From a happy iBurster

[R_C]

I’ve only been an iBurst client for about 2 months now on the iGO package. I travel quite a bit and I must say I’ve had excellent service, and no I have no affiliation with iBurst or WBS (well apart from being a happy client). I’ve connected with a good strong signal from Little Falls (Roodepoort area), Centurion, Sandton, Cape Town centre, Bellville, Newlands CT and Cape Town International. Best of all I DO NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH TELKOM.

 

[noemfie]

Good to hear , WBS needs a pat on the back sometimes , I must admit , when iBurst works , there's nothing better , but when it don't you might just have to deal with Telkom and use the trusty old dial-up

 

[geniosity]

yahoo... somebody else!!! Still going well for me too... I guess everybody's in bed by 9pm though... cos it FLIES after that.

 

[Chant]

R_C have you had to deal with the people at WBS yet though? Cause that's the part that sux. Most of the time people don't have a problem with the Iburst product but rather the service from the people offering the product.

I have no problems whatsoever with IBurst itself but man I dread having to contact WBS.

 

[w1z4rd]

yeah, the problems not the technology, its the people who run it... they are siff and untrustworthy. They are constantly deceptive to their clients. Its disgusting.

 

[fishfly]

Well unfortunately the negatives weigh more than the positives... but yeah sometimes you gotta hand it to them... they do something right once in a blue moon!

 

[c99383622]

it's fine for the non-power users who do not require a constantly on connection. Mail clients, web browsers, etc, can reconnect when the connection drops. Unfortunately, SSH, IRC, and others need a constant stable connect that iburst simply doesn't offer. Especially when capped. I mean 24/7. Not only after hours or office hours.

 

[evilsee]

Ive had iburst from atleast 2 months before they launched. The first two months was very touch and and go, the next two months after they launched was also a bit fickle, at the moment Im content, except for the stupud mail server problem last week.

SSH work for me in ct, I don't use IRC so can't comment on that.

 

[RatX]

Hey, Me Too!

I have to agree, although I've only been a subscriber for a while (Cape Town, 6 GB package). I like the fact that my money is not going directly into Telkom's grotesquely inflated coffers. I use the service for web surfing, light downloads and VPN work.

Fastest download speeds I've experienced are in the region of 110 kilobytes per second, but generally average out to about 50 kilobytes per second, which is acceptable for my purposes. As many others have previously noted, using a multithreaded download manager makes a big difference. The connection has been very stable so far, with only two short outages (authentication servers in one instance and Cape Town CBD tower in another).

There are a few negatives - the connection is noticeably slower during the day than at night - not to the point of being unworkable, but it would be sweet if it could be more consistent. Latency is too erratic for realtime applications such as VoIP and gaming, but does seem to be improving. With the aDSL pricing re-structure, the iBurst offering becomes more competitive, but has a way to go. I haven't had much to do with iBurst / WBS's customer service department, but have had my needs attended to so far, although not always timeously. The billing system seems to need work, but I have had no major issues. By contrast, having dealt with Telkom at a corporate level for several years, WBS support is acceptable. They do, however, need to work on establishing a more open relationship with their subscribers - they've got a golden opportunity to show up The Enemy, which they're not exploiting.

I suspect that a lot of the flack that iBurst gets is more related to users with unrealistic expectations than iBurst itself. We're down at the tip of Africa - bandwidth is artificially, but unavoidably, expensive. There's the right tool for every job and iBurst works for me. If you want to chat to your buddies on Skype non-stop, play CS or pull 2 gigabytes of torrents in a night, look elsewhere. For me, it works.

My 2c,

RatX

PS I am by no means saying that the current bandwidth situation in South Africa is acceptable, but to be able to get along, you sometimes need to make compromises.

 

[w1z4rd]

would be nice for a person with more than 100 posts to make a compliment...

 

[guest2013-1]

They do, however, need to work on establishing a more open relationship with their subscribers - they've got a golden opportunity to show up The Enemy, which they're not exploiting.

Sentech proved this can't happen, iBurst is just taking another page out of the book they wrote; those that have been involved with Sentech and hailed it as the saviour of broadband because of Telkom's stranglehold quickly changed their minds. I suggest going through the Sentech forums if you want to be more clued up, but in short : iBurst is doing exactly what Sentech is/was/still doing and would probably continue to do so as it is a proven formula for getting your hard earned cash without much effort.

I suspect that a lot of the flack that iBurst gets is more related to users with unrealistic expectations than iBurst itself. We're down at the tip of Africa - bandwidth is artificially, but unavoidably, expensive.

I have to disagree with you strongly here. Mauritious (sp) AN ISLAND JUST OFF THE COAST OF SOUTH AFRICA has CHEAPER bandwidth and considerably faster access that we do.

