Telkom ADSL Data Usage

[Saajid]

And coming back to my main point, if TelkomInternet cared enough about its clients, they would have brought out functionality equivalent to or better than the Afrihost ClientZone, which in mind mind, is simply awesome and unmatched by any ISP in the indsutry.

I can check all my ADSL usage, top up, update my details, check my line stats or reset my port (if you migrated your line over), sign up for and manage free fax-to-email services, change my account passwords, manage my mobile data account, manage my AlwaysOn WiFi hotspot subscriptions, log support tickets, cancel any package, sign up for any additional packages, view all statements and invoices since signing up, update my payment details (debit order or credit card), join their referral programme to save some money, change my login details (website login, ADSL PPOE account details, WiFi details) and more. From the Afrihost website I can see the status of the network, and if there are any current issues.

I have almost never spoken to an Afrihost support client, except when I requested a 10mbps uncapped trial account, which was provided to me very happily, at no additional cost.

How much of the above can you do with TelkomInternet, without needing to pick up the phone?

 

[ponder]

I'll gladly admit that Afrihost has very nice portal, my purchasing decision was however not based on what isps portals looks like.

Most of the important things like checking usage, changing passwords, logging faults, get my bill etc I can do online with Telkom but yes it's not as nice as Afrihosts.

If the portal is the main thing in your life then use Afrihost, maybe Telkom will come around eventually wrt their portal.

 

[akescpt]

But you throw out statements as if they were fact...yet you yourself now admit you don't actually know much and it's all based on anecdotal evidence from others?

Eish...

+1 Seems he is talking out of ignorance. That capped table doesn't take into account the night surfer uncapped either. I for one am considering the Telkom capped accounts. My line has been quiet prolly 90% this week. Just waiting to see usage once fall tv starts up. Most likely just schedule downloads and get enough to stream sport occasionally.

 

[ranger]

And coming back to my main point, if TelkomInternet cared enough about its clients, they

Telkom Internet cares, but I am not sure if Telkom (who has mandated some decisions) cares for our customers any more than they do for customers with just a phone line, or customers who have an ADSL line with Telkom but an ISP account with another ISP.

would have brought out functionality equivalent to or better than the Afrihost ClientZone, which in mind mind, is simply awesome and unmatched by any ISP in the indsutry.

The best place to start (since a year ago, when they migrated what was on http://www.telkomsa.net to the Telkom portal platform) is now the Do Broadband site.

Of course, some of the features in Afrihost ClientZone are only possible due to developments by Telkom Wholesale (e.g. releasing an API for ADSL support - which they don't want us to use BTW., they blocked our change request to provide similar functionality to our customers saying that they had a better solution coming, and our subscriber base was too large for their current API).

I can check all my ADSL usage,

TI Tracker

top up,

TopUp (easily accessible from TI Tracker)

update my details,

Depending on the details, possibly on Telkom's main self-service portal. However, since some details end up on an invoice which is legally sufficient for proof of residence, FICA, RICA etc., they may not be changed online. For the email address used for notifications of usage, see TI Tracker.

check my line stats or reset my port (if you migrated your line over),

As far as I know, Telkom IT doesn't allow us to use this API (it may be Telkom Wholesale's decision, not 100% sure)

sign up for and manage free fax-to-email services,

Not sure about this one ...

change my account passwords,

https://online.telkomsa.net/pmt.

manage my mobile data account,

In the pipeline. We were about 90% complete with a mobile data service in 2007, but it got canned due to the impending sale of Vodacom for the launch of 8ta.

manage my AlwaysOn WiFi hotspot subscriptions,

WiFi in the pipeline.

log support tickets,

Report an ISP fault or by email.

cancel any package,

As of last year, all billing changes are now initiated by Telkom's legacy order management system, which has no interface available to customers. All Telkom cancellations must now go through the Telkom Options Centre. This is outside Telkom Internet's control. Previously, you could cancel online.

sign up for any additional packages,

See above.

view all statements and invoices since signing up, update my payment details (debit order or credit card),

Telkom Online Bill, including your phone line, ADSL line, internet account, etc., but only 3 month's past invoices. We have no influence over this sytsem ....

join their referral programme to save some money,

There is currently no referral program for customers.

change my login details (website login, ADSL PPOE account details, WiFi details) and more.

Since this information is now referenced on many other systems in Telkom, we are not allowed to change it from our side, and the 'Enterprise' portal currently has no real self-care features.

From the Afrihost website I can see the status of the network, and if there are any current issues.

