I am considering getting iBurst, but is it worth it?

lots will say no,
i'd say yes if you're in a good area, if your web usage doesn't border on "abusive" and if you go through a reseller, regardless of what peopel here say the only way to know how it is for you (wireless varies alot) I'd say go over to the tradepage reseller site www.wirelessza.co.za and email or call them with the numbers on the site, request a tests and they will come to your place for free to see what you can expect realistically, if your signal is under 60% when they do a rough test adn the speeds are not jaw dropping perhaps look for somethign else.

if you go through WBS direct you will have hassles, if you are in a bad area you will tear your hair out if however you go through a big reseller and are in a good area THERE IS NO OTHER BROADBAND OPTION IN SUBSAHARAN AFRICA THAT CAN TOUCH IT

those are the facts
 
We have more choices than we used to, so, to put it in a nutshell :-

ADSL 384
At least 3 weeks install time (if you can get it)
Initial cost outlay : R800 (DSL modem + install cost)
Monthly : R800
Reliability : very high
Cap : 3gig

iBurst
Almost immediate install (1 day) (if your area has coverage)
Initial cost outlay : R2800 for desktop modem or R2100 for laptop card + R114 if you go on month by month
Monthly : R600
Reliability : too early to say
Cap : 3gig

With iBurst, your more or less paying the same price as ADSL for the first year when you take into account the Initial cost outlay.

Then of course there's Vodacom3G and MyWireless.
Vodacom3G is more a business "on the move" option.
MyWireless is for those who don't do much but email and light surfing.
Both of these require coverage - Vodacom3G has the most coverage
 
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On this one ... I would have to say NO (for the meantime, that is).
Untill the likes of Sasan & a few others (not to mention the lousy helpdesk service) get their act together, iBurst will continue to frustrate customers, and cause endless headaches.
BUT ... who know's .. when they sort all their "problems" out ... maybe then I could say YES .. go for it.
 
bb_matt said:
MyWireless is for those who don't do much but email and light surfing.
Click to expand...
Slight modification :
For those heavy surfers (not gamers) with average download requirements, who need 24/7 connection, using all protocols, with (almost) no cap. Satisfaction level could vary from person to person and tower to tower. :D
 
I’ve just had it waiting for telkom to install ADSL (supposed compatibility problems, ya right). I saw the iburst sight and thought man this is a great service. Well until I read this sight forum. Now before the Throttling problem where people getting decent speeds and reliability? Has everything left the rails this month or are poor speeds and reliability a way of life with iburst. I'm still very interested in what seems to be a good service but any recommendations would be welcome. I also called tradepage today to find out what I had to do. Well I wasn't impressed when I was told I have to go get the modem in randburg and if I'm not a company they don't come and check my signal. Oh the five-day return bit isn't very useful either now, on the map I'm pretty well covered but with cell phone signal (kind of the same tech right?) sometimes its here sometimes it's not so I'd like to know first. Has anybody in the senderwood/ linksfield area got it and does it work? Man anything but telkom!
Thanks
 
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@ shortwave

I think you need to tell us WHAT you plan on getting iBurst for, since Telkom ADSL and iBurst definitely have weaknesses and strengths.

If you are planning on playing local online FPS games like CS:Source, then ADSL is where you wanna be. iBurst, even in a best case scenario, cannot match DSL for latency and ping stability.

If you wanna be able to download big files fast, then iBurst will be the one to choose since it offers the highest speeds (once again in best case scenarios ;)).

Decide what your broadband requirements are in priority order, then read the iBurst and the ADSL forums a bit.
I'm sure you will be able to make up your own mind once you have done that :)
 
VNC could be a problem - not 100% sure - depends on latency, with any wireless internet solution, latency is always going to be troublesome. There are iBurst users who have gotten sub-100ms ping times, but that's definately not the norm.

Skype could also be a problem if latency is bad.
 
woh woh woh hold your horses matt, as a person actually using the service I'd like to say sub 100ms pings are now the norm even peopel with really crap speed should see pings at about 50 - 65ms, shortwave with everything you mentioned iBurst would kill any other option if you live in a area with good signal and no tower issues, liek if you are plannign to connect to bryanston or northcliff dont even bother
 
yeah yeah i know bad spelling, what can I say, I type fast and can't be bothered to clean the mistakes up
 
shortwave - pm me - I will come and demo at your home!
 
slimothy said:
woh woh woh hold your horses matt, as a person actually using the service I'd like to say sub 100ms pings are now the norm even peopel with really crap speed should see pings at about 50 - 65ms, shortwave with everything you mentioned iBurst would kill any other option if you live in a area with good signal and no tower issues, liek if you are plannign to connect to bryanston or northcliff dont even bother
Click to expand...

That's not bad !

How steady is it ?
So long as there isn't too much packet loss it would then work fine for VNC.
Not sure about FPS gaming though ?
 
ok yeah look its not adsl when it comes to pings and never will be but it kills what we had before, here's a little paste
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=67ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=66ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=61ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=64ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=63ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=61ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=68ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=62ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=59ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=63ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=68ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=71ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=62ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=107ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=61ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=103ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=186ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=61ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=63ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=107ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=58ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=67ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=68ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=71ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=63ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=62ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=55ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=60ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=60ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=55ms TTL=126
Reply from 196.30.31.120: bytes=1 time=62ms TTL=126
Click to expand...
I still say iBurst isn't for fast frenzy games like your average FPS but with pings like that you can get other stuff done, packet loss isn't too bad either, I think the last 24 hour test I did was 2% loss before that 1%, I ran one for a couple minutes now and got 0%
 
The technology behind iBurst is an offshoot of Wifi (ie iBurst is an 802.* draft standard), hence one would expect it to offer decent pings for a wireless interface.

When you compare iBurst to MyWireless on pings, you will notice MyWireless is generally on a higher ping - this is since MyWireless tech is derived from 3G and uses a more cellular time-division based approach...
 
This forum has been a litany of moaning and sour grapes lately. Almost unreadable, in fact. Everyone says the same old thing over and over and over ad nauseum. You'd think the WBS suspensions was bigger than the Marberg virus or the election of the new pope.

We all take ourselves way too seriously here.

Fact is, Iburst has been simply brilliant this past week, as it was pre-launch. It just flies, and keeps on flying.

WBS may be a sad, confused bunch with lots to learn about PR. But the Iburst technology is tops. :cool:

If your connection is good and the occasional hiccup won't deter you; if you're game for a laugh, not anal-retentive, then you'll enjoy your Iburst. I love mine.
 
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