Which ADSL ISP? Please help!

[damngirl]

Hey all,

I've been using Vodacom's 3G HSDPA (pre-paid) since January this year and have spent thousands on bandwidth over this period and really cannot afford it any longer... I want to switch to ADSL! I use an average of 6GB per month; sometimes a couple gigs more.

I'm looking into getting an ADSL line (already have the normal phone line), I think 512kbps and an uncapped service from an ISP. Maybe something from OpenWeb or WebAfrica's Uncapped Express IS 512 @ R1368. I'm really not sure which service to use. Maybe you can help me decide?

Based on the following, which service would you recommend?

• I want to stream my webcam live, almost daily via which is embedded on my website. I rarely stream live at the moment as bandwidth costs a bit and Vodacom's connection messes up the stream quality; it lags terribly!)
• I download and upload a lot of web design and graphics resources, whether it be scripts, Photoshop brushes, Flash source files...
• I want to be able to upload my photos, videos and audio files without worrying too much on how much bandwidth I'm using.
• I want to be able to game online using my (future) Xbox 360.
• I'll be sharing the ADSL with my younger sisters and parents. (My father will be paying the line rentals and I will be paying the ISP charges)

Honestly, I don't know which service to choose. I'm thinking uncapped though? Not sure.

What would you recommend?

EDIT: Is the Netgear DG834G router good? I'm thinking of getting it.

 

[PsyWulf]

Im loving this post. Swift,succinct,well written,well researched

On to topic!

Uncapped express is a throttled service where it slows the connection to half its speed once specific bandwidth thresholds are reached within 1week windows so your 512/256 will become 256/128 once you reach the thresholds and will reset to normal if you remain within the next threshold for the next usage window

Think its 10gig per 7 days or something,I forget honestly
It's also provided using satellite bandwidth which does tend to have higher latencies so gaming and streaming could have hiccups now and then ( or more often )

 

[Sapphiron]

The IS based Uncapped product's local speed is about on par with a SAIX service

Unless you hit your threshold, then the latency goes to pot, with lots of packet loss.

I believe openweb has a special on the 512k connection.

I've got the uncapped 384k on a 4Mbit line. The great thing about the uncapped express product is that after 8 at night until 8 in the morning, the limiters get dropped. The entire weekend is unlimited. I get full 4Mbit line speed after hours. This suits me very well, since I'm at work during the day.

My recommendation:
if you can do most of you bulk work after hours and limit the day to web browsing and email, get a 4Mbit line with a 384k uncapped express account. Its unbeatable value, with excellent performance at night (I regularly play COD4 online)
If you need better speed during the day, I would advise against the 512k uncapped express product and go for the static IP uncapped product. its speed is more consistent and you don't have to worry about thresholds.

 

[damngirl]

Uncapped express is a throttled service where it slows the connection...

Yeah, I know. WebAfrica's 512 Express has a 30GB/10 threshold..

My recommendation:
if you can do most of you bulk work after hours and limit the day to web browsing and email, get a 4Mbit line with a 384k uncapped express account. Its unbeatable value, with excellent performance at night (I regularly play COD4 online)
If you need better speed during the day, I would advise against the 512k uncapped express product and go for the static IP uncapped product. its speed is more consistent and you don't have to worry about thresholds.

Thanks for your recommendation! I'll look at OpenWeb in a sec to see what's on offer.