So you’ve finally had enough of battling with that dodgy old dial-up connection and are now contemplating going broadband. Or your current broadband connection is not meeting your needs and/or is too expensive and it’s time for a change.

The choice you need to make is between Iburst, HSDPA (Vodacom and MTN) or ADSL from Telkom, which can be quite a daunting decision for the technically non-inclined. HSDPA and Iburst are “long range” wireless options not to be confused with “short range” Wifi, while ADSL needs a fixed telephone line. So here are a few pointers to help make that decision a little easier.

Connection speed

First you need to decide what Internet speed you need. Obviously the faster the better. Below are the theoretically “maximum” speeds on offer:

Iburst: Up to 1Mbps

HSDPA: Up to 1.8 Mbps. Drops to GPRS rates in non coverage areas.

ADSL: Up to 384 kbps, 512kbps, 1 Mbps and 4 Mbps (1024 kbps = 1Mbps)

In South Africa, however, the reality is that these maximum speeds are rarely achieved (if ever) because actual average speed achieved is dependent on factors such as time of day, location, supplier capacity, remote site being accessed and technical problems. For example, right now my current speed is averaging around 175 kbps on a 512 kbps ADSL link. Obviously the higher the maximum speed capability of your link, the higher the average speed you will get while surfing.

Price per bandwidth

Next you need to decide between the different packages on offer. All companies charge differently although, after installation, price essentially boils down to cost per Mbyte. With Telkom this price is also dependent on the speed of the ADSL link chosen, as well as the cost of your ISP (Internet Service Provider). What you need to decide is how many Gigabytes (1024 Mbytes) you need per month and at what speed, and select a package that is appropriate for your needs.

As a comparison, I have listed below the comparative monthly costs for roughly the same packages (+- 3 Gigabytes of data) at speeds of 1 Mbps (or higher) as of 12th June 2007:

Iburst: R0.17/Mbyte/month (3500 Mbytes Pro Classic package, no modem)

HSDPA: +- R0.20/Mbyte/month (2048 Mbytes in bundle rate from MTN/Vodacom)

ADSL: R0.21/Mbyte/month (3 Gigabytes Cap with 1Mbps line using Axxess as ISP at R125/month)

(Prices do not include once off costs such as routers/modems etc)

Although the Iburst option works out the cheapest at 1 Mbps (or greater), if you are happy with a 384 kbps line speed, then the ADSL cost reduces to +- R0.12/Mbyte – i.e. you are sacrificing speed for price. On the other hand, if you need the faster speeds and are confident that the wireless coverage will be reliable in your area, then one of the wireless options may be the way to go.

Reliability

Unfortunately the reliability of each of the above connections is hard to predict and I have seen and heard of cases where all connection types have been unreliable and slow. This usually boils down to one of the following reasons:

Time of day: At certain times of the day, there will be more users online sharing the same resources, so overall speeds obtained will be lower than at other times.

Your location: Especially true for the wireless options as in certain locations, speed will be much better than in others. This is because the wireless signal coverage is affected by objects such as distance from the transmitter as well as buildings, weather, mountains etc between the transmitter and your router. For example, I have used HSDPA cards at the CTICC centre in Cape Town and got average speeds of only 270 kbps. While the coverage for all is increasing, ADSL is the most likely only choice for many areas because of Telkom’s huge infrastructure. Iburst and HSDPA are mainly focused in major cities. It is however important to check the reliability of wireless coverage at your site before going ahead with using a wireless connection.

Technical Problems: All the suppliers will experience technical problems from time to time and that invariably effects connection speed – unfortunately in South Africa this is far too common a problem at the moment.

Internet Needs

If you are planning to use the Internet while on the move using a laptop, for example, then Iburst and HSDPA are the only options available – ADSL needs a fixed phone line.

However, if you will be accessing the Internet from one location then you have the option of using any of the three. Personally I prefer using a fixed ADSL line because, in my opinion (and Telkom technical problems and personal dislikes aside), a physical wired solution should always be more reliable than the wireless options. If you need wireless with ADSL, you always have the option of using Wifi, which will give you short range wireless connectivity (+- 35 meters from the router with longer ranges possible using the right setup).

Also, the type of applications you will be running will influence your selection. If all you need is “reasonable” Internet speed for email and browsing, then 384 kbps from Telkom may be all you need. On the other hand, if you are downloading large files or need a fast connection between two offices, then you will need a faster connection.

My Preferences

Home/Business fixed location: ADSL from Telkom (Non Telkom Router)
Roaming user with laptop: HSDPA from MTN

This article is adapted from one that first appeared on the ITRoadblog published by Precision Networks

By: Patrick Gibson