Noob wants ADSL help pls

D

DeathOnSight

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Greetings guys,

I'm tired of my mobile connection always dropping when it becomes overcast by my house:wtf: ,so i want to try the ADSL route finally.I have an odd situation though,which Im hoping you guys could advise me on.

At my house we have a telkom line,when we moved in years ago we had a telkom account.then we cancelled it for a good number of years.Then about two years ago we got the prepaid option(waya-waya) which we used for awhile but the line went dead after a few months then we never bothered with it again(a telkom techy came to sort it out after awhile but we didn't plug the phone back in)....okay let me get to the point.

We have an inactive telephone line (that was or still is on prepaid...I'm not sure if it is?)
Where do i go from here?Im trying to save some costs as well,but if I have to pay for quality service then thats what i have to do.

i've looked at some of the guides,most of which were posted in 2010 and last responses to it was last year,so im looking for some more up to date advice (well all the info in there is still relevant,just need some up to date prices and experiences with them.i will search telkoms website and mweb myself,but im not sure what i should be looking for,so i guess i need some direction there).

when i contact telkom,what do i tell them?
do i need somebody to install an adsl line regardless of whether or not i have a telephone line?

thanks a mil
 
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DeathOnSight said:
Greetings guys,

I'm tired of my mobile connection always dropping when it becomes overcast by my house:wtf: ,so i want to try the ADSL route finally.I have an odd situation though,which Im hoping you guys could advise me on.

At my house we have a telkom line,when we moved in years ago we had a telkom account.then we cancelled it for a good number of years.Then about two years ago we got the prepaid option(waya-waya) which we used for awhile but the line went dead after a few months then we never bothered with it again(a telkom techy came to sort it out after awhile but we didn't plug the phone back in)....okay let me get to the point.

We have an inactive telephone line (that was or still is on prepaid...I'm not sure if it is?)
Where do i go from here?Im trying to save some costs as well,but if I have to pay for quality service then thats what i have to do.

i've looked at some of the guides,most of which were posted in 2010 and last responses to it was last year,so im looking for some more up to date advice (well all the info in there is still relevant,just need some up to date prices and experiences with them.i will search telkoms website and mweb myself,but im not sure what i should be looking for,so i guess i need some direction there).

when i contact telkom,what do i tell them?
do i need somebody to install an adsl line regardless of whether or not i have a telephone line?

thanks a mil
Click to expand...

Hi

Some equipment you're going to need is:
- A phone (if necessary)
- POTS filter
- ADSL Router

Assuming your line is dead, the first thing you'll have to do is to contact Telkom (obviously). I'd recommend you go into one of their Direct stores as I personally think it's better to deal with someone face to face, especially Telkom. Once you get there, simply tell them that you would like to apply for a post-paid voice line. Here you have a couple of options:

1) Residential service @139.97 - This is purely a voice line. You'll be able to make calls and get a monthly statement
2) One of 3 Closer calling plans @ R158, R177 and R333 respectively - These packages provide you with different options e.g. Closer 1 allows you to phone for free over weekends, Closer 2 has more free calling time etc. etc. Just depends on how much you want to phone, if at all. If you don't, just go with a standard voice line (option 1), although I`d recommend a Closer 1 because you'll be able to make cheaper/free calls if need be

Prices can also be found here:
http://www.telkom.co.za/general/pricelist/downloads/tarifflist_Aug11.pdf - Look at A1.4.7 ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) – connectivity and A1.4.21 Telkom Closer Calling Plans (Residential Customers)

Once you apply for this, fill out a form etc. they will tell you that a technician will get hold of you to arrange an installation date. This can take anything from 2 to 21 days (or much longer :p). Okay, assuming the techy phoned you and your voice line is sorted, on to the next step...

Now you have to either phone Telkom on 10210 OR go into a store once again and ask them to upgrade your line to an ADSL line. Again, you have a few options. Depending on what you're going to use the internet for, you'll want to choose an appropriate line speed. They are available in 384kbps, 1mb, 4mb and 10mb flavours. I`d recommend you get 1mb line at least. The costs for these line rentals are as follows:
384kbps OR Fast DSL (as Telkom calls it) - R152
1mbps OR Faster DSL - R259
4mbps OR Fastest DSL - R413

This process can also take a while. Once ADSL is activated, you need to verify your line. (I can't seem to remember how they let you know when it is activated? Maybe someone else can chip in :))

Okay so now you have your voice line and ADSL line sorted. The last step is to decide on an ISP. Once again, depending on whast you're going to use the Internet for, you'll have to choose an appropriate ISP and one of their packages. For gaming and some downloading, I'd recommend an MWEB uncapped 1mbps package @R199. To apply for this is quite easy. You simply give Mweb a call (or request a call-back on their website), give them your landline number and tell them what you want. Thereafter you immediately get a username and password which you feed into your router. This allows you access to the Internet.

