Crystal Web ADSL performance feedback thread Part 3...

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CataclysmZA said:
It's the deadline for any account changes to be made. You have to make any changes before the 19th, because that's the day billing is run with CW.
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Actually. For cancellations and downgrades it's the 18th. Upgrades can be done anytime....
 
new_in_za2 said:
I understand the confusion as Crystal Web were trying as hard as possible to make it sound like it was fibre, but it is not fibre. It's wireless.
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To be fair, since the backbone is fibre, but the last-mile infrastructure is wireless, I can see why they'd be trying to market it as "fibre-like" without going into too much detail. A local WISP also does that, but doesn't actually mention infrastructure at all. And their network is pretty good, albiet expensive.
 
CataclysmZA said:
To be fair, since the backbone is fibre, but the last-mile infrastructure is wireless, I can see why they'd be trying to market it as "fibre-like" without going into too much detail. A local WISP also does that, but doesn't actually mention infrastructure at all. And their network is pretty good, albiet expensive.
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In that case, 3G is also fibre. It's fibre to the mobile tower, and wireless from there to the user. Just like with Crystal Web. DSL you could also call fibre, since it is fibre to the exchange, and then copper from there to the end user. With that definition, pretty much everything becomes fibre, and the word fibre becomes meaningless.
 
new_in_za2 said:
In that case, 3G is also fibre. It's fibre to the mobile tower, and wireless from there to the user. Just like with Crystal Web. DSL you could also call fibre, since it is fibre to the exchange, and then copper from there to the end user. With that definition, pretty much everything becomes fibre, and the word fibre becomes meaningless.
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When I was still employed in the business, I know the strategy was always to move away from selling technologies and to selling a product.

If you wanted a 20Mbps data product then the telco would use any available technology to provision you with that product, whether it was DSL, FttH, LTE, etc.

The internal fight was with costing management and some old school types who wanted to defend their revenue streams at all cost....
 
MickeyD said:
When I was still employed in the business, I know the strategy was always to move away from selling technologies and to selling a product.

If you wanted a 20Mbps data product then the telco would use any available technology to provision you with that product, whether it was DSL, FttH, LTE, etc.
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That's good for a failing business, I suppose. If (hypothetically, and to make it clear for those who don't get the word: I'm making this up, I'm not saying it will happen) Crystal Web tomorrow came and told me that they'd take away my ADSL and give me LTE instead, I would cancel my service with Crystal Web right away. It might be that business management types don't care what they're selling, but at least some of the clients do care what they're buying.

So, there are again two options here:
1) The business management types really think it doesn't matter what they're selling.
2) The business management types think it does matter what they're selling.

If option 2 is correct, then they're, with very polite words, intentionally spreading disinformation. If option 1 is correct, then I guess they will soon find out (but possibly not learn) that their assumption is wrong.
 
new_in_za2 said:
I understand the confusion as Crystal Web were trying as hard as possible to make it sound like it was fibre, but it is not fibre. It's wireless.
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I'm also starting to get that idea, and frankly I don't care what wireless it is, I will not TOUCH point to multi point wireless services. Been burned way to many times by over subscribed and congested towers. I will especially not "tie" my name to it by actively marketing to my community to generate 50 sign ups either I'm afraid.
 
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Just thought I'd point out that clients in the Vox and AH threads aren't happy. I will live without the free data to 6pm product changes just to avoid what's happening in the AH thread.
 
Bighit said:
Just thought I'd point out that clients in the Vox and AH threads aren't happy. I will live without the free data to 6pm product changes just to avoid what's happening in the AH thread.
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Yeah, despite the failure to announce what was pre-announced, there's also no way in hell I'd go (back) to Afrihost. Even if Crystal Web's DSL products stay exactly like they are, I'm not going anywhere. There's a reason I picked Crystal Web, and that's to have decent, reliable internet connectivity, even if it costs more than rubbish, unreliable internet connectivity.
 
new_in_za2 said:
That's good for a failing business, I suppose. If (hypothetically, and to make it clear for those who don't get the word: I'm making this up, I'm not saying it will happen) Crystal Web tomorrow came and told me that they'd take away my ADSL and give me LTE instead, I would cancel my service with Crystal Web right away. It might be that business management types don't care what they're selling, but at least some of the clients do care what they're buying.

So, there are again two options here:
1) The business management types really think it doesn't matter what they're selling.
2) The business management types think it does matter what they're selling.

