Help me pick an ISP...

M

Merlin

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Hi all,

I'm currently on 56K DUN but with my ISP contract ending in 3 weeks, and me unhappy with it's performance, I'm looking to change.

I'm looking at moving to an ADSL solution as I save on phone calls constantly, as far as I understand.

I have a budget of about 5-600pm and am looking at the 192kb option.

I've previously used Mweb, and currently eBucks.

Stick with 56K, or go ADSL?

Whatever the recommendation, which ISP is advised?

Regards, N.
 
Permanently "borrow" the username and password from one of your friends who uses ABSA as dial-up ISP. Then it's free! :D And multiple login is allowed, so the friend won't even notice! :D :D
 
Telkom - you can download 20-30 Gb or more for the price of 3Gb
 
ISPs...

Thanks for the prompt response guys.

The ADSL is looking like a good option.

I like the new idea of Telkoms capping thresholds, but looking at their history, I think it's a better idea to go with a bigger account from an independant ISP.

Telkoms policies change as often as their CEO changes his socks.

Do I need to run a second line to my place to be able to use a landline telephone?

Cheers, N.
 
Mikroz said:
Do I need to run a second line to my place to be able to use a landline telephone?
Click to expand...

No need for it unless you really LOVE Telkom ... voice and data runs seperately on an ADSL line :).
 
tibby.dude said:
No need for it unless you really LOVE Telkom ... voice and data runs seperately on an ADSL line :).
Click to expand...

Alright, thanks tibby.

The voice calls are an extra charge, like a normal line though - correct?

Thanks Mask.
 
IS/MWEB/TELKOM/Does not matter who you use:

They all have to buy bandwidth and subscriptions from Telkom. If you have good relations with Telkom, use them, else use:
(according to support-structures and problem turn-around times):
1. MWEB - They have a LOT of TOP engineers, so support is never an issue.
2. IS - They have a fair helpdesk.
3. SAIX - SUX

just my 10c
cyber7
ps - Problems with SAIX and IS is they over-sell their bandwidth, so you can get into a position at the end of the month of not getting bandwidth due to abuse by these companies clients.
ps2 - I hate MWEB, but their business is very much on the up-n-up where it comes to overselling bandwidth...
ps3 - Don't buy a 3gig account, rather buy a 1gig with TOP-UP facilities. You will find the first 6-12 months usage is high, but then drops down and you then get the benifit financially...
 
Hi,

Firstly, what do you mean by "ps3 - Don't buy a 3gig account, rather buy a 1gig with TOP-UP facilities. You will find the first 6-12 months usage is high, but then drops down and you then get the benifit financially..."

Why would the bandwidth usage drop leaving me with more money at the EOM?

I was looking at the webafrica 30Gb account - is this type of account not a better option?

Leaves me plenty of bandwidth to download junk with and lots leftover for the rest of the family.

:] N.
 
Mikroz said:
The voice calls are an extra charge, like a normal line though - correct?

Thanks Mask.
Click to expand...
Correct. The ADSL service simply runs on another frequency on the line and has nothing to do with the regular phone calls.

Remember to download Skype when your connection is up.. nothing like calling people all over the world for free.. :)
 
Thanks for the confirmation.

I was under the impression Skype had started charging.

So if I have Skype I can make all my calls from the PC free of charge, so to speak?

Cheers, N.
 
Mikroz said:
Thanks for the confirmation.

I was under the impression Skype had started charging.

So if I have Skype I can make all my calls from the PC free of charge, so to speak?

Cheers, N.
Click to expand...
PC to PC is free of charge, PC to landline is at rates that makes Telkom look stupid.. but thats not real tough as it is ;) You would need a credit card to purchase SkypeOut credit.

With the latest versions of Skype (2 and above) you can have a video chat with someone if both of you have a webcam.. not sure if the 192 can handle it, but from my experience the average bandwidth consumption is around 30KB/s.
 
The point of PS3 is BANDWIDTH! Does not matter where you are, if you going to run on 192, you will NEVER get to the 30gig cap. :( (Unfortunately a fact of staying in SA...) I get on local content very fast speeds, but on international ip's poor to very poor speeds.

The problem is the pipe into international sites is ALWAYS clogged with content (i.e. cricket, priority services and more).

And, it does not matter if you have Wireless, ADSL or DIGINET, international content stays slow. (Ask me, I am on all 3 technologies and all 3 is SUPER FAST in .za, but outside of it, poor,poor,poor! BUT I get faster throughput on DIGINET, though...)

Hope that helped
cyber7
ps - As a last point, local content is fast, yes, but it is 90% of the time easier to just get the DVD/CD written by your mate and collecting it by hand than to bother to use your cap... (For gaming environments I can not comment on, right now...)
 
Thanks guys,

The larger fixed amounts of b/w seem like a better option to me than constant top-ups even if I don't reach the cap.

Seems more cost effective to me.

I'll also be looking into prepaid Skype. ;]

<mumble> $@&^ing Telkom... </mumble>

N.
 
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