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yester64
May 3rd, 2010, 09:28 PM
Hi,
is there a way to get internet cheaper? Right now i use AT&T and the only real cheap version is 1.5m for $20. But thats kinda real slow. I pay right now $40.
This is in Los Angeles.
I wonder if there are other option for users, besides cable which is even more expensive.
What provider do you use?

Vortex_nc
May 3rd, 2010, 09:41 PM
Come over to South Africa here you can pay through the roof and still not get a reliable connection. We have the land based telecommunications company Telkom (fondly known as Hellkom to those in the area) who will gladly give you adsl for around R1000 (about $125) per month. we have fiber optic cables available but I shudder to even contemplate the price let alone availability (In my particular area we don't have adsl even)

Our cheapest solution is mobile broadband (my current choice) for R50 (say $5) a day we get 24 hours of unlimited data on a choppy mobile connection. (The reason I don't have Lucid yet :-( )

NCLI
May 3rd, 2010, 09:46 PM
Come over to South Africa here you can pay through the roof and still not get a reliable connection. We have the land based telecommunications company Telkom (fondly known as Hellkom to those in the area) who will gladly give you adsl for around R1000 (about $125) per month. we have fiber optic cables available but I shudder to even contemplate the price let alone availability (In my particular area we don't have adsl even)

Our cheapest solution is mobile broadband (my current choice) for R50 (say $5) a day we get 24 hours of unlimited data on a choppy mobile connection. (The reason I don't have Lucid yet :-( )

I've lived in South Africa for two months, so I know your pain. If you can't use ShipIt, I'd be glad to send you a cd.

LowSky
May 3rd, 2010, 09:56 PM
Are you sure Cable cost more, it only costs me $29.99 ($39,99 without Phone and TV) for 12/2.

If you live in an apartment, and have neighbors who use Wifi, ask them to go halfs on the bill and you can both reap full speed internet.

murderslastcrow
May 3rd, 2010, 09:57 PM
Yeah, I think 1.2 MB sucks, but it's adequate. Comcast Cable gets me 5.6 Mbps, after they fixed the line. You should check if they have the improved cable in your area and take a look.

If not, you might actually get better bandwidth with one of those MiFi boxes.

speedwell68
May 3rd, 2010, 09:58 PM
I am on unlimited ADSL broadband and telephone calls for £25 a month, no idea what that is in $$$.

LowSky
May 3rd, 2010, 10:01 PM
I am on unlimited ADSL broadband and telephone calls for £25 a month, no idea what that is in $$$.

almost $40

PhilGil
May 3rd, 2010, 10:10 PM
I am on unlimited ADSL broadband and telephone calls for £25 a month, no idea what that is in $$$.
That's about $38.

To the OP... $40-$50 is the going rate for broadband faster than 1.2 mps. The only way I know of to get it for less is to find out if your cable, phone or cellular provider offers bundled service. As another poster mentioned, if you live in an apartment you might be able to split the cost with a trustworthy neighbor and share a wireless connection.

Vortex_nc
May 3rd, 2010, 10:43 PM
I've lived in South Africa for two months, so I know your pain. If you can't use ShipIt, I'd be glad to send you a cd.

ShipIt works fine for me. Just wanted to rave about the pains of limited choice and corporate monopoly in ZA. It's like apartheid all over again. (Hmmm Telkom was an apartheid monopolized company so therefore...)

Anyway kind of off topic sorry.

TBABill
May 3rd, 2010, 10:48 PM
Having worked for both cable and telephone companies, your options are simply limited. In most areas, and if you can even get DSL because of limited availability in more remote areas, DSL is cheaper but slower. But different companies employ various forms of DSL at different speeds, and different methods to get it to you. Cable companies are pretty comparable in technologies in comparison, most times offering better bandwidth but at a premium if you go with their higher tiers of speed.

Check your local cable company. They may have an unadvertised lower tier broadband service you can get cheaper than their "high speed". For example, I can get 7Mbps up/1Mbps down as "high speed" but there is another 1.5Mbps/364kbps tier they don't advertise. It's about $10-15 per month less.

DSL will not be getting much investment from phone companies as they migrate to fiber services and eventually to 4G, which will bring all your services wirelessly and super fast.

Vortex_nc
May 11th, 2010, 05:08 PM
I can get 7Mbps up/1Mbps down as "high speed" but there is another 1.5Mbps/364kbps tier they don't advertise. It's about $10-15 per month less.

DSL will not be getting much investment from phone companies as they migrate to fiber services and eventually to 4G, which will bring all your services wirelessly and super fast.

As things stand here I have the option of going 7.2Mbps only thing is I will have to go with 3G services by the mobile operators - They charge R250p/m for a 350MB data bundle per month with the 3g Modem on a 24 month contract. That R6000 ($850) for two years of high speed limited data.

