iBurst testers

alf · Jul 29, 2004

I know there are numerous lurkers in this forum, testing iBurst at the moment. Please give us some feedback of your initial experiences.

Inevitable · Jul 29, 2004

whats iburst?

Glory Glory Man United!

alf · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Inevitable
whats iburst?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> Read http://free.financialmail.co.za/04/0723/technology/btech.htm

Inevitable · Jul 29, 2004

Well Sentech was also gr8 till it got lots of subscribers. So it could just be another Sentech.Wait till they get more and more subscribers

Glory Glory Man United!

alf · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Inevitable
Well Sentech was also gr8 till it got lots of subscribers. So it could just be another Sentech.Wait till they get more and more subscribers<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Thanks for that. Now, none of them will reply to this post.

Inevitable · Jul 29, 2004

but its true

Glory Glory Man United!

kickass72za · Jul 29, 2004

If they dont, then they best beware that they are putting themselves into a "SENTECH" situation...

Hope they are load testing the system heavily by having multiple (eg 100 systems) downloading from a single tower all at the same time (eg wardrive methodology)

Would be interesting to know those results and have them published prior to launching to the customer base.

anakin · Jul 29, 2004

We have been testing the iBurst technology from WBS for around four months now. Its early days, but the technology looks extremely impressive and promising.

There are currently two operational towers, in Sandton and Woodmead, with number of users fast approaching 100. On those two towers, I believe the user to tower ratio is higher than some of current MyWi towers.

Some of these testers are kids. Boy, if one needs to stress test internet, no one can beat some of these kids I've seen! They watch two tv stations at a time, whilst downloading DVDs simultaneously. And, they can do this for hours on end!

All the units on test are packaged for 1Mbps down, 384Kbps up. I often achieve the rated speeds, single threaded, from international downloads. During rollout, other options would be available.

With regards to latency, I have experienced lengthy periods with 30-40ms average. Although, on average, one can easily expect 60-80ms on local sites with no or negligible packet loss.

I achieved the above at approximately 10km from the closest base station. I admit I have excellent LOS to the towers high in my office building. Without LOS, I think range can go to up to around 5Km. That said, I have heard other testers with usable signals on the M2 motorway from the Sandton tower.

Performance will degrade with signal quality. However, even with the lowest modulation negotiated, the worst one can expect is 192Kbps.

I am currently testing the PCMCIA units - will try to get my hands on the USB/ethernet versions soon.

Believe me, it is an experience driving at 150Km/h with your passengers watching internet tv. I consider this true broadband.

I use MyWi at home due to lack of iBurst coverage in the area, and for comparative purposes. There is simply no comparison between these two products!

Disclaimer: I am not employed by WBS. My views are mine, and mine alone.

anakin · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Inevitable
 Well Sentech was also gr8 till it got lots of subscribers. So it could just be another Sentech.Wait till they get more and more subscribers
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Australia has rolled out for quite some time now, and is now a mature product. If one monitors the forums there, seldom are discussion around speed problems. The discussions focuses mainly on comparisons with the various offering samongst the various ISPs, and questions on coverage. This is different from the forums where IPW products are discussed, where issues are similar to ours.

guest2013-1 · Jul 29, 2004

do they use special modems like sentech?

I reckon, even if WBS's internet will suck after a couple of months like sentech's does, if and when that happens, treating their customers right will not make them start www.wbssucksballs.com, instead, be alot more forgiving

Help save the bandwidth. Decent download speeds for TheRodent! Stop downloading now!!!

hArTh · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by anakin
 We have been testing the iBurst technology from WBS for around four months now. Its early days, but the technology looks extremely impressive and promising.
<snip>

I use MyWi at home due to lack of iBurst coverage in the area, and for comparative purposes. There is simply no comparison between these two products!

Disclaimer: I am not employed by WBS. My views are mine, and mine alone.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

[

] <- drool

[}

] <- Glad I didnt sign any 24 month contracts.

