8ta vs ADSL - what's the take?

[popayetwo]

Since Telkom announced its mobile wireless internet service there have been lots of questions asked and some have been answered.

Here are mine.

I have a Telkom phone line at home and .384 Telkom all access internet connection (I work from home). Costs: DSL Fast R133.33 excl VAT, Telephone line R116.93 excl VAT, T1 AllAccess 5Gig R130.70 excl VAT total R380.96 excl VAT. VAT at 14% (which I pay) R53.33. NOTE THIS EXCLUDES COSTS OF PHONE CALLS PLUS VAT! Figure an additional R114 for these VAT included and my total monthly telephone bill comes to R548.29.

Now if I drop the phone rental and hence the ADSL and go for 8ta, I will get 10Gig data at 7Meg speed for R199 per month (Vat included???). PLUS the cost of the modem, PLUS R200 installation fee.

Now for the kicker. What about cost of telephone calls? How do I get phone calls with 8ta? AND, what happens to these costs AFTER the 24 month promo? Will they suddenly increase drastically?

So based on these facts, how do I proceed? Let's have your thoughts.

[Martinco]

I have been thinking along exactly the same lines..............Is it still worth while to keep the Telkom line at these costs especially if you look at all the special offers floating around ?
I cannot see that these special offers are going to dry up all of a sudden. There is simply too much competition amongst the ISPs.
Even if you have to float from the one to the other just for the data, it could still be worth the trouble. For telephone you simply keep on using your normal cell phone contract.

[Justloadit]

Make calls to yourself and get free minutes

[AndyD]

AND, what happens to these costs AFTER the 24 month promo? Will they suddenly increase drastically?

I wouldn't worry about two years from now, that's the equivalent of a lifetime given the speed this industry is moving at the moment. I wouldn't make any long term investment or plans for anything to do with internet or communications, things change too quickly and I don't want to end up being tied in to old technologies.

[Sparks]

Be carefull of the 7Meg speed. That is the maximum capabillity. You will never get it as with all the dongles out there. Firstly you need reception. I have excellent reception. Then the smelly stuff hits the fan, for the moment I have a speed of 1.6Meg, in a minute it can drop to 10kb, without warning. I have lost an unbelievable amount of bandwidth through, despite having a 100% signal, just losing the link. I have a usb extension and the dongle is up against the ceiling, just in case it helps. I have decided to use the dongle only when I am in a hurry, all downloads I do now with my ADSL. Do some marketing among people you can trust. Keep the ADSL line and in collaboration with someone else get a multiple link uncapped account. Each of you share the account costs & details. You will all have access limited only by the speed of the account.
As for your phone calls, that is the least of your worries, skype and others give you free video calls and reduced tariff voice callls.

[Dave A]

When it comes to planning ahead -

I have had a Telkom Closer 3 package at the office for years now. The price has stayed the same and the bandwidth keeps getting jacked up. The allaccess cap started out at 2Gb, then went to 5Gb, then 8Gb. And with my weekly usage report, I see the monthly cap has just been increased to 20Gb as from July.

My take is the ISPs are keen to just keep rolling with the contracted price and rather keep giving more and more bandwidth and I can't see that changing any time soon, if ever.

I suggest speed is rapidly becoming the new sharp edge of the battle between competitors. Unfortunately when it comes to wireless, from what I've seen the ISPs all face the same problem - there is only so much traffic you can handle via wireless and the more popular a particular service channel becomes, the slower it gets.

[twinscythe12332]

Vodacom is normally very good with rolling out updates to its pricing plans and its data plans... I was chuffed when I got an extra .3 gig each month to play with. But now that there's the 2GB for 199 bucks deal... I'm feeling rather ripped off at paying 449 bucks for effectively the same thing.
I don't know why vodacom hasn't done this, but hey.

[johnwarner75]

First find out what’s your typical bandwidth for your area, don’t pay too much attention to the top line-they are always flattering but seldom, (if ever) realised

[Sparks]

8ta is flying. I gave my cellC away because of all the disappointment. The first 3months were good after that it started to smell. The youngster here , in a not recognised area, is getting good signal and excellent connection. His download smeed is in excess of CellC all the time. Granted, the dongle is hanging from the curtain rail thanks to a usb extension cord, but it works. Telkom have now also got a test offer available which I have already applied for purely for the faster line.

[05:37:42 PM] Albert: https://secureapp.telkom.co.za/ido/index.do

I intend to make use of this offer to get the line then at the end of the period cancel. The line will not be removed when I discontinue so I will use it for my current account which is unlimited. huge bandwidth + fast connection= me happy.

[popayetwo]

8ta is flying.

I am still in two minds about keeping telkom phone line with adsl of dumping all and going for 8ta. From all the comment above (thanks guys) I am hesitant to go the wireless route because .384k is bad enough without a slow down due to a weak link on the wireless. And I use my home fone quite a lot - more than I use a cell! (I must be the only one who does this!) Also, telkom has just dished out 10 gig a month cap which is a lot better than 5 gig which was a lot better than 1 gig of several months ago.
Although this is advertised as a promotion I think we can see it becoming a feature in the future. I made some enquiries regarding the speed and was more or less told not to expect a speed increase for bucksheesh anytime soon because of the infrastructure that telkom is locked into. So I will just smile and wave boys and wait and see what happens. Meanwhile I can NOW download a few 700meg movies each month, something not possiblw with 1 gig.

[wynn]

more than I use a cell! (I must be the only one who does this!) .

Stand in line pal!!! ;D

[Sparks]

Uh Oh seems we have a bug, I never said that
Telkom did phone me today though, the new offer is: R177pm (line rental) for the first 3 months, they give you a line, connect it, a router which they set up for you and 5gig bandwidth for free for 3 months. Thereafter (from 4th month) you continue paying line rental + R395pm or you can take a cheaper package + line rental.
8ta is double bandwidth for R23 more but it stays that amount for 2year contract and it is mobile.

[popayetwo]

the new offer is: R177pm (line rental) for the first 3 months, they give you a line, connect it,

But how long do they take nowadays to provide this service? My brother tried to get a Telkom line with ADSL a few months ago. First, Telkom charged him the full installation fee and the first month rental and the ADSL install fee and several other hidden fees then - they did nothing. No line, no service, no router for four months despite numerous enquiries. Finally he found they had no stock of routers and were awaiting supplies from the factory. Meanwhile they continued to charge monthly rental. So he cancelled the whole deal and had a heck of a battle to get a full refund and then went the wireless route. Is Telkom "service" any better now? Incidently I see Telkom is in hot water again for bundling ADSL with a telephone service instead of separately. It's a parastatal company so it can just ignore any regulations can't it?

[Dave A]

Incidently I see Telkom is in hot water again for bundling ADSL with a telephone service instead of separately.

Hey! I like their bundle deals. Who's complaining?

[popayetwo]

Well a lot of businesses are compliaing that they don't need a telephone line, just ADSL and it seems there's a law about bundling one product with another and charging for both. If you COULD get ADSL without paying phone rental, wouldn't it be better/cheaper?