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Welcome to the iBurst forums.
Welcome! As a new, or experienced iBurst user, you may find this topic of use. The moderators of the iBurst forum try to consolidate general iBurst information in this thread. Please check it thorougly. Many questions that you may have, have answers here. Please check this post before asking a question in the forum. Whilst a forum is there to discuss issues, and ask questions, people may find it irritating if you ask something that has been answered a million times before.
Questions in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) are mixed. They vary from technical to business questions about the service. If you're lazy, use the "Search This Thread" button at the top right of this post. It will allow you to search for specific keywords in this topic.
iBurst Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is iBurst?
A: iBurst is a wireless broadband system that uses proprietary signalling and antennae to deliver a burstable 1Mbps service. It is operated in South Africa by WBS (Wireless Business Solutions). WBS is currently not a member of the ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) which means that they do not officially subscribe to the code of conduct as described at http://www.ispa.org.za/code/index.shtml. iBurst (the technology) is the brainchild of Marty Cooper, the inventor of the first cellular phone. The iBurst technology was driven by Arraycomm and Kyocera, but Arraycomm has since left the iBurst market. Other countries in which iBurst operates is Japan, and Australia.
Q: Does signal strength affect speed?
A: Yes, definately. If you look at the iBurst coverage maps, you will note that the lighter green areas indicate a lower speed. This is just the way wireless technology works. A lower signal strength requires the same tower "attention" but causes a slower transmission speed.
Q: Can I use a Wifi card with iBurst?
A: No, iBurst uses a proprietary signalling mechanism in the 1.9Ghz (//Fixme) frequency range, whereas WiFi typically uses 2.4Ghz.
Q: How do I know which tower I'm connected to?
A: Crash (a MyADSL forum member), has written an application called iConnect that will access the UTD/C and display your current cell information, including signal strength, etc.
This open-source application is available at http://utdproject.sourceforge.net/
Q: How can I increase my signal strength?
A: You can connect an external antenna to your iBurst modem which should increase the signal strength. Better signal strength = better speeds. Antennae are available from WBS or a select set of resellers. It's not a magic bullet, and it may, or may not improve your experience. Generally, an external antenna is a good thing. (Antenna resellers, PM me a note, and I'll add links here)
Q: Why does my email not work as expected?
A: Outbound SMTP email has been restricted by WBS, in order to "reduce spam". This means that you have to smtp.wbs.co.za as your outbound mail server in Microsoft Outlook Express (or other mail client) in order to send mail.
Q: Is WBS' iBurst service bit-capped?
A: Yes, WBS' iBurst is transfer capped according to the package that you choose. This means that you can buy a certain amount of "megabytes" or "gigabytes" from WBS, and that is what you are allowed to use. Getting more bytes, means paying more.
Q: Is WBS' iBurst service shaped?
A: Yes, iBurst in South Africa is heavily traffic shaped. Certain peer to peer applications, and protocols are heavily shaped.
Q: Can I use iBurst for internet gaming?
A: If you are playing realtime strategy games such as Warcraft, where latency (ping) is not a big consideration, then yes, iBurst will work fine. If you are a FPS (Quake, Counterstrike) player, then your iBurst gaming experience will be a crippling one. Due to the way that the wireless technology shares timeslots on the base stations with all users connected to it, ping/latency can be very unpredictable. In short, if you're a serious gamer iBurst will not impress you. If you're a casual gamer, it might be OK.
Q: Can I use iBurst for VOIP?
VOIP requires regular latency, very little jitter, and a fairly packetloss free environment. Whilst some users have reported good results using tools such as Skype, others on more busy towers have reported worse results. In general iBurst is OK for consumer VOIP but it can surely not be recommended for business grade VOIP services. Review http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-QoS for more information about factors affecting VOIP. The factors affecting VOIP are pretty much the same as those that affect internet gaming.
Q: Can I use iBurst for Peer to Peer (filesharing)?
A: WBS only officially supports the use of P2P on their 9GB package, although some 3rd party services do make it possible to use P2P on other WBS iBurst packages.
Q: Can I purchase additional bytes?
A: Yes, you can purchase additional bytes using the WBS user interface at https://helpdesk.iburst.co.za/ Some users have reported that purchasing more than 18Gigabytes per month is apparently not allowed.
