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Wireless Broadband Ratings Report
- Thread starter rpm
- Start date
doobiwan
Executive Member
Wow, very interesting results. Quite unexpected.
Hi ICic said:
We did not test the billing system, but Sentech performed well in the customer service department. Users seem to be fairly content with the service, but they are both lagging far beding Vodacom here...
Regards,
RPM
noswal
Executive Member
For the sentech report, they sell products at three different speeds - is the report based on an average? i.e I would not equate the service I get to the results you show.
Hi Noswalnoswal said:
This testing was based on their 256 service (all MyWireless Flexi packages are now 256).
Regards,
RPM
'Final Version' now available. Only a few cosmetic changes were made.
Franna: Tried more colours, but it gets confusing. Decided to only colour the best option green and leave the rest 'as-is'.
Franna: Tried more colours, but it gets confusing. Decided to only colour the best option green and leave the rest 'as-is'.
noswal
Executive Member
Actually looked at their website and Flexi is advertised as "Currently download speeds of up to 512kbps"
diabolus
Executive Member
Just a maybe "too-late" suggestion [maybe in a next report]. Since this report was about wireless providers, i'd really like to see a "coverage" statistic in there. I'm sure a company with one tower in some suburb in Pofadder will be able to get amazing reliability/support/speed scores [as there is probably no congestion/high demand etc etc] , likewise with a company -only- in parts JHB and PTA.
As funny as it may sound, only 1 of the 4 tested providers actually have coverage where i'm at [and i don't consider myself in the dark side of africa either].
As funny as it may sound, only 1 of the 4 tested providers actually have coverage where i'm at [and i don't consider myself in the dark side of africa either].
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Hi Diabolusdiabolus said:
Coverage (including amount of towers, footprint, areas covered and ability to switch over to GPRS) have been included in the final calculations. I did not include all this data in the report as it will simply become too complicated to read...
Regards,
RPM
Ekhaatvensters
Executive Member
Are you shure about the download speeds on IBurst? 3G beating it is pretty uncommon and on 200kb download speed is not something that anyone on this forum experiences very often I'm shure. This could just be your tower at the lab or your average being lowered from some users with very bad connection speeds, but for most users buying IBurst that would be pretty untrue.
But your average upload speed reports to be within 50 kb of the download speed, pretty suspect it just doesnt look right
But your average upload speed reports to be within 50 kb of the download speed, pretty suspect it just doesnt look right
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Hi EkhaatvenstersEkhaatvensters said:
These findings are based on the results from many users from different towers and different regions. With the previous round of testing we received the same criticism which prompted us to do a survey of the 30 volunteer iBurst testers. What we found was that there was an even spread across all the towers, and that the signal strength was very good across all testers. It is also usually the iBurst guys that complain about our findings, and I think the main reason for that is the great range of results. Some users think it is great, other loath the day the signed up. As we have said in the report, when it works it works well. Test before you buy.
Regards,
RPM
Ekhaatvensters
Executive Member
Ok, get your point just thought it was still a bit low for an indication of how IBurst would perform, even with single threads i get higher, but then i can understand that many dont and this makes for a low average. However this fact isnt really explained that well, and for a un-tech-savvy reader it would then make Iburst apear really bad and contridictory as also being the highest speed rated, ie. 1mb is promised with only 384kb in comparison etc. But that would all be circumstances of the user.
From what i've read i can't completely agree with the findings! DON'T get me wrong, this is all wonderful to help people choose what wireless option to take with regards to those who likes swinging from building to building f@rt propelled and can still play donkey kong online...
If there was more than one testing station - i mean a hole bunch allover South Africa and bringing all those results together - then YES, it would be more accurate.
What would really interest me more, and i'm sure alot more people out there, is quality of service(yes you provided this one), Speed(yep this one too), value for money(aaah 1gig... SIS on you!
), and DEFINATELY CAP/Uncapped offerings. - otherwise every single one of them are really not all that interesting! (to me atleast)
From what i've read on the Sentech website and here on the forum about the sudden capping of their service etc, & the WBS's issues etc - why bother going wireless at all if they're going to be full of &h1T like Telkom (this falls under quality of service too doesnt it ?).
At the end of the day i'm DEFINATELY looking forward seeing where telkom sits in comparason. What will also blow my hair back, is seeing which service provider has the best offering via Telkom, because at this point, i simply trust the beast more than the wireless f@rt propelled monkeys because at +/- R700 a month, i get 10Gigs from my ISP(SAOL), and connectivity with Telkom (Ye Ye i know!).
**R499 is a little hefty for 1Gig regardless how wonderful UP/DOWN speeds are, how bad their call center service really is, and relieability (SIS)
even Tarzan just can't swing wirelessly, because if he had to do it f@rt propelled, he'll have a sore b-hind in no time!
If there was more than one testing station - i mean a hole bunch allover South Africa and bringing all those results together - then YES, it would be more accurate.
