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Sign up with GoogleFibre internet in Gauteng on Openserve (Telkom) network
- Thread starter jcheek
- Start date
I have seen some places where there is fibre infrastructure on one side of the road, but not the other. Telkom seem to have been very selective about where (or if) they cross the road (chicken?!). If you are in an area like that, you may be out of luck.
However, if there really is fibre on a pole in your back yard, then you're good to go - it's just a case of convincing the service provider (Telkom) to sell you their own product!
If you're having hassles with that, then I'd suggest phoning the Telkom Fibre Help Desk directly (number given in posts above) - be patient, it's not easy. If necessary, you can follow up with an email including a picture of the pole relative to your place. But call first - I haven't had any luck getting an answers to an unsolicited email direct to the Telkom FHD. Provided you get to speak to an actual FHD operator, they're quite clued up, so you should be OK.
If you're placing an order via another ISP (as opposed to direct with Telkom), you may have an easier time convincing them to provide service. Though ultimately, they also speak to a Telkom rep ...
As regards my own order - no luck yet, and it's now Day 42 since ordering. The FTTH "configuration problems" in Faerie Glen are still being resolved, apparently ...
The frustrating thing is that we are on the correct side of the road, with the pole that our copper terminates on having clear fibre infrastructure on it (it's not IN our backyard per se, but up against the boundary wall...). However a strange anomaly is that our house number is listed as a different house number on Telkom's online checker, and I think this has been throwing out the Einstein technicians at Telkom. We've reverted to using an ERF number but the technicians still seem to be adamant that there's no fibre available. However they can't explain to me how it's possible to have fibre available yet unavailable at the same time
. The joys of a company refusing to take your money...ghostR asked me to do a speedtest on my 100mbps fibre on a openweb account, here is the result (connected via Ethernet).
Then I also did one one my WA account (connected via Ethernet)
I would do one over afrihost... but then I queued a well seeded torrent... and got capped, 35GB gone in about +-2 hours, averaging about 4-5MB/s
Then I also did one one my WA account (connected via Ethernet)
I would do one over afrihost... but then I queued a well seeded torrent... and got capped, 35GB gone in about +-2 hours, averaging about 4-5MB/s
Bursty-dude
Expert Member
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2011
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- 1,289
Our area is on the Telkom website map for FTTH.
They are busy doing trenching/digging literally all over the area here. Hopefully soon we can finally get decent internet.
They are busy doing trenching/digging literally all over the area here. Hopefully soon we can finally get decent internet.
Congrats!
Yes - Some new "planned" extensions loaded up on the FTTH coverage map I see.
Referring to the extended roll-out in the Faerie Glen area, Telkom also dropped off courtesy leaflets yesterday to warn that excavations are imminent over the next month or so :
Edit : There's a typo in the leaflet .. if you need to speak to him, Franco's landline number is actually +27-12-841-9008.
Personally, I wish they'd service installation orders in their existing FTTH areas before rolling out to new ones ... but then I guess I'm biased !
With all the staff cuts at Telkom, customer service has really been taking a (further) knock. It's virtually impossible to get a call to the Fibre Help Desk answered at the moment. I'm getting really tired of listening to the jingle and hearing the "Due to high call volumes ... " message over and over again!
And still no progress on my 7-week old order.
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Bursty-dude
Expert Member
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- Apr 28, 2011
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Thanks. Finally there is a dim little glow from a small candle at the end of the tunnel.
Hopefully it turns out to be not a candle, but a full blown lighthouse bulb.
This is our area finally on the FTTH map:
Also placed a FTTH order with Telkom last week.. Received sms confirmation and all.. When trying to follow up this week no one can find my order. Some call centre agents informed me there is no FTTH in F/G..
Eventually spoke to someone at Fibre help desk (quick answer ) - they will now process a new order. Took details and promised and agent will call me back. Let's see.
Eventually spoke to someone at Fibre help desk (quick answer
) - they will now process a new order. Took details and promised and agent will call me back. Let's see.Hehe .. that sounds familiar !
Yup, the FHD is the only way to get sensible answers to fibre queries.Eventually spoke to someone at Fibre help desk (quick answer
I was told this morning that the problems with the Faerie Glen fibre circuit might now have been resolved, so I'm hoping for a call from the Installation guys Real Soon Now .... (Day 51 since ordering ...)
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Is your house marked as dark or light purple on Telkom's coverage map?
On the coverage map, I've been in the light since February this year (2015), and in the dark since April. I ordered via WebAfrica on 12 May.
In terms of getting modulated light into my place via those sexy fibres up on the pole in my yard, I'm still in the dark
After reading up one some MWEB FTTH packages I noticed that the Night Surfer Data is capped. Is this the same for Telkom based FTTH packages?
And another question. If the Night Surfer period is uncapped, is one then bounded by the fair usage policy threshold?
And another question. If the Night Surfer period is uncapped, is one then bounded by the fair usage policy threshold?
Hi terabit
Currently the "all-Telkom" FTTH packages are being sold with Telkom's "SoftCap" product bundled, which includes the "NightSurfer" feature that gives you unlimited night-time surfing between midnight and 6AM. So there is effectively no cap on night-time data if you sign directly with Telkom for an all-Telkom FTTH product.
Some (not all) of the the other service providers also offer some kind of discounted night-time access, eg MWeb has a 1+1 scheme (as much additional night-time time data as the daytime data you sign up for) and WebAfrica has a 1+4 scheme. But so far no-one else has offered unlimited night-time data (a 1+∞ scheme!) as Telkom has done.
