Advice on Telkom Upgrade

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Vitrolic

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Hi guys,

On Thursday I phoned telkom, to upgrade my ADSL line from a 384k to 512k. They said fine bla bla and the lady said I must wait 7 working days for it to be upgraded.

Then I spoke to some friends who said it should be almost instant and it shouldn't take more than 1 or 2 days. I also got some advice saying I should phone them and ask to speak to a supervisor and that would make them "speed up" the process.

Anyway please can you tell me whether this waiting period is normal or should I phone and pester them?

Thanks,
Stephen
 
Lol stevey :D

Its usually almost instant, the "7 day waiting period" is just there for them to make themselves look good when its done in 3 days. Its a case of them going to your profile and clicking once or twice to change it to 512k. Phone them again and tell them you want it done NOW! :D

Oh and btw, 512 is a waste of money imo -_-
 
I guess it depends on the consultant on the other end of the line.. I was told it takes 72 hours (as opposed to your 7 days), but the upgrade was in effect almost immediately.

The bad news is that you are not gong to notice a difference upgrading from 384 to 512, except for your bill. Rather go for the full 4MB.
 
Sheepbot said:
Lol stevey :D

Its usually almost instant, the "7 day waiting period" is just there for them to make themselves look good when its done in 3 days. Its a case of them going to your profile and clicking once or twice to change it to 512k. Phone them again and tell them you want it done NOW! :D

Oh and btw, 512 is a waste of money imo -_-
Click to expand...
7 days does seem extreme. I suppose it depends how many staff they have and how busy. If you're on 512, doesn't your account name and e-mail also change? Maybe they close one and open another, technically twice the work.
 
simp said:
I guess it depends on the consultant on the other end of the line.. I was told it takes 72 hours (as opposed to your 7 days), but the upgrade was in effect almost immediately.

The bad news is that you are not gong to notice a difference upgrading from 384 to 512, except for your bill. Rather go for the full 4MB.
Click to expand...
I'm on 384 and most of the time things like YouTube suffer because it has to buffer. Would 512 'cure' that. I know the speeds on 384 are usually quite consistent and close to advertised. Is it the same with 512?

Of course your cap goes quicker too I expect!
 
I doubt that 512 would give you a better youtube experience - there just isn't any noticeable difference between 384 and 512 as far as browsing goes - but 512 is MORE THAN TWICE the price of 384.

384 = R152
512 = R326
4096 = R413 (and transferring your line to somebody like Axxess drops this to R359)
 
I agree with all the above posts. If you can afford 4096, go for it. Otherwise, stick with 384.

Consider this: 384 -> 512 = 1.33x faster in theory
R152 -> R326 = 2.14x more expensive

Compared to: 384 -> 4096 = 10.67x faster (well, on a perfect line in any case)
R152 -> R413 = 2.72x more expensive

You be the judge
 
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simp said:
I doubt that 512 would give you a better youtube experience - there just isn't any noticeable difference between 384 and 512 as far as browsing goes - but 512 is MORE THAN TWICE the price of 384.

384 = R152
512 = R326
4096 = R413 (and transferring your line to somebody like Axxess drops this to R359)
Click to expand...
OK thanks.
Note that doBroadband (Telkom ISP) is:
R199/R258/R554 for 384kb(1Gig)/384kb(2Gig)/4Mb(3Gig)
 
Upgrading from 384 to anything else requires an exchange port upgrade... something which actually takes minutes to do... but the problem comes in with the paperwork. Filling in the single sheet of paper can take anything from 24h to 24 weeks to complete.
 
froot said:
Upgrading from 384 to anything else requires an exchange port upgrade... something which actually takes minutes to do... but the problem comes in with the paperwork. Filling in the single sheet of paper can take anything from 24h to 24 weeks to complete.
Click to expand...

sigh yeah I still haven't got my upgrade and I phoned last Thursday :(((((((((((

sup mark and shot :P
 
Just be careful.
I am in the process of ordering ADSL, and phoned them to check a few things.
I wanted to go straight to 4 meg line.
So at the end of the call...I ask her: "what kind of speeds are they getting in my area' and she immediately tells me that my exchange is synching at a max of 512.
So they were fully willing to sell me a 4 meg line, knowing that all I would ever get out of it is 512 max. And since there aren't 512 closer plans, I may as well just get a damn 384 and wait it out.
Check with them...what speeds will you get on your 4 meg line.

G26
 
Glock26 said:
Just be careful.
I am in the process of ordering ADSL, and phoned them to check a few things.
I wanted to go straight to 4 meg line.
So at the end of the call...I ask her: "what kind of speeds are they getting in my area' and she immediately tells me that my exchange is synching at a max of 512.
So they were fully willing to sell me a 4 meg line, knowing that all I would ever get out of it is 512 max. And since there aren't 512 closer plans, I may as well just get a damn 384 and wait it out.
Check with them...what speeds will you get on your 4 meg line.

G26
Click to expand...
I wonder what happened to 512, since it's also not on DoBroadband??
 
Vitrolic said:
sigh yeah I still haven't got my upgrade and I phoned last Thursday :(((((((((((

sup mark and shot :P
Click to expand...

I can always get you a number to phone (bigshot in ADSL offices).... but then again I don't think the person would like daily phonecalls requesting help :p
 
True, go for the 4mbit, I waited from a Friday till Thursday (late afternoon)
But once you get 4mbit you'll definately notice the performance, the 512kbit is not so great, it would be okay if they charged R200 - R250 for it but charging 300 is not good,
you also won't physically use more cap but that depends on how much you're going to do.

In practise you do use more because everything loads so much faster so you tend to click more opening more pages..
 
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