Lightspeed

[DrJohnZoidberg]

The LightSpeed website says they provide a non-wifi router. Dafuq?

I guess they expect you to have your own, for the business fibre they provide a Lightspeed branded Mikrotik device which enables very nice remote monitoring.

 

[mercurial]

I guess they expect you to have your own, for the business fibre they provide a Lightspeed branded Mikrotik device which enables very nice remote monitoring.

That sucks. Other providers seem to provide a wifi-router.

 

[eddief1]

That sucks. Other providers seem to provide a wifi-router.

That wifi is not normally very good or AC, but just standard N wifi, better to get yourself your own WIFI AP which is AC compatible to take advantage of the 50Mbps+ speeds on fibre, 802.11N just wont cut it.

 

[mercurial]

That wifi is not normally very good or AC, but just standard N wifi, better to get yourself your own WIFI AP which is AC compatible to take advantage of the 50Mbps+ speeds on fibre, 802.11N just wont cut it.

Thanks. Any recommendations?

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

I swear they are throttling us.

Happened before with Windows updates now it's happening with a Mac internet recovery. It's trying to download from a local IP, starts off quickly for about 30 seconds (I get around 30-40MB really quickly) then slows to a crawl. Very frustrating. Going to have to go home and do the recovery there as it'll be quicker over my VDSL line.

 

[eddief1]

I swear they are throttling us.

Happened before with Windows updates now it's happening with a Mac internet recovery. It's trying to download from a local IP, starts off quickly for about 30 seconds (I get around 30-40MB really quickly) then slows to a crawl. Very frustrating. Going to have to go home and do the recovery there as it'll be quicker over my VDSL line.

Ouch, this is not good news! Keep the feedback coming guys, nice to hear what people are experiencing when they are lucky enough to get FTTH, but the above does not sound very fun

 

[saturnz]

nearly a year of service for me and no sign of degradation

 

[saturnz]

I forgot to mention, we are supplying Church Square on Parliament Street with 20mbps free WiFi- uncapped and no registration required.

During the day speeds are terrible but in the evening I have managed speedtests of close to 20mpbs. As we upgrade our own connection I hope to increase the WiFi speed as well.

 

[cam182]

Just a general warning for those considering lightspeed... I just had lightspeed installed this morning after multiple calls a day for weeks to get an installer. It was preordered by my landlord who has since rented the flat to me.

Without a doubt the worst company i have ever dealt with and this includes previous experiences with Telkom. I previously had another fibre provider in my old flat who made lightspeed look like amateurs. I've had cybersmart adsl before who were great (this was 5+ years ago) and lightspeed feels like a completely different division to them unless they have also gone downhill.

Multiple issues:
- They installed a wired modem after being paid for a wireless modem. Have since been told they dont have stock of the wireless modem. By default they provide a non wireless modem/router that looks like it has wireless functionality that they have disabled. Seriously what internet company these days doesn't automatically offer a wireless solution assuming their customers are going to have phones/ipads/etc that need it.

- Also the fibre install point was to the desk near the front door and they wouldn't move to the kitchen which was 4 metres away as the installer didn't have any cable on him. Offered to source one and come back when he does another install in the block but still. Basically now have this big ugly eyesore of a router and cabling sitting at the front door.

- In general every time you ring you speak to a different call centre support staff person who has little idea of whats going on. Spoken to one guy who has been brilliant compared to the others but have literally spoken to 6-8 different other people who have been hopeless. And they all promise to ring back but never do. And you can't get direct numbers so its pot luck who you get when you call.

- Installer did a speed test which got 200mbps on speedtest which is great. When i asked the installer to test on fast.com it only got up to 25mbps. Will do more tests on this at a later stage when i get home again.

TLDR: My experience with Lightspeed has been shocking. Would not recommend you deal with them until they get their fibre business sorted.

 

[Gnome]

- They installed a wired modem after being paid for a wireless modem. Have since been told they dont have stock of the wireless modem. By default they provide a non wireless modem/router that looks like it has wireless functionality that they have disabled. Seriously what internet company these days doesn't automatically offer a wireless solution assuming their customers are going to have phones/ipads/etc that need it.

