Hellkom
UPDATE [19/03]: Telkom says 'we do not have a hard cap' at My Broadband. Comments here. I'm speechless...
At the recent Telkom analyst day, Telkom's Steven Hayward said that the fixed line provider has a soft cap, adding that they have not switched off any customers who exceeded their caps.
When asked whether the low usage limits, or caps, associated with ADSL are not at odds with Telkom's intension of providing media rich content to their broadband subscribers, Steven Hayward, Managing Executive for Retail and Marketing at Telkom, made some dubious statement about the incumbent's capping policies.
"We don't have a hard cap on it, we have what we call a soft cap," said Hayward. He further stated that "...in fact, we have not switched off any customers as long back as I can recall. So we don't switch them off."
Hayward further said that when a customer goes 'way over' the allotted usage limit that Telkom phones the customer, informs them about their high usage and then tells them that they have to pay extra to use this service.
Mr Hayward, I would love to receive your response to my original post which follows...
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My turn to contribute to the anti-Telkom sentiments making noise across the local blogosphere recently.
TelkomInternet (my ISP & ADSL provider) sent me the following yesterday (not the first time I've received an e-mail like this):
Dear subscriber
According to our records your total usage as at [2007-3-16 00:00:01] has reached and exceeded the threshold for the overall service.
Uploaded: 2.58GB
Downloaded: 1.47GB
Combined Total: 4.06GBReaching the threshold has resulted in your username being disabled from our network of services until the 1st of next month.
Your actions have resulted in your username being added to our list of high-end users and repeated behavior of this nature could result in an overall blacklisting of services from TelkomInternet.
So according to Telkom I've uploaded 2.58GB this month already. What the hell are they smoking?! Do they just make these figures up?
Let's examine this. Compare their usage graph with my own (I use Net Activity Diagram to monitor my internet activity). If I log into Telkom's Usage Tracker tool, I'm presented with these stats:
3 March - Uploaded: 859.9753 MB
4 March - Uploaded: 849.1983 MB
I have a 384kbps line, which is theoretically supposed to allow for 128kbps upload speeds. I'm not exactly sure how this works, but I guess that after considering factors like protocol overheads, propagation delays etc., I get a maximum transfer rate of 20kbps. After doing the math, at that rate and with consistent connectivity, it's possible that I could have uploaded 1.7GB over two days. Only I didn't, and this is confirmed by my NAD stats.
I've read the My Broadband forum posts. My wireless firewall router is securely locked down, and both my router and Telkom account passwords are very secure - I changed them as an extra measure after receiving the first e-mail.
I tried to get a response from Telkom on this issue in September last year, the first time this happened, when I'd supposedly uploaded more than 3GB over 4 days. My e-mails were forwarded to their abuse department and I never heard anything back. I tried calling, but in typical Telkom style, they're only interesting in hearing from you when you want to buy more bandwidth.
So what's the deal here? I'm pretty sure that my bandwidth isn't being stolen, but if that's the case then it's not by any fault of mine. It frustrates me to no end that my service has already been cut off when I've only used half of my cap, and I'm now planning on switching to a better ISP. One that provide a decent level of support, and who I can trust. Chances are they'll be cheaper too!
Enjoy the ride Aquila!
UPDATE: Telkom responded to my e-mail which contained a link to this post. They attached a document with my ADSL connection logs, which I must mention do not match up with either my usage stats on their site or my own usage stats. Assuming they read this post, here's what they had to say:
We have reviewed your ADSL connection logs, as per attached, and we do not pick up any irregularities. Also please note that the logs show that all the connections were made from your location.
UPDATE [26/03]: I cancelled my TelkomInternet account today and signed up with Cybersmart. And yes, they're cheaper. So far so good!
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21 Comments
Hmmm, it’s quite possible Telkom have cocked up again, however be sure to check your wireless router stats and settings. Most routers keep a record of overall data flow in and out of each interface. Some may have more stats than others, but most should at least tell you how much traffic has passed through your WAN (ADSL link), LAN and WLAN – you may need to do a bit of calculating to get something usable.
