How long is 48 hours in....

[disabled]

OK ...I applied for ADSL for the 6th time and finally I might be making head way...BUT...I phoned to check up on ADSL progress, Firstly I was told that the Confirmaty(That's what it sounded like) report had been passed now it was being passed onto Projects dept for Port asign...I was told that it would take 2-3 days max...I phoned 3 days later then told it has not come back and it would take 48hrs...3 days later I was told the same thing...

I have waited for 3yrs for ADSL...Can someone explain to me what do they mean Confirmaty report? Does it mean that the Exchange is abled and the cables are OK!...And how long does it really take for the projects Dept to confirm report? 48hrs or 10 days
I will be very dissapointed if they came back to me with the same senario as before, about the cables quality not good enough...Thanks

PS: I'm aware there is another thread on the same subject,I haven't got that far yet...

This is now the 4th week from first placing the order...

 

[Darth Garth]

Conformity report you mean .

Firstly check your line condition to make sure that you can have ADSL and that you are not too far from the exchange (less than 5km) and their is not funny stuff sitting on line like they use in rural areas.

Then a port is assigned to you and then the installation must be finally approved by their business network division in Durban (just don't ask why) and then finally an install date can be allocated by the regional team that does the ISDN and ADSL installs.

 

[disabled]

Many thanks...It sounded like I wrote it but thanks for the right word...I'm about 7kms away from the exchange but there is a few Telkom boxes about 150 metres away They told me that they looking for a port on Dslam, could this be from those little boxes or directly from the exchange because ADSL currently runs from the exchange to these boxes and back again...
I am currently on ISDN...Those funny things ontop of the poles and wire running on top of the others are lightning conductors...

 

[Gnome]

As far as I know those boxes on the street are the DP's (Distrubution Point) and they are basically the cables that run from the exchange and then terminate in the DP. From there your phone line is connected from your home to the DP.
The distance, as in the actualy length of the cable, from your Home, to the Exchange/DSLAM is what matters since this is where the analogue singal is turned into digital Data that is then transmitted across the ATM.
The problem with the distance is that analogue signals degrade over distance(Although it is worth stating that your distance could be increased if the cable quality increased and interference where minimised) and this is why you need to be within 5km's of the exchange. Otherwise the DSLAM probably won't even synchronise with your modem.

BUT some area's, like the one I live in have a Mini-DSLAM that is much closer to certain area's than the actual exchange(The Telkom tech who came to my house told me we are about 7-8km from the exchange, but that isn't a problem because we will be connecting to a Mini-DSLAM, which at that point was damaged and had to be repaired). In my area this is the case since it is Heavily built up (Brooklyn) and there are alot of old houses and acient technology all over the place but not a lack of people who want ADSL. My guess would be the Mini-DSLAM digitizes the data and then sends it via ATM to the actual Exchange or something similair. BUT don't qoute me on that

 

[disabled]

Yes it does make sense...Where is the Mini-DSLAM situated?

"Keep at it Folks" My hopes of getting ADSL once again!... are Fading...

 

[Gnome]

Well, as we were moving in, I just asked the guy a little about how far are we from the exchange and is that why it wasn't syncrhonising(It turned out the mini-DSLAM was damaged), I never asked where the Mini-DSLAM was, sry.
He also explained how they diagnose problems, because he brought along some contractor's they were training...
Anyway he never said were it was but he did say if they have a problem where the modem won't synch they check your local DP and then the actual port and if that isn't what's causing the problem they basically just blow you off or call some low level tech to come check it out. The contractor's asked why and he asked them if they were going to drive down the street following your cable and checking every DP for problems!
This area is very heavily built-up so trying to see possible area's where the DSLAM could be is practically impossible, the only thing that looked like a possibility was a Telkom substation @ the University of Pretoria that's about a block away from me, but I suspect that is where the Unversity get's their internet connection.

It's worth noting that Mini-DSLAM's are expensive(So I read) and are usually reserved for area's where ALOT potential ADSL users could not otherwise be reached. Also the Tech said they have lot's of problems with the Mini-DSLAM's where ports are damaged and he told the contractors that they(the mini-DSLAM) are pieces of crap It's made by marconi by the way so go figure.

 

[Darth Garth]

Where is the Mini-DSLAM situated?

On the kerb next to the DP.

 

[disabled]

On the kerb next to the DP.

Thanks, our DP is about 150metres away... 'Hopefully On the kerb next to DP'...

Gnome...Thanks for the all the info,yes DSLAM Cards are expensive so they say and I would say that there are a lot of people in our area who are waiting for ADSL, Bear in mind that a DSLAM can only have so many ports...