Official internet discussion thread

[Zoop]

For what it's worth, my line speeds have gotten really good lately. Latency is no longer an issue at all, and it's not uncommon to find my downloads flying at upwards of 45kbs, where in the past it used to average between 30 and 38kbs on a good day.

[Toxxyc]

Telkom van with a guy in a Telkom shirt. Not sure if trolling, or....? I'll take a picture the next time they come around to connect up more things.

Nah a picture isn't needed, I was just wondering. Quite a few larger companies are now installing fiber optics all over the place, and Telkom isn't too well known for being one of them. Not saying they aren't, though, as a guy with a Telkom shirt for trolling is either very stupid or very smart.

[CyniKill]

For what it's worth, my line speeds have gotten really good lately. Latency is no longer an issue at all, and it's not uncommon to find my downloads flying at upwards of 45kbs, where in the past it used to average between 30 and 38kbs on a good day.

Yeah, my 384k's also been noticeably faster of late. Downloads have been reaching speeds of 52kb/s, not constantly but most of the time I'm averaging above 40kb/s.

[Wesley]

For what it's worth, my line speeds have gotten really good lately. Latency is no longer an issue at all, and it's not uncommon to find my downloads flying at upwards of 45kbs, where in the past it used to average between 30 and 38kbs on a good day.

That could also be related to upgrades at your local exchange. Your line could easily be capable of 1Mb/s speeds. If you're luck, perhaps 10Mb/s.

Nah a picture isn't needed, I was just wondering. Quite a few larger companies are now installing fiber optics all over the place, and Telkom isn't too well known for being one of them. Not saying they aren't, though, as a guy with a Telkom shirt for trolling is either very stupid or very smart.

Yeah, I've seen MTN guys in one or two locations in PE, and a friend in Cape Town had an 8ta tower erected on the same block he lives in right on top of a newly upgraded exchange. I know Fiber Africa's also doing some work for estates and getting FTTH working and sorted for those rich folk who can afford it.

[Zoop]

That could also be related to upgrades at your local exchange. Your line could easily be capable of 1Mb/s speeds. If you're luck, perhaps 10Mb/s.

Well, I live in Stellenbosch, so I think we should be one of the places that gets our upgrades faster due to the fact that it is such a busy town.

[Toxxyc]

Yeah, I've seen MTN guys in one or two locations in PE, and a friend in Cape Town had an 8ta tower erected on the same block he lives in right on top of a newly upgraded exchange. I know Fiber Africa's also doing some work for estates and getting FTTH working and sorted for those rich folk who can afford it.

It's Dark Fiber Africa (or DFA in short), but close enough... :)

And they're not only doing FttH you know, they're also busy installing a ****LOAD of optic fibers all across the country, renting the fibers to the likes of Vodacom, Telkom, etc. as they need it. I did a handful of plannings for the routes these fibers should take, mostly in Northern Gauteng a few months back, and I can tell you these guys are going BIG. DFA and Vodacom actually are working together very, very closely now, Vodacom hiring DFA's fibers as needed and therefore working together with DFA in the approval and quality control of the new fibers. It's a damn cool little procedure actually, between point A and B the fiber belongs to DFA and then it reduces in count to become Vodacom's fibers between point B and C and so forth.

[Wesley]

So long as they manage to fix the ****ing throughput on the Vodacom tower here, I'm happy.

[Toxxyc]

Where are you situated, just for interest sake? I may be able to tell you if there's some civil work being done or planned in that area in the near future. All that then remains is for the optics to be blown and the fiber panels to be connected. Takes about 2 days per tower for a 144 fiber tray, start to finish including testing.

[Wesley]

Where are you situated, just for interest sake? I may be able to tell you if there's some civil work being done or planned in that area in the near future. All that then remains is for the optics to be blown and the fiber panels to be connected. Takes about 2 days per tower for a 144 fiber tray, start to finish including testing.

C-Place, Jeffreys Bay, close to St. Francis street coming into town.

[Toxxyc]

C-Place, Jeffreys Bay, close to St. Francis street coming into town.

You don't maybe work at Tony's TV and Satellite repairs do you?

Anyway, I can't see any planned optic fiber routes in that area from DFA. Then again, my kml's may be a bit outdated as well...

[Wesley]

You don't maybe work at Tony's TV and Satellite repairs do you?

