ICASA Compliant: Your help needed

rpm

rpm

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Hi folks

I am compiling a short report as an ICASA complaint, and think it will be advantageous if you guys can give your views on why the service is not up to scratch (and why ICASA should take action). I will create a short summary of all points raised in the past, but it will definitely carry more weight if they can see that many users have individual complaints. It will make it much harder to ignore. Just a short summary or even just one point (like price comparison etc) will be good enough.

You can post your complaint here as an anonymous user or email it to me with your true identity…it is entirely up to you. With enough support from you guys I think we have a real chance of changing matters, so please take 5 minutes and give your views. I know it has been done many times before, but I must have an official complaint from each individual user in order to add it to the official MyADSL complaint.

Thanks in advance,

RPM
[email protected]
 
My issues with the Telkom ADSL service are as follows:

1. CAP!
2. Port Prioritisation
3. No SLA (uptime, throughput, latency, refund policy)
4. COST! - for what we get the costs are ludicrous...
 
Problems with the Telkom SA ADSL implementation:

Cost, same technology as the rest of the world, why not the same cost?
No gauranteed service. Telkom is passing the buck on this, as usual.
Absolutely shocking throughput.
The unnatural bias towards their leased line business by not providing any gaurantee on their ADSL services or a static IP.
The cap is stupid and mathematically impossible to fathom.

(For space constraints I will not bore you with this detail.)
 
This point has been made a number of times by others

Why do we pay "line rental" twice R79.00 & R680.00 / R800.00
The R680 / R800 monopoly premium should be scrapped.

and

Why does the saix news-server have a drop-ratio of over .75 ?
afaik other ISPs peer to news.saix.net - so we miss tonnes of news.

and

bandwidth - bandwidth - bandwidth

nuf sed
 
One of the functions of ICASA is to ensure that the public gets acceptable quality service without being ripped off.

I would therefore focus on:

The lack of a SLA ( and the joke of "best effort service")
And then on the monthly line cost.
Compare to Deutsche Telekom

At the moment I will stay away from the bandwidth cost.

Best of luck!

South Africa needs World Class Broadband at World Competitive Prices.
 
Maybe we could also mention the very apparent gap/chasm/grand canyon between technicians and management.

Lack of communication with customers also comes to mind. A classic example that comes to mind (I experienced this myself as well), is where a customer orders an ADSL line and is promised that they will be notified before hand about date and time of line installation, and then on any random day a technician pitches at their doorstep without any prior communication.

This is by no means good service, but has become the accepted standard because we're only too happy that Telkom actually responded to our order.

In conclusion:
-> Lack of communication in the company between departments
-> Lack of communication to customers
-> Lack of service
 
Sum generally upsetting issues :-

1) International bandwidth not what it could be even with 130 and 120Gbps worth of outgoing cable
2) International pings - the SAT3/SAFE site claims pings will be <60ms overseas (http://www.safe-sat3.co.za/Configuration/Configuration.asp) [is that even in use?]
3) Exchange waiting periods up to 4 years - TK should set trigger levels
4) Only one package available, need more offerings like 128, 256, 1024 etc
5) Frequent disconnections
6) Buggy bandwidth meter clocks up yer MB's even when PC is off for days
7) No option of static IP
8) Business option more expensive, but still no SLA's
9) Pricing (of course) - we have the most expensive DSL in the world (i've looked everywhere for worse... no luck) even the UK with a 12:1 exchange rate is 3 times cheaper

that's mostly it... hope these guys can do something, they've been a bit of a toothless dog so far. I hope we won't need to do this with Sentech as well [;)]
way to go RPM..

<u>________________________________________________</u>
Just imagine where SA would be now if it weren't for Telkom
 
All I can do is echo the points above. Once you've put all these points together and sit back and read them, you realise just how absolutely appalling Telkom's ADSL service really is.


----------------
United we stand!
----------------
 
And there's the supposed 'help'desk. I have not got one answer from their helpdesk. Any questions I have had have been answered on MyADSL.

It should clearly be stated in Telkom's ADSL contract that the consumer is aware that he will not get FTP, Direct connect ICQ, limited peer-to-peer... but that knowing about firewall administration will help.
 
Points of concern for me:
1. Bad latency for international gaming!
2. Only one ADSL package to choose from!?
3. 3GB cap
4. High line rental cost
5. Lack of competition on rental because Telkom owns the infrastructure
 
1. The "Telkom ADSL Router Pots" used to crash every day until I got a firmware upgrade about three four months ago. Now it crashes randomly somewhere between one and 14 days.

2. The "Telkom ADSL Router Pots" is shipped with telnet accounts enabled. Most people don't know about it. This is a huge security "blaps". They should also inform the user to change the default user id and password.

