Do I Get ADSL?

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LethalChicken

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Hi All,

I have spent about 4-5 days browsing through a lot of the local ADSL info. Most of it on this site. I'm currently using Infosat's Satellite connection. I get about 10-25kbs d/l ... and modem speeds for u/l ... the problem is that this is rather expensive, as I had to get a 2nd telephone line, the R7 weekend thing and I pay about R300-600 p/m for call charges ... oh yes and not forgetting the R400 for the ISP ... ADSL seems a faster and cheaper option as it is a fixed monthly cost. The only problem is the 3GB cap ... but I'm willing to cut down all my porn d/l [;)] to keep it down to 100MB a day ..

My question is, if it's a good idea to get ADSL now, is the reliability and speed still this bad now (14/Sep/2004) or is it improving.

I will not be able to use Sentech (Heard nothing good anyway) or the new IBurst as my house is in a ditch behind a hill and even though they have transmitters around us .. we get 0 coverage.

So should I get ADSL or stick it out with the satellite connection ...

I'm so confused right now after reading all the pro/con (mostly against telskum) that I think I'm going to cry ... and for a 150kg 6foot7 male it could be rather scary ...


Txs for any comments ...


PS: I'm considering the telskum 512 package and using their Prolog standard ISP package
 
If you're willing to wait I'd say give iBurst time to get their rollout going ... currently only 2 towers are live - with another 8 or so to follow quite soon.

Right now Sentech isn't the best choice if you're looking at any sort of international traffic usage.

From a general use point of view I must say that I've been reasonable happy with international/local traffic on the ADSL connection. The past too weeks have felt a tad sluggish but all in all certainly worth it.

I'd probably recommend you look at using the HomeDSL384 option and buy an additional Telkom/MWEB/etc ISP account. This will give you speeds on par/better than your InfoSAT (ul & dl) and 6GB or so of international traffic.
 
Hi BlobNow, welcome aboard.

I was sitting in the same position a year ago as you are now. I too had Infosat Satellite through WOL, but I needed to be connected during the day and could not afford Telkom's non callmore rates. At that time there were a lot of people complaining about the ADSL speed and service. I decided I had nothing to lose (besides money) so I went ahead and ordered ADSL. For me, Telkoms ADSL service while uncapped has been wonderful. I have a big problem with the cap and the price, but the service in general has been very stable for me. But once capped, I have a big problem with the service. Once capped, it's another story - international use stops completely, I can't surf as all international sites time out. Local is still fine.

If I was in your position, I would go for Telkom's 384 ADSL for two reasons. Firstly, you will be paying around about the same amount you're paying now for Satellite + Calls, but your speed would be better and you will now have a 24/7 connection. If you want to pay the extra and get the 512 connection, thats fine, but remember, the faster your download, the more you download and the faster you hit your cap. You have to be very careful.

I found it incredibly difficult going cold turkey - after downloading the world with statellite and then having to stop downloading anything once on ADSL - it's not easy. Remember that all traffic gets counted towards the cap - that includes email and browsing, so it's not like you can download 100MB/Day and still stay under 3GB. Another suggestion is getting the 384 connection and getting two Prolog accounts, which would give you 6GB a month at the price of 3GB on the 512 connection.

Anyway, whatever you decide, good luck and have fun.


----------------
United we stand!
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There has been a whole stack of speculation.

I have tried to find out and from the info I've been given by quite a few ppl at Telkom the ONLY difference between HomeDSL512 and HomeDSL384 it the up/down link speeds. It is after all the ISP account that determines the 3gb cap - from a usage point of view ...

(Yes, I know this is not how telkom have implemented it - but it works well enough as an explanation)

To add to what VQuest has mentioned when we say ALL traffic we mean ALL traffic .. this is incomming and outgoing both local and international traffic.
 
One more question the Marconi modem ... should i go for that one (free with 24 m contract) or should I dish out R2000 for a decent one ??? and with a max connection speed of 64k/s do I REALLY need a good adsl modem ?

If so can someone point me to a place where I can find good modems locally (Jhb) ... txs
 
What ever you do DO NOT SIGN A 24 MONTH CONTRACT with Telkom or any other data provider for that matter!