In the pipeline.

How much of the above can you do with TelkomInternet, without needing to pick up the phone?

Seems like about 5 we have now (I won't defend the fact that they are in various different places, but for some of them we are at an impasse with Telkom IT), 3 are in the pipeline, 5 or 6 we aren't allowed to do (but 2 we had in the past).

 

[ranger]

Anyway, myself being an uncapped user makes the question a bit moot. I stream all of my content (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, BBC iPlayer), and hardly ever do big content downloads.

Have a look here.

Unfortunately, due to the Naspers situation, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon etc. won't be viable for some time, as they don't have rights to distribute video content here.

So the unlimited night surfer wouldn't help me in any case, because who waits up until that time to stream stuff?

You don't have any devices that get software updates? Really? Not using any online backup service?

 

[Saajid]

Thanks for the update on the issues TI are facing, and the impasse between TI and Telkom. From where I'm sitting, the situation doesn't look good for TI getting an Afrihost-type ClientZone anytime in the next few years. As a software developer, I can understand the issues, and the bureaucracy at play that is holding things back. It would actually be much easier if TI divorced itself from Telkom completely, and operated as a separate entity. With recent competition commission rulings, I reckon that now is probably the best time, especially in light of the commitments that Telkom made to implement functional seperation between wholesale and retail departments.

You don't have any devices that get software updates? Really? Not using any online backup service?

I use Dropbox and other cloud-storage services for backups and for my working folders. So all the important stuff is always instantly backed up. I don't believe in full-system backups, and they would take too long in any case with our current upload speeds. I do software updates as soon as I am notified about them. But that has nothing to do with the point I was trying to make. I was saying that as an uncapped user that streams video content and which makes up about 90% of my bandwidth usage, I personally don't have a need for midnight surfer, as I don't need to schedule things to happen after hours. Streaming of video content in instantaneous. I want it and need it now. I don't do big video/content downloads (because everything is streamed instantly), so there is nothing to schedule after hours. As explained about backups and software updates, again there is nothing to schedule.

With uncapped, I don't need to schedule anything. Everything happens immediately, when I need it. So I personally don't see the need for midnight surfer. If I was a capped user, it would definitely make a whole lot of sense.

 

[Saajid]

Coming back to my first post in this thread:

Everytime I come across a thread like this it makes me laugh, then makes me very angry. I don't get why people still use the pathetic and expensive services of TelkomInternet, when there are so many awesome alternatives out there.

Please, for the love of broadband, switch to an ISP that actually cares about its customers, and actually gives you the information you need in a quick, easy, user-friendly and informative manner.

Perhaps I was not very clear in the message I was trying to get across. So let me try again:

I simply can't think of a single reason that anyone would have to make use of TelkomInternet instead of any of the other leading ISPs, especially when they are MyBB forumites (you know, the people who post threads like this one), whom one would assume are clued up about the alternatives in the market. From the users in the first 10 posts in this thread, all of them are members since at least 2010 (almost 4 years ago), and some even longer than that (2005 - almost 9 years ago, 2007 - almost 7 years ago).

That's why when I read crap like this, it first makes me laugh to see people still asking the same questions that have been asked since I registered on these forums. It then makes me somewhat angry when I see how long these users have been registered for.

You'll never find an Afrihost, WebAfrica, Axxess, etc subscriber asking these sorts of questions, especially not one that has been a long-time MyBB forumite. The info is readily available, in a user-friendly manner, from a single online portal that requires no guesswork to use, or MyBB threads or Google searches to figure out where to get the info from.

TI is also not the cheapest, and never has been. They've come close, and may have held the crown for a few days/weeks before the other ISPs responded, but TI has, in the general sense, never been the answer to the question - "Which is the cheapest ISP" to go with.

So what are your guys real reasons for sticking with TI as your ISP?

 

[Elite Override]

I simply can't think of a single reason that anyone would have to make use of TelkomInternet instead of any of the other leading ISPs

Almost flawless uptime and stability?

 

[Hectic]

I'm mostly happy with my uncapped account.
Speeds are are aleays there on demand.
I do have an Afrihost capoed account.
I do like them as an ISP.
I think they are the most innovative ISP.
However their reduncy failed badky in the past. Unless you are on a more expensive business account, the uncapped capped are quckly shaped up 75% or more.
None of the other ISP's can compete with TI speef during business hours, when it comes to simarly priced packages in my opinion.

I think Afrihost is great, but TI suits me better.