dailup using Telkom CLOSER

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daniel

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Hi,

I want to pay an extra R150 in conjunction with one of the Closer products to get 150 hours of surfing during callmore. Are there any catches? I've read somewhere on the forum that a customer was charged normal rates because he/she used ABSA as its ISP and not Telkom's ISP. Anyone else experience this? Because if a customer can use any ISP, how will Telkom know you're using the line for surfing??I really don't want to Telkom as an ISP.

And on Telkom's site; what do they mean with "150 local Internet hours”??? I guess the ISP dailup number must be a local call or will you be charged normal rates if surfing international sites?

Thanks!
Danie
 
a lot of the ISP's use the same dialup numbers. don't know how/why.

they probably have a list of numbers that you are allowed to dial. perhaps phone telscum and ask them.
 
The only catch is that the ISP number must be a local number or an 0860 number. Usually when you ask for the service to be activated, the consultant will ask you for the number of your ISP so that they can verify it. A list of ISP dial-up numbers are available at http://www.telkom.co.za/app/popnumbers/.

To make sure that the number is working, after activating the service, dial in for a few minutes during Callmore, disconnect, wait for a day or so and then visit Telkom Online Bill at https://ebpp.telkom.co.za. Once you are logged in, click the Account Details link, then the Free Minutes link, then choose the appropriate Billing Account Number from the dropdown list and click Submit. The price plan details including the number of free minutes remaining appear, looking something like this:

Service Number: 0123456789
Last Date Free Minutes Calculated: 29-MAR-06
Free Minutes Allowed Total: 9000
Free Minutes Used Total: 4457.59
Free Minutes Priceplan Desc: Telkom CLOSER Inte Add-on ISDN

The above Free Minutes Used Total are not updated in realtime. It is usually updated only once a day.
 
Remember!...The 150 hours that you pay for is only valid for local internet not international those you pay for!! This could well be the reason for a high phone bill
 
When Telkom states "150 local Internet hours" it has nothing to with using local or international Internet bandwidth. "Local" means the phone number you dial to access your ISP. If your number is a long distance number, then you will be charged per-second billing. On the Telkom Closer page its states under Service Conditions:
Exclusions to Telkom CLOSER Internet add-on:
Internet calls in the long distance band

The Internet Add-On works in much the same way as SurfMore and Surf Anytime. If you visit these pages, under Service Conditions, it states much more clearly:
Inclusive Internet minutes will apply to all Internet calls made within the 0-50km-distance band (including 0860 xxxxxx calls) to Internet Service Providers (ISP) POP numbers;

I can also personally confirm this as we have been using this service since 30 December 2005 and, although Telkom billed us incorrectly for the first 2 months, I have been using local and international bandwidth and no distinction is being made between the two.

Once you exceed the 150 hours, you are charged normal per-second billing.
 
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It was posted before but its worth a mention. As Telkom only looks at the numbers you dial to determine if it is an "internet" call you can use the CLOSER option 2 deal to share an ADSL connection. If you know someone with ADSL who doesn't use the analog line for phone calls or anything else for that matter, all you need is dusting off that old dial-up modem in your deskdrawer and you have "free" off peak internet :)

I dial in to my work's modem which is connected to the ADSL and I don't get charged.
 
I had the Telkom closer option2 but unfortunetly in our area noone here has ADSL and those that do use it, but thanks it's useful information to remember
 
ajax said:
It was posted before but its worth a mention. As Telkom only looks at the numbers you dial to determine if it is an "internet" call you can use the CLOSER option 2 deal to share an ADSL connection. If you know someone with ADSL who doesn't use the analog line for phone calls or anything else for that matter, all you need is dusting off that old dial-up modem in your deskdrawer and you have "free" off peak internet :)

I dial in to my work's modem which is connected to the ADSL and I don't get charged.
Click to expand...
I assume you have to disconnect and reconnect every hour?
 
Hi,

Thanks for the info ! I've mailed Telkom and they actually replied back ! I've asked them about if I was forced to use Telkom's ISP and also what they mean with "local internet hours".

1. You can use any ISP of you choice as long as the dial-up number you use is registered on http://www.telkom.co.za/app/popnumbers/ Also read the conditions on http://www.telkom.co.za/athome/products/telkomsurfmore/index.html#confirm

2. Internet calls which is regarded as a long distance call will be excluded, thus calls in the >50km distance band. Typical you are in Cape Town and use a JHB dial-up number will be excluded.

3. Local internet hours is regarded as a local call. The call must be within the 0-50km distance band. You can verify on you Telkom invoice (the detailed billing page) if your current dial-up number is regarded as a local call.

Kind regards
Telkom Online
 
mikef said:
I assume you have to disconnect and reconnect every hour?
Click to expand...

Yes, I've been wanting to write a script to do that for me so that I don't have to sit with a stopwatch :)
 
ISPTimer

I'm using the closer option 2 with R150 add-on and found a usefull little program called ISPTimer to keep track of the time I'm on-line. I normaly set the time allowance to 149.5 hours to cater for time discrepancy during the dialup process, but still a very nice little monitoring program.

The link is: www.timesheet.gen.nz - Click on Freeware

Just thaught you might be interested.
 
Nice find...but too late for me I'm back on Infinite call...And guess what! my bill this month has dropped from :eek: R1200.00(Telkom Closer Opt 2) to R411.00 (Infinite call)(Remembering I'm on ISDN)
 
Can someone at Telscum tell me what is the diffrence to a local number (<50km) and your isp (also < 50km)
They can stick their closer and their infinite I am getting iburst
 
cdi said:
Can someone at Telscum tell me what is the diffrence to a local number (<50km) and your isp (also < 50km)
They can stick their closer and their infinite I am getting iburst
Click to expand...

No diff of course, but Telkom being Telkom, they would charge u for speaking different languages [if they could get away with it] on the copper lines that our parents have payed for over and over again...
 
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