News24 Article "Wireless network on its way"

[Gangsta]

Just thought u guys would be interested

http://www.news24.com/News24/Technol...448443,00.html


<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><b>Wireless network on its way</b>
20/11/2003 14:49 - (SA)

Johannesburg - Sentech, the state signal transmission utility, said on Wednesday it would offer commercial wireless broadband internet access from the end of January 2004.

"It will mean that users don't need a physical connection in order to use the internet," Sentech said in a statement.

The company plans to provide wireless broadband services to consumers and businesses in three stages, starting with MyWireless 128.

Two faster versions of the wireless offering with bandwidths of 256 kilobytes per second (kbps) and 512kbps, aimed at small- to medium-sized enterprises, will be rolled out in the following months.

Winston Smith, portfolio manager of Sentech's broadband products, said MyWireless would be the first broadband alternative to traditional dial-up internet connections.

"Instead of internet traffic being routed by wire line or satellite networks, it will be transmitted using high powered radio technology from high sites that we will deploy," he said.

Smith said wireless broadband is different to wi-fi wireless technology.

"Wi-fi is a short-range technology, with a small hot-spot footprint. It also has to be coupled to a physical internet connection. Wireless broadband, on the other hand, has a 3 to 5km radius in an urban environment. That said, wi-fi and broadband wireless are complementary technologies."

Sentech's initial broadband internet package will be a bundled service comprising the USB or PCMCIA modem, a connection and unlimited internet access for a fixed monthly fee. The products will initially be available in Gauteng early next year, with Durban and Cape Town following soon afterwards.

"The service will be competitively priced compared to what people are used to paying for traditional analogue dial-up internet access," said Smith.

Users can expect speedy connections because My Wireless is a "contended service", meaning the number of people able to use the system at the same time is limited.

"There is no usage capping either, which means you can send and receive as much internet traffic as you like without paying extra," added Smith.

"These end-to-end services are totally contained on the Sentech broadband wireless internet network and we have sophisticated software to take care of load balancing. The network's coverage will grow over time and be available in more areas. We are expecting good demand for the service which has done well in other markets like the US, Germany and Malaysia," he explained.
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"Good things come to those who loaf"[8D]

[PHOBOS]

Great, can't wait.

I was going to get ISDN next year in March, but now I will wait and see what happens. [:(!] [:(!] F######u Telkom for I have a telephone line that can't even get past 2KB on downloads, thats like +/- 14K max instead of 56K.And you Know what they say "Your line is fine sir".

Any way one thing I don't understand in that page is "Users can expect speedy connections because My Wireless is a "contended service", meaning the number of people able to use the system at the same time is limited." . Does that mean the more users are on the slower it will be?

Please not.

Leader of TEAMPHOBOS

[pg]

Hi Phobos, I just read your reply on the bandwidth problem you are having.

I had the same problem before I upgraded to ISDN. I then found out that Telkom splits residential line bandwidth on the wires because voice-traffic takes up much less bandwidth on a line than data-traffic.

I suggest you phone telkom and insist *nicely* to speak directly to a technician (because the girl at the helpdesk doesn't know this). After explaining the problem to the technician, *insist* nicely that they come and stretch your bandwidth. I think they split the lines into 8kb per telephone or something like that.

Also make sure beforehand that they do not charge you for coming out to do that because it is part of their service and not something new.

Hope that helps.

pg

[silversurfer]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by PHOBOS</i>
<br />
Any way one thing I don't understand in that page is "Users can expect speedy connections because My Wireless is a "contended service", meaning the number of people able to use the system at the same time is limited." . Does that mean the more users are on the slower it will be?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

u guys should know what contention ratio's are by now ;) if you've read enuff on this forum, its what telkom adsl dont tell us. IE how many users are assigned to a specific rack or clump of bandwidth. ie 50:1 or 20:1 ect.

[ajax]

Hi Silversurfer

I have a good friend in Telkom who has informed me that the contention ratio on ADSL is on the average 1:33.
I also asked him how much bandwidth is shared by ADSL users. He replied that it differs from area to area.

Quite unfair I think, everyone pays the same price but not everybody gets the same service...

My friend is of the opinion that ISDN is better value for money as (I quote) "ADSL is not really a classic broadband connection."

I am sticking with ISDN myself until Sentech has proven to be a better option.

Ajax

[silversurfer]

Yup, i have stayed on ISDN myself... 128k isdn is just soo much better for my home needs. Just moved house, and have ordered my isdn line again, will be keeping it as a backup untill sentech launches in cpt.