Official internet discussion thread

[Toxxyc]

Good news everyone.

Who else can do nothing else but read this in Farnsworth's voice?

Sorry.

Anyhow, it's pretty good news for you. It's sad that ADSL capability isn't yet available everywhere. Let us know how it goes!

Just for interest sake - have you had some digging and stuffs around your area lately? If not, Telkom may have announced the start of optic fiber for your only, meaning it's going to take a while still. The process is something like this:

-RFQ's (request for quote) get issued - contractors are asked to quote for the civil part of the router build.

-RFQ's are either allowed or denied, and a contractor gets the go-ahead.

-Contractor applies for a wayleave at a local wayleave-publishing agency, usually larger companies who work with a lot of public civil builds. Wayleaves indicate boundaries, limits and existing infrastructure - water, electricity, telecomms, fiber, etc. etc. and where you are allowed to build.

-If the wayleaves are granted, the contractor draws up a plan - a rough draft designed around what he finds on site and how he plans to most effectively build the route.
Plan gets handed to Telkom, and Telkom takes a look. If all seems in order, permission to start work is given.

-Work gets started, and depending on how large the route is can take anything from 2 days to 6 months to trench properly. Blown Fiber duct is laid (tubes within tubes) and buried, compacted and a compaction test is performed to ensure reinstatement was done properly to avoid erosion and the trenches falling in during rains.

-If the ground tests are passed, the duct gets tested with high-pressure tests, called DIT's (or Duct Integrity Test), to ensure the ducts are water and airtight and that the optic fiber can be installed properly.

-After all is done an as-built is created, basically stating how the site was built. Telkom does an inspection based on this report and either signs off or corrects the contractor. Corrections mean he has to redo certain parts or clarify certain aspects of the build to Telkom.

-Signoff means the contractor gets his money and Telkom has the green light to install the fiber, after which their splicers are pulled in to do the connection of the 144-core optic fibers. This is a damn awesome progress, took me a day an a half to prepare and splice into a decent Lisa fiber tray a 144-core optic fiber, to connectors and installed in the fiber racks. Experienced splicers can do two 144-cores in a day, but that's a different story.

So, as you can see, it can take some time. Seeing as you are new to ADSL, I'm guessing you'll be lucky if it's completed before the end of the year. I'd rather place expectations for middle to end 2013 if I were you.

[Kharrak]

Got a 5mb/s uncapped line from Mweb. Connection has been ****e for the last month.

Speedtest reports download rates are 2.5mb/s to joburg (where I live), about 1.6-2mb/s to CapeTown. Uploads are about 0.3mb/s.

Torrents rarely download faster than 50kb/s, browser based downloads at about 12kb/s.

D3 Ping is averaging 500 - without any other download processes happening.

What the hell, yo?

[Wesley]

Ask if they can provision you on another backbone. Otherwise if they can't, cancel your account at the end of this month and move to Openweb Gold, then ask for the Vodacom backbone.

In other news, my line speedtests at 1.25Mb/s and it was down for about ten minutes today, went up again for ten, and back down until after half an hour I was at normal speed. Those 2Mb/s roll-outs are starting.

[Kharrak]

Ask if they can provision you on another backbone. Otherwise if they can't, cancel your account at the end of this month and move to Openweb Gold, then ask for the Vodacom backbone.

In other news, my line speedtests at 1.25Mb/s and it was down for about ten minutes today, went up again for ten, and back down until after half an hour I was at normal speed. Those 2Mb/s roll-outs are starting.

Have been asked to ask you to explain!

To further clarify the situation, we have two computers on the network. Assuming all parties are being honest, we have little to no data contention when trying to use the internet, when these issues are encountered.

Skype also shows signs of temperamental performance.

[Wesley]

Have been asked to ask you to explain!

MWEB has two local backbones to choose from, Seacom and SAT3/SAFE (run by Telkom), that they usually choose for you. They mostly put customers on Seacom because its cheaper for them. If they switch you over to the other (whichever you're not on), then that may fix your problem. If you Speedtest to their Joburg server on Speedtest.net and you're still getting the same regardless, then you're on a congested exchange.

Or perhaps they stuffed up. Have you ever had speeds better than this before? Do Prepaid accounts with Afrihost run at full speed on the tests?

[Kharrak]

Better speeds? Torrent downloads, certainly. I'm very often used to HOST online games due to better connection, yet now it's hard for me to play at all.

Could just be D3 in that regard, but downloads in general have just choked up.

[Wesley]

You could be stuck on one of MWEB's provisioning profiles, the ones people complain about when they manage to download 300-GB in a month. Phone MWEB and find out tomorrow. If they can't sort you out in a week, tell them you're off to Webafrica (its a lie, but try to lie convincingly).

If you can get a prepaid Afrihost account and show screenshots that speeds are better and that its not your line at fault, then that helps them to narrow down the culprit.

[MonGooS]

Do you guys know if your modem makes any difference to your line speed or stability? I am getting my internet in around 21 working days and was going to use my old modem that I used to use back in school. Would it make a difference, should I buy a new one or will it be fine?

Can you guys maybe also tell me will getting a shaped line make any difference? I plan on using my internet for online gaming then then of course downloading games from steam.

[Toxxyc]

Do you guys know if your modem makes any difference to your line speed or stability? I am getting my internet in around 21 working days and was going to use my old modem that I used to use back in school. Would it make a difference, should I buy a new one or will it be fine?

Can you guys maybe also tell me will getting a shaped line make any difference? I plan on using my internet for online gaming then then of course downloading games from steam.

