Telkom ADSL 'Self Install' now available

[Ocsic9]

ryan411: I am aware of the cost for making calls during normal hours. My better half will be using the facility in call more and only call more times to contact her mother!! We use our cellphones most of the time anyway!

ic: I figured that for R45 more than your normal line rental, the above mentioned can be accomplished and everyone is happy!!
Most of the people I chat to on the phone do not have broadband or any connectivity good enough for VOIP. One of the main reasons I am getting adsl is to use the VoIP. I have family overseas and VoIP is the cheapest based on call duration versus costs.

 

[Syndyre]

IMO Closer options 1 & 2 & 3 are complete & utter ripoffs, the only ones worth considering are Closer options 4 & 5 - especially if you have|want ADSL bcos the price of ADSL is included in 4 & 5 but not in 1 & 2 & 3.

Having said that, remember that Telkodemonopolies' Closer strategy is to discourage all of us customers from using VoIP and to ensure that we have a minimum monthly spend via the price of a Closer package.

Closer is just another of Telkodemonopolies' plans to get customers to sell their souls to this beastly telecoms demon.

Every Telkom package is a ripoff, that's a guarantee. Closer 2 isn't too bad though if you primarily make calls at night and already have a phone line anyway.

 

[ic]

Every Telkom package is a ripoff, that's a guarantee. Closer 2 isn't too bad though if you primarily make calls at night and already have a phone line anyway.

It is true that everything from Telkodemonopolies is a ripoff .

Unless one is nocturnal, who only makes calls during Callmore hours? - a telephony service is supposed to provide a degree of freedom to communicate [-]to[/-]with whomever and whenever - not just when Telkodemonopolies dictates that one would need less lube than normal.

 

[RogueTr00per]

I'm getting Further

Every Telkom package is a ripoff, that's a guarantee. Closer 2 isn't too bad though if you primarily make calls at night and already have a phone line anyway.

Yeah, everything Telkom is a ripoff, no doubt! When it comes to Closer and which plan to use or not use, it depends on your usage patterns. So it's something that has to be monitored on a monthly basis, and if u see ur usage is changing, then change plans or cancel.

I'm cancelling Closer Plan 2 today. I've no more use for it, and now that my dad is home during the day, it's costing us more because of the odd peak call he makes. I've managed to use up 8999.67 of the 9000 internet minutes as of yesterday, so now I can cancel the plan without losing out on what I paid for! * sigh* the lengths one has to go to when it comes to Telskum...

I will now go ahead and order my DSL upgrade once again, via Denise at head office. If they stuff up again, it's their loss. Loss of revenue since I wont be paying extra for Closer 2 and 150 internet hours any longer

 

[Ocsic9]

I decided to get adsl after doing some r&d and browsing on this forum! I applied for the service on the 1 Feb 2006. I currently have a prepaid line.

I went into one of those Telkom shops and placed my order.
1st thing I had to do was convert my Prepaid to normal line. I opted for Telkom closer 2.
2nd thing was to get the line 384/128. I opted for the self install.

The person helping me could not confirm that I will be allowed to get the self install but someone from the adsl dep. would contact me in due course??? and I signed the SIO document*found this strange*

I did this in the evening so they said they would call me with a ref no. the next day. They called me and now I have my ref no. My line was also converted the next day to Closer 2.

I am waiting to see what they going to tell me about the self install. Will keep you guys posted.

Hi guys. Just an update.

I got a call from Telkom today to confirm my details. They said it would be active in two weeks but the consultant said that it could be sooner!! So lets see what happends.

 

[Syndyre]

It is true that everything from Telkodemonopolies is a ripoff .

Unless one is nocturnal, who only makes calls during Callmore hours? - a telephony service is supposed to provide a degree of freedom to communicate [-]to[/-]with whomever and whenever - not just when Telkodemonopolies dictates that one would need less lube than normal.

I agree, just think for some people that work from e.g. 8-5 Mon-Fri there'd be relatively little time they're at home during pek time. Of course the other problem is a lot of people don't bother having Telkom lines any more and just use their cellphones so there's less people to call.

 

[ic]

I agree, just think for some people that work from e.g. 8-5 Mon-Fri there'd be relatively little time they're at home during pek time. Of course the other problem is a lot of people don't bother having Telkom lines any more and just use their cellphones so there's less people to call.

did you mean agree or disagree?