The fiber is simply 1000BASE-LX (Gigabit ethernet on single mode fiber). You can get a converter (convert to 1000BASE-T, Gigabit on copper) and use your own router...
https://www.pricecheck.co.za/offers/57984605/TP-LINK+Mc220l+Gigabit+Sfp+Media+Convertor

- In general every time you ring you speak to a different call centre support staff person who has little idea of whats going on. Spoken to one guy who has been brilliant compared to the others but have literally spoken to 6-8 different other people who have been hopeless. And they all promise to ring back but never do. And you can't get direct numbers so its pot luck who you get when you call.

I found email to be easier. That said, I didn't call them to get a router or even to have my fiber moved (just called around for Fiber guys).
Used my own router + media converter.

- Installer did a speed test which got 200mbps on speedtest which is great. When i asked the installer to test on fast.com it only got up to 25mbps. Will do more tests on this at a later stage when i get home again.

The speed test, is really only a test of the physical media.
Everything after that depends on where the server is etc.
For what it is worth I get 20MiB/s download speeds from international servers quite regularly. (eg. usenet on TCP port 443 with TLS enabled for example)

 

[cam182]

The fiber is simply 1000BASE-LX (Gigabit ethernet on single mode fiber). You can get a converter (convert to 1000BASE-T, Gigabit on copper) and use your own router...
https://www.pricecheck.co.za/offers/57984605/TP-LINK+Mc220l+Gigabit+Sfp+Media+Convertor

Thanks - i was looking at another thread with these media converters. So it's as simple as buying one and then using my own wifi router, preferably an ac one to get the best speeds? I assume i would need to get the correct details to log in to my account through my router but it should be possible with the right help so i will probably give this a try if i'm still not happy when the wifi modem is delivered and installed.

My main point here was that lightspeed was a company offering retail customers the latest in technology with fibre internet, yet they default to a wired modem when most of their retail customers (if not all) would have a need for wifi with phones/ipads/etc.

I found email to be easier. That said, I didn't call them to get a router or even to have my fiber moved (just called around for Fiber guys).
Used my own router + media converter.

Emails great if you are happy to wait. I replied to one of their emails from the helpdesk this morning with some questions and still haven't got a reply. I find in SA in general you get nowhere fast unless you ring and speak to a person.

The speed test, is really only a test of the physical media.
Everything after that depends on where the server is etc.
For what it is worth I get 20MiB/s download speeds from international servers quite regularly. (eg. usenet on TCP port 443 with TLS enabled for example)

Yeh not a major complaint, just found this interesting after reading everything when fast.com was launched about internet providers shaping traffic to speedtest to get better results. Not saying lightspeed are and it was one test, just something i noticed.

 

[jamacouve]

We have finally got enough numbers in our area, all signed up. How long until something happens?

 

[SwingLifeAway]

We have finally got enough numbers in our area, all signed up. How long until something happens?

The guy who is championing my area typically asks for updates via their info@lightspeed.co.za e-mail. Though we don't get dates yet since we haven't reached the uptake..

 

[Gnome]

Thanks - i was looking at another thread with these media converters. So it's as simple as buying one and then using my own wifi router, preferably an ac one to get the best speeds?

Fiber isn't ubiquitous, you can't just buy any media converter.
I recommend you stick to: TP-LINK MC220L
That is what I use and I can confirm it works with their supplied miniGBIC.
You basically buy the converter and remove the miniGBIC from the router and plug it into the TP-Link MC220L.
Then plug a network cable into the TP-Link MC220L that goes to your router.

Your router must support VLANs on WAN.
Many routers do support this however.

If you aren't technically inclined just buy a Wifi router and plug it into the router they supplied.

I assume i would need to get the correct details to log in to my account through my router but it should be possible with the right help so i will probably give this a try if i'm still not happy when the wifi modem is delivered and installed.

I got my details to my account on a printed piece of paper.
But you may be able to get it from the router.

The general settings is that they are on a VLAN (ID = 100, but that could be local to Cape Town).
You make a PPPoE connection with a username and password on that VLAN.

My main point here was that lightspeed was a company offering retail customers the latest in technology with fibre internet, yet they default to a wired modem when most of their retail customers (if not all) would have a need for wifi with phones/ipads/etc.
It is still early days, their technology choices are likely very limited at the moment.
My guess as to why they limit the Wifi on the router is probably due to ICASA restrictions.

