Vodacom rep - Fibre?

Henry.de.kock said:
No they are not yet open access. I would just like to know how are their service, network uptime etc. Read their FUP and doesnt seem too bad, only problem I have is the fact that they wont give you the username and password for the CPE as they state they will manage it..... makes me hesitate to sign, but hey they are the only ones coming to Secunda so will have to wait and see.

@Pitbull who is the subcontractors in your area? We have 3Xcom, so hope it is not the same so we will have the same issue...
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I wonder if @jannievanzyl would care to give some feedback on this.

Many people, including myself would like to be able to manage their routers themselves. Locking down the router is a security issue for me. For one, I have no idea what monitoring scripts they run to monitor your traffic - and this is an invasion of privacy. Furthermore, I would like to access my NVR over the internet and setup port forwarding for various other things. I also need to connect out to various VPN's at our different branches and have some network equipment which have very specific network configurations. So not being able to manage the DHCP pool is another issue.

Instead I am probably going to be told to spend money on another router. Why though? Even so, DHCP and PNP would be a problem on my network. And the 2nd, less secure Wifi AP would be another problem.

I feel Vodacom should re-look this issue ASAP. Our business fiber provider does not impose any of these issues.
 
SilverNodashi said:
This is actually totally unacceptable. Just imagine the hoops you would have to jump through if it finally installed but there's a problem on their network. I see their TOS mention that Vodacom don't gaurentee any uptime quality of service or throughput.
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Just getting the installation done seems to have been like moving a mountain. The guys that are here now today are amazing, and I actually feel bad for having complained today and just after I did they arrived (given I had to fight with them and they had to send someone from Gauteng) but there is definitely a communication problem somewhere of which I can only assume to be Vodacom and the Contractors/Subcontractors.

If my experience at least resolves that communication gap for future clients I would be happy. Would have saved them endless headaches
 
Yea I see no reason why they should block access to the router, or try and control it on their side. Why should I contact them if I want to access my router.... Buying a new router wont solve the problem since it will still need details to set up that you can only get from vodacom.... sigh these companies these days. As for no guarantee on the uptime and quality, I dont think any provider will give a guarantee on that, and it would be silly to ask for a guarantee since no one can predict stuff like cable theft or damage to their backhual from vandalism etc.... and that will cause downtime that they cannot plan against.
 
Henry.de.kock said:
Yea I see no reason why they should block access to the router, or try and control it on their side. Why should I contact them if I want to access my router.... Buying a new router wont solve the problem since it will still need details to set up that you can only get from vodacom.... sigh these companies these days. As for no guarantee on the uptime and quality, I dont think any provider will give a guarantee on that, and it would be silly to ask for a guarantee since no one can predict stuff like cable theft or damage to their backhual from vandalism etc.... and that will cause downtime that they cannot plan against.
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Business Fiber provider have SLA's in place for downtime and will gaurentee a minimum given throughput. This essentials gives them the power to say, if you're on a 100Mb line but only get 1Mb, that it's within their right not to do anything about it
 
SilverNodashi said:
Business Fiber provider have SLA's in place for downtime and will gaurentee a minimum given throughput. This essentials gives them the power to say, if you're on a 100Mb line but only get 1Mb, that it's within their right not to do anything about it
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Everything these days is on a best effort service, so you get the best effort they want to put in for that day, it is the same even with adsl. You are allowed to complain and bring it under their attention and they will put in an effort to resolve the problem, how big of an effort only they can decide =P
 
Henry.de.kock said:
Everything these days is on a best effort service, so you get the best effort they want to put in for that day, it is the same even with adsl. You are allowed to complain and bring it under their attention and they will put in an effort to resolve the problem, how big of an effort only they can decide =P
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Sorry, but I don't agree with you. If Vodacom had to give me "best effort phone calls", they'd be sued over on over again by many disgruntled clients on a regular basis.

Business class fiber don't have it. You get guarantees and SLA's, which guarantee that a fault will be fixed within X hours, or a refund. And they guarantee an advertised throughput
 
Hi Guys

Bookmarked this thread for sure!

I live in Parklands Estate in Boksburg, and we also have Vodacom. It was installed about a year or so ago.
I cannot fault the installation process as my neighbor is the estate manager and I was bumped right to the top of the list as my and his unit was the first to get our fiber. Vodacom reps where there the Saturday to promote the fiber and my installation was done Monday.

So living with Vodacom for about +- 15ish months I have mixed feelings, I would say there is about a solid 90% up time. I moved to a 40/20 line about 2 weeks ago (from 10/5) was relatively easy. One call to Vodacom and about 3 days later speed was updated. Did have a issue for the first 3-4 days where after about 6pm the line speed would be below 10mbps down, one phone call and a remotely updated router "patch" cleared that issue up.

I would say I have never been without internet for more that 24 hours yet.... Calling them is pretty much pointless when the fiber goes out as 99% of the time I would get the following response: " We are aware of the outage and our techs are looking into it. No resolution time can be givin". Couple of hours later all is well again.

I would say all in all the experience hasn't been terrible. But coming from Telkom even dealing with Vodacom is heaven...
 
I need to thank Jannie for taking time from his busy schedule to assist me.