No, no, I'm a writer, remember? :-P No way in hell I'd get time for all this with a regular job.

[Toxxyc]

No, no, I'm a writer, remember? :-P No way in hell I'd get time for all this with a regular job.

Oh. Well then Tony's must be close by. I have a contractor there doing installations for our company. 53 Lantern Street, C Place. Anyway, didn't see anything.

Also, I'm considering Uncapped soon, though I think I may need to drop line speed a little. I'm willing to settle for around 1Mbps, and then get a better uncapped package, though I probably won't kill more than +- 50GB a month. Still considering though.

[Legion]

In my area there are no proper lines.
So I am kinda getting frustrated because lately there has been such severe lags and disconnects.
I play LoL very well even with a ping of 270... but now all i get is 270 to 500.
It's used to be a solid 230.
Vodacom is literally pushing my buttons with this.

Anyone got a bright idea for me?

[KimmyKae]

I heard rumours that the telecommunications infrastructure (specifically with regards to the internet) is going to be improved in some way soon. Is this true? If so, what's happening?

[Wesley]

I heard rumours that the telecommunications infrastructure (specifically with regards to the internet) is going to be improved in some way soon. Is this true? If so, what's happening?

Telkom is rolling out its VDSL lines to high-rise suburbs at the moment for a 20Mb/s trial on those areas. Fibre to the Curb is already underway, with copper cables in select areas being replaced with Fiber underground from the block-level exchanges to the main exchange in the area. 384 and 1Mb/s users should be upgraded this year to 1Mb and 2Mb/s respectively, although no final announcements have been made as to when that'll happen.

Toxxyc will probably chip in here to tell you which areas are getting fiber installations right now.

[KimmyKae]

Telkom is rolling out its VDSL lines to high-rise suburbs at the moment for a 20Mb/s trial on those areas. Fibre to the Curb is already underway, with copper cables in select areas being replaced with Fiber underground from the block-level exchanges to the main exchange in the area. 384 and 1Mb/s users should be upgraded this year to 1Mb and 2Mb/s respectively, although no final announcements have been made as to when that'll happen.

Toxxyc will probably chip in here to tell you which areas are getting fiber installations right now.

Thanks, but could you guys please try to keep it in layman's terms? I'd specifically like to know what kind of speeds the average middle-class citizen could expect (and when we can be expecting them), since even with a 4Mb line, we struggle to play online games.

Is it only certain areas that will have any kind of change at all?

[Wesley]

Thanks, but could you guys please try to keep it in layman's terms? I'd specifically like to know what kind of speeds the average middle-class citizen could expect (and when we can be expecting them), since even with a 4Mb line, we struggle to play online games.

Is it only certain areas that will have any kind of change at all?

Well, the VDSL solution Telkom hopes to push out uses Fiber cables instead of old copper, so if you bought a 10Mb/s line in future, you'd get exactly that. The new exchanges they're building up can serve far more simultaneous connections because its expected that people will include more internet-connected appliances in their household in future, like Smart Tvs.

But as for online games, we have a small, teeny tiny problem.



We're at the ass-end of the world, literally. High pings for online games are going to be a reality for a long, lone time for all of us, but it will get better with time. Also yes, only certain areas will get the 20Mb/s trials because Telkom has earmarked areas that would either:

a) require new copper infrastructure anyways
b) pay for all these new lines and higher-priced options

So only high-rise suburbs and richer areas get the trials, while some areas are just plain lucky like here in Jbay, where all the old copper cables are being replaced by Fiber. I helped my family order a 1Mb/s ADSL line two months ago - we've always got 1Mb/s speeds, regardless of weather, rain or maintenance on the servers here. Things are improving very well.

[Obi Two Kenobi]

Good news everyone. Telkom has said that my area is next in line to get the magical technology known as ADSL. :o How cool is that?

Seriously though, if this happens before the end of the year I'd be effing elated.

[Wesley]

Good news everyone. Telkom has said that my area is next in line to get the magical technology known as ADSL. :o How cool is that?

Seriously though, if this happens before the end of the year I'd be effing elated.

If your area is an entirely new DSL setup, it'll go straight to fiber with 10Mb/s capability from the get-go.

[FatalGlory]

Well my internet was down for over a month and they gave me a number of reasons, but one of them was that they are upgrading. Hopefully I will be able upgrade from my 1Mb/s uncapped unshaped line.