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FYI
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Desmond
Sentech acts on users' complaints
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AGGRIEVED users of Sentech's MyWireless internet service have praised the company for listening to their complaints and providing feedback on its efforts to improve the system.
Sentech technicians met about 10 members of the Concerned MyWireless User Group last weekend to respond to criticism that MyWireless is too slow and too expensive.
Sentech has already introduced several measures to sharpen up its offerings, and there has been an improvement in its services, said user group spokesman Roelf Diedericks.
"We got a lot of answers and a lot of promises, and some technical information about what they have been doing to solve the problems. There are still some issues with the service, but engaging with their customers is a definite step forward," he said.
The user group and Sentech are to meet again next month to discuss progress, he said.
MyWireless allows users to connect a PC or a laptop to the internet by tapping into a wireless network which is gradually being rolled out across the country.
With MyWireless access starting at R649 a month, the company is anxious to make sure it can deliver the speed and reliability customers are paying for.
One problem is that the high cost of internet bandwidth means the service is shared between users. At first the sharing ratio was 30:1, meaning every person accessing the service competed with 29 others also fighting for bandwidth. The ratio has been reduced to 15:1. The next goal is to reduce that to 4:1 for local internet access, although the sharing of international bandwidth may not achieve that target.
Sentech has also installed new bandwidth management software to distribute bandwidth equally between each user. That should prevent bandwidth-intensive applications run by some users from slowing down the system for other users online at the same time, said Sentech marketing executive Marcel Raath.
Early statistics showed that 6% of its 2 000 users downloaded so much data that they hogged 50% of the resources.
Tech-savvy MyWireless users hit back, saying Sentech had created its own problems by poor network management. A prime problem was that Sentech had left its servers exposed, so that people who were not its customers could tap into its bandwidth for free, they said .
Even so, Sentech said it was monitoring the amount of data the average customer transferred, and would contact anyone who regularly exceeded that by a large amount. Excessive users would be asked to tone down their use or pay for a higher bandwidth package.
Diedericks said the bandwidth management system had made the service more consistent and created a marked improvement in local bandwidth.
So far the MyWireless network covers 107 suburbs in Cape Town, 111 in Durban and 483 in Gauteng.
<b>I used the Internet once but then my sitffy drive broke.</b>
Thanks
Desmond
Sentech acts on users' complaints
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AGGRIEVED users of Sentech's MyWireless internet service have praised the company for listening to their complaints and providing feedback on its efforts to improve the system.
Sentech technicians met about 10 members of the Concerned MyWireless User Group last weekend to respond to criticism that MyWireless is too slow and too expensive.
Sentech has already introduced several measures to sharpen up its offerings, and there has been an improvement in its services, said user group spokesman Roelf Diedericks.
"We got a lot of answers and a lot of promises, and some technical information about what they have been doing to solve the problems. There are still some issues with the service, but engaging with their customers is a definite step forward," he said.
The user group and Sentech are to meet again next month to discuss progress, he said.
MyWireless allows users to connect a PC or a laptop to the internet by tapping into a wireless network which is gradually being rolled out across the country.
With MyWireless access starting at R649 a month, the company is anxious to make sure it can deliver the speed and reliability customers are paying for.
One problem is that the high cost of internet bandwidth means the service is shared between users. At first the sharing ratio was 30:1, meaning every person accessing the service competed with 29 others also fighting for bandwidth. The ratio has been reduced to 15:1. The next goal is to reduce that to 4:1 for local internet access, although the sharing of international bandwidth may not achieve that target.
Sentech has also installed new bandwidth management software to distribute bandwidth equally between each user. That should prevent bandwidth-intensive applications run by some users from slowing down the system for other users online at the same time, said Sentech marketing executive Marcel Raath.
Early statistics showed that 6% of its 2 000 users downloaded so much data that they hogged 50% of the resources.
Tech-savvy MyWireless users hit back, saying Sentech had created its own problems by poor network management. A prime problem was that Sentech had left its servers exposed, so that people who were not its customers could tap into its bandwidth for free, they said .
Even so, Sentech said it was monitoring the amount of data the average customer transferred, and would contact anyone who regularly exceeded that by a large amount. Excessive users would be asked to tone down their use or pay for a higher bandwidth package.
Diedericks said the bandwidth management system had made the service more consistent and created a marked improvement in local bandwidth.
So far the MyWireless network covers 107 suburbs in Cape Town, 111 in Durban and 483 in Gauteng.
<b>I used the Internet once but then my sitffy drive broke.</b>
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