silversurfer
Well-Known Member
Wireless broadband plays a different tune
February 04 2004 at 07:03AM
By Jennifer Stasny
Running a home office, I routinely pay up to R800 a month for Internet access - R600 for the telephone plus another R178 for my ISP subscription. I don't mind forking out this kind of money for the convenience of working from home: it means I never have to see the inside of a bank, and it allows me to send emails across the country, if not the world, in seconds.
Indeed, I hadn't given it much thought in years - that is, until recently, when I heard that a South African company would soon be offering permanent broadband Internet access at 128 kbps for R649 a month - or about R150 less than the cost of my doddering 56 kbps connection. And that on a wireless connection.
Suspecting another tall tale from the makers of home shopping commercials, I decided to do some research on the Internet (where everything you read, of course, is absolutely true). The first thing I learned was that "broadband" is not the female equivalent of "boy band". Strictly speaking, the term refers to any communication link where the bandwidth can be divided into a number of simultaneous signals. Colloquially, however, the term has become synonymous with just about any Internet connection that's faster than a 56 kbps dial-up.
The first thing I learned was that 'broadband' is not the female equivalent of 'boy band'
The next thing I discovered was that the South African company launching this new internet access is none other than Sentech, a parastatal best known for being SABC's broadcasting signal distributor. This was starting to get interesting.
Perhaps the significance of Sentech's wireless broadband Internet access is best understood in terms of how it compares with existing home broadband options - in particular, ISDN, ADSL and satellite.
ISDN, or "integrated services digital network", sits at the bottom of the broadband market. It offers reliable dial-up Internet access at either 64 or 128 kbps, but in addition to the standard costs of telephone calls and an ISP subscription you also have to pay rental for an ISDN line. Furthermore, in order to achieve the maximum 128 kbps connection, you have to make two simultaneous calls instead of just one, which would give you a 64 kbps link-up. In short, for double the bandwidth you pay double the call costs for the same amount of time spent online.
ADSL - or "asymmetric digital subscriber line" - is a permanent connection (in other words, it requires no call) that offers downloads at speeds of 512 kbps and uploads at 256 kbps. But there's a snag. Two, in fact. First, renting an ADSL line costs as much as R680 a month for residential use; and second, there's a three-, six- or nine-gigabyte cap on the amount of traffic an ADSL line is allowed to transmit, depending on the nature of your subscription with your ISP. What's more, the service is available only within a radius of five kilometres of an ADSL-compatible telephone exchange.
Finally, there's broadband via satellite, in which two satellite dishes form a two-way wireless data connection of up to 512 kbps. Since the connection has considerable range and doesn't require a landline, satellite dishes can be used to bring broadband to even the most remote rural parts of South Africa. Unfortunately, installing just one of these specialised satellite dishes can cost up to R3 500, and with further monthly fees of about R3 000, it's beyond the reach of most home users. Thanks, but maybe next time.
'We aim to change the perception in South Africa that speed is related to cost'
South Africa's broadband environment, then, is characterised by caps on Internet traffic, unpredictable call costs and pricey line rentals. It is into this milieu that Sentech is launching a wireless service that imposes no traffic limitations, requires no calls to be made, and demands no rental on lines. Users don't even have to buy wireless broadband modems - they get one free with every 24-month contract and only have to pay a R500 installation fee.
And at competitive monthly rates of R649, R849 and R1 449 for connection speeds of 128, 256 and 512 kbps respectively, it's likely that wireless broadband Internet access will attract considerable interest from both private and business users in the near future.
But Sentech's offer isn't without its problems - most notably coverage. The wireless broadband Internet network is structured much like a cellular network, with base stations at high points beaming coverage over a radius of up to five kilometres in built-up areas and 20km in non-urban areas. If you move around within the coverage area, the network can seamlessly hand your data connection from one base station to the next. Leave the coverage area, however, and (as with cellular calls) your trusty data connection will evaporate without warning.
At present, wireless broadband Internet access is available only in parts of Gauteng, where it was launched in January this year. Plans are afoot to cover Cape Town and Durban's central business districts by the end of March, but until wireless broadband is available throughout most of the country - as is apparently the plan - even a dial-up modem will give you better national access.
If you're one of the lucky few who will be within the covered areas by the end of next month, you may also be dismayed to note that your spanking new 128 kbps connection is actually operating at a significantly lower speed. This is because Sentech's wireless broadband Internet access is a contended service, meaning the bandwidth is shared with a number of other users. However, you needn't stress; it's simply how Internet access works.
"Very few Internet users have committed throughput," confirms Russell Dreisenstock, general manager of M-Web's home division. "And when they do, it's usually in a corporate environment, and quite costly." Like it or not, when it comes to broadband you simply have to learn to share your toys.
Besides, adds Winston Smith, Sentech's portfolio manager for broadband wireless, it's not the speed of the connection that matters so much as the fact that it's always on.
"We aim to change the perception in South Africa that speed is related to cost. The only reason users complain about the time they spend online is because, traditionally, time on the Internet actually costs money. If you pay a flat monthly fee for a connection that's always on, however, you won't care how long it takes to transfer that big email. It will just pop into your mailbox without you even noticing it was downloading."
