Telkom ADSL line

[Martinco]

Is there somebody that knows somebody, that knows somebody, that knows a friend at Telkom that can assist in getting my ADSL line a little quicker ?

When I applied, I was told: " No problem, you can have the line in max 8 days time"
After 8 days I inquired again and was told that "maybe" by the end on June because they do not have enough ports in our exchange.
I cannot use I Burst as the signal is too weak ! and 3G is not really what I require.

[sandras]

Hi

Hopefully someone here can help you, but we had a similar problem - the complex we stayed in didn't have a landline, and they couldn't help us within one year (after which the application resets and you get thrown to the back of the queue), and we had a telkom employee staying the complex trying to help us.

Good luck, though.

[Wukkie]

hi

If there is no port free in the exchange, then you are out of luck. all depends if they can add addtional port cards or not. for you sake I hope they can, if it is an exchange upgrade, the wait is a long time. We had this in germiston, and we were not teh only client complaining. P&P where also in need to lines, and they had to wait as well. the best would be is to get a large corporate to aks if there is ports in teh area. they get to call a different call centre, better turn around time as well.

[Dave A]

Are you dealing with the new business call centre - 10217 ?

But as Wukkie says - no ports = no luck.

[eitai2001]

I was quite lucky myself.
Got a working telephone line in 1 week and the ADSL line up and running in 2 days. It broke the day after though, so instead of phoning, I pulled a telkom guy off the road when he drove past my house and paid him R100 to fix it

[insulin]

Well you are doing better than me! About 1 years ago now I asked if ADSL was available in our aria. They said they are working on it. After 1 and a half years I phone TELKOM and ask if ADSL was available they said we are on a waiting list. So I hope to have ADSL before I die of old age... However I am betting on global warming to get here first! So I am using 3g and it is expensive, problematic, expensive, no proper technical support, expensive and unreliable! Just to add a point I live 800 meters from a there tower.

[Harbel]

We were incredibly lucky - Telkom came and installed both our landline phone and ADSL within 10 days. I suggest you hound them (I know it's difficult when you're busy) and call on a daily basis to remind them about your request. It definitely worked for us.

Good luck!

[Martinco]

Are you dealing with the new business call centre - 10217 ?

I am dealing directly with our local Telkom office and yes I am afraid there is going to be some waiting.
I managed to speak to someone from Telkom in JHB and the date has now moved another month further.
So looks as though the more noise you make the longer the time moves out.

[Graham Jeffery]

Hi
Applied at TELKOM DIRECT - got ref number and 4 days later - connected

[Martinco]

Hi
Applied at TELKOM DIRECT - got ref number and 4 days later - connected

Some people are more lucky than others !

What about a different angle ?

Has anybody got experience in using private wireless ISPs ?
I can get a deal from one of these guy's for the following:

Installation and setup: R 2500 ( the equipment becomes my property )
12 Month contract @ R 199 / month including 500 Meg ( Or 1 Gig @ R269 / m ) and additional bandwidth @ R 109 / Gig.
Available : immediately

If I do a calculation compared to Telkom it works out R 10 / m more expensive for the same bandwidth and R 9 / m more for additional bandwidth but with Telkom I do not have to sign a 12 month contract! What if their service is crappy ? Their contract binds me to paying up but does not state what happens if I experience more down than up time. Mind you...........neither does Telkom give you a refund for down time ! BUT at least you can tell them what to do with their line AFTER you have paid them for the disconnection !

The only question I have to guy's using this method already is: In general how reliable can I expect them to be ?

[Dave A]

I've got this adage - if you don't ask you don't get.

If they are an unknown quantity, ask for a couple of clients that are already on the service. You can then contact them and ask how good the service is.

Or ask for a demo on site...

If you are clear that you are interested, but concerned that you might not get the performance you're looking for, they could be reasonably co-operative.

Worth a shot for your peace of mind.

[Martinco]

Anybody there with vibes about Screamer Telecoms, good or bad.

They offer a wireless service in Rustenburg and according to there web page does not seem to be too bad in both terms and price.
Service ? I dunno.

[irneb]

The only question I have to guy's using this method already is: In general how reliable can I expect them to be ?

Not reliable at all, we've got a "slightly" larger capping of 20GB on ours (I think for around R3000/m - we're in Sandton) ... also an annual contract. But due to it failing about once a week, we've added ADSL for backup bandwidth. But that's because our projects would be detrimentally influenced if we don't have connection.

What I have just found (yesterday): the wireless link was down so the firewall / proxy server switched over to the ADSL lines (there's 2x 4MB's). Well, it toot 4 hours for an email I was waiting for to arrive at our local server (behind the firewall). Usually with the wireless on, it takes less than 5min.

The Wireless is supposed to be 8MB/s, while the combined ADSL's should give the same ... right? NFW ... our max download speed on ADSL was 150kbytes/sec ... usually averaging around 50kb/s or less. The wireless (while it's on) averages around 200kb/s, sometimes you see a spike of around 1mb/s.

[Martinco]

Well..........so far not too bad ! Screamer has been down twice so far in the last 2 months but for a few minutes only.
I am using N series router and w/l dongle so I get connection at 135Mb/s when I am close to the router and about 120 around the house. Not bad compared to my ADSL at work. ( Max 100 Mb/s ).
Fortunately the package is flexible. Can cancel at any time. Shall play the waiting game !

[tec0]

If I may change the subject a little.

In any event the internet cost money. Now I am still stuck with good old GPRS and a little Samsung mobile but it gets the job done. Now I am sure that you have seen the TELKOM advert stating how much work has been done so that everyone can enjoy the fastest internet available when 2010 World Cup “disaster” hits good old South Africa. However Vodacom and MTN are still expensive as is Telkom and the rest of the lot really is not worthy to mention.

So all of this is a big waste of time because only the rich and powerful will get to use these wonderful new technologies and the rest of us will just have to go on living without it. So was the TELKOM upgrade a big waste of time? You bet your genetic material on that one. Townships and particular Aria’s in MP alone still sits without basic connections as is. Then there is the mammoth cost that comes with these innovations.

Also the 2010 Cup was given to better the public’s lives. Not even this is happening because Vodacom and MTN are still robbing the internet customer blind with their massif costs! Taking into consideration that more people uses mobile internet above all else! So MTN and Vodacom are still kicking the poor in the teeth.

So happy days are not yet here and 2010 is almost here...