Panorama/Sonnendal: How to get fibre when not on anyone's fibre coverage map?

[LadyAth]

I hate my ADSL. I am too far from the exchange to even get a stable 4MB with no roadmap for an exchange upgrade or fibre coverage plans from Telscum. And now that it is Winter, the line connectors rust in the Telkom box, get noise, constantly dropping connection that insists on being 1MB at the most and non-responsive engineers. Yes, I am ready to claw someone's eyes out.

I have tried Cybersmart (never got a reply), MWeb (they want to give me Wimax...NO), RSAWeb (nope), DarkFibre (no coverage) and Vumatel (need 30% signatures just to get on a 'list for someday').

So what can I do? Apart from selling my house and moving, who can I pay to install FTTH for me? Most depressing is that the area across Plattekloof road (not even 500m) from me is fibre-enabled, but noooo not my area.

 

[Johand]

I am in Welgelegen 1 around the corner - also struggling with an unstable 4 Mbps connection and no hope in sight.

My house is 200 meters from a Telkom MSAN -- but the cables run in a different direction meaning no VDSL. I am 800 meters from the FTTH zone. Telkom has essentially given everybody in the area the finger. Nobody at Telkom can even give an idea if the situation will ever change.

I don't think there is a residence association or similar through which to drive such an to get fiber - I think our only hope is to start going door to door in the triangle of bad connectivity that is Panorama/Monte Vista & Welgelegen and get people in on a campaign for fibre :-(

 

[deweyzeph]

Your only option is to move.

 

[Sl8er]

I am in Welgelegen 1 around the corner - also struggling with an unstable 4 Mbps connection and no hope in sight.

My house is 200 meters from a Telkom MSAN -- but the cables run in a different direction meaning no VDSL. I am 800 meters from the FTTH zone. Telkom has essentially given everybody in the area the finger. Nobody at Telkom can even give an idea if the situation will ever change.

I don't think there is a residence association or similar through which to drive such an to get fiber - I think our only hope is to start going door to door in the triangle of bad connectivity that is Panorama/Monte Vista & Welgelegen and get people in on a campaign for fibre :-(

Your only option is to move.

Pretty much that ^

I tried for five years to get them to fcking do something about it...and nothing. (Welgelegen 1, 150m from Panorama Primary) I couldn't even get 2mbps, only 1.5. Pissed me off to no end reading about forumites, literally, living in the middle of nowhere, complaining that they only had 4mbps, while I sat in the middle of a large city and they couldn't even get me 2mbps.

I was so happy when I moved.... Fck telkom...a hundred million times over.

 

[Johand]

Pretty much that ^

I tried for five years to get them to fcking do something about it...and nothing. (Welgelegen 1, 150m from Panorama Primary) I couldn't even get 2mbps, only 1.5. Pissed me off to no end reading about forumites, literally, living in the middle of nowhere, complaining that they only had 4mbps, while I sat in the middle of a large city and they couldn't even get me 2mbps.

I was so happy when I moved.... Fck telkom...a hundred million times over.

The sad thing is the MSAN is AT Panorama Primary - but it only covers a 90 degree angle. It is beyond ridiculous. They probably only have to trench through 3 driveways and 1 road to connect most of Welgelegen 1. Very obviously the deployment is just replacing old nodes and not really replanning their network as such :-(

 

[LadyAth]

Moving will probably be on the cards for me in a few years and when that happens, the TOP requirement will be, FTTH. Estate agents should add that to their search criteria!

But ,eh, confirmed with Telkom that there is really nothing even planned for Panorama for the next two years. Even when it hits planning stage, it still takes centuries to actually get any infrastructure installed. Tried to contact DFA, but they don't respond to messages from their site it seems. Or don't care unless you are a nice big business

 

[tanka]

There needs to be a better understanding that this is business. They have used a GIS to work out where they can make money and this is where fibre has been rolled out.

If you want fibre in your area then you need to get people in the area together who are interested in fibre and will pay a responsible amount. Many providers will consider deploying if you provide them sufficient interest.

I know it's not always easy but business is in it for the money.

 

[Johand]

,eh, confirmed with Telkom that there is really nothing even planned for Panorama for the next two years.

Who? Nobody in Telkom was ever able to give me any detail - in fact every other person has some conflicting story. I would really like to know where to get some solid info... please share...

 

[oldtimerZA]

We have the exact same problem in Weltevreden Park, I stay 4km from the nearest exchange( IN RANDBURG!) and have for years now asked them to improve the ADSL network conditions , to no avail, I can only get "2 mbps" line speeds(mostly sit below 0.8mbps) , have complained and complained until I'm blue in the face and yet no change.
If I had another option in this God-forsaken country I would take it in a heartbeat, but alas it's going to be years until another fibre company gets to my street. I have the skills to leave the country so I'm planning on doing that ASAP.

 

[Axen]

Panorama is receiving an infrustructure upgrade. 3 sites are set in concrete and contractors are busy digging and boring holes near the picknpay family store/ engen garage.

The day has finally come!

