Looking to have wired internet for the first time, help

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m4tic

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Hi guys, I've always been a cellphone user, never had wired internet at home. I'm actually looking to connect my mom but I realise wireless broadband prices are too high for her to handle, the only 3G available in her area is Vodacom, the others are crap. She has a landline phone on prepaid from Telkom and I want her to have internet, it must be affordable otherwise she won't be persuaded.

As i have zero experience on wired internet i can't be of much help and lacking information. In short, I'm a newbie so please guys help me and tell me everything i need to know.
 
Firstly you cannot use ADSL on a prepaid system, so explain to her that you need to convert it to a normal phone service.

Secondly , Telkom does allow a Technician onsite to sort you out (don't know if any free installations but just enquire at your local Telkom office) and all should be good.

As long as the computer is running XP/Vista (God forbid) or Windows 7 and has a network port then you should be fine.

Perhaps before setting up the internet, get the machine looked at, make sure there is antivirus (Microsoft Security Essentials 4.0 is free) and works great.

As far as connecting the PC for wired internet, its just a matter of connecting the network cable (included with your modem) to your pc's network port. Most come with a setup CD that asks you to fill in your details.

If you want to go the Self Install route, there is no harm and we can assist you every step of the way :).

Oh and don't take a contract, go month to month. I would normally recommend Ti for your iSP but get the ADSL line from Telkom and take a DATA-Only account from MWEB as their 1MB account is now R199. They do have a slower speed account for the same price but come June this year, upgrades will change that 384 to 1MB. More info on this will be coming around just check the front page for news.

So in essence

Check your PC for any troubles you think your mum may experience (popups etc)
Check to see if there is a free installation for a tech to come onsite otherwise take the self-install option and we will gladly walk you through the process
Take your ADSL line from Telkom and your DATA ISP account with MWEB

Cost breakdown if i am right should be something along the lines of

ADSL Line Rental 1MB speed - R289.00 (Telkom's price)
Analogue Line Rental - R139.97
1MB Data account (MWEB) - R199.00 (uncapped account)
A Modem/Router - TP-Link TL-W8961ND @ R534.66 incl vat (pricing on their website is excl). This is a recommended model from members on the forum and is cheaper than Telkom's range starting from about R899.00 :p

TOTAL Monthly Cost = R627.97 & R534.66 for the modem once off so first month = R1162.63 (note dbg can deliver so do check with them unless you can pickup).

For more info on above, check the links below

Telkom's DSL Cost breakdown
MWEB's R199.00 product page

Just had a look on the site, Telkom will charge for coming out, rather take the Self Install route and we will help ye out :).

/hope i didn't miss anything
 
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Need a proximity how much data she will use . at the moment it may be cheaper to get 3G if it is very light usage .
For wired you are looking at about R400 a month .
Later this year it may be cheaper for wired but dont hold your breath .
 
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Anyone new to the internet would have light data usage, this is until they figure out how YouTube works and since there's a lot of videos out there (recipes etc etc) it will definitely eat the bandwidth quite dramatically. (My dad was a n00b and caught him watching recipe videos / youtube the other day, all I showed him was google and facebook)

The cheapest you'll get away with is about R1k a month. This gives her unlimited 1mb usage on the line. Otherwise, you could do a "per gig" type thing and buy R100's worth of "gigs", but for R100 more, get unlimited.

Wireless might be an option if she doesn't go out of bundle and is satisfied to slow/congested speeds and not having any internet connection if she does hit the cap.
 
If you are with FNB, then you can get a Telkom data line and the free data from FNB.
See: https://www.fnbconnect.co.za/index.shtml

Anyway, if you are not with FNB, here are your options;


Option 1:
Provider: Afrihost
Data: 4GB @ R58pm
Line Speed: 1024kbps @ R279pm
Voice Line: R155pm @ Telkom --> Your mom should be paying this already

Total Cost: R492pm

Option 2:
Provider: Afrihost
Data: 4GB @ R58pm
Line Speed: 384kbps @ R149pm
Voice Line: R155pm @ Telkom --> Your mom should be paying this already

Total Cost: R362pm

Option 3:
Provider: WebAfrica
Data: 5GB @ R79pm
Line Speed: 1024kbps @ R250pm
Voice Line: R155pm @ Telkom --> Your mom should be paying this already

Total Cost: R484pm

Option 4:
Provider: WebAfrica
Data: 5GB @ R79pm
Line Speed: 384kbps @ R150pm
Voice Line: R155pm @ Telkom --> Your mom should be paying this already

Total Cost: R384pm

Edit: These costs exclude voice calls. You can lower your monthly cost by choosing a 2GB data bundle instead of the 4/5GB
 
hey guys, i'd really like to thank all of your responses, they have really helped. I have issues with the line rental thing, she doesn't pay anything right now for her landline, it's basically free for life, what she does pay for is the prepaid airtime and it's really cheap. The next thing is, do i have to pay extra for speed and then pay for the bundle? Or is the speed included in the line rental?

I've reached a conclusion that i should sign her up on 8ta Go 3 Gigs Big @ R149, she has a Nokia with hspa+ lying around with joikuspot, i'll show her how to enable the hotspot feature. After the promotion ends, i'll look for another deal. Maybe we'll consider wired sometime later when the prices go down.
 
Unfortunately, you can't get DSL on a prepaid line.
The speed is part of the line rental. You will pay more for a higher speed.
Btw, there is two rentals. Voice and Data rental.

If you have 8ta coverage, I would go for that option. It is cheaper.
 
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