Linksfield Tower

[Saul]

Hey all

I've been reading this forum for about a month because my internet phone bill has gotten out of hand and I need an alternative. Sentech is viable price wise so I came here to get a couple of opinions. From what I can see things arent exactly perfect with the system.

I was wondering though if this is a tower issue or is everywhere a problem. I would be connecting via the linksfield tower which is apparently 1.1KM away. I looked on the tower locator site and it said linksfield was the closest and something about 359 degrees and an estimated signal of 26% and a dbm of -80. What the hell does this all mean?

Secondly, is there anyone else in Linksfield or using the linksfield tower that has actually gotten the service to work?

What would happen if I shoved a big antenna on my roof? Would it work better or is it the fact that a lot of the problems are on Sentech's side.

I'm not a hardcore gamer or major downloader, I just want a 24 hr connection.

Can anyone recommend the service or are you all unhappy with it? I would be pretty happy with a 7K connection as long as it was 24hrs.

Any opinions? Where could I get someone to bring there modem to me?

Thanks

Saul

 

[MyDraadloos]

Get the 128k option, very good value ..... you should be fine with just the unit. But patch, cantenna / Booztenna or dish will improve the quality of service.

Edit ...... Ooops - Welcome !

Mail me your details and we can check your signal for free, if you are committed ..........


Package :256
Tower :36 Bedfordview
Signal : 11
S-N-L : 4
BER : 28%
Antenna : Patch - Batenna
Speedtest (Rodent): 138.6
Speedtest (int) : 79.2
Time of Test :20:02
Comments : Dang !

Pass the whiskey please! I need to dunk my Pringles ....

 

[Tower110guy]

I am using Linksfield tower and >90% of time I have had problems:

1]Zoning incorrectly reported in sentech's zone locator ,and also subsequent decline in signal reported by sentechs updated zone locator resulted in me working in a remote area of my garden!DISGUSTED WITH THAT[!]

2]Paying for 128k and actually getting 45k MOST OF THE TIME- I believe this is dishonest and immoral on Sentech's part

But since your criteria are so low i.r.o. download speeds maybe for u its ok




<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Saul</i>
<br />Hey all



Secondly, is there anyone else in Linksfield or using the linksfield tower that has actually gotten the service to work?

What would happen if I shoved a big antenna on my roof? Would it work better or is it the fact that a lot of the problems are on Sentech's side.

I'm not a hardcore gamer or major downloader, I just want a 24 hr connection.

Can anyone recommend the service or are you all unhappy with it? I would be pretty happy with a 7K connection as long as it was 24hrs.

Any opinions? Where could I get someone to bring there modem to me?

Thanks

Saul

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

 

[lewstherin]

To mimimise your exposure to any problems, I would advise purchasing the modem seperately, and signing up for the 12 month 128K option. If you do the math on the package + modem costs, you'll see that buying the modem seperately will cost you around an extra R500 over 12 months, so its not a major price difference besides having to fork out for the modem upfront.

At least then if everything goes pearshaped with Sentech, you're only locked in for 12 months and you can get some money back out of selling the modem...
Personally I'm taking my own advice - I think the service & speeds will improve with time as Sentech gets its contentions and towers sorted out. Sentech is spending over a R500 million on this service, they simply can't afford to have their customers bail them...if they think they can, they may as well have taken that R500 million and chucked into the fire...

<font color="blue">Telkom needs a leash, ICASA needs some guts, and the </font id="blue"><font color="red">SA consumer</font id="red"><font color="blue"> needs to make it happen</font id="blue">

 

[GougedEye]

It's really hard to give definitive advice at the moment. It seems that it's working great for some people (like me) and is total crapolla for others. Just can't figure out a pattern yet. Could be towers, could be S-N-L (Signal Quality), could be setup, could be inter steller radiation or invaders from mars, just don't know at this stage. So there you have a bit of a gamble. It's really hard to tell how many people are happy and how many aren't. But what I can say is there definitely are significant numbers of seriously unhappy people. Funny thing is happy people tend not to post as much and tend to draw fire if they post here. Misery is best shared and noboddy likes to hear how well it works for the guy on the other side of the road when you have so many problems. But there definitely do seem to be some significant problems at the moment.

What I would definitley say is go in with your eyes open. If it works perfectly first time, thats just great, if not .... well lets say that Sentech's customer service definitely without any doubt sucks. And like any government (ex government) institution, they HATE telling you anything. When I think of the amount of hostility they could save just by talking to their customers ......

An antenna will improve things for you (not the Customer Service), but I wouln't really bother with the patch. A grid etc. gets much better and more consistant results.

 

[dbnnet]

I have to vote with lewstherin here.
Thats what I did.
It's risky to be locked into
anything more than 12 months anyway?

 

[Inevitable]

hey i can pickup linksfield tower which is horribly slow. i also pick up bedfordview tower which is much faster and far better

Glory Glory Man United!

 

[ProAsm]

Majority of the problems several towers are having is due to interference we are receiving and having to do everything through ICASA takes time.
lewstherin the budget you mentioned is ONLY for Gauteng, CT and Dbn, there is still the rest of the country to do []


<hr noshade size="1"><center><font color="blue">MyWireless Stuff</font id="blue">
<font size="1"><font color="black">The opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my employer</font id="size1"></font id="black"></center>

 

[Saul]

So the message I am getting is that it may not all be doom and gloom. I would be getting an antenna because I want a decent signal. Is 28% good or bad? Logically that seems bad but if I look at the signatures of some people who have there signal listed it seems fairly decent relative to others.

The sad thing is that beyond you guys there is no real insight into the service.

Okay, I think I am going to get it, I need a 24 hour solution that has a fixed price and I like the idea of the 12 month option.

Thanks all.

 

[Saul]

One last thing, what on earth does -80 dbm mean on the rational site?

Thanks

 

[Sapphiron]

with 28% signal you should get a average-good connection. The signal strength, as long as it is over 15% should not affect your speed(you can get 14-15kB on 28%). A cheap pringles antenna can(no pun) improve your signal by 5-10%. That should improve the connection's reliability.