iBurst advertising “breach allegation� upheld by ASA…

See link to document, below: (5 Pages – 136 KB)

http://www.michaelvandijk.co.za/iburst.pdf

Cheers,
Greg

I think Shane actually checked availability of this domain last year sometime. This site was inevitable.

Thanks for the advice. Sadly, it sounds like installing an antenna just moves you up the pecking-order for the tower you connect to, and presumably bumps someone else off. It doesn’t really solve the bigger issue for iBurst, which is the number of unhappy customers they are creating.

Andrew

I have tried the antenna solution and in most cases there is some improvement, provided that it is correctly installed and pointed at a tower that is not overloaded. The loss in access speeds, etc. is caused by the addition of more users than the tower can handle. The more users utilising a tower the poorer the access becomes.

The deterioration usual starts on the edge of the signal coverage area and draws closer to the tower as more users are added to the system. Usually it is quite prevalent during office hours, when most users are active.

In May of this year it was announced on MyADSL that the Northcliff tower was the second busiest tower in the country http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Wireless/89.html.

If you require more information head over to the iBurst forum http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=97 there is a wealth of information available on iBurst.

It seems the installation of an antenna is the only interim solution or to wait until WiMax is commercially launched, if ADSL is not available in your area.

Regards

Michael

I’ve had iBurst for the past eighteen months, and until about three weeks ago had reasonable speeds. Suddenly however the speeds have dropped dramatically, especially during the day, to the extent sometimes that the service is quite literally unavailable (website timeouts or even no logon to the iBurst system). My modem has line of sight of one thousand metres to the Northcliff tower, and the signal strength indication is always 100 percent.
iBurst says that the capacity of the Northcliff base station(s) is far from fully utilised. What’s the problem then? They don’t know, and recommend trying an external antenna, perhaps pointing it at another base station and seeing if there’s an improvement! I’m not going to pay them six hundred rands a month for the privilege of taking part in experiments to get my service back however. Seems to me that they’ve taken a leaf out of the Telkom book of Business Ethics.
Fortunately I still have a dial-up connection, so I can at do do my e-mails when I need to.
Anyone for a heavily discounted iBurst modem in good condition?

Regards,

Eb Stenvert.

My Adsl

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Wireless/842.html

Actual Ruling

http://www.asasa.org.za/ResultDetail.aspx?Ruling=3801

I am still waiting on the ASA to rule on the “breach allegation�.

Regards

Michael

Shane, dude. The irony kills me. These guys are unbelievable. You wonder when they realise it may be a good idea to allocate some of their advertising budget towards service delivery.

I contacted iBurst management / network engineers and RF engineers in Johannesburg and Cape Town on many occasions and explained to them that I and many of the subscribers are no longer receiving what was advertised and what we are paying for. They did send a technician out several times, however nothing changed.

I therefore lodged a case with ICASA – they never responded. So I decided to contact the ASASA, because I felt that iBurst’s advertising was misleading others into signing contracts and then not receiving the benefits as was advertised by iBurst.

Although, the ASASA upheld my complaint on the grounds that iBurst’s claims are currently unsubstantiated, iBurst is still using the same advert on their website, SABC TV and radio channels and brochures that are prominently displayed in Vodacom’s stores.
I have recently submitted a “breach allegation� to the ASASA, but as yet have not had a response from them, soon I hope.

Will keep you updated.

Regards

Michael