Advice

[xpuser]

I finally went to my service provider to find out what was taking so long, and finally I got an explanation. According to them (and an internal company communication I saw), the reason all is taking so long is:

1) They (ISP) are buying the DSLAMs and NOT the telco
2) They have to put in the ATM backbone to the DSLAMs.

The deadline for my area for all to be "up and running" is 23rd September.

Here comes the question;

I have since found an ISP with a POP at my exchange who can give me a 128k full duplex connection (ie 128k up and 128k down) at the same price as the ADSL provider, both being for unmetered (read unlimited) bandwidth per month (N.B. contention through the E1 for 128k will be 1:1) , the catch being for the dedicated link I need to buy a Cisco 1721 and E1 WIC to have an E1 line from my house to the ISP's E1 which terminates at my exchange. The service costs about R1000 per month.


Is it worth it to fork out for the Cisco equipment for an E1, or should I just wait for the ADSL?

I will be using my net for:

1) Skype (NO PORT SHAPING WHATSOEVER OCCURS IN ZIMBABWE)
2) Gaming
3) Online radio
4) Browsing
5) Software downloads

All the above not concurrently, of course.

 

[Scooby_Doo]

Well if the "pay/gig" story on the 1 November applies to zim as well then i would have to back the E1 line... Just make sure that your isp doesn't change its mind on the uncapped for the line after the 1st November. You would get better value (relatively speaking of cause) for money with the E1 line.

 

[Clipse]

1st of November got nothing to do with Zimbabwe lol

 

[xpuser]

Will the dedicated bandwidth via the E1 offer better service than the 50:1 contended ADSL. BTW, in Zim, you choose what contention ratio and monthly traffic YOU want and pay accordingly. Anything after hours (6pm-7am and weekends) is fair game and therefore free, thereby meaning your bought bandwidth is only for business hours, otherwise when thats finished you can still use the service at full speed after hours.

Heck, the sales lady practically pushed me into the ADSL saying they fully encourage downloading of DVD's and music + any such bandwidth hungry applications as long as its after hours, or during business hours if you're willing to pay.

The E1 is not really as attractive any longer since I've found I've got to sweet talk enough managers at my exchange before they'll give an E1 for home use, but if it is significantly better than ADSL, I'll go for it!

 

[xpuser]

I'm immune to November RSA price show down! MUhahahahahahahahaaha!

I'll say a little prayer at the requiem mass for SA broadband.

I'm running a tracert to find if any of our stuff goes out via SAIX, because if it does, Telkom might pass on the increased charges to our TelOne resulting in a ripple effect that ends at my bank account.

edit- I hope I'm immune to November RSA price show down! MUhahahahahahahahaaha!

 

[doobiwan]

I'm very interested to find out if TelOne is going over Telkom infrastructure. What was the price / spec of the ADSL connection?

 

[xpuser]

128k up: 32k down. I can only afford the 50:1 ratio option (you can go all the way up to 1:1 if you can afford it).

300MB ONLY during bus hours and unlimited after hours (6pm-7am and weekends)

Price:
R400 for Billion 4 port router (or Telindus if you pay more)
R250 for 2-pair line circuit @ 9,6KHz from my house to ISP's DSLAM at their premises
R350/month for the 128/32 broadband lite package.
Installation is by ISP free of charge.