Which is not to say that you want your Internet connection to crawl along, especially when browsing the Net. But any website download is only as fast as its slowest link. Your super-fast Internet connection means nothing if your download becomes jammed on the international leg of a data transfer, or even in the final connection to the web server.
Although Sentech can't do anything about the latter, it has the advantage over many South African ISPs in that it is not dependent on SAIX, Telkom's commercial Internet subsidiary, for its international bandwidth. Rather, it has its own 34 Mbps international connection to the UK via a PanAmSat satellite, which, says Smith, "is a ginormous chunk of bandwidth that we can upgrade quickly and easily, should the need arise".
(On the topic of international connectivity, it's interesting to note that South Africa is only the fifth country to offer wireless broadband Internet access, after the United States, Germany, Malaysia and New Zealand. Not too shabby!)
It seems, then, that Sentech's services are bringing a much-needed competitive edge to Internet access in South Africa, much to the excitement of local ISPs. "It's good to see credible competition entering the broadband environment," says Dreisenstock. "The only thing that remains to be seen is what Sentech's national roll-out will be like."
Here's hoping it will be speedy, and widespread. I, for one, am looking forward to a time when "www" stands for "wireless way of working" and not "world wide wait".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The word on wi-fi
What is wi-fi, anyway, and how does it fit into the wireless broadband Internet picture? That's easy: it stands for "wireless fidelity", and it's a generic term for any wireless LAN (local area network) that uses the 2,4 GHz radio band for data connections. Although it is similar to wireless broadband in that it also provides Internet access over the air, there are two fundamental distinctions between the two.
The first is security. Unlike wireless broadband Internet access, which operates on the licensed and tightly controlled 2,5 to 2,7 GHz range, wi-fi uses an unregulated spectrum so anyone with the right equipment can legally "listen in" on the data connection - and potentially use this information to hack into a company's computer system.
The second key difference is that a wireless broadband base station has a footprint of up to 10km in open areas, whereas a wi-fi mast has a much smaller hot-spot radius of only about 100m. This makes it perfect for a LAN environment, but it's simply not suitable for commercial bandwidth retail.
That said, wi-fi and wireless broadband are compatible. After all, a wi-fi mast must get its bandwidth from somewhere; it doesn't really matter whether it's via a 56 kbps dial-up, ADSL or a wireless broadband modem.
This article originally appears in the February issue of the South African edition of Popular Mechanics.
February 04 2004 at 07:03AM
By Jennifer Stasny
Running a home office, I routinely pay up to R800 a month for Internet access - R600 for the telephone plus another R178 for my ISP subscription. I don't mind forking out this kind of money for the convenience of working from home: it means I never have to see the inside of a bank, and it allows me to send emails across the country, if not the world, in seconds.
Indeed, I hadn't given it much thought in years - that is, until recently, when I heard that a South African company would soon be offering permanent broadband Internet access at 128 kbps for R649 a month - or about R150 less than the cost of my doddering 56 kbps connection. And that on a wireless connection.
Suspecting another tall tale from the makers of home shopping commercials, I decided to do some research on the Internet (where everything you read, of course, is absolutely true). The first thing I learned was that "broadband" is not the female equivalent of "boy band". Strictly speaking, the term refers to any communication link where the bandwidth can be divided into a number of simultaneous signals. Colloquially, however, the term has become synonymous with just about any Internet connection that's faster than a 56 kbps dial-up.
The first thing I learned was that 'broadband' is not the female equivalent of 'boy band'
The next thing I discovered was that the South African company launching this new internet access is none other than Sentech, a parastatal best known for being SABC's broadcasting signal distributor. This was starting to get interesting.
Perhaps the significance of Sentech's wireless broadband Internet access is best understood in terms of how it compares with existing home broadband options - in particular, ISDN, ADSL and satellite.
ISDN, or "integrated services digital network", sits at the bottom of the broadband market. It offers reliable dial-up Internet access at either 64 or 128 kbps, but in addition to the standard costs of telephone calls and an ISP subscription you also have to pay rental for an ISDN line. Furthermore, in order to achieve the maximum 128 kbps connection, you have to make two simultaneous calls instead of just one, which would give you a 64 kbps link-up. In short, for double the bandwidth you pay double the call costs for the same amount of time spent online.
ADSL - or "asymmetric digital subscriber line" - is a permanent connection (in other words, it requires no call) that offers downloads at speeds of 512 kbps and uploads at 256 kbps. But there's a snag. Two, in fact. First, renting an ADSL line costs as much as R680 a month for residential use; and second, there's a three-, six- or nine-gigabyte cap on the amount of traffic an ADSL line is allowed to transmit, depending on the nature of your subscription with your ISP. What's more, the service is available only within a radius of five kilometres of an ADSL-compatible telephone exchange.
