Another "Choose my ISP" thread...

A

AJBotha

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Hi guys.

First post and registration here, but far from my first visit.

I applied for a telkom 4MB line, and the previous owners 2MB line is still active, which I plan on using while it lasts.

I am not sure what I require, but I think I'm more of a uncapped fanboy that constantly checking my use on a capped service. That being said, even on uncapped I will schedule downloads from midnight to 6AM, to remain a 'fair user', hopefully unthrottled.

What do I want to download? Movies in 1080 and 720p, and also series. Torrents. Only enough to watch, I don't want to download the internet for the day the zombies take over.

Gaming: Once a week I would like to join my friends for a night of gaming - World Of Tanks USA server or BF4 local server.

Both me and my wife works from 07:00 to 16:00. She loves facebook and I love forums/instagram.

We plan on skimping on DSTV getting our fix with downloads.

My budget is around R600- R800 pm line rental included.
From what I could read here the past few days I have decided to steer away from Afrihost and Openweb and Axxess.

What I have been looking at:
CrystalWeb Basic Uncapped 4MB @ R295. Upgrade options: Premium Uncapped @ R430 or 90+360 Capped @R300.

Then also Webafrica Uncapped 4MB @ R300 pm. Upgrade options: Varius capped eg 60 +240 GB @ R200.

At this stage I favour CrystalWeb basic uncapped, ISP reviews seem good and various upgrade options available.
They will apparantly also be introducing smaller capped packages soon, opening more options.

Am I on the right track for my needs? What would you choose?
I really don't know how much gigs I need a month!
 
Hi AJ,

Happy to help out here. Personally if you're expecting to push a fair amount of traffic in business peak periods for business use you want to reconsider opting for basic home uncapped accounts. You may just find that a capped account will suit you quite nicely though as your downloads scheduling from midnight to 6am means it comes out of a massive cap we (Crystal Web) allocate for this time of night, and your peak gigs remain untouched then as you download. Will also mean you'll receive a pretty fantastic experience in business peak hours too.

If you're not planning to backup the internet once a month then it may be a very good option in terms of blend of quality, quantity and budget...
 
I'll second a crystal web premium uncapped account here. It's worth it.
 
DJ... said:
Hi AJ,

Happy to help out here. Personally if you're expecting to push a fair amount of traffic in business peak periods for business use you want to reconsider opting for basic home uncapped accounts. You may just find that a capped account will suit you quite nicely though as your downloads scheduling from midnight to 6am means it comes out of a massive cap we (Crystal Web) allocate for this time of night, and your peak gigs remain untouched then as you download. Will also mean you'll receive a pretty fantastic experience in business peak hours too.

If you're not planning to backup the internet once a month then it may be a very good option in terms of blend of quality, quantity and budget...
Click to expand...

Hi DJ, Sorry I must have been unclear. We don't work from home, so we don't expect to be using much business peak cap apart from 16h00 to 00:00 when all of the browsing/facebook will be taking place.

I do agree that a capped account might work for us, where does weekends fit in? Peak capped or after hours cap?

Sinbad I would love the premium uncapped, but for now the price is a little stiff and probably overkill for what I need! I like the idea that there is an upgrade path even for the uncapped options, should the need arise for less shaping or throttling or whatever.
 
Get a 300 Gb Vox fatpipe. On special. Will more than suit your needs. Full speed all the time.
 
Mariuspay said:
Get a 300 Gb Vox fatpipe. On special. Will more than suit your needs. Full speed all the time.
Click to expand...

I did look at Vox, and I like the idea of rollover data - but that package is out of my budget. R485 pm + line rental = expensive
Their 4MB uncapped is also more expensive coming in at R360 pm, not leaving many upgrade/downgrade options for my budget/requirements.
 
AJBotha said:
Hi DJ, Sorry I must have been unclear. We don't work from home, so we don't expect to be using much business peak cap apart from 16h00 to 00:00 when all of the browsing/facebook will be taking place.

I do agree that a capped account might work for us, where does weekends fit in? Peak capped or after hours cap?

Sinbad I would love the premium uncapped, but for now the price is a little stiff and probably overkill for what I need! I like the idea that there is an upgrade path even for the uncapped options, should the need arise for less shaping or throttling or whatever.
Click to expand...

The monitors for usage are time-based and don't include day of the week trackers so for now weekends count the same any day in terms of how capped usage works. Something we do have in the pipeline to look at though. I'd say capped or premium is a good option. If you're streaming, downloading, and gaming your usage could just end up peaking over our algorithms that monitor the basic accounts, and the last thing you want is a World Of Tanks or BF4 session interrupted because the account has lower priority for whatever reason. It's always a bit of give and take - if the budget needs to be kept down then you'll need to try to keep the vast majority of the big usage to that midnight window (it's priced low to make it accessible for customers but is therefore naturally subject to stricter controls) or if you can extend the purse-strings a bit, premium uncapped or capped is always better.

You can always give the 90GB peak + 360GB Off Peak a try and switch if it turns out unsuitable for your usage requirements?

Also feel free to hop on to our website and chat with an agent who can walk you through which account is best, although I think we've covered it fairly decently here already and I'm not sure they'll be able to add any more. Happy to answer any queries here today though if you have any more...
 
