Legal to share a residential fibre account?

[Muttley]

Hi all,

So we have fibre in our complex and I even have a point in my unit- just waiting for my Telkom LTE contract to end to pull the trigger on the fibre.

I was wondering if it's totally illegal if I had to approach my next door neighbour and ask him if he would be keen to share say a 50 Mbps line. 1 of us would need to sign up, get the device up and running and then I would run an Ethernet cable (+-5 meters) from his/my unit to a switch and then to an access point.

It would mean that we could get a 50/5 uncapped package for +- R499 each PM.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Genisys]

I foresee lots of arguments in your future.

 

[Muttley]

I foresee lots of arguments in your future.

Even if I had to go for a 200/20 uncapped package for R649 each?

 

[Drifter]

Lot's of fights coming over who used how much of the data.

 

[rubber_otter]

What the ISP doesn't know wont hurt them.

 

[Sumen]

Even if I had to go for a 200/20 uncapped package for R649 each?

Or pay Telkom whatever you owe them to cancel the contract early

 

[Muttley]

Lot's of fights coming over who used how much of the data.

Even with what I mentioned just above your post?

Maybe some background info might help:

My neighbour is a med student, married to a lawyer - they're hardly home during the day.
My Mrs works from home and I'm out all day.

It would really be used during the evenings/weekends by all.

We would go the month to month route so if it didn't work out, we'd just cancel and move on

 

[Muttley]

Or pay Telkom whatever you owe them to cancel the contract early

https://shop.vumatel.co.za/package/4yX-El-tLQ - no installation fee would apply as the points are already installed

 

[koeksGHT]

What the ISP doesn't know wont hurt them.

This generally, if you are sharing with your whole complex then they might notice.

 

[Arthur]

The only law affecting you in this matter is the one banning you from sharing a cabled (copper or fibre) telecommunications link that crosses a public roadway.

For the rest, it's a matter of contract. Check the Ts&Cs you agreed to with your provider.

 

[Muttley]

The only law affecting you in this matter is the one banning you from sharing a cabled (copper or fibre) telecommunications link that crosses a public roadway.

For the rest, it's a matter of contract. Check the Ts&Cs you agreed to with your provider.

Thanks..

So on a side note: if one had to use a wireless link to share a connection over a public road, the law makes no provisions for this?

 

[greg0205]

Here's why the fights will start...

Scenario one, you do the sign up and the debit comes of your account. Neighbour strolls over on the seventh or eighth with cash or says he totally forgot and will sort you out at the end of the month. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Scenario two, your neighbour does the sign up and the debit comes of their account. You stroll over on the seventh or eighth with cash or say you totally forgot and will sort him out at the end of the month. Wash, rinse and repeat.... (Just being fair here).

Scenario three, you do the sigh up and the gear is installed in your unit. Your neighbour knocks at 2am 'cos the ONT or router need a reboot.

Scenario four, your neighbour does the sigh up and the gear is installed in his unit. You knock at 2am 'cos the ONT or router need a reboot.

Scenario five, you do the sign up and the gear is in your unit... and you move, leaving your neighbour s**t-outa-luck and needing a new installation.

Scenario six, your neighbour does the sign up and the gear is in his unit... You know how this goes...

Listen to Sumen and give Telkom a call.

 

[Venomous]

Thanks..

So on a side note: if one had to use a wireless link to share a connection over a public road, the law makes no provisions for this?

Then the bandwidth frequency and airwaves law comes into play...

 

[koeksGHT]

Then the bandwidth frequency and airwaves law comes into play...

If you are charging then you need license, if like a WUG you get an exemption. If it's not charged you can do using 2.4/5ghz and generally have no issues in a private capacity.

 

[Dark Agent]

Its legal if the following is meant:
You do not make profit.
You do not cross road or public entity.
Broadcast signals greater than the threshold.
Personal usage and not business


If your yards are next to each other, run a Lan cable that is easily removable. Also at QoS of 50 /50 on router. The main router(switch) should not be used directly. Get 2 separate routers(access points) for each of you. You will not have a issue with 200/200 or 200/20. But R50 more I will recommend the 200/200.

