Asking for assisting & testing in Fourways?

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nuyork

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Hi all,

I've been reading the threads here and I see a few people are not happy with the Neotel Internet service, but unfortunately I only have them to turn to. :erm:

I have applied for a Telkom ADSL line (this was in March) and I am still waiting. I've recently moved into a new complex, and thus, no Telkom exchange is installed inside the complex. There is a Telkom exchange box directly outside the complex drive way, but nothing inside the complex. The developer of the complex is also fighting with Telkom to get cables and lines laid out and an exchange installed in the complex, even though he was specifically told to install routing pipes in all the homes for Telkom lines. So Telkom has stated that at least 60% of the residence in the complex need to apply for Telkom lines before they go ahead and install the Telkom exchange. I doubt this will ever happen, as out of the 60 apartments which only half a current occupied, I am the only person that has applied for a Telkom line so far.

Anyway, that's my sappy story. So now I'm looking at alternatives. So I thought of Neotel. When I first heard of the Neotel NeoConnect Prime Unlimited service I was very interested in it. I require an uncapped service. And I was previously on an uncapped service with ADSL for R999 per month (excluding Telkom line rental). :(

I've checked the coverage map on the Neotel service and it looks as if I am do have some coverage. But I am prepared to purchase a Neotel aerial from Poynting if need be.

What I was hoping for is someone who is staying in the Fourways area to come out to my place and test the signal strength and to see if it works or not, before I sign any 24-month contracts.

I have contacted Neotel to ask if they would send out a technician to test the signal and see if NeoConnect Prime will work and well I think you know the answer to that. :mad:

I know with Vodacom this is not a problem, as a friend wanted to sign up a 24-month contract with Vodacom, but he wanted a technician to come out and test the signal strength in his area and speeds and such. He logged a call with Vodacom and a technician came to his house and ran all the necessary tests, and everything checked out fine. So he went ahead and signed up a contract with Vodacom. :cool:

If Neotel had a month to month contract, then I would have obviously tried that out and if it didn't work out after a month or 2, just returned all the equipment no questions asked. :confused:

So yeah, that's my story.

Basically I would like to find out if there is anyone on the forums in the Fourways area who has NeoConnect Prime willing to come to my place to test whether Neotel will work for me or not? And if they have an external antenna to test with, that would be great as well.

Anyone have a good heart to help out a guy?? :o
 
where about in fourways? A friend of mine asked to test my neoflex in douglasdale and it worked really well. If youre near that area it should work too.
 
Actually the suburb is called Beverley AH. And it's on William Nicol just past the Leaping Frog Shopping Centre (after Mulbarton Road).

I also checked on the coverage map (terrible coverage map by the way), and when I put in all my details it finds the area, but the green pin point is way off. It's way too far up the road. And I can move it to where my place is. But if I zoom out and look to where my place actually is, it shows I have coverage for both "High Speed Internet Services" (NeoFlex) and "Voice and High Speed Internet Services" (NeoConnect), but requires an external antenna.

Also I phoned Neotel to ask about it and the sales lady also did the same thing and checked on the coverage map, and stated that I ONLY had an option for NeoFlex. But I'm betting she was seeing it as further up the road where the green pin point was and not my actual location.

I'm also on the second floor of the complex, so I am above ground level. I'm guessing there is a tower somewhere on the corner of Uranium Street and Bush Willow Avenue? So my antenna would be pointed towards there. How far would the antenna actually be able to work and gain signal from the tower? Are there any limits on distance and how far you're allowed to be from the tower?
 
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Well heres the deal, when i bought neoflex i had excellent coverage. However, a few weeks later neotel turned their base station and i suddenly had zero coverage for neoflex voice or data. I have a yagi antenna and i get perfect internet (as perfect as neotel allows since they have alot of issues such as congestion and disconnects). Without the yagi i had an rssi of about -95, and with it i get about -80 which is decent.

My friend in douglasdale was on the 3rd floor and we were dloading at about 120kB/s which in my opinion is pretty much what you should expect from neoflex. The higher you are the better it is. If i were u i would not get the yagi initially and would try the neoflex as is. since ure high up u should have a pretty decent line of sight to the tower. If your signal quality is bad, then i suggest you get a yagi (u can get it from poynting www.poyntingdirect.co.za) for about R700. They need to be mounted outside of your home on your roof or a wall, so make sure that your body corp allows it if u live in an estate.

Also, i would suggest that u tell the customer service ppl that the coverage map does not point at your actual location when you put in the address - they shouldnt give u any hassles, if they do ask to speak to their supervisor. Hope this helps!
 
Thanks for the info...

Just to confirm is NeoFlex, NeoConnect Lite and NeoConnect Prime the same thing? The same technology? From the FAQ it seems like the same.

But the Neotel sales person said they are different, and if I am able to connect to NeoFlex, then I will not be able to connect to NeoConnect at all. It's either one or the other.

I am only interested in NeoConnect Prime for unlimited data usage. I don't really require or will use the phone or SMS services.
 
They are all different.

Neoflex uses EVDO Rev. A which has higher throughput and a lower latency.
Neotel prime uses EVDO Rev. 0 which has a lower throughput and higher latency.

Not sure what neotel lite uses.

If youre just going to be downloading thigns off the net, then neotel prime is probably the best.
If you are going to be playing games or doing VOIP, u will need neoflex.

Internationally, Neoflex gets about 400-600ms ping whilst prime gets over 1000ms.
 
Yeah, I dunno what to do. The more and more I read the posts here, then the more and more I want to stay away from Neotel. And like everyone else, I thought it would be the saviour from Telkom. Meanwhile.......

Well then until Neotel get their crap together and pull finger and give proper support and good speeds.....then I'm stuck with my little 3G modem that I've been using since I've moved into my complex.

I might think of asking a friend who lives just up the road from me who has ADSL and an uncapped account......maybe we can work something out that I pay for half the internet bill and I just sponge off him for a while.

Until Telkom decide to install an exchange in our complex. Sucks majorly that I'm stuck without permanent internet to work with. Oh well....more time for gaming I suppose....and not hours of faffing around on the internet all day and night long.
 
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