Uncapped IS (non-express) 1024k

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StNick

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I am looking for some feedback from users of the Uncapped 1024k product from IS which many ISPs are reselling these days... I am referring to the contract-based product whereby you are provided with a router and 5 static-IP addresses, NOT the Uncapped Express product.

I have had experience with the Express accounts, and they are indeed great. However, for business purposes, the threshold and lack of static-IPs are a problem.

I am therefore looking at the twice-as-expensive Uncapped version. Can anyone vouch for this as a good solution for a small-to-medium business running a mail server?

Also, since we're paying such a premium, I'd obviously like to "open the taps" after hours ;) Will they give me the full 4mbps at any point like the Express 1024k, or is it fixed at 1mb? The Uncapped-express accounts have proven themselves to be the account of choice for heavy users. Am I likely to get similar service from this one?

Any comments / feedback would be appreciated, thanks.
 
The biggest problem I see with these accounts is that they force you into a 12 month contract, and they don't allow you to use your own router.
 
StNick said:
I am looking for some feedback from users of the Uncapped 1024k product from IS which many ISPs are reselling these days... I am referring to the contract-based product whereby you are provided with a router and 5 static-IP addresses, NOT the Uncapped Express product.

I have had experience with the Express accounts, and they are indeed great. However, for business purposes, the threshold and lack of static-IPs are a problem.

I am therefore looking at the twice-as-expensive Uncapped version. Can anyone vouch for this as a good solution for a small-to-medium business running a mail server?

Also, since we're paying such a premium, I'd obviously like to "open the taps" after hours ;) Will they give me the full 4mbps at any point like the Express 1024k, or is it fixed at 1mb? The Uncapped-express accounts have proven themselves to be the account of choice for heavy users. Am I likely to get similar service from this one?

Any comments / feedback would be appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

We are running an uncapped solution and I can vouch it's good for a SME.

Just a few pointers:

1. Make sure you get a fiber connection as the satelite connections are horrible.

2. Best way to setup your mail is to get a ISP to host your mail and then forward it on to you. The reason is ADSL is a best effort service and if the line goes down and Telkom takes a couple of days to fix it all your email will bounce which is bad for business. If you have a ISP hosting your email then your email gets stored until your ADSL is up again.

3. Don't go directly to IS as they don't provide SMTP relay servers for uncapped connections. This means if you don't use a relay server for outgoing mail your DNS server is going to look up the domain name for every outgoing email. Which will slow it down considerably. I know Mweb provides this service.

4. Make sure you have a backup connection in place like 3G or something as eventually your ADSL will go down.
 
Last edited:
Amida said:
2. Best way to setup your mail is to get a ISP to host your mail and then forward it on to you. The reason is ADSL is a best effort service and if the line goes down and Telkom takes a couple of days to fix it all your email will bounce which is bad for business. If you have a ISP hosting your email then your email gets stored until your ADSL is up again.
Click to expand...

Actually the best solution for mail is to use Google Apps to host your entire organisation's mail.

You just buy the domain yourself, setup a Google App account, and then change the MX records of your domain to point to Google's mail servers.

http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html
 
We currently have an Exchange server onsite (current solution is 256k Diginet). The logistics of moving all our mail across to another ISP gives me nightmares.
 
StNick said:
We currently have an Exchange server onsite (current solution is 256k Diginet). The logistics of moving all our mail across to another ISP gives me nightmares.
Click to expand...

In that case, you could host your exchange server on your ADSL line as you propose, but have a backup SMTP server at an ISP so that if your ADSL line goes down, your incoming mail will just get spooled at the backup SMTP server until your ADSL line come back online.
 
Yes, don't go directly to IS... shocking service.

My friend had it at his house (he is loaded) and said the support people really didn't have any idea how the product worked.
Eventually he got out of the contrat by telling them to pay for his downtime.
 
I was under the impression that IS don't sell direct anymore anyway.
 
StNick said:
We currently have an Exchange server onsite (current solution is 256k Diginet). The logistics of moving all our mail across to another ISP gives me nightmares.
Click to expand...

We've also got a leased line. In that case your mail should be sorted.
 
I have been running my business since 2004 and in 2005 we went for the 512k static IP uncapped solution through Gamco. A year later I upgraded it to fibre.
Just like you, I host my email server (exchange) on my line as well as sounce control for my developers to access from home. This worked 100% for a long time, and very rarely experienced problems with the line, and email was very reliable.
I recently (Jan 2009) switch over to Interprise and took the IS 5GB threshold for R490 PM which saves me R1,500 odd and I still get 5 static IP. Only difference is when the 5GB usage is hit, you are throttled to 128kbps uncapped until the end of the month. While this is a pain for downloading, my email, SQL Server and source control access is still very reliable and I cannot notice a slow down when accessing from on-site client locations.
For R495, you cannot go wrong.

I have had one ADSL drop in 3 years, and it lasted for around 14 hours. Not a killer considering the price being paid.
 
Thanks for the input Mike (and to the others that contributed).

I am going to see if I can arrange a trial of some sort before committing to a 12 month contract.
 
One nice thing with Interprise and the contract. I ensured before signing up, that when prices drop or allowances increase, they will be passed on to me even though I am on a contract, and they ensured they would be. So contract not really a problem in this case as you won't be paying a premium when the prices drop/allowances increase.
 
I can only say good things about the 1MB uncapped business over fibre. Got 5 lines from datapro and they have been really great.
Ther is however another promising option now:
Vodacom uncapped 4MB.
True uncapped, some shaping (not too bad)
And a whole lot cheaper than the IS option.
been running 2 of those for a month now and it was worth the move, will be moving the other 5 IS lines to Vodacom business within the next few weeks.
 
ADSL through Vodacom? What madness is this you speak of?

Can you point me in the direction of a sales consultant? Are we talking about the same ballpark price-range?
 
Fantastic1 said:
About R3200 for a 4mb uncapped fibre from vodacom,
Pm me and I can send you all the info
Click to expand...

Hey there,

Very interested in this, seems too good to be true at the price-point.

Please can you forward me the info.

Nick
 
If you host your email locally on your ADSL line, make sure you have a backup email server on another network, so that you can still receive email, otherwise incoming emails will bounce if your ADSL line is done

Add another MX record to your domain in your DNS record
 
kilos said:
If you host your email locally on your ADSL line, make sure you have a backup email server on another network, so that you can still receive email, otherwise incoming emails will bounce if your ADSL line is done

Add another MX record to your domain in your DNS record
Click to expand...

kilos
pls give your opinion on the following:
main connection = adsl
secondary failover = 3G
If my second MX pointed to a dyndns on the 3G but the 3G is only opened when the main connection fails would this cause big problems? or would the first MX always be used unless its unavailable?:confused:
 
GamCo provides free mail spooling, secondary MX mail backup and SMTP relay with all Business ADSL's. Catchall/Wildcard mailboxes are also a good option for Exchange.
 
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