ADSL coverage in Midstream?

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plofstof12

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Hi

I'm thinking about putting in an offer on a place in Midstream (or Midlands Estates, to be more precise) and I was wondering whether Telkom has adequate ADSL coverage at its Midstream exchange(s).

I can't live without a low-latency 4mbps landline so I won't consider moving unless I have confirmation that our dearest Telkom will be able to provide me with an ADSL line... (wireless stuff like 3G/iBurst is not an option to me, latency is too important for what I do)

If any friendly Midstream people can let me know.... thanks!
 
I am assisting several residents in the Estate and surrounding area with their computers.

I did a number of ADSL installs there, but they are very far from an exchange (Midstream doesn't have its own) and odds are you will not get a stable 4Mb/s. They are also battling with the wireless stuff as coverage is very spotty (in some places you cannot even place a 2G voice call)

I would suggest to wait and see what Smartvillage brings to the table now that they have taken over from GTS. They are planning to hold a meeting on the 4th of May at the Retire@Midstream conference room to explain what they are all about and services they are going to offer.

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/telecoms/18911-Multichoices-Smart-Village-takes-over-from-GTS.html
 
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Thanks Roadrunner...

Please PM me your contact details, I'll definitely want to make use of your services if I do move to Midstream.

If you don't mind, a couple of questions.
1. Are there Telkom lines available? So if I put in a new application for an ADSL, will Telkom be able to respond without waiting for an opening on the exchange?
2. I accept that 4mpbs will not be doable if the estate is far from the exchange... but what is the effect on latency? Would it be possible to get sub-300ms pings to European game servers (even if the bandwidth is perhaps lower) through an ADSL line?
3. Any other wireless providers in the area? (iBurst etc) Or is GTS/Smartvillage the only alternative? If bandwidth is really bad I might get a couple of connections to the outside world and set up a network "teaming" server/proxy to pool the connections for my home network.

Thanks for the Smart Village heads-up, I might try to attend the meeting on the 4th.


Thanks!
 
Hi,

I live in Midlands Estate, and can tell you that after a LOT of teeth gnashing and hours on the phone I finally got an answer: NO Telkom infrastructure in Midlands Estate.

I weighed up the options: SmartVillage, iBurst and Cell C (Vodacom and MTN signal strength at my place is really bad).

Went with SmartVillage. On the uncapped option. Service from the humans is pretty garbage from them. But the service from my internet line is fantastic!!!!

(had 4mbps ADSL at my previous house, I rate my 4mbps SmartVillage fibre as faster, better, more responsive, lower latency etc.)
 
Hey UtterNutter

Thanks for the feedback!! I'm still shopping around for property in Midrand Estates, and my understanding of the (real)internet connectivity is extremely important before I make the decision to put in an offer somewhere...

I was (stil am) worried about Smartvillage, my impression is that all 5(?) of their predecessors liquidated. Which does not exactly say too much about the viability of internet providers in Midrand Estates.

I get the message about the bad service and good internet line :). My main question is, how good?
If you don't mind, please go to www.speedtest.net and run a couple of bandwidth tests. You may want to test at different times and different days to get a sense of the actual network performance. I recommend connecting to the Midrand server, as this will give you a clear indication of Smartvillage's actual bandwidth.

If you don't mind doing me a huge favour, please post the speedtest.net results here? (including ping time)

Also please let us know whether you went for a shaped or unshaped connection (as this could affect especially the ping time)

Many thanks!
 
I am running 4mb ADSL, but I am in Midstream X1 ... No Telkom infrastructure in Midlands, as previously mentioned.

They are putting in major fibre channels down brakfontein road, so maybe something good might pop up soon
 
Yeah my understanding is that Telkom covers Midstream but not Midfields or Midlands (not officially at least, one or two random people in Midfields have apparently been able to convince Telkom to install ADSL linesm hush hush :) )

I guess Telkom could be putting up an exchange for Midlands any time between 6 months and 6 years...

Still very interested to hear about Smartvillage actual speeds, if UtterNutter could perhaps post some a bit later...
 
Latest news from Telkom... They will not be investing in infrastructure for Midlands Estate in the foreseeable future.
 
plofstof12 said:
Yeah my understanding is that Telkom covers Midstream but not Midfields or Midlands
Click to expand...
This is also my understanding.

Midstream has ADSL lines. Although it is far from an exchange, the lines connect to UMCs situated at the main gates (which connect to the exchange), which means that users can get speeds of up to 4Mbps.

In Midstream Vodacom's LTE service is fairly good, but it obviously depends how far you are away from the tower. The growing problem is that Midstream residents voted against more cellular towers, which means these towers are getting congested, fast!

Telkom Mobile is good if you can get a good signal - very patchy in the estate.
 
rpm said:
This is also my understanding.

Midstream has ADSL lines. Although it is far from an exchange, the lines connect to UMCs situated at the main gates (which connect to the exchange), which means that users can get speeds of up to 4Mbps.

In Midstream Vodacom's LTE service is fairly good, but it obviously depends how far you are away from the tower. The growing problem is that Midstream residents voted against more cellular towers, which means these towers are getting congested, fast!

Telkom Mobile is good if you can get a good signal - very patchy in the estate.
Click to expand...

You are mostly correct. I had ADSL in Midstream, max 4Mbps, and it worked like a charm.

Cell coverage in Midrand Estates is shocking. We had issues in Midstream, when there was only one tower. There are a total of at least 3 towers now, and it is still shocking in Midlands. So the areas with crap coverage also don't have ADSL, but I have a theory about that.

We've been living here since 2005, and never voted on cell towers
 
rpm said:
This is also my understanding.

Midstream has ADSL lines. Although it is far from an exchange, the lines connect to UMCs situated at the main gates (which connect to the exchange), which means that users can get speeds of up to 4Mbps.

In Midstream Vodacom's LTE service is fairly good, but it obviously depends how far you are away from the tower. The growing problem is that Midstream residents voted against more cellular towers, which means these towers are getting congested, fast!
Click to expand...

Really? I didn't make it to the HOA meeting last month, but had intended to. How did you come about this information?

Telkom Mobile is good if you can get a good signal - very patchy in the estate.
Click to expand...

So, I have had informal discussions with people in Telkom who know some of the planning considerations, and they said that the MIdstream HOA is not allowing Telkom to deploy an MSAN into Midstream Estate. Obviously, an MSAN would allow much better speeds than the 4Mbps max allowed by our distance from the RHK exchange.
 
jaq316 said:
Latest news from Telkom... They will not be investing in infrastructure for Midlands Estate in the foreseeable future.
Click to expand...

Did they give a reason? As far as I know, Bondev wasn't permitting Telkom to install lines into Midlands. I will try and follow this up internally, but haven't got much knowledge of how Midlands is administered (vs. Midstream).
 
ranger said:
Did they give a reason? As far as I know, Bondev wasn't permitting Telkom to install lines into Midlands. I will try and follow this up internally, but haven't got much knowledge of how Midlands is administered (vs. Midstream).
Click to expand...
Not permitting any civil work... therefore no lines.
 
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ranger said:
Really? I didn't make it to the HOA meeting last month, but had intended to. How did you come about this information?
Click to expand...
I did not get the info personally, but I am fairly certain it is correct. I will try to get the official info and post it here.
 
ranger said:
Did they give a reason? As far as I know, Bondev wasn't permitting Telkom to install lines into Midlands. I will try and follow this up internally, but haven't got much knowledge of how Midlands is administered (vs. Midstream).
Click to expand...

We should all sit down over a drink ... after 8 years here, I can tell you some interesting stories. Anyone remember eTube "Broadband"? LOL
 
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