Upgrading ADSL from 4mbit to 8mbit

ɹǝuuᴉM

ɹǝuuᴉM

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I am all Telkom and I want to pay the extra 100Rand/month and upgrade from 4mbit to 8mbit. I have a problem though:
I am about 1.5km from the exchange (which does support ADSL 10mbit). On the map my area is marked with 4mbit max. I have contacted the local technician (also a buddy and neighbour of mine) and he said he is aware of the wrong/old map. He has 8mbit at his house and it works just fine. He has tried to get the map updated but . . . He was part of some trial when they upgraded the hardware at the Telkom centre (1.5km away) but he does not know if I will be able to get the 8mbit line.
One day he came to my house and after phoning some engineer in Capetown, my line was 'tested' at 8mbit. In a minute or so it got 'reprogrammed' for 8mbit and I loved the look of 8192mbit syncing display on my router info :D
The tested download speed was somewhat slower at around 7.4mbit and it was rock steady. Of-course, before the technician left, the line was reset back to 4096 (Which is fair, after-all I pay for 4096)
The next morning I phoned Telkom and asked for the upgrade. After a 25+ minutes wait I got tolled : No upgrade Sir! Your line supports only 4mbit. The map in your area says so. I called again and after another 35 minutes wait the second operator eventually picked-up and tolled me the exact same thing. I was like WTF is wrong with you people.
Anyway, what can I do now? Clearly, Telkom does not want the extra R100/month. How idiotic.
 
Check if you can get their uncapped lte rather. For R599 all in with speeds averaging 60mb/s you won't be disappointed. Unless your area has fibre or getting fibre- this is your best bet. Heck even if you can get fibre the lte deal is still cheaper.
 
Sadly no. Won't do at all. The package you mention only has 50GB/month. The added speed is more like a bonus. Nice to have but not essential. I do Kodi on 4-mbit line and works like a charm. My real issue is the data. Or rather the lack there-off. On the 4-mbit line, after 160-170GB I get throttled to about 1/10 line speed :( I am not 100% sure but I think if I upgrade to 8-mbit my data will double too. Now that will be nice. I remember when I was on 2-mbit I had about 70-80GB per month before the throttling started.
Mind you, can somebody confirm this? On a Telkom uncapped account and 8-mbit line, after how many GB does the throttling start?
 
Unfortunately, until you can somehow get past the bottleneck, nothing will happen. Is it not possible for your neighbour to help you get past the bottleneck? Or maybe MickeyD knows someone who know someone that can help.
 
ɹǝuuᴉM said:
Sadly no. Won't do at all. The package you mention only has 50GB/month. The added speed is more like a bonus. Nice to have but not essential. I do Kodi on 4-mbit line and works like a charm. My real issue is the data. Or rather the lack there-off. On the 4-mbit line, after 160-170GB I get throttled to about 1/10 line speed :( I am not 100% sure but I think if I upgrade to 8-mbit my data will double too. Now that will be nice. I remember when I was on 2-mbit I had about 70-80GB per month before the throttling started.
Mind you, can somebody confirm this? On a Telkom uncapped account and 8-mbit line, after how many GB does the throttling start?
Click to expand...

I have been told that, if your area on the telkom map does not support 10mb or higher, the agent you are speaking to won't be to assist with the upgrade. They have been instructed to check the map only, and if there is no coverage in your area, they can't upgrade your line. Unless you got some CEO contacts in telkom
 
Well I can't help with the 8mb/s I can help you not get throttled at 150gigs.

Take a package deal from Afrihost with the 150gig capped account https://www.afrihost.com/site/product/capped_dsl_bundles (R548) and then double your data (R100).
You now have 300gigs of data and uncapped from 12pm-6am for R648 and a ISP that would like to help you achieve the 8mb/s.

Where at Telkom you were paying R585 for 160gig capped account and you have to wait for 30mins for them to pick up a phone.
 
krustyrsa said:
I have been told that, if your area on the telkom map does not support 10mb or higher, the agent you are speaking to won't be to assist with the upgrade. They have been instructed to check the map only, and if there is no coverage in your area, they can't upgrade your line. Unless you got some CEO contacts in Telkom
Click to expand...


