HSDPA versus iBurst

[lilDeath]

HSDPA works very nicely with Guild Wars... even better than ADSL
Just a pity it is so darn expensive

 

[Peter7]

The biggest saving on iBurst however comes with higher cap accounts. iBurst’s 3 GB account is priced at R 599-00 per month while Vodacom charges R 1497-00 for the same data allowance.

* choke * - R599 for 3GB
* keel over * - R1497 for 3GB

 

[Ekhaatvensters]

R599 for 3gigs isnt bad at all..(in SA context) that includes your whole connection fee, ISP line rental etc.. Plus 64kb uncapped after you reach that 3gig limit.

Anyway, the "test" (tresting how much you can screw up a Iburst connection??) sems pretty bad. I never get 95% siganl yet I have NEVER got anyhting close to 143kb.. Id be angry if I got around 250kb during the day. At night its usually around 600-900kb. How you managed to get those speeds and latencies (650 local.. are you shure you arent joking) I dont know if youve got almost full signal.

Seriously, I dont know if you have something against Iburst, but in every test you give it a speed around 200kb or under. And when you say the tests are only done after hours, I dont understand at all. But the funny thing is that you absoloutley believe it. Have you never seen a Iburst connection before, youd know those figures are totaly wrong.

 

[Peter7]

R599 for 3gigs isnt bad at all..(in SA context) that includes your whole connection fee, ISP line rental etc.. Plus 64kb uncapped after you reach that 3gig limit.

Aah okie, wasn't aware that was inclusive of everything. I'm too use to the multi cost items for ADSL.

For ADSL, equivalent for 3GBs would be (pre-Aug 1 changes), VAT inclusive (from my last bill):
Phone line rental: R94.26
ADSL line rental (384k): R329.57
ISP (3GB shaped): R228.00

Total: R651.83

In which case iBurst is the cheaper option and if it was in my area I'd think about switching to it, especially being a non-Telkom service.

 

[Peter7]

This actually brings about an interesting thought.

If iBurst is charging R599 for the whole deal and the ADSL equivalent is R651.83, that makes the access portion, R371 and R423 respectively (since bandwidth cost should be the constant here).

This says the wireless access should be cheaper than fixed-line access and flies in the face of what the cell incumbents are saying that wireless is more expensive.

 

[LifelongGamer]

R599 for 3gigs isnt bad at all..(in SA context) that includes your whole connection fee, ISP line rental etc.. Plus 64kb uncapped after you reach that 3gig limit.

Anyway, the "test" (tresting how much you can screw up a Iburst connection??) sems pretty bad. I never get 95% siganl yet I have NEVER got anyhting close to 143kb.. Id be angry if I got around 250kb during the day. At night its usually around 600-900kb. How you managed to get those speeds and latencies (650 local.. are you shure you arent joking) I dont know if youve got almost full signal.

Seriously, I dont know if you have something against Iburst, but in every test you give it a speed around 200kb or under. And when you say the tests are only done after hours, I dont understand at all. But the funny thing is that you absoloutley believe it. Have you never seen a Iburst connection before, youd know those figures are totaly wrong.

First off, I unfortunately don't have sufficient signal strength for iBurst in my area so this is mere speculation on my part. Perhaps whomever did this test (RPM?) is slightly better off than I am in that the iBurst signal is enough for a service, but not enough to provide a 'true' reflection of the quality of service existing iBurst users seem to be getting. I would agree that additional tests be run from different locations and an average be used when comparing the service to a mobile solution like HSDPA. Personally I have a problem with 'averages' as they can distort a really bad case and mask true underlying problems, but that's just me. At least it gives an overview of what to generally expect.

 

[Ekhaatvensters]

This actually brings about an interesting thought.

If iBurst is charging R599 for the whole deal and the ADSL equivalent is R651.83, that makes the access portion, R371 and R423 respectively (since bandwidth cost should be the constant here).

This says the wireless access should be cheaper than fixed-line access and flies in the face of what the cell incumbents are saying that wireless is more expensive.

This is quite true. Maby someone should inform those cell companies..

And that price is for the 384 service, and you can believe that you will almost always get over 384kb if you have even reasonably good signal. But higher latencies can almost equal it out. Personally I would rather put Iburst to the equivilent of 512kb ADSL.
Plus there is the 64kb access which works great and can give you anything from an extra 50mb on the last day to 8-10 gigs throughout the month. I usually get a extra gig or two in the last week from that, totally free.
And of course it is a bit mobile. If you go to a friend or even move house around Joburg or Cape Town there is a pretty good chance you are covered.

So 3 gigs or even 6 and 9 (I might say 9 is cheaper on ADSL but the 9 gigs being unshaped and even a bit faster makes it worth it) can work out cheaper on Iburst. Plus free bandwidth is great.
But I must say sometimes I wish I had ADSL, but then if I had ADSL i'd probably wish I had a working connection every now and again for a few hours/days and could surf after capped.