Telkom reaches new lows (and you thought they were there already)

[SilverNodashi]

I use about 30gigs a month and pay R294 for that.

And how much do you pay for the phone line + ADSL ? Another R300-odd?

Rudi - Using 8ta is just asking for more silent ranting and rolling with Telkom
If there was a decent option, I would be the first to move across to it.

I dont think neotel is going to be an option. They only have 150,000 subscribers and need to get scale.

If MTN or Vodacom get their hands on it, which is still a rumour - then the chances are that they will collude with Telkom and we will not see much if any difference. The service levels will also be at the usual low big corporate gangster levels.

If DiData picks it up - then maybe a better option for us data consumers as they will probably concentrate on that area and leave the phone and call service to Telkom.

Who knows what the answer is for us plebs - what we need is a network that is not controlled by Telkom and political poltroons - and thats not going to happen soon.

I think you're approaching this from a "too political" point of view. I'm using the 8ta special at home, since there's no ADSL lines in our area due to cable theft. It performs much better than Vodacom / MTN in the same area. Another plus point is that I can use it pretty much anywhere, well anywhere where there's 8ta coverage. Can't do that with ADSL.

Our ADSL line in the office has been rather flaky in the past 3 months, apparently Alberton is "over capacity" and it's downright impossible to upgrade due to the high metal content in the cliffs around us. I know this is an issue with normal radio (FM and AM), wifi and wimax.
If / when Vodacom offers a better deal than 8ta, I *might* consider using it. but it's so damn slow around here that I don't think I'll bother.

[Marq]

And how much do you pay for the phone line + ADSL ? Another R300-odd?

If / when Vodacom offers a better deal than 8ta, I *might* consider using it. but it's so damn slow around here that I don't think I'll bother.

I think we are caught between a rock and hard place with this whole scenario.
Best of the bad bunch thing and making do with bad offerings.

The thing is that we have to bulletproof our business's to avoid downtime.
With the Guest House business, I offer a wifi internet service so not sure if one can do that with a mobile hta type option.
Because I offer that service, I might as well stay with the landline option there.
This year though, we have probably had about two weeks of no landline comms thanks to 'technical' faults.
Even though the slow speeds make you tear your hair out, at least we have comms..........but thats what frustrates me here, we tend to accept this bad service and have given up complaining and campaigning for better.

[SilverNodashi]

I think we are caught between a rock and hard place with this whole scenario.
Best of the bad bunch thing and making do with bad offerings.

The thing is that we have to bulletproof our business's to avoid downtime.
With the Guest House business, I offer a wifi internet service so not sure if one can do that with a mobile hta type option.
Because I offer that service, I might as well stay with the landline option there.
This year though, we have probably had about two weeks of no landline comms thanks to 'technical' faults.
Even though the slow speeds make you tear your hair out, at least we have comms..........but thats what frustrates me here, we tend to accept this bad service and have given up complaining and campaigning for better.

I know you don't want to hear this, but why do you rely on ADSL for business? Sure, it's cheap, but at the end of the day you get what you pay for. ADSL has NO guarentees and no SLA

[Marq]

I hear you but then how do I offer a wifi network to guests?

[SilverNodashi]

I hear you but then how do I offer a wifi network to guests?

You'll need a 3G router, if you don't have one already.

I use my Andriod tablet as wifi hotspot, both at home and on the road.
Or get one of these: http://www.netram.co.za/New-Products...r-150mbps.html (these guys are in Durbs), or any of these: http://www.dbg.co.za/index.php?cPath=32_85

I have one of these @ home with an iBurst modem, but it could take a 3G modem as well: http://www.dbg.co.za/product_info.ph...roducts_id=423

[Marq]

You have given me some thoughts to process.

My last trip to the Telkom sales office did not give me an answer like this which is why I was under the impression that I was stuck with the landline adsl option only.

[dcs]

As an aside, I am with Telkom ADSL and recently upgraded my router (to the NetGear N300). On installation I found my connection speed was significantly faster and the router comes standard with a USB port for a Wi-Fi backup. I gather that there have been some technical changes which my old router (Billion 800 VGT) did not use. I never saw any notices about this.

Another point to note is that Telkom is currently rolling out something called VDSL which "should" be available in main centers by 2015. Theoretical speeds with this are really impressive, but I guess that over-selling will slow this down impressively as well. You will definitely need a new router to connect and get the higher speeds. I am not a Telkom fan either, but the Neotel option is really another wireless connection and based on what the reality is overseas, I would not consider a wireless only option for business use. Overseas the fastest connections are landline and not wireless as in SA and ultimately the same must happen here, and sooner rather than later.

[SilverNodashi]

You have given me some thoughts to process.

My last trip to the Telkom sales office did not give me an answer like this which is why I was under the impression that I was stuck with the landline adsl option only.

sales reps, especially those working in "shops" are generally useless. they earn a salary and could't care less if you got what you needed, or not. just my 2c

[ians]

Not if you speak the right person.

[Marq]

For interest, latest stats.....

Midrand has been rated South Africa’s top broadband suburb with an average speed of 10.92Mbps, while the country continues to lag behind its peers in rolling out high-speed internet services.

The latest Ookla net index published last week shows that the average download speed in South Africa is 4.03Mbps, which is far lower than the global average of 13.64Mbps. There is not even a single suburb in South Africa with an average broadband speed higher than the global average or matching it.

This comes after Akamai’s latest report placed South Africa 80th in world in the first quarter of this year in terms of connectivity. This is despite internet connections rising 16% over last year

http://business.iafrica.com/businessday/873971.html