 

[SlinkyMike]

It should be relatively simple to limit bandwidth to 50/50 per IP using something like pfSense? Ages since I have looked at it but if memory serves...

 

[Arthur]

It should be relatively simple to limit bandwidth to 50/50 per IP using something like pfSense? Ages since I have looked at it but if memory serves...

Very quick and easy in pfSense. Add IPs to an alias group, define the limiters (up- and downlimit), add the alias/rule in firewall rules. Done.

You can have different limits for different groups, set time of day rules, etc, etc.

The only hassle I foresee is having to centrally manage things like non-std DNS and NAT/ports/rules for RDP, alarms, etc, etc. It can become a major ball-ache.

 

[Muttley]

Here's why the fights will start...

Scenario one, you do the sign up and the debit comes of your account. Neighbour strolls over on the seventh or eighth with cash or says he totally forgot and will sort you out at the end of the month. Wash, rinse and repeat.

Scenario two, your neighbour does the sign up and the debit comes of their account. You stroll over on the seventh or eighth with cash or say you totally forgot and will sort him out at the end of the month. Wash, rinse and repeat.... (Just being fair here).

Scenario three, you do the sigh up and the gear is installed in your unit. Your neighbour knocks at 2am 'cos the ONT or router need a reboot.

Scenario four, your neighbour does the sigh up and the gear is installed in his unit. You knock at 2am 'cos the ONT or router need a reboot.

Scenario five, you do the sign up and the gear is in your unit... and you move, leaving your neighbour s**t-outa-luck and needing a new installation.

Scenario six, your neighbour does the sign up and the gear is in his unit... You know how this goes...

Listen to Sumen and give Telkom a call.

Interesting points, I'll raise these with him first.

Then the bandwidth frequency and airwaves law comes into play...

Shap!

If you are charging then you need license, if like a WUG you get an exemption. If it's not charged you can do using 2.4/5ghz and generally have no issues in a private capacity.

It would be 2.4/5Ghz.. thanks

Its legal if the following is meant:
You do not make profit.
You do not cross road or public entity.
Broadcast signals greater than the threshold.
Personal usage and not business


If your yards are next to each other, run a Lan cable that is easily removable. Also at QoS of 50 /50 on router. The main router(switch) should not be used directly. Get 2 separate routers(access points) for each of you. You will not have a issue with 200/200 or 200/20. But R50 more I will recommend the 200/200.

It's all personal use and we're literally this close^

I'll chat to him- I don't mind if he uses the supplied router. I've got a gigabit switches lying around and a UniFi AP which I'm currently using.

Thanks once again.

I don't really see how by running a cable (other than performance), it's different to sharing a WiFi password with one another.

 

[Arthur]

View attachment 472306

It's all personal use and we're literally this close^

Just give him his own SSID and make sure he buys the beer. No probs otherwise.

 

[savage]

"Me", and "Neighbour" are two different legal entities. Whether you're attached to each other (duplex), whether there's a boundary wall, or whether a public/private road, park, grass, aliens in between, makes no difference.

1) It's against the T&Cs of the ISP more than likely;
2) It's against the T&Cs of the fiber provider that said ISP signed contracts with;
3) Unless you have a ECS *and* ECNS license, you are acting illegally.
4) Claiming you're providing it "free" and stuff like that, isn't going to fly. You're providing a *network service*, and a *communications service*, and you need the appropriate licensing. It's not rocket science to put two and two together that 1) you have a internet connection, 2) your neighbor is using your internet connection, and 3) you are receiving incentives for providing such communications and network service to your neighbor for remuneration (whether monitory, or otherwise).

And yes, there are ways for ISPs and fiber providers to pick up on these things. And yes, ICASA isn't as stupid as people make them out to be either...

Despite popular believe... I do not believe (and help me out if I am wrong by providing a copy of said licenses) that there is ONE wug in SA, that actually RECEIVED license exception. Yes, they still need to have a valid license ISSUED to them by ICASA, whether it's supposed to be license except, or not. You are not "deemed" to be automatically license except, you need to apply for it.

The fact of the matter is if you provide network or communication services to different legal entities, you need to be licensed. Done, finished, klaar.