If they can deliver sub 50 ms latency they will be worshiped by gamers.

-Information anarchist-
www.sentechhatesfreespeech.org.za
I support:
www.poopband.co.za
www.hellkom.co.za

arf9999 · Jul 29, 2004

What are the expected costs of the service? 1Mbps down 384Kbps up?

/starts typing cancellation letter to Sentech

MW128, Tower 50 (Northpark Plaza), Signal:12%,S-N-L: 5, BER: 40%

hArTh · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by arf9999
 What are the expected costs of the service? 1Mbps down 384Kbps up?

/starts typing cancellation letter to Sentech

MW128, Tower 50 (Northpark Plaza), Signal:12%,S-N-L: 5, BER: 40%
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Dream on. While Telkom have a monopoly on the tax payer paid-for SAT3 cable, international bandwidth will always come at a premium.

-Information anarchist-
www.sentechhatesfreespeech.org.za
I support:
www.poopband.co.za
www.hellkom.co.za

anakin · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by noone
 do they use special modems like sentech?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
These modems use Arraycomm's propriatery technology. The chips can be easily incorporated into other devices, e.g. PDAs, cellphones, normal WiFi 802.11x cards, etc.

http://www.iburst.com.au/site/iburst/iburst_mobile.php
http://www.iburst.com.au/site/iburst/iburst_fixed_portable.php

If you look carefully at the wardrive pics, you will see a couple of the PCMCIA versions in action.
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by noone
 I reckon, even if WBS's internet will suck after a couple of months like sentech's does, if and when that happens, treating their customers right will not make them start www.wbssucksballs.com, instead, be alot more forgiving
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
We are lurking and learning from the lessons on this forum.

Other interesting reading:

http://www.arraycomm.com/docs/20040728RCRNews-WBS.pdf
http://www.arraycomm.com/news/pr_detail.htm?id=123.

Disclaimer: I am not employed by WBS. My views are mine, and mine alone.

anakin · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by arf9999
 What are the expected costs of the service? 1Mbps down 384Kbps up?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I don't know for sure. But I get the impression the prices would be better than MyWi.

Disclaimer: I am not employed by WBS. My views are mine, and mine alone.

MaD · Jul 29, 2004

Need any testers in Cape Town??? c'mon, trying to avoid Telkom like the Rinderpest! ;-)

Where others have progress, we have Telkom.
Hellkom website - www.hellkom.co.za

anakin · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by MaD
 Need any testers in Cape Town??? c'mon, trying to avoid Telkom like the Rinderpest! ;-)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I think Cape Town will have to wait a wee bit longer. C'mon, you already have the mountain!

Disclaimer: I am not employed by WBS. My views are mine, and mine alone.

MaD · Jul 29, 2004

Can I swap the mountain for a decent internet connection??

Where others have progress, we have Telkom.
Hellkom website - www.hellkom.co.za

aborg · Jul 29, 2004

The question is still how long will it last? It has been repeated many times how expensive int. bandwidth is. Local might be quick but there is a monopoly controlling a big fat fibre pipe and its selling at a premium.

Sentech was also mighty fast in the early stages of testing. On a 128k you use to get 16KB/s easy until they went commercial.

Hope WBS can secure a lot of bandwidth at cheap prices.

anakin · Jul 29, 2004

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by aborg
 The question is still how long will it last? It has been repeated many times how expensive int. bandwidth is. Local might be quick but there is a monopoly controlling a big fat fibre pipe and its selling at a premium.

Sentech was also mighty fast in the early stages of testing. On a 128k you use to get 16KB/s easy until they went commercial.

Hope WBS can secure a lot of bandwidth at cheap prices.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I think we will just have to wait and see. I am confident everyone will be pleasantly surprised, based on reports from installations abroad.

Disclaimer: I am not employed by WBS. My views are mine, and mine alone.

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