To be or not to be - slow ADSL?

[Snotface]

Hi,
i've had ADSL for about 6 months and been quite happy with it.
Now i'm moving. Unfortunately i forgot to check whether the area that i bought my house was ADSL compliant or not. Stupid i know, but i really liked the house.

Anyway, i went to the infamous Telkom 'ADSL Results' page and miracle of miracles, my exchange supports ADSL.
Installation date gets arranged and i take the day off to wait for them. They don't arrive.
The next day i start phoning Hell-desk.
Eventually i'm put through to the guy, Moses, who was going to do my installation.
A polite enough chap who informs me that the installation was cancelled because ADSL connection speeds are too slow and that users were experiencing minimum transfer rates?

So, my question, can anyone qualify what they told me? I mean, once a connection is established, surely the transfer speed depends on the overall network traffic? Do you think 'slow' ADSL would be better than 128k ISDN?

In the meantime, i've managed to convince my ISP to downgrade me back to ISDN, which was good of them seeing as i still have 4 months remaining on my ADSL contract, but i'd still prefer ADSL.

Thanks
Snotty.

 

[James]

hmm, souds like another comment to add to the ramdom Helldesk comments, TheROdent would like that one, pity it's not sh!tech's myWireless.

There is no peace without war!!!

 

[martin]

Doesn't connection quality on ADSL degrade with distance?

 

[podo]

martin,

Indeed it does. The DMT modulation ADSL uses compensates for this, to a point, but as you go further, the transfer rate will start to drop. I can't see how this would affect Telkom's offerings though. Remember, a full ADSL line can handle 6MBps down stream and 640kbps upstream. Of course, Telkom uses G.Lite and not the full version G.DMT, so our lines are effectively limited to 2MBps downstream and 512kbps upstream.

Nevertheless, even if the long dinstance forces the modem and the DSLAM to opt for a lower speed, it should not drop below 512kbps downstream, you might only be getting 64kbps upstream though. Still, even if it drops to 256kbps downstream and 32kbps upstream, you'll get better throughput than 128kbps ISDN.

You have to remember though, there is a finite range limit for ADSL technology. If your area is more than 5km from the nearest exchange, you have no chance of getting ADSL access. []

The only other explanation I could think of is that the DSLAM at your nearest exchange is connected to SAIX by a very slow link and is, at present, overloaded with users. For instance, if your DSLAM is being served by a single 2MBps line only, as is the case with most of them, and many hundreds of heavy users are connected through that same DSLAM, access speeds will be worse than those that the capped users enjoy.

In such cases, Telkom might refuse to offer further service in the area, instead of upgrading the line to the DSLAM, as they should really be doing.

Willie Viljoen
Web Developer

Adaptive Web Development

 

[Snotface]

Thanks for the responses.
I guess my best bet would be to see about getting it installed anyway. The comment that the installation guy told me was that they did try installing ADSL in the area, but it was operating at the minimum capacity so they took it out again.
If minimum capacity is still going to be faster than ISDN, then i think i should just grin and bear it for now. If what they said is true, i may be the only guy in the area using it, so i may have the entire 'pipe' to myself.

One further question, does anyone know if Telkom have some kind of rollout plan. Because my exchange is allegedly ADSL 'ready' the results page doesn't give me an 'accurate-Telkom-thumb-suck' installation date.

Heehee, my ISP is going to hit the roof, because it took quite a lot of persuasion to get them to downgrade me in the first place.

Edit: Well here is the update. I applied at Telkom again to have them install ADSL regardless. Unfortunately, the ADSL installation section informed me that they will not install at my location given that the connection will not their minimum requirements as far as service is concerned. I guess that means that i am stuck in limbo, because the exchange is ADSL compliant, but i'm too far away. As long as Telkom records reflect that the exchange is compliant, i can't see them worrying too much about it unless some high-ranker moves into the area and wants ADSL installed.
I'm stuck with ISDN 128k for now, well in at least 21 working day, anyway. Way to go Telkom, another happy client, NOT!

Cheers

Steven<b></b><b></b><b></b><font color="red"></font id="red">

 

[mbs]

I wonder what Telkom's response would be if a prospective ADSL user offers to provide the necessary technology free of charge, to ensure service rollout to his premises? I'm merely speculating here - I have no idea what the technology would be, nor what would be the cost... Would be interesting, though, to see the expression on the faces of Steve White and company, if this were indeed the case and could be practically done... Hehe - imagine the shock and consternation: could even be the basis for another Michael Moore book!

 

[Snotface]

I can't see it being very cheap, otherwise i'm sure they would have rolled it out in more places by now to get that income from ADSL.
It may be interesting to find out though. I wonder if they would release that type of information?
Does anyone have an idea of what equipment i should be asking about? Mini-DSLAM? ? ?

 

[me]

I see there's one here: http://www.ip-warehouse.com/catalog/products_new.php?page=2 going for a mere $8K, or R50 000. Not sure where that stands in the broader picture but it gives one a general idea. Not something I'd buy for Telkom