DJ, is there a "suspend account" feature? I suspect there will be a week or three when I don't have an ADSL enabled phone line. Telkom still hasn't responded to my online "Get a line" request.

Where can I ask a router question? I have a Telkom DuoPlus 300WR router that I have always hated. What can I replace it with that is good value for money yet good quality, and where do you buy a router? Online/Game/Incredible Corruption?
 
AJBotha said:
DJ, is there a "suspend account" feature? I suspect there will be a week or three when I don't have an ADSL enabled phone line. Telkom still hasn't responded to my online "Get a line" request.

Where can I ask a router question? I have a Telkom DuoPlus 300WR router that I have always hated. What can I replace it with that is good value for money yet good quality, and where do you buy a router? Online/Game/Incredible Corruption?
Click to expand...

Well you can schedule your account activation for beginning of next month when you complete the sign up form, and you can purchase a new modem-router at the same time from us, fully preconfigured with your login credentials, wifi, security etc and truly plug and play, delivered to your door-step. And we sell them at pretty much cost as well. My personal suggestion is the TP-Link W8980 (N600) which is a super modem-router...
 
AJBotha said:
Hi guys.

First post and registration here, but far from my first visit.

I applied for a telkom 4MB line, and the previous owners 2MB line is still active, which I plan on using while it lasts.

I am not sure what I require, but I think I'm more of a uncapped fanboy that constantly checking my use on a capped service. That being said, even on uncapped I will schedule downloads from midnight to 6AM, to remain a 'fair user', hopefully unthrottled.

What do I want to download? Movies in 1080 and 720p, and also series. Torrents. Only enough to watch, I don't want to download the internet for the day the zombies take over.

Gaming: Once a week I would like to join my friends for a night of gaming - World Of Tanks USA server or BF4 local server.

Both me and my wife works from 07:00 to 16:00. She loves facebook and I love forums/instagram.

We plan on skimping on DSTV getting our fix with downloads.

My budget is around R600- R800 pm line rental included.
From what I could read here the past few days I have decided to steer away from Afrihost and Openweb and Axxess.

What I have been looking at:
CrystalWeb Basic Uncapped 4MB @ R295. Upgrade options: Premium Uncapped @ R430 or 90+360 Capped @R300.

Then also Webafrica Uncapped 4MB @ R300 pm. Upgrade options: Varius capped eg 60 +240 GB @ R200.

At this stage I favour CrystalWeb basic uncapped, ISP reviews seem good and various upgrade options available.
They will apparantly also be introducing smaller capped packages soon, opening more options.

Am I on the right track for my needs? What would you choose?
I really don't know how much gigs I need a month!
Click to expand...

Just go with the CW Premium Uncapped from the start.
 
DJ... said:
My personal suggestion is the TP-Link W8980 (N600) which is a super modem-router...
Click to expand...

That looks like a very cool modem/router. My only concern is that the external antennas are only for the 5GHZ network... Do most phones and laptops support 5GHz WiFi?

Wouldn't a modem/router with external 2.4GHz antennas provide better coverage in a building with internal walls?
 
AJBotha said:
That looks like a very cool modem/router. My only concern is that the external antennas are only for the 5GHZ network... Do most phones and laptops support 5GHz WiFi?

Wouldn't a modem/router with external 2.4GHz antennas provide better coverage in a building with internal walls?
Click to expand...

It transmits on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, so you choose which to use, or you can use both simultaneously...
 
Yes, I know it creates two networks.

If anyone is also interested in that modem/router:

5GHz network is less congested and thus less interference in the end would mean higher throughput.
Thing is, 5Ghz does not pass through walls as well as 2.4GHz.

All the antennas are for the 5GHz wifi, so penetration or coverage of your entire home might be a problem.
Also, not all devices support 5GHz, but if you have a recent Galaxy SIII and up or an iPhone chances are you will be ok, if unsure, search for it here: http://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder-results?sort_by=default&sort_order=desc&keywords=lg g3,ipad mini

The 2.4GHz (Normal wifi network - congested) is only transmitted over the two internal antennas, once again I think coverage might be a problem for larger homes, because it has two relatively weak antennas that you can't replace or upgrade.

It has all the gizmo's and seem pretty much future-proof for now, while still being affordable.
 
Vox 25gb Fatpipe Lite + Bolt-on...

25gb active 6am-6pm weekdays, Bolt-on active 6pm to 6am, Monday to Friday and all weekend, that's Friday evening 6pm to 6am Monday morning.

Rate limited to 10mb, R148 per month...
 
Went with Crystal Capped, works like a charm! Signed up on Saturday eve and was live by Sunday morning. Thanks for the help all.
 
So yesterday I go home, boom, no internet. Turns out the previous owners 'services' has now been transferred and the line is no longer ADSL enabled.

What is the quickest and least painful way to get re-connected? I applied for a line online more than a week ago and I have not had any form of correspondence for Telkom.

I am also not sure what the procedure is, I am applying for a new line because I will be a new customer, right?

Do they have to come out to my house and charge me for not installing anything since everything is already there and working?
 
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