Sentech/Nowire dead, now what?

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GimmeGigs

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With the garbage dump finally shutting down, what can I do with my modem?

Can I use it to connect to another ISP, or is it just dead weight? Maybe use it to toss at some scum sucking helkom,eks'dom etc. employee?

Maybe a coaster or what?

What options do I have, other than emigrating? :mad:
 
I am in the same boat. I enquired today about getting adsl because there is no telkom3G and I dont trust notel further than I can throw them and iburst's accounts department has scared me away forever. I suspect nowire will want their modem back in its original box with the original receipt. Oddly enough I have had no notification from them about the closing of mywi. I wonder if they know?
 
GimmeGigs said:
what can I do with my modem?
Click to expand...

Ideas for old Sentech modems

  • Use it as a night light
  • Keep it in your car to fend off hijackers
  • Open it up and salvage the components. Sell the lead to a scrap metal plant
  • Buy some high site equipment that will inevitably be flogged for 20 cents and create your own network
  • Sell them on eBay to unsuspecting people
  • Door stop
  • Chock for your car tire
  • Light it on fire, pee on it, tie it to a brick and throw it into Sentech's window
 
GimmeGigs said:
With the garbage dump finally shutting down, what can I do with my modem?

Can I use it to connect to another ISP, or is it just dead weight? Maybe use it to toss at some scum sucking helkom,eks'dom etc. employee?

Maybe a coaster or what?

What options do I have, other than emigrating? :mad:
Click to expand...

OhGats said:
I am in the same boat. I enquired today about getting adsl because there is no telkom3G and I dont trust notel further than I can throw them and iburst's accounts department has scared me away forever. I suspect nowire will want their modem back in its original box with the original receipt. Oddly enough I have had no notification from them about the closing of mywi. I wonder if they know?
Click to expand...

Okay, this is my "I told you so":

This is the fundamental reason why wireless does NOT work in this country. You need to buy your equipment upfront Or sign a costly 24 month contract. Then the provider sells you THEIR bandwidth to you, leaving you no choice. That's basically going (taking Telkom example) :

Here's a phone line with ADSL, but you're only allowed to use TelkomInternet, nothing else.

If I were you guys I would look into getting Telkom Wimax. Telkom Wimax allowes you the choice of bandwidth provider (Axxess, Web Africa, Mweb or whoever provides ADSL lines)

They have no upfront modem costs (other than the installation fee) and even though it's only 512k, reacts exactly like an ADSL line. It terminates into their ADSL network so you know you will get bandwidth and not some point to point jump between towers to a hub that doesn't have enough bandwidth allocated.

There's no "here, you would need a special static IP address to play your favorite online games" because guess what, to the world you'll be on an ADSL line. You have a DSLAM for yourself (like a normal line) everything.

And it's only R240! Add onto an Uncapped IS Express account for R899. You'll have 512k uncapped for just over R1000. With more than decent speeds for online gaming or whatever you need without having to pay the phone line rental.

Also. NO CONTRACTS. It's month to month.
 
ach I grew very attached to my modem, I even gave it a name "Old squeaky". The pair of us have downloaded our 10G per month for nearly 4 years. When I moved house I was connected immediately, I did not have to apply for a line or sit sans connection for weeks. Twas truly plug and play. My problem is I live in rental accomodation and getting telephone lines is a major pain because you never know if you will actually get a line or not. Sigh...
"wat se jy ou squeaky?? wat nou? ou Piet en ou Joe?"
en ou squeaky se niks...
Wimax... let me see what sez telkom... I heard you can only get it if there is no copper to your premises. There is copper accoridng to ye olde telkom shoppe.
 
Nope, there was a line running to my place (where I had ADSL previously) which I canceled back then. I applied for Wimax and got it, no conditions.
 
OhGats said:
I am in the same boat. I enquired today about getting adsl because there is no telkom3G and I dont trust notel further than I can throw them and iburst's accounts department has scared me away forever. I suspect nowire will want their modem back in its original box with the original receipt. Oddly enough I have had no notification from them about the closing of mywi. I wonder if they know?
Click to expand...

They're so frackin useless, don't worry, they'll want squat from you. What do do with my dish...?
 
briantw said:
They're so frackin useless, don't worry, they'll want squat from you. What do do with my dish...?
Click to expand...

Try and pawn it for scrap perhaps. Maybe join the JAWUG/PTAWUG while you have some sort of signal booster (although, you'd have to spend some cash in getting a router again specially for their network)

This is the exact reason why I advise AGAINST wireless:

a) You have to purchase the modem/router/wireless equipment outright or be locked in a 24 month contract
b) If the signal isn't strong enough they don't want to cover so you require to spend more in additional equipment just to get a decent lock on a tower.
c) You buy bandwidth (or get bandwidth) they provide, so it's not independent like with Telkom ADSL (or Telkom Wimax) where you can choose who your ISP is.
d) Once they fold and fall, they leave you holding useless equipment and without an internet connection
 
Ja ,wish I knew about this 3 years ago, still stuck with a modem I paid R2000 for, gonna be come an expensive paper weight now.
 