In the context of ADSL, combined with Telkodemonopolies' """incidental""" shaping of VoIP, as well as the ludicrously low SAIX-usage limit [especially if one uses an ISP other than the beast], there will be lots of people running small businesses from home & wanting to make calls outside of Callmore hours, so I can fully understand why someone might opt for Closer 4|5.

 

[RSnow]

IMO Closer options 1 & 2 & 3 are complete & utter ripoffs, the only ones worth considering are Closer options 4 & 5 - especially if you have|want ADSL bcos the price of ADSL is included in 4 & 5 but not in 1 & 2 & 3.

Having said that, remember that Telkodemonopolies' Closer strategy is to discourage all of us customers from using VoIP and to ensure that we have a minimum monthly spend via the price of a Closer package.

Closer is just another of Telkodemonopolies' plans to get customers to sell their souls to this beastly telecoms demon.

I can't say I agree with a blanket statement like this. While I agree that all Telkom plans are complete & utter ripoffs, your logic for saying that Closer 4 & 5 is any better than closer 2 & 3 is flawed. In many cases, yes, people will go for this without actually considering whether it makes any sense at all for their particular situation, and it will end up making Telkom loads of extra money, but in many cases (like mine), using Closer 2 is actually worth it. My wife spends an hour or two every night on the phone - family all over the country - and there's almost never anyone home during working hours that could use up the 1000 minutes, so that would just be a waste.
I'm on Closer 2 (R145) with a 384k ADSL (R245), for a total of R390. My average phone bill comes to about R400-405 per month. If I were go for Closer 4, I would gain absolutely no benefits that would be useful to me, and my bill would go up by about R100/month. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one out there with this sort of usage pattern...
That said, I agree. Closer 1 is a totally and utterly useless. No real benefits, unlike Closer 2 with it's free calls and Closer 3 with its free minutes (which aren't actually free - just cheaper - R155 for 1000 minutes instead of the R680 Closer 2 would cost you for the same 1000 minutes). And for the price I pay for my 384k ADSL line rental alone (excluding phone line rental and isp charges), my friend in Holland has uncapped, unshaped 8Mbit internet + phone + closer 3 like free minutes and calls... Oh, the pain. Telkom - the sound of your heart being ripped out through your wallet.

 

[ic]

I can't say I agree with a blanket statement like this. While I agree that all Telkom plans are complete & utter ripoffs, your logic for saying that Closer 4 & 5 is any better than closer 2 & 3 is flawed. In many cases, yes, people will go for this without actually considering whether it makes any sense at all for their particular situation, and it will end up making Telkom loads of extra money, but in many cases (like mine), using Closer 2 is actually worth it. My wife spends an hour or two every night on the phone - family all over the country - and there's almost never anyone home during working hours that could use up the 1000 minutes, so that would just be a waste.
I'm on Closer 2 (R145) with a 384k ADSL (R245), for a total of R390. My average phone bill comes to about R400-405 per month. If I were go for Closer 4, I would gain absolutely no benefits that would be useful to me, and my bill would go up by about R100/month. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one out there with this sort of usage pattern...
That said, I agree. Closer 1 is a totally and utterly useless. No real benefits, unlike Closer 2 with it's free calls and Closer 3 with its free minutes (which aren't actually free - just cheaper - R155 for 1000 minutes instead of the R680 Closer 2 would cost you for the same 1000 minutes). And for the price I pay for my 384k ADSL line rental alone (excluding phone line rental and isp charges), my friend in Holland has uncapped, unshaped 8Mbit internet + phone + closer 3 like free minutes and calls... Oh, the pain. Telkom - the sound of your heart being ripped out through your wallet.

ic your point about the 2nd degree of proximity to the beast, combined with ADSL connectivity rental, where the 2 rentals for the exact same line [2nd degree + ADSL] does happen to be slightly less exorbitantly priced where usage is only in Callmore time, than say the 4th degree of proximity to Telkodemonopolies which is of course a higher minimum monthly spend [what the beast wants].

But my point of view is that if one runs a business from home and one has an ADSL line and one makes calls outside of Callmore hours to other [Telkodemonopolies] landline numbers [IOW during normal business hours] then and only then should one consider the 4th degree of proximity to Telkodemonopolies. I realise I didn't express this properly in my previous posts - my bad .