How do you defend the "we're at the tip of africa and bandwidth is expensive" theory now? Did you know that both undersea cables HAS TO RUN past the tip of africa (yes, us down here) just to get to Asia to link up the US and Europe? Amazing hey.... so we just basically tap into the existing cable. You telling me that is expensive? Hell... don't insult me mkay?

Oh, and by your post count I do realise you may not be as clued up on everything, but I hope my harsh post has rattled the little wheels in your head loose enough to get the LIES Telkom spreads to cover up their real intention: STRIP MINING THIS COUNTRY

 

[Thorin]

would be nice for a person with more than 100 posts to make a compliment...

Maybe I'm missing something, but since when does the opinion of new comers to this forum mean any less than old members?

I've been using Iburst for close on two years and find their product extreemly good..........but then I only have about 30 posts so what do I know

It's also sad that we feel the need to have to protect ourselves from being flamed for saying anything good about companies by saying things like "I do not work for or have any affiliation with this company"

 

[stepper]

would be nice for a person with more than 100 posts to make a compliment...

My only problem with iBurst is that I eat up 3GB in 1 week , so no problems in Soweto

 

[w1z4rd]

2 years? I thought they only launched at the end of last year... and I am sure I am pretty right on this as I have been a customer since pre-launch days (as my posts indicate)

And stop been a tosser, I did not flame the oke, I made a comment. I dont know who he is, so FOR ME, he has not credibility. If someone has made a large amount of posts, I can go over them, and get a better idea of who the complaint is coming from.

I've been using Iburst for close on two years and find their product extreemly good..........but then I only have about 30 posts so what do I know

Apparently not a lot.

I have been to WBS`s offices multiple times, I have spoken to most of senior management and snr techies and I use WBS (due lack of choice), I think I have a fair idea of what I am talking about.


EDIT: Thanks stepper... how many users on the towers in Soweto? I think that WBS is not able to oversell on that tower

 

[stepper]

EDIT: Thanks stepper... how many users on the towers in Soweto? I think that WBS is not able to oversell on that tower

There is only one tower ATM in Soweto. I dont know the exact figure but I'll guess that there must be in the region of 200 or so users connected to this tower. I think they can put more subscribers as everybody that I know with iBurst can still get over 800 kbps to full 1 Mbps and this with some distance away from the tower.

Anyway there is a mall being built next to the tower and another one some 15 km further I hope we wont get any problems as Telkom wont touch the townships and surely these shopping centres will definately need some connectivity.

 

[Thorin]

2 years? I thought they only launched at the end of last year... and I am sure I am pretty right on this as I have been a customer since pre-launch days (as my posts indicate)

Not that I have to justify myself, but I used WBS when I lived in Australia and was happy with the service there so I signed on when they opened up shop here.

And stop been a tosser, I did not flame the oke, I made a comment. I dont know who he is, so FOR ME, he has not credibility. If someone has made a large amount of posts, I can go over them, and get a better idea of who the complaint is coming from.

I was not refering to your post when I made the comment about flaming people, I was talking about positive posts that people make and then feel the need to protect themself from the wrath of people like you who make comments like "stop been a tosser"

Each person is entitled to their own opinion and there is no need to get nausty about it.

I have been to WBS`s offices multiple times, I have spoken to most of senior management and snr techies and I use WBS (due lack of choice), I think I have a fair idea of what I am talking about.

I have no doubt you know what you are talking about as your anger towards Iburst comes over very clearly. At no time did I say the staff at Iburst are extreemly good, I said that I FIND their PRODUCT very good.

Anyway I'm really not trying to start an argument here, I just found your comment the amount of posts a little off putting as I know plently people on this forum who post 100 times a day and never really say anything useful ( each to there own!)

 

[w1z4rd]

thorin man: as I mentioned, I love the technology, and I love the idea. What I despise is the way its managed, and by who its managed by. I know the technology can work... I have also seen it work proply.

However, we have a bunch of power hungry theives who are running it. They dont give a care about their customers, and they have no clue on how to run the technology. I believe they should be held accountable for their deception and their lack of any type of decent quality of service.

Take for instance this "cap of death". Iburst will go "we dont have a problem" but hundreds of users will be complaning. No wonder people hack them all the time.

 

[Thorin]

I here you w1z4rd.

I guess I'm just one of the very lucky people who have not run into any problems with IBurst. (Touch wood)

From the amount of compaints posted, there clearly is a problem with their service and I agree something does need to be done about it. Unfortunatly it seems to be a trend with most services in this country.

 

[TheRoDent]

Try phoning the iBurst helpdesk or try to get a billing issue resolved. Those are some of the "real" tests.

 

[Vipor Apprentice]

hmmm... Happy iBurster - I think that should go into the Guiness Book Of Records for the biggest Oxymoron ever! - lol