If only to plug holes where service was lacking in my case and future clients reap the reward I'm happy. Again, thank you Jannie for lending me your ear to at least listen to my problems and escalate to where needed. Faith restored, still a bitter taste in my mouth, but should go away as soon as I have a beer after work :)
 
SilverNodashi said:
Sorry, but I don't agree with you. If Vodacom had to give me "best effort phone calls", they'd be sued over on over again by many disgruntled clients on a regular basis.

Business class fiber don't have it. You get guarantees and SLA's, which guarantee that a fault will be fixed within X hours, or a refund. And they guarantee an advertised throughput
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Unfortunately there is no sarcasm font, if there was I would have used it in that post, so I just put a smily at the end and hoped you would get my sarcasm, alas I was wrong.
 
SilverNodashi said:
oops ;) My bad.
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Actually it is my bad for not stating it clearly, sorry about that. =)

Jakkels1991 said:
Hi Guys

Bookmarked this thread for sure!

I live in Parklands Estate in Boksburg, and we also have Vodacom. It was installed about a year or so ago.
I cannot fault the installation process as my neighbor is the estate manager and I was bumped right to the top of the list as my and his unit was the first to get our fiber. Vodacom reps where there the Saturday to promote the fiber and my installation was done Monday.

So living with Vodacom for about +- 15ish months I have mixed feelings, I would say there is about a solid 90% up time. I moved to a 40/20 line about 2 weeks ago (from 10/5) was relatively easy. One call to Vodacom and about 3 days later speed was updated. Did have a issue for the first 3-4 days where after about 6pm the line speed would be below 10mbps down, one phone call and a remotely updated router "patch" cleared that issue up.

I would say I have never been without internet for more that 24 hours yet.... Calling them is pretty much pointless when the fiber goes out as 99% of the time I would get the following response: " We are aware of the outage and our techs are looking into it. No resolution time can be givin". Couple of hours later all is well again.

I would say all in all the experience hasn't been terrible. But coming from Telkom even dealing with Vodacom is heaven...
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing, that is exactly what I was looking for. Just a bit more, how are they if you call them so that you can manage your wireless devices/password/everything else? Are you using the router they provided? What router is that?

Pitbull said:
I need to thank Jannie for taking time from his busy schedule to assist me.

If only to plug holes where service was lacking in my case and future clients reap the reward I'm happy. Again, thank you Jannie for lending me your ear to at least listen to my problems and escalate to where needed. Faith restored, still a bitter taste in my mouth, but should go away as soon as I have a beer after work :)
Click to expand...

So are you connected now, or still busy.... waiting in suspense =(
 
Henry.de.kock said:
Actually it is my bad for not stating it clearly, sorry about that. =)



Thank you for sharing, that is exactly what I was looking for. Just a bit more, how are they if you call them so that you can manage your wireless devices/password/everything else? Are you using the router they provided? What router is that?



So are you connected now, or still busy.... waiting in suspense =(
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Connection was completed yesterday.

There is an issue with the main fibre line somewhere. This they would have sorted today by finding the fault and repairing it. Should probably be on when I get home tonight. Will update. But that's a rollout issue I guess.

Jannie has committed to escalate my issues with the customer service dealing I had with Vodacom directly. My biggest gripe was the lack of feedback or call back from Vodacom. I don understand there are contractors involved but some sort of feedback from any party would have made this process so much less painful.

The home installation was done flawlessly yesterday. Just the main line issue that needs resolving today.

Will update on the Fibre status tonight :)
 
Henry.de.kock said:
Actually it is my bad for not stating it clearly, sorry about that. =)



Thank you for sharing, that is exactly what I was looking for. Just a bit more, how are they if you call them so that you can manage your wireless devices/password/everything else? Are you using the router they provided? What router is that?
=(
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I use the standard router they give you, I'm not sure the model will check this afternoon and let you know. I have never touched the router settings so I have never tried asking them about it.
 
Just an update.

The last mile guys, company called UPMC (Contractors) are AMAZING!.

The fibre link between the manhole at my house and the other one further down the road has been severed by the useless contractors who did the roll-out. I got home at around 18:00 and the guy was still there trying to find the fault. He only left at about 20:00 last night after identifying the problem. (Home installations is already complete) but they could not get it working. After locating the severed link, they will be in this morning to shoot through another 70m cable in the duct to my manhole and have it connected.

@jannievanzyl

Out of this whole experience, I have nothing but good things to say about the company UPMC. The office even phoned me twice while fault finding to keep me updated and explained everything to me in detail. As for the company that did the roll-out and the contractors sourcing the sign-ups... you know my stance on them. But I would really like to have my appreciation shown for the UPMC guys.

If any of you guys need contractors to do the last mile installation, look up UPMC for sure!
http://universal-projects.co.za/
 
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I can now fully say my faith in Vodacom has been restored.

Guys are on site now as we speak to float a new cable and get the connection sorted. I really also want to give my gratitude to Jannie and his team who contacted me and lent me an ear to vent my frustrations. Tonight I can post the speed test.

Thanks again!
 
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Pitbull said:
I took, one. Just too many things updating now. Will upload once everything has updated that needs updating :D
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So what line speed and cap you went for and what is the monthly price on it if I may ask?
 
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