Bianca S Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 (edited) Hi,Was hoping somebody could point me in the right (cheapest!) direction for perm. connection Internet in South Africa - really want to get Skype going for family, and would like to help them to set it up, etc. We dont go to SA that often as the first few years - cant afford to, and it would help a lot if we can stay in touch via Skype too. Please tell me which service provide you use (cons/pros/prices/installation, etc) Can you make cheaper calls through Skype in SA and abroad?Thanks, any tips appreciated. Bianca Edited January 12, 2007 by Bianca.UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Swanepoel Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 HiYou can make cheaper calls using Skype from SA to Out of SA, than from SA to SA. (That is a bit weird). For prices on Skype to land line see www.skype.com.Skype pricing-Skype to Skype free :-)-Skype to SA Land Line +- 50c per minute-Skype to Aus Land Line +- 14 (SA sent per minute)Basically your options are ADSL (Telkom), iBurst, 3G and Sentech.3G is more expensive than the other offerings and add to that the Cell Phone operators are talking about charing extra for VOIP (Skype type) traffic, see www.mybroadband.co.zaAt the moment Sentech is not really value for money, hence I will talk more about ADSL and iBurst.ADSL- You need to rent an ADSL line from telkom for this. (Can take 2-12 weeks for them to install)- You need to get an ISP (Service Provider) at an extra cost. You need to be carefull to find out what happens when you reach your cap. A cap is an allocated amount of data that you can download, before they block you for the month or slow your speed down- It is nice and fast- Might be fine if you already have a land line, but you have to deal with Telkom. (They do not get the best ratings for customer service)iBurst- Is a wireless sollution, so you need to be in an area with coverage (www.iBurst.co.za)- Nice thing about iBurst is that they do not cut you off if you reach your cap. (Your speed gets slowed down, it is still fast enough for Skype)- It is nice and fast- They install within a couple of days.- They have better customer service than Telkom- I would go with them but you need to be in an area with reception. For prices on broadband options check the consumer site Hellkom (a pun on Telkom)- iBurst: http://www.hellkom.co.za/ispprices.php?typ...rst&order=price- ADSL: http://www.hellkom.co.za/ispprices.php?type=adsl&op==∩=3For eMail and Skype a 1GB cap might be enough, especially if it is a soft cap. It is also easier to upgrade.Hope this helpsFeel free to ask if anything is not clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bianca S Posted January 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Dankie Johan!Ek sal goed deur als kyk en soek op Internet, en dalk email met 'n vraag of twee. Terug na die boeke nou (besig met eksamens ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Swanepoel Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Plesier.Sterkte met die eksamens.Skreeu as ons kan help. Ons is nog in SA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikkiH Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 (edited) HiI use I-Burst and it used to be the case that they just slow your connection down when you reached your cap, but since a few months ago, they have started to stop you from connecting at all, but you can purchace more bandwidth, it just doesn't carry over to the next month if you don't use it all (for the non-contract customers anyway, don't know about people who are on contract with them).Cheers,N Edited January 13, 2007 by NikkiH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johan Swanepoel Posted January 13, 2007 Report Share Posted January 13, 2007 Ag nee. For a while they were the go-to guys if you did not want to deal with Telkom.Hopefully caps will move up and prices come down this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IslandStyle Posted February 17, 2007 Report Share Posted February 17, 2007 (edited) Nice post Johan.I would've liked to say go for ADSL as it should be the better option for voice applications. However, I am using iBurst and are very happy. We use it regularly to Skype our family in Autralia. It is jittery at times, especially if you enable video, but in general the quality is good and you are able to have a normal conversation. iBurst can be activated in a day or two and you can opt for a month-to-month 'contract' and buy additional bandwidth throughout the month if needed. I start with a small package and purchase more if I need to. The portion of the ADDITIONALLY PURCHASED bandwidth that is not used in a specific month, is carried over to the following month. Edited February 17, 2007 by Wynand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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