb MetroConnect lines and do an MPLS/QinQ for a tremendously efficient branch interconnect. Everyone insists you have to buy upstream on each and terminate into an ISP. This is nonsense.

A 512kb circuit costs everyone the same as a 1Mbps circuit, which costs everyone the same as a 1GE circuit. Yes, they are doing something strange with the model, but I suspect this is to gain initial growth without stepping on peoples toes. I happen to know that very soon it will not matter and all will be well.

Regardless of this, most people are very happy to save upwards of 80% of the cost of their Diginet connection. The only problem is that the upstream IP costs need to come down significantly because as it stands they are around 4 times higher than the most expensive last mile... Why? Ya well, IPC is expensive and ISP's are ripping everyone else off to fix their cashflow.
 
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rpm said:
I must say that I was also surprised to see that 512 Kbps is offered. I am sure Wi-Fi would have done just fine in that environment. If it does not at least beat ADSL, then why incur the additional costs?
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Durban will always incur unnecessary additional costs!
Hey...they tell you that your R400k house is worth R1.5million and you just have to grin and bear it and coff up the extra rates! So why should they care if they waste your money? You must have more to take hey?
BUT actually MAINTAINING the city, well that is like too much hard work!
 
AndrewAlston said:
Excuse me for being a bit cynical, but... what... on... earth...

Seriously, its a fiber network. .....

Seriously, lets get real here....
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I would have to agree with you. It seems really mad that they don't offer a minimum of a 10mb circuit for the price of say a 1 or 2mb circuit. so a 10mb would cost between R3500-R4000.

I guess people are still in the mindset that a connection means a connection to the internet and that is all it is used for. People don't understand that you can do many things with local bandwidth and you can build services using it.
you could use Metroconnect to interconnect your branches and have a centralised data centre and run your voice and video over it and use another Metroconnect line to a DR site at an ISP datacenter. That link could be 10mb or more. But it doesn't mean that you have to have a 10mb break out to the net.

I've done a bit of research into using Metroconnect for my connectivity and it makes sense. What I have found is that there are about 10 ISPs that sell Metroconnect links. The bigger ISPs IS, Mweb charge an arm and leg to setup the links even though there is no setup fee from metroconnect that they have to pass on. I have found that most of the smaller ISPs at this point are not really sure how this whole Metro Ethernet thing works.
As far as I have heard you can connect up your branches to your head office but still have to have a link to the ISP you are getting the metroconnect links from.
Now I just need to find an ISP that I can order the circuits from and do my own configuration and connect up my branches.
For R1900 per mb I reckon it is still a bit much.... by far the cheapest option in SA for now.
Now I wonder how we can get eThekwini to up the bandwidth for the same price?
 
cactusjack said:
I guess people are still in the mindset that a connection means a connection to the internet and that is all it is used for. People don't understand that you can do many things with local bandwidth and you can build services using it.?
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Hi cactusjack, as you've correctly identified, in the article, the application for which MetroConnect is being used, is leased line Internet access.

While MC provides a substantial discount vs. the equivalent copper access service (Telkom Diginet), it does nothing to alter cost dynamics of the upstream components (national IP transit & non/low-contended international access). Thus the capacities used are constrained by what small-to-medium businesses can afford from a Internet BW perspective.

Sure, much higher capcities become viable if MC is used in a VPN application, however the scope for this limited by the restricted footprint of the MC network (greater eThekwini metropolitan area).

MWB
 
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