Bitco - Questions and Answers thread

[Pitbull]

I have actually promised this long ago but I keep getting busy with something else.

The aim of this thread is co use the other thread Murmaider made and try and get all the answers and responses in one thread for easy reference to the actual posts in that thread. It has become a monster to try and navigate. I recall someone in the week saying he read through 105 pages

So this post will be reserved to add as much details as possible. I will reserve the next 4 posts as well just to be sure.

Thread to be updated as I have time, will start tonight

Question:

OK so how does this system work. I had a look at their site they mention wireless. What technology is that?

Answer:

Hi Koosi

BitCo have many highsites on towers or buildings located across Gauteng, Kwazulu Natal, Bloemfontein, Nelspruit etc. We install a dish similar to a satellite dish on your roof and this connects to the closest tower. Some of our business customers and very busy highsites are connected via 1Gb fibre links.

We can provide 2Mb, 5Mb and 10Mb Uncapped Internet that is of really high quality as we do not have to contend services over Telkom IPC for DSL.

We have been providing services to business for several years and now we are entering the home market.

And:

70cm Rocket Antenna, 5Ghz range.

EDIT : correct me if i'm wrong.

Question:

Thanks for your input. What do you consider excessive usage? (To MTN it's 2GB/month, to TElkom its 100+) and are there off peak times that are a little more flexible?

Answer:

Hello Ave

We would consider someone downloading torrents all day and night while away at work as abusing the link, but we have many home users who download at night just fine. A lot of the users we have signed up so far also seem to use Netflix without any problems.

Garth

Question:

But i don't download much. Its mostly Netflix and Hulu+. Are those considered downloading ? Is it possible to differentiate between streaming services and torrents ?

Answer:

Hi NightCrawler

While we don't officially support services like Netflix, we have had feedback from several home users that say the quality is much better than on DSL. The 5Mb service has no problem with constant video streaming.

We purchase our international capacity directly from global carriers and not via any another ISP's. We also have multiple redundant circuits on the west and east coasts of Africa so no service degredation in the event of Seacom failures etc.

Question:

One thing we haven't mentioned, Garthvs you can correct me if i am wrong : the setup costs: ZAR 1800.00

Answer:

We have 3 price options for our Home Internet:

Monthly Fees:
2Mbps R 699 p/m
5Mbps R 899 p/m
10Mbps R 1499 p/m

Installation Fees:
Monthly contract: R 4300
12 Month contract: R 800
24 Month contract: R 0

These prices all include VAT.

Question:

Question to the BitCo rep, if I take out a 24 month contract on the 2mb option, is it possible to upgrade to the 5mb or 10mb option a couple of month later or can this only be done after the 24 month contract has expired?

Answer:

Hi Wikkels88

An upgrade at any time is not a problem and we don't charge for any residential speed upgrades other than the newer monthly rate of course.

Question:

Oh and another thing, what exactly gets installed, reason for asking is I'm probably going to have to get a "go ahead" from the body corporate at my complex if a external apparatus is going to be installed

Answer:

It's an external antenna.

Take it from someone who is the chairman of a large body corporate. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
Just go ahead and do it, if the body corporate has an issue with it, tell them to bugger off. if they get sticky, then tell them you will remove it once they provide a suitable alternatively as right now this connectivity increases the value of your property.

I honestly don't know where some of these "god complex" body corporates get off thinking they can decided what a owner can or cannot put on their unit as far as connectivity or TV goes.

Question:

I found a BitCo pamphlet in my post-box last week, up until then I was considering adsl. I also have a few questions:

1) Are we assigned a public IP address (i.e. are we connectable from the Internet? can I set up my own web server?)

2) Someone mentioned on this thread that it uses the 5GHz spectrum, but it is not 802.11a/n, that's all I have. What is the saturation point (users per hisite)? i.e. will it get to a point where there are so many users per hisite that we are contending with each other for limited bandwidth, then it becomes like adsl? Is there a web site I can have a look at the technology used? Is it more like WiMax?

Answer:

Hi larryn

1) You get your own static IP address on your router that you can do port forwarding on. We don't NAT a public IP address down to our clients as some operators do. You would be able to host a server easily.

2) We have some sites with over 40 users on and do not have any issues with speeds on these high sites. When a area becomes very busy we either bring fibre down to our clients or we build a second high site to cover the area.

Question:

How long did it take from after the LOS test? The LOS guys didn't say much after the inspection other than that "head office" will ring us up.

Answer:

Correct Deadmanza

We install at the same time we confirm Line of Sight. In a few cases we confirm LOS and then only install on another day.

We have a good software to show the topology of the land and our RF planning can fairly accurately tell if a link will have LOS or not.

Question:

Ok, so I have a question about the installation / config costs: I see it's R4300 for a month to month contract, R800 for a 12 month contract, and free install / config if you go for 24 months.

A friend of mine is interested in getting wireless internet and called up BitCo to enquire, but he was informed that you never actually own the equipment. So if you go month to month, you pay R4300 to have it installed and configured, but if you decide to cancel the service, BitCo come fetch the equipment - is this true?

Answer:

Hi Abzolute

Almost correct... The wireless dish and Cisco switch are on lease from us and we will replace any of this if it is damaged or has a fault on it.

The Wifi router that is supplied belongs to you.

It is similar to Telkom, where the cable belongs to them but the DSL router is yours.

Question:

Hi Garth,

Please bare with me on the below. I have read similar concerns but none really answered to my situation. I recently moved and I'm renting a place for now just till we find a place to buy.

Let me use this example:
I sign up for 24 months (instalation is free) at my current address. I move to a bought house in let's say 8 months. I have coverage still and obviously have months left on my contract. Will the installation be moved for a nominal fee? Or would I have to cancel contract 1 and sign a new one for the installation at the new address? (Early cancelation penalties?)

Adding onto that:
As per my lease agreement any perm fixtures need to stay where they are. So if I vacate the property can the equipment still be removed? (Sure this can be arranged with the landlord from my side just need clarity before I speak to her).

Answer:

Hi Guys

We have finalised the pricing to move a Home Internet link. To move a link to a new location it is R 950.

Question:

@ Garth, is there a exact time that the connection has to be tested for once installation is done? Because the install guys said yesterday we should be able to use it by Friday, it sooooo long still

Answer:

Hi Wikkels88

We normally need 1-2 days to make sure the link is 100%. I am going to see what I can do regarding your hand over.

Question:

If the 5mb product gets throttled to 2mb in certain circumstances, what speeds do the 2mb and 10mb products get throttled to?

Thanks

Answer:

Hi prodigyX

Your speed gets slowed down to about half your line speed. The 10Mb link gets slowed down to 5Mb and only if you hammer it for about 1 hour which most people never do unless they are doing heavy downloading of torrents.

**** Please note there is more discussion on this in the thread as per link above****
**** Bitco has also started testing on a different FUP ****
Please get clarification from either Garth or Mike on this.

Got to page 17 top. To be continued

 

[Pitbull]

reserved to be updated

 

[Pitbull]

reserved to be updated 2

 

[Pitbull]

reserved to be updated 3

 

[Aluroth]

Question:

Can I use my own router with Bitco? And what settings need to be changed on the router to achieve this?

 

[Pitbull]

Question:

Can I use my own router with Bitco? And what settings need to be changed on the router to achieve this?

I'll get to it again little later today.

This was covered and you are allowed to use your own router. I do think however to get the settings you need to speak to support. Not 100%