MyWireless Flexi & iBurst i-Go ads on 5fm

I heard them back to back today, they're both really bad ads, besides just cheesy, the MyWireless is totally misleading and the iBurst one gives no details on the terms and conditions.

Both fail to give any indication of the actual package / technical service, so considering prices advertised are R199/R299 respectively, Flexi sounds like a better deal, even though i-Go's the better performer.

After having said that, I've thought about it, I'm actually happy they leave the ads as they are, here's why:

The average consumer will hear " - - Broadband - - Always on 24/7 - - - R199", and compares that to "Homedsl*** - - Always on - -R270+ISP".

Which puts Telkom under pressure to drop ADSL prices.

It may be distorted , but at least it's competition.

What are the terms & conditions, catches, speeds of both these options? I'd like either - but I'm leaning towards I-go.

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Well all that this will do is prompt Telkom to follow WBS and Sentech model; i.e come up with a smaller package that offers 300MB a month for R189 or something to that effect, there after its a per MEG billing ... say R1.95 per MEG. They wont specify speed, infact I fore see them connecting unsuspecting users at 512k so they use up 300MB very quickly.

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qDot said:

<SPECULATION ON>

Well all that this will do is prompt Telkom to follow WBS and Sentech model; i.e come up with a smaller package that offers 300MB a month for R189 or something to that effect, there after its a per MEG billing ... say R1.95 per MEG. They wont specify speed, infact I fore see them connecting unsuspecting users at 512k so they use up 300MB very quickly.

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ROFLOL
I will not be surprised........

Both ads are for 32day notice contracts and exclude the cost of the modem, Which is about R2800 - ouch! for R100 more and a 24month contract Sentech will include the modem, no such option on iBurst.

(sidenote - the iBurst PC Card modem is currently on special for R1600. If you would have bought it anyway, fine, but the reception on teh Desktop unit is much much better)

i-Go starts at 500Mb cap, Flexi at 200Mb, however 500Mb Flexi is R300, exactly the same as i-Go. The per meg cost is virtually identical.

About the actual services: iBurst is an international product that runs at 1Mb/s, it's currently the fastest domestic connection available in ZA. MyWireless is a local product that can run up to a maximum of 512kb/s, however it is more likely that Sentech are throttling it to 128kbps - what they used to call their standard offering. Their advertising that it's "3G" is not just misleading, it borders on being dishonest.

The problem with both is latency and erratic signal strength / interference. Which would impact mission critical apps or gamers. (some gamers say the latency on iBurst iis fine, I can't say, I've never tried gaming, but it's lightning for downloads)

The products are aimed as always on dial-up replacements, not as options for heavy internet users (re-almost anyone). If that's your thing, then look elsewhere.

My summary: At R300 per month for anything nearly useful + R2800 startup ==> Amortizing the modem of 24 months 2800/24months ~= R115, so either is basically R415 per month.
Consider HomeDSL192 with a cheap 2Gb - R270 + R179 = R449. For an extra R34 I get 1.5Gb cap, better speed than MyWireless, better latency and stability. On top of that the cost of ADSL HAS to come down soon, I expect at least in the next 6 months, at which point it should be cheaper than either as well.


iBurst:
https://secure.wbs.co.za/cfusion/wbs/subscriberaccountsignup/packages.cfm

Sentech:
http://www.sentech.co.za/index.php?...09&bid=22&btitle=ProductsAndServices&meid=230

doobiwan said:

About the actual services: iBurst is an international product that runs at 1Mb/s, it's currently the fastest domestic connection available in ZA. MyWireless is a local product that can run up to a maximum of 512kb/s, however it is more likely that Sentech are throttling it to 128kbps - what they used to call their standard offering. Their advertising that it's "3G" is not just misleading, it borders on being dishonest.

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They're both international products. MyWireless = IP Wireless, look it up for yourself. Also MyWireless is capable of more than 512 kb/s (theoretically 3 mb/s), it's limited to 512kb/s by Sentech. Lastly their 3G advertising is not misleading, their technology uses the same protocols that the cell providers are using for their 3G services. Please take the time to educate yourself rather than just make stuff up.

Personally I think both products suck, mostly because they're severely crippled by the incompetent companies implementing them (Sentech + WBS).

My apologies, Perdition, if I don't have the finer details available. I looked for the specs from Sentech for ages, although not for a while. In all the material I've read from them, I've never heard mention of "IP Wireless", until now. They've always said vague things like "Oh it's a 3G product" and made out like it's a custom platform.

Considering the modems are only available directly from Sentech, still makes me consider it a "closed" platform.

As far as the comment about false advertising, I stand by that. If Telkom gives me ADSL at 128kbps, that might be ADSL, but it's definitely not broadband.

If Sentech gives me Access at 128kbps, regardless of what the platform can do that is definitely not broadband, which is what 3G implies. MTN cannot advertise EDGE as 3G, which runs at arounf 160kbps as 3G, because it's not.

You're right that MyWireless is a closed platform, as is iBurst. I believe Sentech and WBS have sole distribution rights on their respective modems. Also nobody else can legally implement these technologies in SA because of our wonderful telecoms regulatory environment.

3G and EDGE refer to the protocols used, it's the marketing teams that use the terms to imply speed. The point is 3G is 3G whether it's running at 64kb/s or 2 mb/s.

Heh heh, we're getting technical but I disagree again. CDMA, TDMA, WCDMA UMTS, TDMA-EDGE, GPRS etc are techinical specificications / protocols.

3G is the blanket term for 3rd Generation Wireless networks- the Marketing term.

I was hoping you guys can help me with this question. phoned iBurst and haven't been able to get a meaningful answer.

On the iBurst website it says only "optimised applications" will receive the maximum speed (up to 1Mbps) and other apps will be restricted to 64kbps. Which apps are optimised?

seabird said:

I was hoping you guys can help me with this question. phoned iBurst and haven't been able to get a meaningful answer.

On the iBurst website it says only "optimised applications" will receive the maximum speed (up to 1Mbps) and other apps will be restricted to 64kbps. Which apps are optimised?

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Same as ADSL, preference given to HTTP, POP, SMTP, will FTP, P2P etc is severly restricted.