Be aware that these "night-surfer" add-ons are promotional features and could be withdrawn at some point. MWeb expressly say this in their fibre T's & C's.
The same could potentially happen with Telkom FTTH. Some folks might think that is unlikely, but Telkom just did exactly that with their 60GB LTE wireless product, ie withdrew the 60GB "free" nightsurfer data allowance - effectively a 1+1 scheme - completely.
As stated above, only Telkom's FTTH product is uncapped, and only at night, and only in terms of the current package offerings.
The other providers mentioned have discounted night-time data allowances, which are then effectively capped at the night-time data allowance.
As far as Telkom goes, even though it's uncapped, you would be constrained by whatever shaping policy(s) they apply at night, yes. However relative to daytime access, I think you would find that the taps are pretty much open at night!
Biena may want to comment here as he has first-hand experience.
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Thanks for the quick reply. I am busy considering getting Telkom FTTH in the future.
Telkom fibre is all that I hoped it would be except for the upload speeds. Fibre was suppose to be the solution the upload speed crisis that SA is facing. But hopefully in the near future this will improve.
Is there a specific reason why upload speeds are still so limited? I was told a while back that it is because of the lack of infrastructure and that if upload speeds weren't limited it would cause instability on the network.
As for inquiring about the Night time surfer addon, it is rather difficult for an uncapped ADSL user to switch to a capped Fibre package. The the night time surfer addon provides a sense of comfort.
Telkom fibre is all that I hoped it would be except for the upload speeds. Fibre was suppose to be the solution the upload speed crisis that SA is facing. But hopefully in the near future this will improve.
Is there a specific reason why upload speeds are still so limited? I was told a while back that it is because of the lack of infrastructure and that if upload speeds weren't limited it would cause instability on the network.
As for inquiring about the Night time surfer addon, it is rather difficult for an uncapped ADSL user to switch to a capped Fibre package. The the night time surfer addon provides a sense of comfort.
The early FTTH test results have tended to show about a 10:1 download:upload ratio, yes.
There has been some suggestion that Telkom may be looking to improve that ratio to about 4:1 for both retail and wholesale (other ISP) clients, ie 25Mbps uplink on a 100Mbbps downlink. Some of the more recent test results (like this one), seem to support that. But so far it's still just a rumour.
I think this is a combination of market demand and history, sometimes with technology constraints as the underlying reason.
With many technologies, the total transmission capacity of the link is limited and a choice must be made as to how much capacity to dedicate to uplink versus downlink. ADSL (Asymmetric DSL) is the best-known example, but there are other modern examples too.
Even though there is now more of a requirement for high-speed upload in the "home user" market, the reality is that the link usage is still heavily asymmetrical, ie much more requirement for download traffic than upload. I think the product configurations just reflect that typical usage pattern / demand.
With Telkom's TDD (time-domain duplexing) LTE wireless links, the total link capacity is also constrained (fixed number of time slots available) and they choose to run those links with a heavy bias towards download. On Telkom LTE the stated down:up ratio is also 4:1, but most users see about 10:1 (eg 5Mbps upload on a 50Mbps download link).
I don't know much about the technical details behind FTTH, but since it appears there is only a single fibre servicing an endpoint, it seems there also has to be a choice between how much capacity to devote to the uplink versus the downlink. But of course the inherent data capacity (speed) of fibre is much higher.
True!As for inquiring about the Night time surfer addon, it is rather difficult for an uncapped ADSL user to switch to a capped Fibre package. The the night time surfer addon provides a sense of comfort.
Speaking for myself, most of my usage is evenly spread across day- and night-time so I battled to use up even a 100% (1+1) night-time data allowance. I'm more keen on speed than quantity
So I think I will be more than fine with WebAfrica's 1+4 scheme (when/if I eventually get it!)
But yes, "unlimited" is a very comforting term if you do a lot of night-time downloads or midnight gaming.
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I know that many ISPs including Telkom have started deploying GPON networks to replace the some of the point-to-point links.
http://www.telkom.co.za/wholesale-web/products-and-services/telkom-connect-telkom-benefits.jsp
This would reduce the amount of CO equipment and fibre required which is largely beneficial to areas which are limited in terms of space.
But I also read this on Wikipedia.
"Upstream signals are combined using a multiple access protocol, usually time division multiple access (TDMA)."
Does this mean that there is improved upstream bandwidth allocation? And then ISP's can improve the upload speeds.
http://www.telkom.co.za/wholesale-web/products-and-services/telkom-connect-telkom-benefits.jsp
This would reduce the amount of CO equipment and fibre required which is largely beneficial to areas which are limited in terms of space.
But I also read this on Wikipedia.
"Upstream signals are combined using a multiple access protocol, usually time division multiple access (TDMA)."
Does this mean that there is improved upstream bandwidth allocation? And then ISP's can improve the upload speeds.
As GPON uses a point to multipoint optical network, only one ONT can transmit upstream at a time otherwise collision would occur.
TDMA entails allocation and use of upstream timeslots by the services on the ONTs, allowing point to multipoint to function without collisions.
So far on nightsurfer there is no limits, pushed the line to the max for 2 months and Telkom did not say a single word. Even during the day i get full line speed. Pretty much stopped my tests (ran out of things that I needed and really not going to dl just to to wipe it 1 second later)