If your router’s stats match, or are similar to that reported by Telkom (assuming you reset your router at the beginning of the month), then there’s a good chance the traffic has gone down your line, in which case, someone’s probably hacked your WEP key (very easy to do) and is pinchng your bandwidth. Change you WEP key, or even better, switch to WPA if your router supports it. If not, ensure your WEP key is 128bits – it’ll make it harder to crack.
I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but if I can help save someone a couple a bucks, and keep them secure and on the internet, then it’s worth it. I wish SA would hurry up and get competitive with ADSL – here in the UK I’ve got an 8Mb uncapped line for a measly £20 (~R290). Hopefully everything will change once the big fat pipe down the east coast is finished.
Coda, you’re 100% correct that Telkom is definitely stuffing up somewhere. Even though I’ve been waxing lyrical about the speed at which I got my connection, I’m definitely foreseeing some problems along the way.
Connecting this morning was a pain in the proverbial. I had to re-verify the line, which took around an hour or so, including a couple of calls to technical support.Still things weren’t that bad.
regarding the usage. I was actually shocked to see my stats so far. Maybe I’m just being over-zealous at the moment, but I definitely need to cut down, otherwise I’ll be getting one of those emails from them too.
Colin: thanks for your help, much appreciated. I’ll check if my router reports any stats (I don’t think it does). I’ve locked access control down to my notebook’s MAC Address only. I use WEP encryption (I don’t think my notebook supports WPA? Could be wrong..). I also don’t broadcast my SSID. This happens really irregularly too, which leaves me doubting that my router has been hacked otherwise it would surely be happening month-to-month. Hmmm.
Aquila: their stats are very unreliable. Check out SASA to monitor your usage – it doesn’t work with some SAIX accounts for some reason (mine being one of them) but it might help you out.
“…behavior (sic) of this nature…”?
Whatever happened to “We’re sorry, but you’ve reached your bandwidth limit for this month. Unfortunately you will need to purchase additional bandwidth to be able to continue (phone xxx xxxx or surf to xxxx to do this). Thank you for making substantial use of our services, we’re happy to have you on board!”
Seriously, from an outside perspective this is abso-fucking-lutely insane, being “reprimanded” as a consumer for wanting more. WTF? Last time I checked capitalism meant more demand implied a profitable opportunity for more supply, and more trade for everyone.
Fuck you Telkom, you’re a bunch of sorry-ass morons.
Sorry for the venting, but stuff like this just hacks me off hugely.
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one to get this crap. They’ve been billing us false telephone calls for ages. I especially liked how they charged us for phone calls on days we didn’t even use the phone, lol.
I also like the fact that we got a similar email, stating that we’d uploaded 4GB in a day when that was impossible as a) we were on a 384 KB/sec line b) the router was in for repairs c) thus we didn’t have an ADSL connection.
So we said “eff them” and went with http://www.vlocity.co.za. Wireless rocks :)
Wow, unbelievable (or should that be believable) rudeness from Telkom; can’t believe the tone of their letter! How dare you use bandwidth – that’s just unacceptable “behavior” ;-) They definitely need to attend PR101 or something.
Hope you manage to sort it out (and avoid the “blacklist”!)
Hey Damien,
I suspect someone is stealing your bandwidth.
If you haven’t already, change your router’s default password, or change it anyway.
If you get your router to negotiate your ADSL connection, and someone cracks your router admin interface password, they can view your account details in plain text. (only applicable to those crappy Marconi-based software routers that Telkom “sell”.)
Once you’ve done all that, contact TelkomInternet and change your ISP password.
Good luck,
nd
Apparently Telkom don’t hardcap. Telkom, now also a bunch of thieving liars…
Holy shit.
Hi ndorfin, thanks for that. My router password is pretty tricky to crack so I have doubts that my bandwidth is being stolen. Also if you see Telskum’s response in my post update, according to their logs of my account, all connections were made from my location.
Oh, and regarding Cybersmart, read their terms of service for their ADSL account, very restrictive indeed.
jk: I read them and nothing really put me off enough to try them out. It’s either them, Web Africa or OpenWeb – but I don’t like the look of those.