What would really interest me more, and i'm sure alot more people out there, is quality of service(yes you provided this one), Speed(yep this one too), value for money(aaah 1gig... SIS on you!
), and DEFINATELY CAP/Uncapped offerings. - otherwise every single one of them are really not all that interesting! (to me atleast)From what i've read on the Sentech website and here on the forum about the sudden capping of their service etc, & the WBS's issues etc - why bother going wireless at all if they're going to be full of &h1T like Telkom (this falls under quality of service too doesnt it ?).
At the end of the day i'm DEFINATELY looking forward seeing where telkom sits in comparason. What will also blow my hair back, is seeing which service provider has the best offering via Telkom, because at this point, i simply trust the beast more than the wireless f@rt propelled monkeys because at +/- R700 a month, i get 10Gigs from my ISP(SAOL), and connectivity with Telkom (Ye Ye i know!).
**R499 is a little hefty for 1Gig regardless how wonderful UP/DOWN speeds are, how bad their call center service really is, and relieability (SIS)
even Tarzan just can't swing wirelessly, because if he had to do it f@rt propelled, he'll have a sore b-hind in no time!
Luke7777
Executive Member
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Linking up with LabAnimal's comments, how about making the test "geography" avaliable. i.e we all know that iBurst in Kempton flies as opposed to performance in Bryanston. This would surely assist the enduser ?
Roman4604
Executive Member
The one aspect of the report I find a bit simplistic, it that the difference between fixed wireless and mobile wireless is not explored.
The performance difference of wireless with and without a decent properly aligned antenna can be vast, and many times can rival or exceed the performance of similarly priced wired solutions. I would not even classify my Vodacom 3G as 'broadband' when compared with my FIXED iBurst setup ... the differential in uptime, latency & throughput is massive.
On the mobile wireless front, coverage is definately more important then raw speed (within limits) and I would agree there 3G is unmatched.
Just some thoughts for the next one.
The performance difference of wireless with and without a decent properly aligned antenna can be vast, and many times can rival or exceed the performance of similarly priced wired solutions. I would not even classify my Vodacom 3G as 'broadband' when compared with my FIXED iBurst setup ... the differential in uptime, latency & throughput is massive.
On the mobile wireless front, coverage is definately more important then raw speed (within limits) and I would agree there 3G is unmatched.
Just some thoughts for the next one.
G2V
Active Member
Disappointed
Great report and yet disappointing.
After all the ongoing and past discussions in this forum regarding the cost of bandwidth and broadband services in this country the report seems to suggest to the uninformed reader that the costs involved are very reasonable. All the providers receive excellent ratings for the cost of their services.
Although these providers may be cheaper than ADSL I would have welcomed a comment that the rating for the costs are relative to the 4 providers in this test only and the costs are still way above any reasonable international average (100-300% or even more expensive).
Maybe this could be included in the next report?
Great report and yet disappointing.
After all the ongoing and past discussions in this forum regarding the cost of bandwidth and broadband services in this country the report seems to suggest to the uninformed reader that the costs involved are very reasonable. All the providers receive excellent ratings for the cost of their services.
Although these providers may be cheaper than ADSL I would have welcomed a comment that the rating for the costs are relative to the 4 providers in this test only and the costs are still way above any reasonable international average (100-300% or even more expensive).
Maybe this could be included in the next report?
Hi G2V
The ratings and percentages are only comparative as stated in the introduction to the report. What is interesting however is that the wireless guys are performing much better in comparison with their international counterparts than ADSL. Our 3G pricing is very competitive internationally for low usage packages for example.
I think if the report is read as intended (only as a comparison between services) it gives an accurate reflection of how good a certain service is. International benchmarking will follow in the next report.
Regards,
RPM
The ratings and percentages are only comparative as stated in the introduction to the report. What is interesting however is that the wireless guys are performing much better in comparison with their international counterparts than ADSL. Our 3G pricing is very competitive internationally for low usage packages for example.
I think if the report is read as intended (only as a comparison between services) it gives an accurate reflection of how good a certain service is. International benchmarking will follow in the next report.
Regards,
RPM
Kalvaer
Expert Member
WOW.. Very interesting to say the least. Thanks RPM.. Cant wait for the ADSL report to be released
Hi RPM,
It would be great if you could also disclose the type of tests that were performed to obtain the results of the report. Including information of the type of systems used by the voluteers who performed the tests - e.g. distribution of Operating Systems, browsers, etc. used in the tests. Application software and operating systems can also influence results to some extent.
Thanks.
It would be great if you could also disclose the type of tests that were performed to obtain the results of the report. Including information of the type of systems used by the voluteers who performed the tests - e.g. distribution of Operating Systems, browsers, etc. used in the tests. Application software and operating systems can also influence results to some extent.
Thanks.
Refering everyone that has a query about which service to get to this report.