ADVICE PLEASE !!

S

Sculler

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Hi Guys
I would appreciate your advice on the following.
I have uncapped shaped ADSL thru Mweb via Telkom. I use the line for trading stocks and commodities on the USA market for a living. My problem is the very poor line speed I get due to the crap line from Telkom. It is intermittently slow/very slow and I cannot view any webinar online & often the data and price feeds for my trading software is far too slow to trade effectively. MY DSL line speed is only 356, as every time I have arranged a faster line speed ((Ostensible I can get a 4 meg line), the line becomes very unstable and actually gets a lot slower. I have been told there is a lot of interference on the line, but under the threshold of Telkom to make any repairs. Sometimes the line stops working completely and the brain surgeons at Telkom don't have a clue where the problem is. It usually mysteriously begins working again by itself and then the pattern repeats itself.
Unfortunately since I am on the side of a steep hill, I cannot get 3G, iBurst or Neotel consistently.
I have had this problem for 5 years now and I am at my wits end. I have even researched satellite connection options, but the costs are very high.
Any advice?
 
... I use the line for trading stocks and commodities on the USA market for a living
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If that's the case why are you using an uncapped account? Get a decent capped account, Telkom for preference, and use that for business instead.
 
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I know how you feel... It would help if you could give us your line stats (attenuation, SNR margin ect.) With a combination of phoning a manager 3 times a day and climbing up one of the poles that carry my line I yanked on it and so it appeared I disconnected it, I managed to get our line fixed which synced at 1meg to now syncing at 6meg. The speed and quality of your line depends on a bunch of things one being attenuation (the further away from your exchange you are the more screwed you get) and whether like in my case there are any dodgy or open connections along your line.
 
Thanks for your suggestions:
MickZA - Please indulge me with a few newbise questions ......Why will a capped account be better ? I thought only an unshapped account would help (and even then, not necessarily according to Mweb). Also, why would you recommend Telkom (I have a Telkom line and it's hell trying to just log a fault with them)?

The Guy - I thin I am about 5KM's from exchange.

Goliath - How do I get the stats you mentioned & then how would I track down the physical fault?

Is there any organisation that would guarentee a line speed?

Thanks
Sculler
 
Depending on your brand of router you log into it and browse all the pages for adsl stats.
 
It seems to me like your distance to the DSLAM/Exchange is too far to even establish a reliable 384kbps ADSL connection.

Btw, what ADSL modem are you using? A better ADSL modem might solve your sync issues, which could be the cause of all your problems, which might even seem like an ISP problem!
One of the best (and also cheapest @ under R200) ADSL modems on the South African markets is the D-Link DSL-2500U. Unfortunately it doesn't have WiFi and it has only 1 LAN port.

Could you perhaps also post your ADSL statistics (SNR margins, line attenuation and sync speed), like TheGuy asked for?
There are a few things that you can try to improve your SNR margins, like removing all the filters & other telephonic devices and plugging in your ADSL modem directly in on the Telkom line.
Other than that, you can try a different ADSL modulation technique (if your DSLAM supports it), eg. ADSL2+, instead of G.Dmt.
Lastly, you can try a different ADSL modem.
 
Apply for a completely new ADSL line from Telkom, let them run new copper to your house, make sure that it actually works, then cancel your old one.

That way you get new copper, with hopefully decent stats, and can solve all your problems.
 
Sculler said:
MickZA - Please indulge me with a few newbise questions ......Why will a capped account be better ? I thought only an unshapped account would help (and even then, not necessarily according to Mweb). Also, why would you recommend Telkom (I have a Telkom line and it's hell trying to just log a fault with them)?
Sculler
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1) Variable/slow speed is common with cheap (sub R200) uncapped accounts. R19 will buy you a gig of axxess lite capped data to prove the capped/uncapped debate for yourself http://www.axxess.co.za/internet.php (NB: data is only good for a month so wait until August to test and cancel before Aug 20th if you don't want to be billed again for Sept).

2) Telkom will be far more interested in your line problems if you have your line and an ISP account with them - you can even ask for a refund if it's not working properly.

3) Use the Telkom SMS ADSL Faults service (0123210212) to report faults, keep a log of the fault ref numbers and escalate if they don't fix problems.
 
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WoW guys thanks for all your advice and suggestions - I appreciate it.

I have a Mega 105 WR Router from Telkom. I don't know how to access it (i.e. what the address is).
What Router would you recommend (doesn't have to be cheap)?

Do you think I can get Telkom to route a new cable? why should they?

Do you think a capped, unshaped line would be better? Do you think I should increase the line speed?

Thanks

Sculler
 
You should certainly consider upgrading your line to at least Faster DSL - http://www.telkom.co.za/products_services/dsl/cost_dsl_cost.html if your internet access is as mission critical as you say. It´s only R170/mth more for the line with the new Telkom pricing, note that your current uncapped account will only run at it´s quoted speed which I assume is 384Kb, you would need to upgrade it to take advantage of the new line speed.

A capped account will definitely improve your online trading experience.

Edit: it´s actually only about R140/mth more - Telkom haven´t updated the pricing on the link I provided.
 
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Sculler said:
WoW guys thanks for all your advice and suggestions - I appreciate it.

I have a Mega 105 WR Router from Telkom. I don't know how to access it (i.e. what the address is).
What Router would you recommend (doesn't have to be cheap)?

Do you think I can get Telkom to route a new cable? why should they?

Do you think a capped, unshaped line would be better? Do you think I should increase the line speed?

Thanks

Sculler
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1. A very good router + cheap would be the TP-Link W8960N Wireless N ADSL2+ Modem Router plus has 4 lan ports
http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=1_55_57&products_id=383

You can also buy it from same company from bidorbuy.co.za. I suggest getting it from bidorbuy they send it to you faster.
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/40533010/TP_Link_W8960N_300Mbps_Wireless_N_ADSL2_Router.html

2. Capped accounts don't increase the line speed they just stop your internet from being shaped so much during the day and gets you the most speed from your current speed so it would be 384k/8 = 48 kb/s - 20% contention ratio/overhead = 40 kb/s.

40 kilobytes per sec is what you will get out of a capped account

3. The chances of them putting a totally new cable in is next to 0% plus they probably will give the excuse of not enough adsl ports in the exchange.
 
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Thanks Pad, Mick, Merenwenrago & Hummercellc - I am taking your advice, looking at alternatives, upgrading hardware, line speed, changing to capped.
 
Don't go out and buy stuff before you know that you'll get better results with different hardware / upgraded line speeds / capped accounts!

1) I would really suggest that you first log into your router, find the ADSL statistics and then post them here.
2) Rather borrow someone's D-Link or TP-Link ADSL modem if your SNR margins are low with your current ADSL modem
3) Don't upgrade your line speed unless you know that your SNR margins are good enough for it!
4) Instead of buying a capped account, rather just trial the WebAfrica 3GB account for 14 days: http://www.webafrica.co.za/home/adsl/trial/
 
Telkom and someone else have promotional trials going starting at nothing to R1 pm for the next few months.

Get one of each trial and cancel the worst of the two.
 
bekdik said:
Get yourself a business account.
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Either that or go for OpenWeb GOLD uncapped IF AND ONLY IF your current speed issues are attributed to your ISP account being heavily shaped AND you require more than say 10-20GB/month.
 
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