Sentech National W-DSL Launch 1/12/03 !

ajax

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What kind of transmitting amplifier is used on the modem? Do these modems come with built in signal amplifiers?

Ajax
 

Cerberus

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I wish I knew this part of it Unfortunately Sentech didn't give me the model number for the modems they are using so I can't really say but I have looked on the net for these modems and it seems they don't have Amplifiers at all. You see most Access points can get up to 11mb/s UPLOAD/Download at 400m but you only want 1/4 of that for the upload the download comes from the LARGE transmitter on the site. So your modem won't need the Amplifier cause the main bandwidth is being transmitted from the tower. They need the Amplifier(Which they already have) :) I think this is how it works from what I have read:)

Regards
Cerberus
 

ajax

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Found some sites with info on antennas and modems for the wireless solution:
www.itelite.net - Info on available antennas ranging from 50$ US to 200$ US. (some high gain antennas here for those of us that are "out of range")
www.maxstream.net - Info on modems. They go for a few hundred dollars each.

Looks like setup costs won't be too bad, at least, not more than ADSL [:)]

Ajax
 

Cerberus

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Here is something I'm sure you haven't thought of :) if you go on vacation and you are withing a certain radius to a sentech tower you can also connect with a laptop to that tower so no matter where you go or where you are you can always have the fast internet access 24/7 anywhere in SA when they put up enough towers:) NOW THAT is true multipurpose useage:)
 

silversurfer

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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Cerberus</i>
<br />Here is something I'm sure you haven't thought of :) if you go on vacation and you are withing a certain radius to a sentech tower you can also connect with a laptop to that tower so no matter where you go or where you are you can always have the fast internet access 24/7 anywhere in SA when they put up enough towers:) NOW THAT is true multipurpose useage:)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

lol, w000t i can work while on surf trips. =)
 

silversurfer

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Its like one month to their launch date... i wish we could pre-order??? I am moving into a new house (within range of their cape town tower) on the 28th November... i want to order nowwwwwww.
 

Cerberus

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A little bit of patience Silver Surfer I was on site here and they need to round up the planning before implimenting. It's actually intelligent to keep you waiting till the 1st due to most people's paydays and christmas just around the corner and telling you about the system just gets you more excited but the distrobution is a little bit of a question mark I don't know where you have to go or where you can purchase the modems... lets hope they have the delivery system in place:)
 

Nickste

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Lo all.

Shot for the info Sash!
And to think i was going to order ADSL from Telkom!

A little while ago i was investigating Wireless Broadband with a small local Cape Town company (uninet), but unfortunately (although because of Sentech's offereing - maybe it wasn't too bad!) i didn't have enough signal, however, they had this Wide Area Network where you could share your files, and people could download off you - like a network.

Will we be able to do the same thing with Sentech?

Chow, Nick

Nick Smit
adsl@nicksmit.za.net
 

Cerberus

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Nick - Even if the signal isn't that great and you are out of the 5km range from the tower you can buy a antenna for around R200 to strengthen your signal and if THAT doesn't work get a booster for it to and if still no luck you might have to wait till sentech start moving out their network to neiboring sites unfortunately that is the limit on wireless connection but they should be getting their newer towers in in April/May if everything goes well and just here in Durban their planning to accomidate 120000 people (compared to telkom that only accomidate 10000) :) so have hope if they do well they will put up more sites afterall that mean more coverage and more income which also means better connections and more bandwidth for us:)
 

Sparf

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just a quick question, an overview if anyone has the info:

A - price to setup
B - price per month
C - no cap right?
D - rough latency (ping) to offcontinent like europe/asia/n amer.


currently my ping to london goes from about 400ish in the early morning (before 8) to over 3000 during working hours.
 

Cerberus

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Sash - I wish I could give you prices but you'll have to wait but you will see that sentech will give you a product at a good price the installation well that will be the same as adsl:) And yes no cap the way sentech work is Contention Ratio, otherwords you share bandwidth with other people and if there is availible you can use it. I think the contention ration is 50:1 but I could be wrong and that is on a 2mb box :) the same goes for their satellite(which when I saw it demo'd was faster than any d/l I have seen in my life 500KB/s not 500kb/s but Kilobytes!) as for the latency well they seem to be having problems purchasing undersground cable(telkom throwing a fit) so they HAVE to use their satellite systems maybe at a later date(when the SNO comes in or Transtel is allowed to use their lines) then the pings should be the same as ADSL the ping to JHB has been guessed at 32ms from DBN :) which is fast compared to isdn and I'm sure just as fast as adsl from here.

Regards
Fanus Buys
 

Sparf

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thanks for the reply! :)) makes me get goosebumps thinking about it. do you think the pings to europe will be below 500 ?
 

Cerberus

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We can only hope like I said it depends on Saix if they are willing to sell bandwidth to Sentech if they arn't well unfortunately the pings to anything overseas will be horrible but if the SNO does come into play this can be rectified. If Sentech get the lines they want then I'd say you probably will get the same ping as ADSL users i.e to Europe between 250-300 ping. But if they are routing through satellite unfortunately it'll be around 900-1000 ping:(

Regards
Cerberus
 

Rtaxerxes

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I see that Sentech is a state owned company. So surely their guys shouldn't have a problem with Telkom? Telkom doesn't have a monopoly anymore, they only kind of do because there is no 2nd operator yet. So surely the state can tell them to shove it, and they can access the overseas lines?
 

Cerberus

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According to the info I got the state would have helped sentech with a large amount of income but they withdrew around 4 months ago so now Sentech are on their own:( it's the sad state of affairs. But Sentech are trying to meet the publics expectations for a reliable and fast service. If you want fast pings overseas you'll have to be patient:)
 

armitage

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[:D]just noticed something the frequency is 2.4? right? thats wifi or 802.11 standard frequency if im not mistaken.


New service by Telkom broadband speeds up to 5kbps for only R1k a month. heheh
 

Cerberus

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Yep they are launching it with the G3 Launch on the cellphones using the same type of technology so yes the 802/11b protocol with 2.4-2.6ghz system. I have yet to hear anything more but I have some info I haven't posted(due to constraints) so ask questions and I will answer them as best I can:)
 

Chubs

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I am sure I have asked this before but maybe there is an update. Any idea when they would be coming to Port Elizabeth?
 

Cerberus

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My guess would be in March next year Sentech are planning on putting up more towers here around Dbn so I assume this will be the case all over the country(as dbn isn't special) :p
 

Chubs

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well I can only hope. Just wish they put more info on their site. I have gotten to the stage where I HATE telkom so much I am terminating all fixed line comms at home, cant wait for the wireless
 
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