Yeh not a major complaint, just found this interesting after reading everything when fast.com was launched about internet providers shaping traffic to speedtest to get better results. Not saying lightspeed are and it was one test, just something i noticed.

Cybersmart have their own Speedtest servers that sit pretty close to the main transit centers.

So as I said, it is more a test of your physical connection and that it is, in actual fact, capable of whatever speed you set your line to.
What you get internationally depends on where you are connecting.

 

[cam182]

Fiber isn't ubiquitous, you can't just buy any media converter.
I recommend you stick to: TP-LINK MC220L
That is what I use and I can confirm it works with their supplied miniGBIC.
You basically buy the converter and remove the miniGBIC from the router and plug it into the TP-Link MC220L.
Then plug a network cable into the TP-Link MC220L that goes to your router.

Your router must support VLANs on WAN.
Many routers do support this however.

If you aren't technically inclined just buy a Wifi router and plug it into the router they supplied.


I got my details to my account on a printed piece of paper.
But you may be able to get it from the router.

The general settings is that they are on a VLAN (ID = 100, but that could be local to Cape Town).
You make a PPPoE connection with a username and password on that VLAN.

My main point here was that lightspeed was a company offering retail customers the latest in technology with fibre internet, yet they default to a wired modem when most of their retail customers (if not all) would have a need for wifi with phones/ipads/etc.
It is still early days, their technology choices are likely very limited at the moment.
My guess as to why they limit the Wifi on the router is probably due to ICASA restrictions.


Cybersmart have their own Speedtest servers that sit pretty close to the main transit centers.

So as I said, it is more a test of your physical connection and that it is, in actual fact, capable of whatever speed you set your line to.
What you get internationally depends on where you are connecting.

So i have the Archer C8 router from my previous fibre installation (which had an ethernet cable plug into it). I've looked online but can't confirm if it supports VLANs on WAN. Anyway to confirm or safe to assume it does based on that its a recent router. Link is http://www.tp-link.com/sa/products/details/cat-9_Archer-C8.html#specifications

At the moment i have plugged it into the router and set it up as an access point. It would be much cleaner to get rid of the lightspeed router so i'll buy a MC220L and try your suggested set up. Would buy in person tomorrow if anyone knew where to get one in cape town otherwise will place an order online. Thanks for the help...

 

[jamacouve]

The guy who is championing my area typically asks for updates via their info@lightspeed.co.za e-mail. Though we don't get dates yet since we haven't reached the uptake..

What area is this for interest sake?

 

[Nerfherder]

Thanks - i was looking at another thread with these media converters. So it's as simple as buying one and then using my own wifi router, preferably an ac one to get the best speeds? I assume i would need to get the correct details to log in to my account through my router but it should be possible with the right help so i will probably give this a try if i'm still not happy when the wifi modem is delivered and installed.

My main point here was that lightspeed was a company offering retail customers the latest in technology with fibre internet, yet they default to a wired modem when most of their retail customers (if not all) would have a need for wifi with phones/ipads/etc.

The reason they do this is that the WFI slows the connection, if you speed test over WIFI then you wont get the full line speed. You are allowed to enable WIFI if you want - but must sign a waver.

 

[Johnatan56]

The reason they do this is that the WFI slows the connection, if you speed test over WIFI then you wont get the full line speed. You are allowed to enable WIFI if you want - but must sign a waver.

No it doesn't, WiFi using the 802.11n or earlier standard just isn't as fast as your connection, the line itself is still the same speed

 

[Nerfherder]

No it doesn't, WiFi using the 802.11n or earlier standard just isn't as fast as your connection, the line itself is still the same speed

You will never get 100 Meg over WiFi because of real world conditons, never mind that in most cases with 4-5 devices connected you will get much less than 100

 

[Johnatan56]

You will never get 100 Meg over WiFi because of real world conditons, never mind that in most cases with 4-5 devices connected you will get much less than 100

Using the WiFi still won't slow down your line speed, your line will still be the same speed. It won't change from 100Mbps to a 50Mbps line. Yes, the WiFi could be too slow to take advantage.

Here is a 802.11ac speed test, real world:
[video=youtube;4BnEqh2GRo8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BnEqh2GRo8[/video]
You can max out your 100Mbps line over WiFi.