More Sentech Details

[guest2013-1]

It will be an online application, but you can call in and they'll do it for you online if you don't have internet access.

a credit check will be done afterwhich your application will be processed. a courier then could deliver the modem to you, or you could arrange to pick it up from one of their designated resellers (dunno who yet)

you might have to pay the R500 once-off fee BEFORE they release the modem, thus I'd probably prefer picking it up myself and paying cash, don't want to wait around for the bank to do their online transfer thing etc.

Because of the access starting on 19th, you will pay pro-rata for the first and last month of the 24 month contract, not sure how they're going to do it, but if you take 1449/31 = 46.74 per day * 12 = R560 for the first month and then 19*46.74= R888.06 for the last month (if I took a wild guess)

Requests for static IP addresses for the 512k package are NOT in effect, they will however in future maybe release a package for this, but from the sound of things, management is still deciding on these key things today still.

Anymore info anyone else found out? Add it here!

 

[Deckert]

Hi Noone,

thanks for the info, however, it does contradict the following information we received from Sentech via e-mail on the 27th of November.

Note the part about the "dedicated IP".

---snip---

The Broadband Wireless service will be made available as a beta offering from 09th December 2003 in Gauteng to selected users. The beta test is really a closed test due to the initial low availability of base stations, which are currently being rolled out. The initial rollout for the commercial service offering at the end of January 2004, will be in the central metropolis of Johannesburg, Midrand and Pretoria followed later by Durban and Cape Town.

The service is based on the regulated and licensed 2.5 GHz radio frequency spectrum and uses equipment located on radio base stations to communicate to a wireless modem. The modem is either a USB device or a PCMCIA card modem for notebooks.

The user can connect via this modem without utilizing any Telkom landline or any other terrestrial connectivity directly to the base station from which Internet access is obtained. The coverage for these base stations is between 3Km -5Km radius.

The service will officially be launched to the public on 28th November 2003 when the prices will be made known. The service will be available either directly from Sentech or from selected partners or directly via the Internet. The packages to be launched will be shared Internet offerings from 128Kbps through to 512Kbps. The target market for these products is largely residential, SOHO and SMME and is focused on meeting the requirements of users utilizing analogue dial-up, ISDN or ADSL services.

The end users' data usage will not be capped. It offers an always-on service at a fixed monthly cost and the service is self-installable. It is a shared Internet access service with a known contention but we will not initially provide a minimum guarantee of transfer throughput, as we will be specifically testing this to ensure a good quality of service.

We will provide a dedicated IP, but I need add that shared Internet connectivity is never recommended for hosting services. That said if your requirement is not commercial but personal then one of the packages might suit your requirements.

Initially our services will be offered on a 24-month contract basis, as the wireless modem is included in the price (cellular contract type model). Their is a possibility that one of our partners (will be announced at launch) will provide different contract or non-contract options with an outright purchase of the wireless modem, but we cannot guarantee this. The modem is currently priced at approx. R4000.00.

All locations for our high sites have not yet been approved. Thus we cannot verify whether your location will be covered from the date of the initial commercial launch of the service. Updates on coverage will be made available on our website (www.sentech.co.za) regularly subsequent to the launch.

Please check our website for updates by the end of November 2003.

---snip---

--deckert

 

[guest2013-1]

Although that could be true on the 27th of November, if you were reading the topics posted, you would notice sentech retracting the offer of dedicated IP addresses and changing to dynamic IP's, as confirmed by the techie.

 

[Deckert]

noone: agreed, I read that here, but the fact is that I mailed them, received a reply and that was that. I have made certain decisions (discontinuation of my current means of communication) based on their e-mail.

They have not sent me any new mail to contra-indicate that their policy has changed. In lieu of the rumors/postings on this [excellent] site and their recent FAQ, I have reversed my decisions.

The fact remains that they're not communicating very well at the moment.

--deckert

 

[guest2013-1]

well, we'll have to see