3. The technician loads Telkoms software on a PC so that the "Telkom ADSL Router Pots" acts as a modem. They should rather show the user how to log in to the unit and set it up to automatically connect etc. The software they load is crap and complicates things.

4. The technician doesn't have the user id and password info when they install the hardware. Another department does this. Requires more phone calls, waiting on hold, being shoved from one number to the next.
 
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1) Port prioritisation
2) Pathetic International bandwidth
3) Calling it a best effort service, while at the same time claiming "but we do offer ADSL"
4) High cost pointing to an inefficient Telkom.
 
1) Price for what we get is way too high!
2) Cap: major issue!
3) The way we get capped for international traffic even when we've used our bandwidth on local is unexceptable.
 
http://www.karnaugh.za.net/info/telkom.php

If one were to complain, I think it would be about the ICASA them selves.

1) Poor connectivity to neighbouring countries. (Who managed to call their overseas family this xmas? Sure as hell not me!)
2) Withholding information (routing structures, network issues)
3) Extortionate call costs.

There is one important point I’d like to make. While Telkom does not foresee competition on a local level, one reason some people leave this country is better offerings in other countries. Why then don’t Telkom compete on an international level? Other than completely destroying our country of course…

use it, dont use it.. *shrug*

<hr noshade size="1">
"Since light travels faster than sound, people appear bright until you hear them speak."

NetLink Research
 
Well said Karnaugh[:)]. I hope, that like many other articles on this website, this one doesn't go unactioned by Telkom.
Unfortunately for us though, Telkom doesn't have to do anything, because when it comes to Telkom, we don't have choices[xx(].
Real choices create real competition.
 
This is only my second month on ADSL.In my first month my service only started on the 12th so I was spared the dreaded capping. I appeared to hit 3Gigs on that very last day.
This month I hit the capping very quickly and with very little actual downloads. Only by reading through your forums did I understand that it was all up and downloads both local and international that actually counted towards your capping. I do a fair amount of gaming locally so I suppose that quickly added up. When I browse I do go international alot. I was absolutely disgusted at the complete non-service once I had hit my Cap. Who uses that channel at any normal dial-up ISP. If I had a ISP that provided me with that sort of service, I would have canned them long ago. It has to have been one of the most frustating weeks that I have ever had. I upgraded from ISDN and was pretty happy with the increase in speed of the ADSL in both browsing and gaming. Then comes the shock. Back to the DARK AGES.
Yet again your forum provided the solution in NOCAP. I had to spend more money of course, but at least the solution is bearable and brings light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
In conclusion I would say that yes ADSL is expensive and well worth it, but not when half way through the month Telkom pulls the plug and says sorry thats all folks.
 
Just trying to get hold of tech support . been holding for over 20 minutes now with no-one having answeded my call.

I've been trying to play battlefield online and am CONSTANTLY getting disconnected, so I left a ping running to the next hop in my trace. Below is the result. This is the second modem supplied by telkom (at an exorbitant price). These marconi things are crap. They swaped out 2 already and this third one is now giving diffrent problems. I did a firmware update but no joy. The software must have been so bad that the firmware update does not allow you to change the ip of the modem. I dont care, I use it as a modem in any case, because as a router it crashes too much. Who approved these things . What deals where made. Who's pocketing the money?

--- Here is a tail end of my ping log ----
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=749 ttl=255 time=11.0 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=750 ttl=255 time=12.8 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=751 ttl=255 time=11.4 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=752 ttl=255 time=10.8 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=753 ttl=255 time=10.7 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=754 ttl=255 time=10.9 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=755 ttl=255 time=11.8 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=770 ttl=255 time=11018 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=771 ttl=255 time=10019 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=772 ttl=255 time=9022 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=773 ttl=255 time=8026 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=774 ttl=255 time=7029 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=775 ttl=255 time=6074 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=776 ttl=255 time=5076 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=777 ttl=255 time=4079 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=778 ttl=255 time=3164 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=779 ttl=255 time=2233 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=780 ttl=255 time=1240 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=781 ttl=255 time=243 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=782 ttl=255 time=11.2 ms
64 bytes from 165.165.36.1: icmp_seq=783 ttl=255 time=54.9 ms

--- 165.165.36.1 ping statistics ---
783 packets transmitted, 696 received, 11% loss, time 783337ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 9.746/111.986/11018.127/851.376 ms, pipe 12
 
this is the wrong topic to be placing this question and info. On another note get a planet adsl modem, they rock!! Telskum sells crappy modems, when my bro-inlaw changed modems he saw a massive increase in over all performance. Less crashing, better download speeds and mainly better pings! he has an internet cafe and about 10 of us can play cs(locally) at the same time with a ping of 60-80. For 10 ppl tht is good. Works the same with warcraft!! on the reason server but for about 6 people

..- dot dot dash ;)
 
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