telkom softcap

khaleelcarrim

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
22
What exactly does softcap mean? When I signed up I was told that once I reach my softcap I'll be able to connect at a slower speed.
Last month when I reached the softcap it was pretty much like I was capped. WhatsApp messages weren't even being delivered. I didn't give it too much thought because I still had a month left on my 8ta 3g
Today when I called telkom to troubleshoot my modem, I asked the consultant about softcap and he says that when you reach your softcap, you can only access the telkom site?

Anybody with previous experience of such?
 

cavedog

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Oct 19, 2007
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Well softcap you get throttled down to a very slow speed. I have not been softcapped yet on my account but I believe its very slow and maybe only banking and stuff like that will work.

Did you make use of the night surfer times for any downloads? Telkom has extended it by 1 hour from September. Do all your downloads from 00:00 to 7am daily because that is free uncapped data between that time. It will help save your daytime cap a bit.
 

zizo911

Executive Member
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Dec 24, 2010
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Nonsense... soft cap is very usable gor browsing. U stil receive all access just at a reduced speed of 364Kbps.
 

LaraC

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Mar 11, 2014
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This was an email that I received from Telkom during August 2014 which explain what SoftCap is.
Understanding Telkom Internet Uncapped and SoftCap

Telkom is pulling out all the stops to improve the experience of its customers. We have made a number of improvements to Telkom Internet and trust that you are already enjoying the benefits of these. We're happy to say there are more improvements to come.

We are working hard to ensure that our customers get a consistently good Internet experience. We would also like our customers to gain a better understanding of our products. What follows is an explanation of Telkom Internet Uncapped and SoftCap bundles.

Uncapped products: customer behaviour and corrective actions

These products are designed for home or business use.

As the name implies our uncapped products do not have a specific data usage cap. However, Telkom can apply restrictions to an uncapped account. This may be done when a customer's pattern of usage compromises network performance, or causes network congestion in a way that affects the experience of other customers negatively. Excessive concurrent internet sessions or using bandwidth-intensive protocols (such as streaming video and online gaming) are examples of this kind of pattern.

In such instances Telkom may:

· Constrain a customer’s throughput speed; and/or

· Shape a customer’s bandwidth to limit the use of bandwidth-intensive protocols and applications.



To help you monitor your usage, Telkom has introduced a Tracker Tool. This Tool allows you to determine when your usage approaches levels that will require restrictions to be applied. When such a level is reached, Telkom may take action within 24 hours by restricting your usage. Full service will be restored at the beginning of the next calendar month.

If a customer's usage pattern continuously affects the performance of Telkom's network, and as such also impacts on other users' experience, Telkom may decide to terminate such a customer's uncapped account. This is in line with our Acceptable Usage Policy.



Staying connected with SoftCap



Data limits applied by Telkom have all been soft-capped, in other words you do not get cut off when you reach your monthly data cap. SoftCap enables you to stay connected at no extra cost. You will therefore be able to do things like send and receive e-mails, do Internet banking and browse the Internet. However, such actions will be done at a reduced speed.



Customers who reach their monthly data usage limit also have two other options:

· Make use of top-up by using a credit card. Customers can do this by accessing the Top-up portal and purchasing additional bandwidth.

· Choose post-paid billing for a pre-defined data limit. In this case the following month's Telkom Internet bill will reflect the usage amount above a customer’s cap.



Lastly, it should be noted that:

· Telkom's network prioritises SoftCap packages.

· We have introduced a roll-over function for unused data. This means that unused data purchased via a credit card will roll over to the next month.

· Our Night Surfer functionality differentiates our offer in the market in that customers are not constrained if they schedule major downloads from 24:00 to 06:00.

· All our packages are in line with industry definitions.



Kind Regards,

Telkom Internet
 

khaleelcarrim

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
22
Nonsense... soft cap is very usable gor browsing. U stil receive all access just at a reduced speed of 364Kbps.
When I was softcapped, I went on to speedtest.net, and the needle didn't even move off the bottom. It couldn't even give me a reading. When I tried it at a later stage in the month, I couldn't even get on to the speedtest site.