Bull805 said:
Ja ,wish I knew about this 3 years ago, still stuck with a modem I paid R2000 for, gonna be come an expensive paper weight now.
Click to expand...

Just make sure you give the following a miss:

1) If they ask you to sign a 24 month contract
2) If they ask you to purchase equipment upfront to access their system because you opted not to sign a 24 month contract
3) They're the provider of the connection AND the bandwidth

If you avoid those things then you'll be fine in future.
 
I was in Hifi Corp today and they were selling MyWi modems at their computer dept, when I told the salesperson that they were selling paperweights he was shocked and had no idea that MyWi had min dae. sigh... I still dont know what I am gonna do. Telkom Wimax is a no brainer where I live.
 
Today I went to telkom and applied for a telephone line in preparation for getting adsl. sigh... tis the end of an era.
 
AcidRaZor said:
Okay, this is my "I told you so":

This is the fundamental reason why wireless does NOT work in this country. You need to buy your equipment upfront Or sign a costly 24 month contract. Then the provider sells you THEIR bandwidth to you, leaving you no choice. That's basically going (taking Telkom example) :

Here's a phone line with ADSL, but you're only allowed to use TelkomInternet, nothing else.

If I were you guys I would look into getting Telkom Wimax. Telkom Wimax allowes you the choice of bandwidth provider (Axxess, Web Africa, Mweb or whoever provides ADSL lines)

They have no upfront modem costs (other than the installation fee) and even though it's only 512k, reacts exactly like an ADSL line. It terminates into their ADSL network so you know you will get bandwidth and not some point to point jump between towers to a hub that doesn't have enough bandwidth allocated.

There's no "here, you would need a special static IP address to play your favorite online games" because guess what, to the world you'll be on an ADSL line. You have a DSLAM for yourself (like a normal line) everything.

And it's only R240! Add onto an Uncapped IS Express account for R899. You'll have 512k uncapped for just over R1000. With more than decent speeds for online gaming or whatever you need without having to pay the phone line rental.

Also. NO CONTRACTS. It's month to month.
Click to expand...

Ok, so here are the correct facts

1. Not all credible wireless suppliers require extended contracts or upfront payment for the equipment. Screamer Telecoms allows you to rent it on a month to month basis.

2. Telkom ADSL allows you to connect to a number of ISP's for your bandwidth

3. IS Express uncapped sells fro R1,290 a month if you want their Satellite bandwidth (which is no good for gaming) and this is not uncapped but capped to 30Gb's and month with a 10Gb 10 day rolling threshold
 
Playoff said:
Ok, so here are the correct facts

1. Not all credible wireless suppliers require extended contracts or upfront payment for the equipment. Screamer Telecoms allows you to rent it on a month to month basis.
Click to expand...

But they do force you to use their own bandwidth without a choice and very unstable due to either upstream bandwidth supplier problems or "noise" on their frequency range by people using it "illegally"

Playoff said:
2. Telkom ADSL allows you to connect to a number of ISP's for your bandwidth
Click to expand...

I was using it as an example compared to wireless companies that do. In English (you know, the language we speak on this forum mostly)
AcidRaZor said:
That's basically going (taking Telkom example) :
Click to expand...

Indicates that an example would be following after the colon. The word "example" is also used in that sentence. Reading before replying would help you in this case however I also make the same mistake sometimes so no worries :p

Playoff said:
3. IS Express uncapped sells fro R1,290 a month if you want their Satellite bandwidth (which is no good for gaming) and this is not uncapped but capped to 30Gb's and month with a 10Gb 10 day rolling threshold
Click to expand...

Fact: IS Express Uncapped accounts uses SAT3 bandwidth. IS Business Uncapped (with fixed IP address) uses satellite bandwidth. Stating that you're busy with facts does not make them fact ;)

FYI, AFAIK the business uncapped does not work on a rolling threshold and the IS Uncapped Express (even though they have the rolling threshold) is uncapped to full 4mbps speeds after hours.

The express accounts also cost a lot less than R1,290 depending on where you're looking. Axxess for example sells them for R899 last time I checked.
 
Your pathetic attempt to explain the use of a colon to imply a convoluted example is laughable. Your english leaves a lot to be desired

So where is the web site offering Uncapped, rolling threshold IS SAT3 bandwidth for R899??
 
OhGats said:
Today I went to telkom and applied for a telephone line in preparation for getting adsl. sigh... tis the end of an era.
Click to expand...

It's a step that I took 4 months ago - after having MyWireless since its launch. You can look forward to a vast increase in download speed, depending on what line speed you choose. I am sure you will enjoy it. On the downside - be prepared to be on the phone a lot to Telkom. That's one thing I can say about the service from Sentech, it was hardly necessary for me to phone about signals been down - if you were one of the lucky ones that got a good signal.
With Telkom, it's a whole new kettle of fish!!!
Good luck with your ADSL!! :rolleyes:
 
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