Welcome! As a new, or experienced iBurst user, you may find this topic of use. The moderators of the iBurst forum try to consolidate general iBurst information in this thread. Please check it thorougly. Many questions that you may have, have answers here. Please check this post before asking a question in the forum. Whilst a forum is there to discuss issues, and ask questions, people may find it irritating if you ask something that has been answered a million times before.
Questions in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) are mixed. They vary from technical to business questions about the service. If you're lazy, use the "Search This Thread" button at the top right of this post. It will allow you to search for specific keywords in this topic.
iBurst Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is iBurst?
A: iBurst is a wireless broadband system that uses proprietary signalling and antennae to deliver a burstable 1Mbps service. It is operated in South Africa by WBS (Wireless Business Solutions). WBS is currently not a member of the ISPA (Internet Service Providers Association) which means that they do not officially subscribe to the code of conduct as described at http://www.ispa.org.za/code/index.shtml. iBurst (the technology) is the brainchild of Marty Cooper, the inventor of the first cellular phone. The iBurst technology was driven by Arraycomm and Kyocera, but Arraycomm has since left the iBurst market. Other countries in which iBurst operates is Japan, and Australia.
Q: Does signal strength affect speed?
A: Yes, definately. If you look at the iBurst coverage maps, you will note that the lighter green areas indicate a lower speed. This is just the way wireless technology works. A lower signal strength requires the same tower "attention" but causes a slower transmission speed.
Q: Can I use a Wifi card with iBurst?
A: No, iBurst uses a proprietary signalling mechanism in the 1.9Ghz (//Fixme) frequency range, whereas WiFi typically uses 2.4Ghz.
Q: How do I know which tower I'm connected to?
A: Crash (a MyADSL forum member), has written an application called iConnect that will access the UTD/C and display your current cell information, including signal strength, etc.
This open-source application is available at http://utdproject.sourceforge.net/
Q: How can I increase my signal strength?
A: You can connect an external antenna to your iBurst modem which should increase the signal strength. Better signal strength = better speeds. Antennae are available from WBS or a select set of resellers. It's not a magic bullet, and it may, or may not improve your experience. Generally, an external antenna is a good thing. (Antenna resellers, PM me a note, and I'll add links here)
Q: Why does my email not work as expected?
A: Outbound SMTP email has been restricted by WBS, in order to "reduce spam". This means that you have to smtp.wbs.co.za as your outbound mail server in Microsoft Outlook Express (or other mail client) in order to send mail.
Q: Is WBS' iBurst service bit-capped?
A: Yes, WBS' iBurst is transfer capped according to the package that you choose. This means that you can buy a certain amount of "megabytes" or "gigabytes" from WBS, and that is what you are allowed to use. Getting more bytes, means paying more.
Q: Is WBS' iBurst service shaped?
A: Yes, iBurst in South Africa is heavily traffic shaped. Certain peer to peer applications, and protocols are heavily shaped.
Q: Can I use iBurst for internet gaming?
A: If you are playing realtime strategy games such as Warcraft, where latency (ping) is not a big consideration, then yes, iBurst will work fine. If you are a FPS (Quake, Counterstrike) player, then your iBurst gaming experience will be a crippling one. Due to the way that the wireless technology shares timeslots on the base stations with all users connected to it, ping/latency can be very unpredictable. In short, if you're a serious gamer iBurst will not impress you. If you're a casual gamer, it might be OK.
Q: Can I use iBurst for VOIP?
VOIP requires regular latency, very little jitter, and a fairly packetloss free environment. Whilst some users have reported good results using tools such as Skype, others on more busy towers have reported worse results. In general iBurst is OK for consumer VOIP but it can surely not be recommended for business grade VOIP services. Review http://www.voip-info.org/wiki-QoS for more information about factors affecting VOIP. The factors affecting VOIP are pretty much the same as those that affect internet gaming.
Q: Can I use iBurst for Peer to Peer (filesharing)?
A: WBS only officially supports the use of P2P on their 9GB package, although some 3rd party services do make it possible to use P2P on other WBS iBurst packages.
Q: Can I purchase additional bytes?
A: Yes, you can purchase additional bytes using the WBS user interface at https://helpdesk.iburst.co.za/ Some users have reported that purchasing more than 18Gigabytes per month is apparently not allowed.
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