The shakeup in telecoms has started, and 1 Feb 2005 should see a slew of new options. You will be crying if you are stuck in a contract whilst prices fall around you.

Besides the free modems Telkom offers are crap.

<font color="blue">Telkom needs a leash, ICASA needs some guts, and the </font id="blue"><font color="red">SA consumer</font id="red"><font color="blue"> needs to make it happen</font id="blue">
 
BlobNow, for the love of all good things, please do NOT go for the free modem with 24 month contract. [}:)][?][B)] This means you'll be tied to Telkom for 24 months. I think 99% of us will jump the Telkom TUG as soon as we have a reliable alternative. Go off and buy yourself a cheap ADSL modem which will do it's job.

And no, the 384 option is not 2GB, it's 3GB.


----------------
United we stand!
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Ok txs ... where can I get some modem prices ... or some good modems ?

Also isn't there a minimum 12 month contract with telkom if I use my own modem anyway ?
 
Modems have recently been discussed on one of the other threads ... don't have time to look where exactly .. from what I recall www.cyberdyne.co.za have some very reasonably priced ones.
 
If you looking for a plain 'ol ATM bridge modem:
DLink DSL300G &lt;- Sex on wheels

About R700

www.d-link.co.za


-Information anarchist-
www.sentechhatesfreespeech.org.za
I support:
www.telkom.fokkensuig.co.za
www.poopband.co.za
www.hellkom.co.za
Read about MaD of hellkom being sued for R5million by Telkom:
http://www.myadsl.co.za/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4316
 
Txs for all the help .. one last question .. actually two ...

1) Which modem would include some sort of hardware firewall
2) More of a telkom question .. I can use the phone and internet on the same line ... what are the costs for normal phone costs .... do you know if u can use the R7 special on the phone call section ?

Txs again
 
Blobnow, most modems that you but contain some sort of security feature.

2. It depends how much you use your phone, lol.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by BlobNow</i>
<br />Txs for all the help .. one last question .. actually two ...

1) Which modem would include some sort of hardware firewall
2) More of a telkom question .. I can use the phone and internet on the same line ... what are the costs for normal phone costs .... do you know if u can use the R7 special on the phone call section ?

Txs again

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

2) Yes, after Telkom techies install a filter (R20). ADSL voice line costs are same as existing voice line costs (~R80 pm + call charges). You can use the R7 (acually R8.55) deal.

-Information anarchist-
www.sentechhatesfreespeech.org.za
I support:
www.telkom.fokkensuig.co.za
www.poopband.co.za
www.hellkom.co.za
Read about MaD of hellkom being sued for R5million by Telkom:
http://www.myadsl.co.za/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4316
 
I think myadsl should receive a salary from Telkom. One things for sure, as a group we're more helpful than Telkom's (un)help(ful)desk will ever be.


----------------
United we stand!
----------------
 
Well if you going the ADSL route, why not get a good modem, something like the Netgear units, i am getting the DG834GUK s that i can run Wireless at home, also got a built in firewall and 4 additional ports so you can connect the other machines while still using the laptop in the lounge via the wireless link,

Agree, dont go for a contract, just get the link, you cna then change once SNO comes onboard and offer us heaven at nadda, and if you then went and bought a good ADSL modem it is just a case of changing Network provider, hoping your service provider will also offer link via the SNO, as for service providers have a look at Blackdot.co.za

You Have The Obligation to Inform One Honestly of the risk, And As a Person
You Are Committed to Educate Yourself to the Total Risk In Any Activity!
Once Informed & Totally Aware of the Risk,
Every Fool Has the Right to Kill or Injure Themselves as They See Fit!
 
georgelza, I've got a whole PC set up as a 'soft' router / VPN .. it had a firewall/antivirus/anti-trojan ... so I'm guessing it will be a better protection then what they might have in a modem ... UNLESS you get a CISCO router for U$43278234782379

So I'm considering getting el cheapo modem (ACEEX USB - R300) as I will not cry if i decide to change my mind at a later stage.

And I've decided to go for the DSL384 package with 2 x 3GB accounts ... will see if that will keep me going ...

Txs all for the help ...

We are Telkom - Resistance is Futile - You will be Assimilated
 
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