 

[LadyAth]

In Parow North they were doing the same thing - turns out it was for the school, not the residential areas. Since Telkom had zero plans for the next few when I inquired a few months ago, I am not so sure this is being done for the people living in Panorama. Until I see proof on a coverage map, it remains wishful thinking - unless you have other information, Axen?

 

[Axen]

The school and college already have their links in panorama/ welgelegen. These boxes are being installed in strategic locations to service the panorama residents they are no where near the schools. I have also spoken to telkom guys at the sites, 65+ attenuation for 10 years is something they are finally going to address.

The dream is real!

 

[SubliminalThought]

I hope that this will service Kaapzicht as well. Did a search now for DFA and panorama, since was interested to know for what purpose they installed fibre at pick 'n pay and which ISP was servicing the area.

My ADSL (which was horrible to begin with 1.8Mbps - resetting every now and then) went to completely unusable (<800Kbps - resets very often). Eventually found a reliable wireless supplier. 4MBps for ~R800 with static IP, uncapped. I would love to switch to 20Mbs fibre though.

 

[Splinter]

The school and college already have their links in panorama/ welgelegen. These boxes are being installed in strategic locations to service the panorama residents they are no where near the schools. I have also spoken to telkom guys at the sites, 65+ attenuation for 10 years is something they are finally going to address.

The dream is real!

So what happened to this? Telkom website shows no planned fibre rollout as of today?

 

[Chevron]

I hate my ADSL. I am too far from the exchange to even get a stable 4MB with no roadmap for an exchange upgrade or fibre coverage plans from Telscum. And now that it is Winter, the line connectors rust in the Telkom box, get noise, constantly dropping connection that insists on being 1MB at the most and non-responsive engineers. Yes, I am ready to claw someone's eyes out.

I have tried Cybersmart (never got a reply), MWeb (they want to give me Wimax...NO), RSAWeb (nope), DarkFibre (no coverage) and Vumatel (need 30% signatures just to get on a 'list for someday').

So what can I do? Apart from selling my house and moving, who can I pay to install FTTH for me? Most depressing is that the area across Plattekloof road (not even 500m) from me is fibre-enabled, but noooo not my area.

Get all your neighbours together, or neighbourhood's association and get about 30 people in your area to sign up. Almost any company will install fibre in your area, but they need to see the interest first.

 

[Axen]

Splinter, the white boxes (MSANS, correct me if i'm wrong) all over the place will cut the loop length down to a few 100m for residents of Panorama (10mb to 40mb speeds, cable permitting). I saw on another mybb thread that someone spoke to a contractor recently. The contractor said they started the cut over and ran into issues so they had to revert (no ETA was given on the resolution time).

 

[Space]

The school and college already have their links in panorama/ welgelegen. These boxes are being installed in strategic locations to service the panorama residents they are no where near the schools. I have also spoken to telkom guys at the sites, 65+ attenuation for 10 years is something they are finally going to address.

The dream is real!

Saw no less than 10 Telkom vehicles working at the MSAN across the road from Panorama Pick 'n Pay last week and at various points all along Uys Krige Drive in the direction of the Vet and Total garage.

Lke Johand, I too live just a few hundred metres from the VDSL MSAN on the corner at Panorama Primary, but am getting very erratic 4 Mbps ADSL from Kroonenburg Square - the small blue and green box with the peeling paint where they sell wood on the corner of Rothschild and Giel (incidentally when Google was taking the streetview shots, this box was standing open for several weeks ! )

In Bothasig I had 20Mbps VDSL (synching at 16), but in Welgelegen 1 I have erratic ADSL struggling to synch at 4.

I will gladly add my name to any list of 30 fibre-hopefuls in the area

 

[luka138]

Saw no less than 10 Telkom vehicles working at the MSAN across the road from Panorama Pick 'n Pay last week and at various points all along Uys Krige Drive in the direction of the Vet and Total garage.

Lke Johand, I too live just a few hundred metres from the VDSL MSAN on the corner at Panorama Primary, but am getting very erratic 4 Mbps ADSL from Kroonenburg Square - the small blue and green box with the peeling paint where they sell wood on the corner of Rothschild and Giel (incidentally when Google was taking the streetview shots, this box was standing open for several weeks ! )

In Bothasig I had 20Mbps VDSL (synching at 16), but in Welgelegen 1 I have erratic ADSL struggling to synch at 4.

I will gladly add my name to any list of 30 fibre-hopefuls in the area

Could you send me a screenshot of the box please? I can't seem to find it on street view.

 

[Butterfly777]

Which companies can I approach to install fibre in our area if I get enough interest from our area - what type of area (kms) is needed - a block of houses? Can I go further than that?

 

[Axen]

If you're referring to Panorama, I think VDSL is the fastest things will get for a long time. Fiber to the "white boxes" is almost complete. They set the deadline for Feb 2016 but it may delay to March.

You need a petition for these companies, call them first to see how many interested people you need:
Vumatel
Telkom
Dark fibre africa

There's probably more companies but i couldn't think of them all on the spot.