The most reliable connections we have is the telkom connections which unfortunately also cost an arm and a leg.

My question to all service providers world wide is this: Does the transfer of data really cost you people that much money or are internet users paying for other things such as infrastructure costs and bad debts and overheads?

sorry if this sounds argumentative but understand that South Africa is under severe financial pressure due to the same problem in our power sector (Eskom increasing our price of electricity by 24% per year for the next three years due to their own negligence for not budgeting for increased infrastructure - which the consumer now have to pay for. Eskom= ONLY power supplier in SA and Partial state owned.)

themarker0
May 11th, 2010, 06:00 PM
Atm i am running at 260 a year for my server, i think max i can get is 10/10. :(

Gone fishing
May 11th, 2010, 06:08 PM
I wonder if there is anyone that pays more than this:

1 Meg (1024 kB/s) connection unlimited US$500 R3750 per month

Lesotho

TBABill
May 11th, 2010, 07:24 PM
If your $500 per month 1024kB/s is a T-1, then yes. Businesses pay anywhere from $200-800/month and it is largely dependent upon the distance to their locations because of telecom repeaters, lines, 4-wire vs 2-wire, etc. They are unlimited usage and the speed is the same up or down, but the 1024kB/s is not the greatest. However, that's not normally an Internet service. It's usually a point to point service that may include telephone voice lines, data, video or all types of data (lottery circuits, alarm services, emergency services, video feeds, etc).

Gone fishing
May 11th, 2010, 09:18 PM
No thats just an ADSL connection

Vortex_nc
June 15th, 2010, 09:14 AM
I wonder if there is anyone that pays more than this:

1 Meg (1024 kB/s) connection unlimited US$500 R3750 per month

Lesotho

I just want to clear up: Are you paying R3750 per month for 1 Megabyte of data or is that just for the speed of 1Meg/sec?

julio_cortez
June 15th, 2010, 09:51 AM
I've lived in South Africa for two months, so I know your pain.
Wasn't South Africa the country where they performed the test with the pigeon that transferred something like 4 GB of data faster than the "standard" aDSL? :lolflag:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm

bigseb
June 15th, 2010, 10:59 AM
Come over to South Africa here you can pay through the roof and still not get a reliable connection. We have the land based telecommunications company Telkom (fondly known as Hellkom to those in the area) who will gladly give you adsl for around R1000 (about $125) per month. we have fiber optic cables available but I shudder to even contemplate the price let alone availability (In my particular area we don't have adsl even)

Our cheapest solution is mobile broadband (my current choice) for R50 (say $5) a day we get 24 hours of unlimited data on a choppy mobile connection. (The reason I don't have Lucid yet :-( )
I have ADSL at home from Telkom/Cyber Smart. 15 Gb per month at 384kb/s which perfect for normal home use. Only costs me R444. No glitches, works just fine. Plus I get uncapped ADSL from 00:30 - 07:30 and free Telkom to Telkom calls on weekends.
What area are you in any how?

Vortex_nc
June 15th, 2010, 11:48 AM
I have ADSL at home from Telkom/Cyber Smart. 15 Gb per month at 384kb/s which perfect for normal home use. Only costs me R444. No glitches, works just fine. Plus I get uncapped ADSL from 00:30 - 07:30 and free Telkom to Telkom calls on weekends.
What area are you in any how?

I Live in Kimberley (has adsl) but in a suburb called roodepan (no adsl :mad: ) My only options are 3g or telkom 56k. Current mtn 24hr data bolt works out the cheapest for me. R50 for 24hr partially limited downloads (full speed for the first 150MB thereafter 128 Kbps)

Vortex_nc
June 15th, 2010, 11:50 AM
Wasn't South Africa the country where they performed the test with the pigeon that transferred something like 4 GB of data faster than the "standard" aDSL? :lolflag:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm

One and the same.

Endomancer
June 15th, 2010, 12:35 PM
Here in Australia, our biggest ISP is Telstra bigpond (http://go.bigpond.com/home/)

and for $59.95 monthly I get a generous 12GB at ~27KB/s then unlimited usage at ~10KB/s on bigpond's 24 month ADSL Liberty* (12GB) 256/64 plan.

bigseb
June 16th, 2010, 09:30 AM
I Live in Kimberley (has adsl) but in a suburb called roodepan (no adsl :mad: ) My only options are 3g or telkom 56k. Current mtn 24hr data bolt works out the cheapest for me. R50 for 24hr partially limited downloads (full speed for the first 150MB thereafter 128 Kbps)
Ouch. Simple solution: move to Cape Town.

:D

Vortex_nc
June 16th, 2010, 03:53 PM
Ouch. Simple solution: move to Cape Town.

:D

Won't it be easier to move into town?