If option 2 is correct, then they're, with very polite words, intentionally spreading disinformation. If option 1 is correct, then I guess they will soon find out (but possibly not learn) that their assumption is wrong.
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It was not the business management types pushing for this... ti was the engineers!
 
MickeyD said:
Where does it say fibre in that email, in relation to the pricing posted there? All I saw was "DSL".
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On to the bits you really want to know: what does the service cost per month?
We have multiple speed options available, and all are symmetric (your upload and download are the same speed). Below is the pricing for each (total cost incl line and data – there are no other monthly costs to you and no voice line required):

4Mb/s: R699
20Mb/s: R899
50Mb/s: R999
100Mb/s: R1499

This to me implies fibre.
 
wingnut771 said:
Still no IPC.
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That is one cost. So includes the line and data.

More details will be released about this product in the coming days and weeks but XtremeTTH certainly involves building fibre to customers' premises, which is essential for phase 3 of our rollout. ;)
 
Crystal Web Management said:
That is one cost. So includes the line and data.

More details will be released about this product in the coming days and weeks but XtremeTTH certainly involves building fibre to customers' premises, which is essential for phase 3 of our rollout. ;)
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So, same price as Telkom which includes exorbitant IPC and line rental costs. Okay.

EDIT: Sorry, in a bad mood after the rugby.
 
Crystal Web Management said:
That is one cost. So includes the line and data.

More details will be released about this product in the coming days and weeks but XtremeTTH certainly involves building fibre to customers' premises, which is essential for phase 3 of our rollout. ;)
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But will I have actual fibre in my home in Phase 1 or Phase 2?

In reading between the lines, it seems if Phase 1 is the wireless deployment and then only will it be proper FTTH in Phase 2.

Also, when you guys announced the pricing you said is includes data but did not explicitly say if it was uncapped/unshaped (unless I missed it).
 
savage said:
I'm also starting to get that idea, and frankly I don't care what wireless it is, I will not TOUCH point to multi point wireless services. Been burned way to many times by over subscribed and congested towers.
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I'm getting the feeling that performance is quite comparable to WUGs, actually. I worked on a network quite similar to that, and performance was good all year-round, even with bad weather (although there is the chance that an antenna on the highsite is misaligned, driving up latencies and packet loss significantly).

I could see this being a wireless mesh network as well, which would be interesting to implement. Considering that the language used here by CWM is that they're taking multiple approaches with connectivity, a mixture of fiber and wireless to accelerate a rollout could work.

Shalin_ZN said:
But will I have actual fibre in my home in Phase 1 or Phase 2?

In reading between the lines, it seems if Phase 1 is the wireless deployment and then only will it be proper FTTH in Phase 2.

Also, when you guys announced the pricing you said is includes data but did not explicitly say if it was uncapped/unshaped (unless I missed it).
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If I'm correct about the mesh topology, then phase one is client access to a highsite linked to a fibre backbone. Phase 2 might be FTTH from the premises of the phase one clients, using their wireless link to hop onto the fibre backbone via the highsite (or it might not be, because doing it this way would be needlessly complex). So instead of trenching to link multiple suburbs up, you simply connect it up using a highsite that connects to other highsites in a mesh or ring network, and fibre to the premises hooked up to the local highsite.

Phase three is a mystery. I have no idea what that's alluding to.
 
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CataclysmZA said:
I'm getting the feeling that performance is quite comparable to WUGs, actually. I worked on a network quite similar to that, and performance was good all year-round, even with bad weather (although there is the chance that an antenna on the highsite is misaligned, driving up latencies and packet loss significantly).
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Dunno which WUGs you connected to, but the one I've been on, has been dismal at best. Truly hope that this is not the case.

Either way, #WontTouchWireless.
 
savage said:
Dunno which WUGs you connected to, but the one I've been on, has been dismal at best. Truly hope that this is not the case.

Either way, #WontTouchWireless.
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Yeah, I get you. I've never connected to a WUG myself, but I've used a WUG connected computer before. I don't think it was terrible, but WUGs are limited in terms of throughput and spectrum. That said, we do have Google pushing the tech and fine-tuning it, so I think whatever we'll end up with will be quite OK. I'd personally also be connected up using fibre rather than wireless, but if this gets me off DSL for cheaper, then I'm OK with that.
 
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