The operators are all "recipe followers", probably on pain of death. Even if they could use their discretion, they are not allowed to even do a simple test.
 
daniellgr said:
The operators are all "recipe followers", probably on pain of death. Even if they could use their discretion, they are not allowed to even do a simple test.
Click to expand...

Because when it backfires the same customer who demanded the service is the one who is going to cry at the top of their voice and even expose the favours that were pulled to give them the service.
 
thechamp said:
Because when it backfires the same customer who demanded the service is the one who is going to cry at the top of their voice and even expose the favours that were pulled to give them the service.
Click to expand...

Ja, there will always be the management reasons. BUT then what does a customer do, when he knows he can get a service but cannot get it due to a systemic problem like in this case? How does that customer raise the issue with Telkom? there has to be a way to get through to the next level in a case like this. the "map" is wrong and it needs to be fixed ...... It is n Telkom's interest to get it fixed ....
 
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Scary_Turtle said:
Well I can't help with the 8mb/s I can help you not get throttled at 150gigs.

Take a package deal from Afrihost with the 150gig capped account https://www.afrihost.com/site/product/capped_dsl_bundles (R548) and then double your data (R100).
You now have 300gigs of data and uncapped from 12pm-6am for R648 and a ISP that would like to help you achieve the 8mb/s.

Where at Telkom you were paying R585 for 160gig capped account and you have to wait for 30mins for them to pick up a phone.
Click to expand...
Are things on AH better these days Turtle?
 
ɹǝuuᴉM said:
Sadly no. Won't do at all. The package you mention only has 50GB/month. The added speed is more like a bonus. Nice to have but not essential. I do Kodi on 4-mbit line and works like a charm. My real issue is the data. Or rather the lack there-off. On the 4-mbit line, after 160-170GB I get throttled to about 1/10 line speed :( I am not 100% sure but I think if I upgrade to 8-mbit my data will double too. Now that will be nice. I remember when I was on 2-mbit I had about 70-80GB per month before the throttling started.
Mind you, can somebody confirm this? On a Telkom uncapped account and 8-mbit line, after how many GB does the throttling start?
Click to expand...

The deal is uncapped with a 50gig fup on torrents and Usenet. You can be capped on torrents etc but everything else will work at full speed.
Worth considering
 
Icemanbrfc said:
Are things on AH better these days Turtle?
Click to expand...

Well considering the power has been taken away from Telkom and given to Openserve (which makes Telkom just another ISP). All ISP's have to jump through Openserve hoops, I'd much rather put my money on an ISP that needs to make money to survive then a government owned business to streamline the hoops.

Afrihost has always had a few niggly things with their support but has been leagues ahead of Telkom for years. They have a solid Network at the moment, a great price and the data he gets can be used on a 8mb/s if/when it gets sorted out.

Considering the price he is paying and how much data he is getting without any negatives from leaving Telkom (like there used to be), I would quiet easily move.
 
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Scary_Turtle said:
Well considering the power has been taken away from Telkom and given to Openweb (which makes Telkom just another ISP). All ISP's have to jump through Openweb hoops, I'd much rather put my money on an ISP that needs to make money to survive then a government owned business to streamline the hoops.

Afrihost has always had a few niggly things with their support but has been leagues ahead of Telkom for years. They have a solid Network at the moment, a great price and the data he gets can be used on a 8mb/s if/when it gets sorted out.

Considering the price he is paying and how much data he is getting without any negatives from leaving Telkom (like their used to be), I would quiet easily move.
Click to expand...
Let me "toll" you, Openweb is just another Isp. You have the wrong name.
 
daniellgr said:
Ja, there will always be the management reasons. BUT then what does a customer do, when he knows he can get a service but cannot get it due to a systemic problem like in this case? How does that customer raise the issue with Telkom? there has to be a way to get through to the next level in a case like this. the "map" is wrong and it needs to be fixed ...... It is n Telkom's interest to get it fixed ....
Click to expand...

True, I guess that Telkom's plan of bring management closer to the customer is not yet effective.
 
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