This is the one service I have mixed feelings about, if anything it is consistent, problem is consistent is what?
Sentech has had their ups and downs but most people will agree that after the massive exodus it seems they have enough bandwidth to cover the remaining users, problem is that they are not best ISP. They change policies as and when they feel fit and have terrible customer support.
In this case the modem is routed via a Smoothwall box and PPPoE, the connection was tweaked in windows using ProAsms MySignal
Here is the Telkom Speed test, I did this test everyday for the last 2 months and most days I could not even complete the test without timing out. I have seen 44 and even a 48 once or twice but generally it just does not happen. The best I could get in 2 months was this:
On the international front things did not look any better.
Now in all fairness I normally get much better speeds, but the service has degraded so much over the last 2 months that I could not be bothered to wait for more “realistic” speeds. If It improves I will redo this review. (Or have both with dates)
Okay, so typical of all wireless services is the fact that pings are through the roof, Sentech however takes this to a new level. Local pings are pretty bad
International pings are slower than trying to ping the moon with a tin can and hammer.
Multithreaded downloads give me a little hope that this service is worthwhile.
All in all the figures speak for themselves, Sentech is a terrible service and should not be considered for anyone with a need for speed. The only real advantage is softcapping, the 512KB package allows 40GB of bandwidth, the problem is getting there.
P2P runs okay and multihreaded downloads are acceptable. But dont expect your favorite news website to load up anytime soon with latency higher than a Rasta over the holidays.
This service is for users with high bandwidth needs and plenty time to waste. It is probably better suited to small businesses that can afford a little downtime and tolerate slow speeds.
Another huge downside is the customer support, their whole attitude of “Call again in 72hrs and if you still have a problem we will think about logging something” just does not make it any easier to be a customer.
My advice get a flash disk and carrier pigeon for faster data transfer.