In total, it will cost you R158 (Closer 1) + R289 (ADSL 1mbps line) + R199 (MWEB data) = R646

I didn't go into too much detail and I might have missed a thing or two, but I think this should provide you with a fairly good overview of what you need to do. Please ask if you need to know more
 
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Thank you very much EeTa,
Went to telkom today and confirmed all those with the exception that I can provision both voice and adsl at the same time after a tech has come to my house(said the lady at the store). Hmm,1 last question...would the following be okay(I want to connect 2 pc's via ethernet 3 laptops via wifi)

D-LINK DSL-2750U modem/router...and would it work with D-LINK ANT24-0600?

Found both of those on the rebeltech website.reason why I would like the extention is because one laptop would be quite a length away from where I want to place the router.there's about 4 walls inbetween those two points,and I want to make sure the signal is a proper one.

Thanks again
 
Good Morning guys
Spoke to two different Telkom reps in the past week at Westgate (JHB).
the first tells me that if I take the closer 1 package,installation of the voice and adsl line is free,then all i have to pay is line rental + the call package of my choice which gets debited on the agree'd upon date.but the other rep tells me that with that caller package,voice line installation is free,but i have to pay for the adsl line installation which costs R550 which would be debited along with the other amount on the agree'd upon date?they both told me the same thing,when i get the voice line installed,i must have adsl line installed as well at the same time? Im confused,as the one rep stated its an extra cost of 550 towards this whole thing(which is a once off payment)

could anybody shed some light on this matter for me please?
I fear if i go into a different Telkom store,I'll get told an entirely different story,and i would like to budget this thing out properly.

thanks for the help
 
Get the Closer 1 package and keep your mouth shut about wanting an ADSL line, they will come install the line for free and start billing you the R158 a month. Once this is done phone 10210(I think) and go through the endless menu options to find the ADSL Self Install Option, tell them what line speed you want be very clear that you don't want a contract and that you are using another ISP. They will then activate your line for data for free. Then get hold of your ISP to get your data.

Sure there are other ways to do it but got my 1meg line in less than a week with no installation costs doing it this way.
 
Just asking, if I just want the adsl line and NOT the voice line. Is it possible?
 
Nope, not possible. You have to get both,it's telkoms way of screwing us over.

OP - whatever you do don't sign a 12/24 months contract for any of the Telkom 'specials'
 
Eysh...

Ok so I had more or less the same problem as you regarding my line blah blah blah.
So I phoned Telkom and they were to come out One Month and four days later, (In essence more then 21 working days later), to which the Tech found that my underground wiring was faulty. Fast forward a month later and they only coming to do the line tomorrow, well hopefully anyway.
After this I have to wait a few days and then do the Self upgrade to Adsl line and only then will I choose my ISP...

Eysh..l.
 
Thanks guys.
This must be our unlucky streak Sharkie,as a tech already came out to my place,tested the line and said he'd be right back.
2 hours later he came back and said theres a problem with the underground cables.he said he reported the fault and telkom should send somebody out to fix the problem and then only send another tech to do some kind of installation?Anyway i wont hold my breath,just thought i'd let you guys know how far i got with this plan
 
Word of advice, get on their asses because they will delay this the whole time....i went the HelloPeter route and it helped so if they don't get back to you within a week, escalate the matter further mate
 
Quick Update:
The tech came out and sorted out the line yesterday.When I got home i tested the Telkom guest account by loading Telkom's website,so everything is working fine.My router reports its a 512/1MBps line.
I figured since the internet light was green and it loaded their page,i didn't have to do the self install,but i gave the call centre a call anyway.was on the line for a while before i spoke to a consultant,although i didn't mind as i was multi tasking.I asked the consultant just to verify that the line was fully operational on their side which they did.
Now all I need is an ISP,looking at mweb,axxess and open web.I want to do more research regarding what they offer and the cost of their 1MBps uncapped accounts
 
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