Derrick
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The wireless telephone and Internet modem which resembles a traditional table-top fixed-line phone is not a bad first attempt
Consumers have been waiting for years for a competitor to Telkom The wait is almost over. Second national operator Neotel will launch its first consumer offerings later this month. And its first product, a wireless telephone and Internet modem which resembles a traditional table-top fixed-line phone, is not a bad first attempt.
It has problems — most notably, it lacks an Ethernet port so people can’t easily share their Internet connections — but, for a first product, Neotel deserves more bouquets than brickbats.
Neotel has opted for a fixed-wireless solution based on a technology known as CDMA2000 EV-DO.
EV-DO offers download speeds of up to 2,4Mbit/s. In our tests in Northwold, northwest of Johannesburg, we were pleasantly surprised with the Internet access speeds served up by the device. Using speedtest.net, an online speed testing service, they ranged from 638Kbit/s from a server in Johannesburg to 2Mbit/s from a server in Cape Town.
Uplink speeds averaged around 50Kbit/s, with the best performance achieved on a connection to London.
In basic telephony, the device does not score as well. Though calls to fixed lines were exceptionally good, calls to mobile phones left much to be desired. All in all, it’s an encouraging start from Neotel and should help put further downward pressure on SA’s exorbitant telecommunications rates.
Consumers have been waiting for years for a competitor to Telkom The wait is almost over. Second national operator Neotel will launch its first consumer offerings later this month. And its first product, a wireless telephone and Internet modem which resembles a traditional table-top fixed-line phone, is not a bad first attempt.
It has problems — most notably, it lacks an Ethernet port so people can’t easily share their Internet connections — but, for a first product, Neotel deserves more bouquets than brickbats.
Neotel has opted for a fixed-wireless solution based on a technology known as CDMA2000 EV-DO.
EV-DO offers download speeds of up to 2,4Mbit/s. In our tests in Northwold, northwest of Johannesburg, we were pleasantly surprised with the Internet access speeds served up by the device. Using speedtest.net, an online speed testing service, they ranged from 638Kbit/s from a server in Johannesburg to 2Mbit/s from a server in Cape Town.
Uplink speeds averaged around 50Kbit/s, with the best performance achieved on a connection to London.
In basic telephony, the device does not score as well. Though calls to fixed lines were exceptionally good, calls to mobile phones left much to be desired. All in all, it’s an encouraging start from Neotel and should help put further downward pressure on SA’s exorbitant telecommunications rates.