Category Archives: Broadband - Page 2

iBurst: Still no broadband

Posted by on September 30, 2008 3 comments

In a previously related post. I detailed my “journey” into the getting no broadband anymore. iBurst’s service is still degraded.

Due to all the download issues and retries I eventually exhausted my 5GB-bundle and my 3.5GB top-up and was forced to topup by another 3.5GB last week to just make it through the month and be able to work. The 5GB are generally sufficient, but the last 30 days I spent downloading the same 120MB (non-resumeable) file 13(!!!) times as iBurst disconnected the network and download-speeds had been below 200kbps (this is KiloBits, which is 25KB/sec — compare that to 400KB/sec on ADSL or 250KB/sec on 3G).

The call-centre will find any excuse (check your MTU settings, have you rebooted your computer, did you install the latest Windows service-pack) for not helping you. They will then also send you to their own speedtest site, which shows a sugary-picture:

It’s just a pity, that I never download anything from iBurst’s website and a real-life scenario shows a picture like this:

Yes, most downloads, news etc originate from US and Europe, and this is where iBurst does not deliver broadband. Before we blame it on international traffic being congested, how come that ADSL- or 3G-users don’t have this problem. Clearly points out that iBurst is in trouble.

The recent site visit from the iBurst engineer, also did not prove an issue on my end of the wireless internetlessness. My signal quality is 100%, no frame-errors, perfect throughput on modem and router, but still speed issues.

During a further Speedtest this morning I noticed a brief improvement of speed (lasted between 6:00-6:30 and fluctuated between 300-500kbps) – after 6:30am however it was back to the previous state. Also still experiencing the same disconnects and fluctuation in speed.
iBurst speedtest: Upload 464kpbs / Download 138kpbs
Speedtest – Johannesburg: Upload 509kpbs / Download 253kpbs
Speedtest – Capetown: Upload 362kpbs / Download 123kpbs
Speedtest – NY: Upload 272kpbs / Download 92kpbs

You will notice, that the further you get away from your connected location the more speed drops. In contrast, this is not the case with other connection types. Hell, even pairing my Nokia N95 via Bluetooth on 3G is faster than iBurst. Still waiting for a resolution, as the problem is currently looked at by the network team. It has been confirmed during the site-survey, that the issue is not on my end though!

Update 2009-01-01: I had cancelled iBurst with 1st December 2008 and have been on ADSL (4mb) since November. iBurst did not really care addressing the problem and customer service is just horrible. Moving over to ADSL (via Webafrica) is the best thing I could have done. Downloads are coming in at 400KB/sec – not comparable to the 40KB/sec on iBurst.



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iBurst: Fix your broadband

Posted by on September 23, 2008 1 comment

There is no doubt that iBurst is one of the worse broadband providers out there. Look at the over 500 complaints in the last 12 months on HelloPeter or HellBurst.

While most users complain about incorrect debit orders and the accounts department being up to sh#t, I pay via EFT and avoid surprise debits exceeding several thousand Rand a month. Yes, choosing iBurst was my choice — Telkom was not capable installing a copper line (after 5 months), Neotel did not launch and 3G is too expensive, but the incorrect advertising (broadband) and the (lacking) level of service is consistently delivered by iBurst.

While I originally used to get 500-700kbps (with omni-directional antenna and 100% signal), over the last 2 weeks my download speed looks like this (note that this is in KiloBits per second and not KB):

and a Speedtest reveals this:

Great ping-time, but iBurst completely lacks the backhaul capacity to provide any level of service. Incident was logged with them 19th September with the promise to have an engineer call within 1 hour. Phoned again today and was told that “everyone” is working on this.

On the MyAdsl forum you will notice posts like this one, that one, or this one, or that other one, or this one. By now you should get the hint, that not everything is as rosy as we are led to believe.

What does it mean to me: Tried to download since Thursday a 150MB patch for PS3 Burnout Paradise. Sofar the download was interrupted 12 times (4x on Thurs, 5x Friday, 3x Sat). This has cost me over 1GB of my bandwidth and iBurst is refusing to fix or compensate —- bad business practices.

Although Telkom could not get their act together in January, I have re-applied and hope that in a few months I will be on ADSL. PM me if you would like to purchase the iBurst Desktop modem (not that I have not warned you…)

Update 1: It has been now 3 days since I started notice the bad connectivity. Between 18/09 and 21/09 I wasted already 2869MB on trying to redownload a 120MB file. This is using up the additional R599,00 bundle I bought – iBurst will unlikely provide compensation for this.

Update 2: The call-centre now tells me that my local setup is wrong – iBurst see screenshots below (100% signal strength, no frame-errors, but your magic link-speed is 293kbps):

Update 3: Close to a week later, several phone-calls and emails, iBurst has now decided that the problem is on my side. So how is it possible that I can have great speed-tests against iBurst servers, but any international download suffers from lack of speed (download this morning of a 64MB Synology Firmware was going at a hot 5KB/sec). I will get my site-visit now on 26th – a week after reporting the incident the first time. Will be surprised to see what the resolution will be.

From some people I heard that iBurst does not have sufficient international back-haul capacity and all their towers are oversubscribed, this would then explain an international SpeedTest:

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Rip-off alert: iBu(r)st changes prices and packages – watch out….

Posted by on April 2, 2008 No comments

If you are a iBurst user you will be delighted that the company has consolidated the number of packages and re-adjusted the prices for contracts and month-2-month deals:

However: As I am on a Pro 3gig package I assumed that iBurst would either automatically upgrade me to the Xtreme 5gig package or reduce the monthly cost. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! iBurst will not change your current contract, they will also not contact you to have this changed.

The only option you have is to phone customer care on 0861 428 778 and speak to sales to have your monthly cost reduced or have your package upgraded.

Update: iBurst will not migrate you right away. You will have to fill out a migration form and the migration will only become effective with the following month. So depending on what package you are on, you will immediately loose out. If you are on a 3GB package now, you will lose R 150,00 for the month.

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Rip-off alert 2: iBurst introduces pay per use – R972 per gig

Posted by on April 2, 2008 No comments

While discussing my migration with an iBurst sales consultant, I found out that iBurst introduced mandatory pay-per-use as of this month.

iBurst will charge you an out-of-bundle rate of 95c per MB extra being used. The only way to avoid this is to opt-out via the above link.

The catch? Old packages are not affected by this. However, as soon as you migrate PPU will be activated. So it is either staying on the old package, being overcharged and getting a softcap or reducing your package cost or migrating to a new package (the later two will require you to opt out of PPU if you don’t want to get surprises at the end of the month).

Update 1: I have logged this also on HelloPeter
Update 2: iBurst responded on Hello Peter, but has not responded to my email I sent them 12 hours ago (although I have received a number of read-receipts). Makes me wonder how iBurst complies with the National Credit Act when unwary customers get debited thousands of Rand???

If you don’t understand what this means: 1GB = 1024MB * 95c = 972 Rand. iBurst – what’s wrong with you? (a 1GB bandwidth booster will cost R199)

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