Apart from that, the telkom consultant specifically told me that when softcapped, you can ONLY browse telkom websites. If that's what the consultant is saying surely there must some semblance of truth or at least he was informed by somebody superior that that is the case.
 

khaleelcarrim

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
22
Well softcap you get throttled down to a very slow speed. I have not been softcapped yet on my account but I believe its very slow and maybe only banking and stuff like that will work.

Did you make use of the night surfer times for any downloads? Telkom has extended it by 1 hour from September. Do all your downloads from 00:00 to 7am daily because that is free uncapped data between that time. It will help save your daytime cap a bit.

I don't get any nightsurfer on my deal. It's actually a 5Gb softcap, but they giving a further 5Gb as promotion.
 

cavedog

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Oct 19, 2007
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I don't get any nightsurfer on my deal. It's actually a 5Gb softcap, but they giving a further 5Gb as promotion.

That does NOT sound correct. The 5GB+5GB is now 10GB softcap account with free usage from 00:00 to 7am daily.

https://secure.telkomsa.net/titracker/

Log in there and click on 'My tools' then 'Add-Ons' from the drop down menu.

You should see Night Surfer, Social media and Gaming data usage numbers there. Those are what you have used so far. So as I suggested do all your download between 00:00 and 7am and you will see your 10GB cap last you way way longer than before. You get unlimited usage between 00:00 and 7am so you don't have to worry about how much you can use.
 

MickeyD

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Oct 4, 2010
Messages
139,117
That does NOT sound correct. The 5GB+5GB is now 10GB softcap account with free usage from 00:00 to 7am daily.

https://secure.telkomsa.net/titracker/

Log in there and click on 'My tools' then 'Add-Ons' from the drop down menu.

You should see Night Surfer, Social media and Gaming data usage numbers there. Those are what you have used so far. So as I suggested do all your download between 00:00 and 7am and you will see your 10GB cap last you way way longer than before. You get unlimited usage between 00:00 and 7am so you don't have to worry about how much you can use.
Is the night Surfer not also reliant on you not being softcapped? So you have to stay within your softcap limit to benefit from the free GBs while Night Surfing...
 

badtrev

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
866
Is the night Surfer not also reliant on you not being softcapped? So you have to stay within your softcap limit to benefit from the free GBs while Night Surfing...


Nope, if you're capped your nightsurfer is still active just runs at the low speed as well
 

MickeyD

RIP
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Oct 4, 2010
Messages
139,117
Nope, if you're capped your nightsurfer is still active just runs at the low speed as well
Thanks, that is what I meant.... :eek: Should have added "at full line speed", which you point out won't happen if you are softcapped.
 

cavedog

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Oct 19, 2007
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22,661
Yeah should have added that. I did not know because I have not been softcapped yet. I think you can manage the daytime cap if you do your downloads in night surfer times. I wonder if Telkom customers know about it though.

I see a lot of people don't even know when the free unlimited times are and some don't even know they have it. A simple scheduler can fix that. Updates and downloads I think is the reason most people eat into their daytime cap. I mean like 1GB update during peak time already chowed 10% of a 10GB softcapped account. Had the update been nightsurfer time I think it would have helped a lot.

So I always suggest that to people on Telkom capped accounts.
 

khaleelcarrim

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
22
That does NOT sound correct. The 5GB+5GB is now 10GB softcap account with free usage from 00:00 to 7am daily.

https://secure.telkomsa.net/titracker/

Log in there and click on 'My tools' then 'Add-Ons' from the drop down menu.

You should see Night Surfer, Social media and Gaming data usage numbers there. Those are what you have used so far. So as I suggested do all your download between 00:00 and 7am and you will see your 10GB cap last you way way longer than before. You get unlimited usage between 00:00 and 7am so you don't have to worry about how much you can use.

It says night surfer inactive and 0gb.
 

Juliass_M

Active Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Messages
87
I'm on a softcap 100gb account. I used in month of April 80 gb of data and had 20gb remaining. From the press release I understand that this product has roll over of unused data. I called Telkom to enquire about the data and they say there is no roll over for unused data?
 

zizo911

Executive Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2010
Messages
9,403
I'm on a softcap 100gb account. I used in month of April 80 gb of data and had 20gb remaining. From the press release I understand that this product has roll over of unused data. I called Telkom to enquire about the data and they say there is no roll over for unused data?

No. Telkom data does not roll over.
 
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