Terrible service and continued issues since 2009

[jakalofnaar]

I have had issues with my line since upgrading to 4mb in 2009. My line continuosly drops and browsing is so slow even when I do get connectivity. I haved phoned Telkom numerous times to try and fix the issue but to date I am yet to see results.

I have done everything within my power to make sure the problem isn't something from my side including:


Using three different routers
Changing telephone cables
Changing IP cables
Reinstalling Windows (grasping at straws)


When a techie does come in they don't resolve the issue. I get responses such as:


Your router is faulty (I don't see how three routers, including two brand new routers, could all be faulty)
There's no problem our side (which doesn't seem right if I can't resolve the issue my side)


I had one techie connect his router to my line and as soon as he saw it connect he told me it was fine...I can still connect but the line drops toolface, you can't spend a couple minutes on my line without even using it properly and tell me there's no problem! That same guy told me my router was faulty even though it was new. His words to me where:

"It's like when you buy a new car and when you go to pick it up it doesn't start because there's no petrol in it. Just because something's new doesn't mean it's going to work."

I so mad at the guy I just wanted him out my house.

I've even had people from the ADSL call center start talking about Dial Up, I was like, "this is the ADSL helpline right? Why are you talking about dial-up?".

One lady informed me that sometimes electric fences can cause issues. I don't have electric fences but I live right newt to a train station, could that be the issue? Would it be possible to check?

I suspect there is an issue somewhere between my house and my exchange. My friend lives a couple 100 meters away and he has no issues and he doesn't get this problem. Would it kill you Telkom to just test everything vetween my house and the exchange. I've payed for 4mb since 2009 and received such ****ty service, I think I deserve at least this much.

Just to give you an indication of how bad my line connectivity is, here are some stats from today (which is pretty much standard for me on a good day)


Connection speed: 2688 kbps
Line attenuation: 60.0 db
Noise Margin: 6.0 db


My friend gets full 4mb at 40-50 line attenuation with a 12+ noise margin, and he's only a couple hundred meters away!

I have tried finding out how to speak to someone with a bit more power over at Telkom, but no one knows any details, they tell me they have a supervisor but don't know their contact details.

Does anyone know how I might be able to proceed? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[thinga]

I don't have any suggestions for you other than to commiserate and say I have a similar problem.

My pathetic 384 line has been suffering from quality issues for the last 4 years: the service is highly intermittent and the voice quality is bad too. We are too far from the exchange for anything higher than 384, so I'm not even sure why I bother.

BUT, because the line actually works a lot of the time, the techies keep closing the fault!!!???!!! Even though we explain to them the problem every time.

Nevermind that the ADSL line is down a lot of the time and drops about once an hour. Nevermind that it is has been getting worse over the last few months, and that now my router usually doesn't even connect automatically anymore - I have to 'wake up' the line by making a call. From talking to some of the better techies, it seems there's a problem near the closest box with the lines. Why can't that be fixed??!!

I obviously have to hope that the line breaks completely, since that's the only time they will fix it. Ridiculous!

To echo you, what do I need to do for Telkom to fix this problem?