Finally, there's broadband via satellite, in which two satellite dishes form a two-way wireless data connection of up to 512 kbps. Since the connection has considerable range and doesn't require a landline, satellite dishes can be used to bring broadband to even the most remote rural parts of South Africa. Unfortunately, installing just one of these specialised satellite dishes can cost up to R3 500, and with further monthly fees of about R3 000, it's beyond the reach of most home users. Thanks, but maybe next time.
'We aim to change the perception in South Africa that speed is related to cost'
South Africa's broadband environment, then, is characterised by caps on Internet traffic, unpredictable call costs and pricey line rentals. It is into this milieu that Sentech is launching a wireless service that imposes no traffic limitations, requires no calls to be made, and demands no rental on lines. Users don't even have to buy wireless broadband modems - they get one free with every 24-month contract and only have to pay a R500 installation fee.
And at competitive monthly rates of R649, R849 and R1 449 for connection speeds of 128, 256 and 512 kbps respectively, it's likely that wireless broadband Internet access will attract considerable interest from both private and business users in the near future.
But Sentech's offer isn't without its problems - most notably coverage. The wireless broadband Internet network is structured much like a cellular network, with base stations at high points beaming coverage over a radius of up to five kilometres in built-up areas and 20km in non-urban areas. If you move around within the coverage area, the network can seamlessly hand your data connection from one base station to the next. Leave the coverage area, however, and (as with cellular calls) your trusty data connection will evaporate without warning.
At present, wireless broadband Internet access is available only in parts of Gauteng, where it was launched in January this year. Plans are afoot to cover Cape Town and Durban's central business districts by the end of March, but until wireless broadband is available throughout most of the country - as is apparently the plan - even a dial-up modem will give you better national access.
If you're one of the lucky few who will be within the covered areas by the end of next month, you may also be dismayed to note that your spanking new 128 kbps connection is actually operating at a significantly lower speed. This is because Sentech's wireless broadband Internet access is a contended service, meaning the bandwidth is shared with a number of other users. However, you needn't stress; it's simply how Internet access works.
"Very few Internet users have committed throughput," confirms Russell Dreisenstock, general manager of M-Web's home division. "And when they do, it's usually in a corporate environment, and quite costly." Like it or not, when it comes to broadband you simply have to learn to share your toys.
Besides, adds Winston Smith, Sentech's portfolio manager for broadband wireless, it's not the speed of the connection that matters so much as the fact that it's always on.
"We aim to change the perception in South Africa that speed is related to cost. The only reason users complain about the time they spend online is because, traditionally, time on the Internet actually costs money. If you pay a flat monthly fee for a connection that's always on, however, you won't care how long it takes to transfer that big email. It will just pop into your mailbox without you even noticing it was downloading."
Which is not to say that you want your Internet connection to crawl along, especially when browsing the Net. But any website download is only as fast as its slowest link. Your super-fast Internet connection means nothing if your download becomes jammed on the international leg of a data transfer, or even in the final connection to the web server.
Although Sentech can't do anything about the latter, it has the advantage over many South African ISPs in that it is not dependent on SAIX, Telkom's commercial Internet subsidiary, for its international bandwidth. Rather, it has its own 34 Mbps international connection to the UK via a PanAmSat satellite, which, says Smith, "is a ginormous chunk of bandwidth that we can upgrade quickly and easily, should the need arise".
(On the topic of international connectivity, it's interesting to note that South Africa is only the fifth country to offer wireless broadband Internet access, after the United States, Germany, Malaysia and New Zealand. Not too shabby!)
It seems, then, that Sentech's services are bringing a much-needed competitive edge to Internet access in South Africa, much to the excitement of local ISPs. "It's good to see credible competition entering the broadband environment," says Dreisenstock. "The only thing that remains to be seen is what Sentech's national roll-out will be like."
Here's hoping it will be speedy, and widespread. I, for one, am looking forward to a time when "www" stands for "wireless way of working" and not "world wide wait".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The word on wi-fi
What is wi-fi, anyway, and how does it fit into the wireless broadband Internet picture? That's easy: it stands for "wireless fidelity", and it's a generic term for any wireless LAN (local area network) that uses the 2,4 GHz radio band for data connections. Although it is similar to wireless broadband in that it also provides Internet access over the air, there are two fundamental distinctions between the two.
The first is security. Unlike wireless broadband Internet access, which operates on the licensed and tightly controlled 2,5 to 2,7 GHz range, wi-fi uses an unregulated spectrum so anyone with the right equipment can legally "listen in" on the data connection - and potentially use this information to hack into a company's computer system.
The second key difference is that a wireless broadband base station has a footprint of up to 10km in open areas, whereas a wi-fi mast has a much smaller hot-spot radius of only about 100m. This makes it perfect for a LAN environment, but it's simply not suitable for commercial bandwidth retail.
That said, wi-fi and wireless broadband are compatible. After all, a wi-fi mast must get its bandwidth from somewhere; it doesn't really matter whether it's via a 56 kbps dial-up, ADSL or a wireless broadband modem.
This article originally appears in the February issue of the South African edition of Popular Mechanics.
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she is just a bit vague on that