iBurst in Durban

[shane101]

Hi All

I stumbled onto this site today, very exciting to see that at least there's a bit of competition in the wireless-internet segment of the market

I'm considering going with iBurst, something I like about it is the option of having a month to month contract, so at least if it's not quite what I thought it would be I won't have to keep paying for two years...

I'm from Durban (Glenwood) and I notice that most of the posts in this forum are from people in Gauteng. I'm hoping that I might get some replies from Durban people about their experiences with iBurst here. Hopefully it'll help me decide whether to go ahead and order or not.

Thanks very much,
Shane.

[stepper]

I'm from Durban (Glenwood) and I notice that most of the posts in this forum are from people in Gauteng. I'm hoping that I might get some replies from Durban people about their experiences with iBurst here. Hopefully it'll help me decide whether to go ahead and order or not.

mhhh...
everybody on iBurst has had some complains abt the service, surely in DBN is the same, but don't take my word for it what do I know I'm just an inferior customer whose complaints dont matter.

Forget what I've just said above....
ASK WBS for the facts...

(1). How is the signal in your area? (call someone to do the test)
(2). How long (at most or at least) has the basestation been out or offline?
(3). What are main causes of outages in that area, cause me my problem is rain... .

Then, there one small factor of Activation Fee

[ic]

Durban iBurst Network Coverage (unlikely to be 100% accurate), but follow Stepper's advice get WBS to test the signal, or a written assurance that you can return in 7 days with full refunds of R456 activation fee, hardware etc.

[lost]

I am using iBusrt in glenwood atm, and i havent had any troubles until I read this post!! my connection has been dropping every few min!! but overall glenwood is pretty stable and I usually get full signal. whereabouts in glenwood are you? I have the UTC so I can bring the laptop around sometime to check signal where you are.

[shane101]

Thanks for your comments. I guess it would be a wise move to have a test done. Lost thanks for the offer, I'll send you a private message with some of my details. IC thanks for the link, I've had a look at it already, it's a bit vague though, might be better if you could zoom in a little closer. Thanks again!

[ic]

shane101, agreed I never bother looking at them maps bcos they are way too fuzzy, but use Firefox to zoom in on the image a bit.

[shane101]

Thanks IC, I'll give it a bash.

[shane101]

I remember someone mentioning that they got their UTD/C from Australia at a landed price of R1250 but I can't remember who it was. Does the Australian model work fine here in SA? What are the details and model numbers of these things? I have some friends over there at the moment and I would certainly not mind saving about R1400 or so!

[ic]

Sadly no, bcos the Ozzie iBurst UT's work on a different frequency

[Mercury]

I remember someone mentioning that they got their UTD/C from Australia at a landed price of R1250 but I can't remember who it was. Does the Australian model work fine here in SA?

That was someone posting to the Hellkom Vent. As ic notes, the frequencies are different so the fact that it was reported as working is somewhat surprising.

[shane101]

Well managed to get hold of the reseller here in Durban today and he should be coming round tomorrow afternoon to give me a bit of a demo. We'll see how it goes!

[Daveogg]

Shane any luck with your demo?? Did the guy pitch up. I took the plunge and just signed up thinking if its not performing i have a week to ditch it, but so far have had no luck in getting the utd delivered. Don't you people just love it when you get promised delivery dates, promised to return phone calls, wait at home, make alterative arrangements then the people concerned dont even have the decency to answer their cell phone when they have not pitched up. And the cherry on the cake was the email tonight telling me they will debit my bank acc at the end of the month. Oh well service in good old SA.

[ic]

...And the cherry on the cake was the email tonight telling me they will debit my bank acc at the end of the month. Oh well service in good old SA.

Dave, 2 Q's:

1. Are WBS charging you the R456 "Activation Fee"? If so, what are the Ts&Cs? Do they refund the AF if you cancel & return to sender within 7 days?
2. Are they charging you R454 pro-rata based on when your iBurst is delivered/activated?

PS: also got an email this pm about end-of-January billing, finally. Unfortunately no word yet on the amount they will be billing...or a tax invoice...not going to be claiming back VAT for November & December on this return

[twixt]

IC - I think all new customers are being slapped with the activation fee - despite the fact that it is not mentioned on the website or in any of the application forms. I know I paid it last week.

With regards to Durban - I am based in Musgrave area Durban and can tell you that most of musgrave and I assume glenwood is covered. For Durban locale people there is a central tower in the CBD area and then there are towers on the north and south ridges - the one on the south ridge is at entabeni hospital which should cover the whole of the glenwood area quite well. The other tower is on the building next to kensington heights.

I get 100% signal from essenwood road near berea road.

Are you guys dealing with Seelan? (Durban reseller?) I had to phone him and bug him for quite a while before he stopped making promises and acted.

[ic]

IC - I think all new customers are being slapped with the activation fee - despite the fact that it is not mentioned on the website...

Actually, it is mentioned on https://secure.wbs.co.za/, select packages, then I-Go-Everywhere, voila R456 Once off activation fee.

Related thread: Activation Fee !