New to South African ADSL...

[melse]

Hi,

Some time ago I moved to South Africa and got myself an ADSL line with Telkom as ISP rightaway. Later on I found out more ISP's exist...
I am trying to figure out how ADSL is organized here; I read some posting in this forum but I still want to check some things with you guys.

Is it true that two separate ADSL networks exist, SAIX (South African Internet Exchange) and IS (Internet Solutions)? Or am I mistaken?

In both cases, I rent the ADSL line from Telkom?

If I want to change from an ISP that uses SAIX, to an ISP that uses IS, I guess then hardware changes must be made by a Telkom technician?
Or can I just get a new login/password from that new provider and connect rightaway through the other network?

Enough questions for now :-) Thanks in advance!

[JStrike]

melse : As simple as getting the new login/password

Enjoy

[Scooby_Doo]

point 1 & 2 ur right and jstrike for 3

[melse]

Thanks for your quick replies!
Is somewhere a list available of which ISP's use which network?

[MrG]

http://www.hellkom.co.za/ispdirectory.php?type=adsl
There is a list of ISP's, it shoudl say on their sites if its SAIX or IS
Just post here if you not sure...

My Opinion... go SAIX
TelkomInternet - 3GB R249 (Not HardCapped)
3GB on 192 with Cybersmart - R100 (Hardcapped) - R149 for an extra 1GB
- Just tried their site, and its not working =/ , maybe its just me.
Allyoucaneat - R680 for 3GB

Those are the three ISP's I would recommend, based on price/performace/reliability

[.geek]

http://www.hellkom.co.za/ispdirectory.php?type=adsl

[nGAGEd55]

Allyoucaneat - R680 for 3GB

:eek:

You mean 30GB ;)

[dorris]

Hey melse
if you want to chat about the different networks and pros and cons of both, to determine which is better for you, give me a shout tomorrow at my office, contact details are on my website http://www.wd.co.za , we provide both saix based dsl, as well as IS dsl.

the quick and dirty of it, IS gives lots of local bandwidth, but routes international traffic over satellite not cable, high latency, inconsistent speeds, saix generally seems to be a lot more stable all round, but stingy on local bandwidth.

keep your eyes peeled, I hear verizons belly rumbling to release their own dsl setup in the VERY near future.

[nGAGEd55]

the quick and dirty of it, IS gives lots of local bandwidth, but routes international traffic over satellite not cable, high latency, inconsistent speeds, saix generally seems to be a lot more stable all round, but stingy on local bandwidth.

And IS has a much better News server on which you can use all your local bandwidth

[melse]

Thanks for your kind replies!

What does hardcapped versus not-hardcapped mean, as both are capped?

Also I just found out that both SHAPED and UNSHAPED accounts exist here. That explains some problems I had running applications on other ports.
I had never heard from that distinction...
In The Netherlands, where I come from, there is no shaped internet access, all subsriptions are uncapped, and finally, it is much much cheaper!
(I had an uncapped, unshaped 1500/256 kbps connection for EUR 30 or R 240 (line rental + ISP), and that was one of the more expensive quality providers)

Anyone knows what is the cheapest unshaped subscription around here? 2 or 3 GB cap is ok...

[MaD]

Thanks for your kind replies!

What does hardcapped versus not-hardcapped mean, as both are capped?

Also I just found out that both SHAPED and UNSHAPED accounts exist here. That explains some problems I had running applications on other ports.
I had never heard from that distinction...
In The Netherlands, where I come from, there is no shaped internet access, all subsriptions are uncapped, and finally, it is much much cheaper!
(I had an uncapped, unshaped 1500/256 kbps connection for EUR 30 or R 240 (line rental + ISP), and that was one of the more expensive quality providers)

Anyone knows what is the cheapest unshaped subscription around here? 2 or 3 GB cap is ok...
Hard-capped = cuts off your access once you reach your cap.. not-hardcapped (soft-capped) means there is still some leeway after you reach your cap.

Shaped - works fine for the local net.
Unshaped - primarily for overseas use, lower latency.

The cheapest 2GB unshaped is the R240 Freestyle+ 2000 package from Imaginet (http://www.imaginet.co.za/adsl.asp)
The cheapest 3GB unshaped is the R350 Freestyle+ 3000 package from Imaginet (http://www.imaginet.co.za/adsl.asp)

[mikef]

IMO the best value for money unshaped is WebAfrica prepaid at R125/GB. Any unused portion gets carried over to the next month.