Modem or router? Generally I despise Billion routers (those ones Telkom sponsor you with as a prize for using their contracts), so I bought myself a TrendNET router instead. Internet isn't really faster (as can be expected), but the UI of the router is a pure breeze. With a click of the mouse I can control who on what port of the router has to have access or denied said access to internet, I can block MAC's and IP's, I can restart and modify anything on the router through my browser, and it's easy and effective and fun. I'll recommend a new router if you have the monies to go.

[Wesley]

Do you guys know if your modem makes any difference to your line speed or stability? I am getting my internet in around 21 working days and was going to use my old modem that I used to use back in school. Would it make a difference, should I buy a new one or will it be fine?

Can you guys maybe also tell me will getting a shaped line make any difference? I plan on using my internet for online gaming then then of course downloading games from steam.

Firstly, get a new router. Which one you buy depends on how many computers you'll be linking up to it. If its just one, I highly recommend this cheap Huawei HG521 seeing as it has a single ethernet port and wireless in case you're linking up your phone or tablet as well. Otherwise, most DSL routers will do. I recommend you pick up D-Link's DSL-2640 .

As for shaped lines, it won't really matter much. Shaped lines only prioritise P2P connections like torrents as a lower-importance protocol, with e-mail, Skype, VOIP, HTTP and HTTP downloads and online gaming as a priority. Save the money if you want, or get an unshaped if you discover that you need something better.

The best all-round router on the planet, though, is the Linksys WRT54G/GL/GS/GX with the DD-WRT custom software.



If you ever find one of these second-hand, or another router that supports DD-WRT, do not let it slip out of your hands. They are the best bargains ever made.

[MonGooS]

Sorry, i meant to say router.

Thanks for the advice. It is going to be my pc and xbox connected through cable and my laptop and phone through wireless.

[Wesley]

Sorry, i meant to say router.

Thanks for the advice. It is going to be my pc and xbox connected through cable and my laptop and phone through wireless.

Go for the D-Link then, you won't be sorry. Might even be able to pick it up for cheaper at your local computer store.

[MonGooS]

Go for the D-Link then, you won't be sorry. Might even be able to pick it up for cheaper at your local computer store.

Ill try get one this weekend. Thanks for the help.

[Kharrak]

Right.

Talking to the mweb tech, apparently our router was not changing its IP address whenever we reset it. It was also taking an unusually long time to reset (been happening a while apparently), and not accepting certain alternate usernames.

After doing a full complete reset, the download situation has definitely improved in relation to what it was prior. Torrents that were downloading at about 1-2kb/s are now averaging 12kb/s, and the others are about 80kb/s

Still getting obscene ping in Daiblo 3 - averaging about 400ping, sat for a minute or two today to wait for it to go below 1000+ ping.

TF2 is showing a ping of about 50, compared to the usual ping of 10-20.

So, yeah, I dunno. I have a 4mb line. Still getting less than 2.5 from joburg to local mweb joburg server.

Tech on phone knew nothing about the Backbone query, though I suspect one should approach that through tech support regardless.

Is it possible the router just needs to be replaced?

EDIT: Aaand download speeds are back to what they were. Yay.

[MonGooS]

Sorry to be a bother. I just wanted to be double sure before I spend the money on a new router. The router I have is a Mega 200VWR ADSL Modem. It has a big "do" sticker on it. Is it no good, should I still get the new one? Thanks guys.

[Wesley]

Usually Billion routers are fine for the first two years of use, after that they start to give people endless hassles. Get a new one that isn't Telkom-labeled :-)

[Toxxyc]

Sorry to be a bother. I just wanted to be double sure before I spend the money on a new router. The router I have is a Mega 200VWR ADSL Modem. It has a big "do" sticker on it. Is it no good, should I still get the new one? Thanks guys.

The only thing that "Do" sticker on there is good for is for you to realize "Do not buy this". Rather look at brands like D-Link or TrendNET. My nifty little TrendNET TEW-658BRM has got a 3 year warranty, and for R507 you really can't beat it. It's a wonderful piece of hardware, a breeze to set up compared to our old Billion 800VGT and a breeze to look at. Also haven't given me a single issue since I bought it, where I had three different Billions in the 2 year Telkom contract there used to be at home.

EDIT: OK, it seems the warranty has dropped to 1 year now. How **** of them.

[MonGooS]

The only thing that "Do" sticker on there is good for is for you to realize "Do not buy this".

I laughed at this...

Thanks a lot for all the info guys, it has been a huge help.

I didn't get to buy one this weekend and next weekend I will be busy, so it will have to be the weekend after. Not a train smash though, since there is still something like 16 working days left until Failkom takes their fingers out their asses and puts the line in. I really wish they would give better support, it would make internet in this country so much better.

[Wesley]

You can always phone and ask them when they plan to do it as you're working from home/a Unisa student/running a small online business. If they don't do it after five days, call them again ans ask to escalate the issue to a manager. That usually gets it done within a week and a half.

[MonGooS]

You can always phone and ask them when they plan to do it as you're working from home/a Unisa student/running a small online business. If they don't do it after five days, call them again ans ask to escalate the issue to a manager. That usually gets it done within a week and a half.

I did this, and the guy on the phone said he will see what he can do about speeding up the process. Then today I get a sms saying I need to pay a R700 deposit. So I phone Telkom to get the banking details and ask her how long will it still be. She says that it will be 21 working days AFTER I pay the deposit. I applied for the line over a week ago and they only ask for the deposit now, AND I still have to wait after I pay it. I hate Telkom, so so so so so much.............