If the radius server said X bandwidth was used by an account it’s accurate, unless they are loosing radius accounting packets. Radius is basically what SAIX use for dial-up and ADSL authentication.
Windows/Mac/Linux/FreeBSD laptops should be able to do WPA authentication. Amobia look interesting if you want Wifi access, and it should enable you to get more b/w after office hours should it be a viable alternative for you. Also, you may want to use a non-SAIX based solution, so that you still get connectivity once capped (local bandwidth). That’s what the IS solution does.
Will do Martin, thanks!
now, if only we could find hosting for the best available version of apache (2.2.x) with:
* raw config and log access,
* cband module loaded (to prevent a surprise bandwidth bill)
- p
Hi all
Telkom, Telkom, TELKOM. I’ve recently signed up for the do2 package (www.do.co.za), and have had fun and games setting up the wireless router. I’ve opted for WAP encryption, am hiding the SSID, have brought down the DHCP lease time to 240 seconds, and the group key interval (for WAP) to 100 seconds. At one stage I had MAC filtering enabled too.
Now, the problem I’m having is that once I actually get my wireless NIC connected, it usually refuses the connection, and when it finally does authenticate / connect, everything is fine until I disconnect from the router, and then try to reconnect in the morning. It’s bizarre, and I don’t know what’s going wrong.
Any assistance would be graciously received.
Late to the party but thought i’d offer my 2 baht. Telkom are c**ts, it’s because of them South Africa has zero net presence.
The rest of the world uses it as a daily tool, but SA can’t, as the cost is that high. I’m currently paying 1400 rand a month for a 512k (uncapped), but capped at 10gb/10 days.
I spent 20 quid a month in Cambodia for a 2mb line, with no restrictions. Go figure…
we have a business line with telkom. a few years ago it was hacked by nigerians and telkom confirmed this. telkom claimed they had resolved the issue but we decided to bar international call from our line just to be on the safe side. so far so good. although not having the option to make international calls is a pain… thank goodness for the internet.
last month however our internet usage went from 3gb to over 12 and we had to keep buying boosters etc. i wrote to our isp and telkom and both claimed it was us. this is the first month in 3 + years that usage spiked and was higher on weekends when no one was in the office. double checked all firewalls, downloaded spyware checkers etc made sure everything was up to scratch. unplugged the modem (not wireless -but a 4 port marconi provided by telkom) over weekends and things have improved. still sure someone is hacking in to our marconi though trying to figure out how to change the default password on the router…
glad to finally read that we are not alone and that others are experiencing similar problems… seems the router we have has a security floor too…
@blaize: I bet there are hundreds of thousands of stories like these. Luckily your problem is on the router and in your control, my problem was with Hellkom’s own incompetence.
I’ve been using Cybersmart for an ISP since I wrote this post and I haven’t looked back. Their Night Rider service allows me to download (theoretically) 15GB a month while I only pay for 3.
The only thing I rely on Hellkom for is the line rental (given the opportunity, they still manage to cock that up unsurprisingly!) – but unfortunately for some, Hellkom really is the only viable option.
I’d never heard of a Marconi router before. Just read on the MyBroadband forums that a Marconi (wireless) router only has WEP encryption, and apparently a 104bit WEP key can be cracked in less than a minute:
There are tools freely available (Google airsnort) that will crack WEP after listening in on a few million packets.
I’d invest in a new router (Netgear) – rule of thumb, don’t trust Hellkom on anything.
(p.s. why’s your name so familiar?)
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17 March 2007
lebogang nkoane09:26 am
I am not sure, if this is the place and time, but i think i might as well vent too, about telkom.
I live in alexandra township (jhb), and I applied for an ADSL line in 2005 November, I was told last year june, that telkom is not planning to upgrade the network infrastructure in Alexandra in the foreseeable future. Which means, I am still waiting, and counting how long it would take.
Irony is this, alexandra is surrounded by surbabia (kew, kelvin, malboro, limbro park) all of which have adsl infrastructure. I’d hate to pull out my race card (only two left :-).
Alas, iburst came to the rescue.