 

[RSnow]

But my point of view is that if one runs a business from home and one has an ADSL line and one makes calls outside of Callmore hours to other [Telkodemonopolies] landline numbers [IOW during normal business hours] then and only then should one consider the 4th degree of proximity to Telkodemonopolies. I realise I didn't express this properly in my previous posts - my bad .

When you put it that way, I have to agree with you. If you're running a business, it definitely makes sense to go for the 4th degree of proximity, as you put it.
Ah well. Telkom bills. They wouldn't be so bad if we were actually getting even something like half of what we're paying for, instead of a twentieth.

 

[RogueTr00per]

Hey, when did this become a Closer thread?

OK, on a serious note, it's info like this that we need to get out to the average Telkom customer, so that they can hand over as little money as possible to the beast!

 

[Syndyre]

did you mean agree or disagree?

In the context of ADSL, combined with Telkodemonopolies' """incidental""" shaping of VoIP, as well as the ludicrously low SAIX-usage limit [especially if one uses an ISP other than the beast], there will be lots of people running small businesses from home & wanting to make calls outside of Callmore hours, so I can fully understand why someone might opt for Closer 4|5.

I mean it depends on your circumstances so both. Telkom will do their best to rip you off and invariably will so each person just has to choose the package for them that will best lessen the degree of rape.

 

[Ocsic9]

Hi guys. Just an update.

I got a call from Telkom today to confirm my details. They said it would be active in two weeks but the consultant said that it could be sooner!! So lets see what happends.

Hi guys!! It's official!! It took 5 days and my line is installed!!! If it's working is another story!!

 

[Mze]

Self installed

I am using a Netgear DG834G v3, updated with the latest firmware, and have just completed the self-install.

I have a Closer option 5 account with Telkom 3g ISP service. The option 5 is nominally UP TO 1mbps, but is upgraded to UP TO 4mbps.

THIS IS TELKOM'S BLURB ON 4MBPS

DSL Up to 4096Kbps trial
Primary profile

Down stream: min 640kbps; max 4096kbps
Up stream: min 256kbps; max 384kbps

The DSL Up to 4096kbps service has 4 sub-profiles, which are used to stabilize customers' service that experience re-synchs (service interruptions) on their ADSL lines due to last mile distance, noise and attenuation. Therefore customers that experience problems on the service may be accommodated on any of the secondary profiles below:

Secondary profile
A. min sync rate: 640kbps; max sync rate: 4096kbps
B. min sync rate: 640kbps; max sync rate: 3072kbps
C. min sync rate: 640kbps; max sync rate: 2048kbps
D. min sync rate: 640kbps; max sync rate: 1024kbps


What the above entails is that if a customer does not sync at the profile listed in A above they will be accommodated on B, C or D depending on the line sync speed.

I am getting the minimum speeds as published by Telkom.

Does anyone know whether I can increase the speeds, and if so, how?

 

[kiepie]

So I asked the lady on the other side of 10219, PLEASE "SELF INSTALLATION"

The Telkom guy phoned me yesterday and ask me if I were'nt intrested in a Self Installation.

Does the people in the call centre even have matric?

 

[graytg]

Hi guys

Phoned telkom today to get an ADSL line and told the lady i want the self install, she then told me that because i am doing the self install i get a free modem (USB or the wireless one).

I was sceptical at first and asked if this is like a contract and she said no, its part of a special they now have going because I opted for the self-install and decreasing the workload of the technicians and other ppl that didnt take this option... Don't know if this is only for Western Cape ppl.....

Just thought id let you guys know....

 

[hj2k_x]

Hi guys

Phoned telkom today to get an ADSL line and told the lady i want the self install, she then told me that because i am doing the self install i get a free modem (USB or the wireless one).

I was sceptical at first and asked if this is like a contract and she said no, its part of a special they now have going because I opted for the self-install and decreasing the workload of the technicians and other ppl that didnt take this option... Don't know if this is only for Western Cape ppl.....

Just thought id let you guys know....

And you have no contract? You sure about that?

 

[|tera|]

Thanks spikey, do you work for telscum?

 

[graytg]

yip.... i probably asked her like 3 or 4 times lol and she repeated my order and stuff by saying specificly "month to month"...

 

[hj2k_x]

hmmm, this sounds pretty good to me...Anyone out there with a similar story?