Back to : Safaricom Free Unlimited Internet [for 14 days ???] at [Ksh. 200 ???]
I bought two scratch cards for Ksh. 200.. Then I decided to download "star trek TNG season 3" - I was told its 8.88 GB, so i figured with 3G speeds, I should be able to get the whole thing in about 8800 seconds.. [i.e putting it at an optimistic 1mbps to 500kbps] Which is about 3 hours...... to 6 hours... So, I washa the 3G card, load my 2 soc at around Saturday midnight, and I imagine that the speeds will be so good then, I will have the whole file by Sunday morning... Shock on me... I started with speeds on 0 - 12 kbps ... I waited it out for an hour without improvement... I began to wonder, do we really have the right to say we have high internet speeds in Kenya, or it a myth based on network usage ? What about capacity and dimensioning ? Because I would have thought, that if we as a network has N - number of subscribers and we need each guy to have 1 mbps, then we will get a little over 1xN mbps from the fiber holders... But this seems not the case... I woke up at 3 am, things had improved a little, it was around 150kbps, but still not good enough, because the file had only done 2.2%.. That meant I was to get the whole file in 24 hours.. So I said, ooh well, they said 14 days, so I can let the computer run as I await the file.. In the morning, I had 7.1%... I went to church, visit friends, zurura town, got back home at around 9pm ,iT HAD REACHED 7.7%.. It had only done 0.6% AFTER 12 HOURS !!!! Now that is what we call glacial progress in this age of Kenya being connected right at the heart of internet... In south africa, if they tell you that you will get 3.6 mbps - you really get 3.6 mbps, but you also get a low of around 2.4 mbps, which is very acceptable... but 0-12 kbps,,, for 3G ?????? Anyway, I decided to discontinue the "star trek TNG' download for a few minutes so that I could do other things, before resuming... and thats when the SMS came: "Your 14 day unlimited internet access has just expired, to continue enjoying the 'free' services, please load another Ksh. 200" I THOUGHT THEY SAID 14 DAYS !!! ==== So, lets do the math.. 7.7 % of 8800 MB = 680 MB [approximately] 200 divide by 680 = Ksh. 0.3 per MB Conclusion : I guess in the end if I want that "star trek TNG" it will cost me Ksh 0.3 x 8800 = Ksh. 2640.... And it will take me 13 days to get it, barely making the last 14. Have we got free unlimited internet ?? At what cost ??
2009/10/26 ndungu stephen <ndungustephen@gmail.com>
I bought two scratch cards for Ksh. 200..
Then I decided to download "star trek TNG season 3" - I was told its 8.88 GB, so i figured with 3G speeds, I should be able to get the whole thing in about 8800 seconds.. [i.e putting it at an optimistic 1mbps to 500kbps]
Which is about 3 hours...... to 6 hours...
So, I washa the 3G card, load my 2 soc at around Saturday midnight, and I imagine that the speeds will be so good then, I will have the whole file by Sunday morning...
Shock on me...
I started with speeds on 0 - 12 kbps ... I waited it out for an hour without improvement... I began to wonder, do we really have the right to say we have high internet speeds in Kenya, or it a myth based on network usage ? What about capacity and dimensioning ?
Because I would have thought, that if we as a network has N - number of subscribers and we need each guy to have 1 mbps, then we will get a little over 1xN mbps from the fiber holders... But this seems not the case...
I woke up at 3 am, things had improved a little, it was around 150kbps, but still not good enough, because the file had only done 2.2%.. That meant I was to get the whole file in 24 hours..
So I said, ooh well, they said 14 days, so I can let the computer run as I await the file..
In the morning, I had 7.1%...
I went to church, visit friends, zurura town, got back home at around 9pm ,iT HAD REACHED 7.7%.. It had only done 0.6% AFTER 12 HOURS !!!!
Now that is what we call glacial progress in this age of Kenya being connected right at the heart of internet...
In south africa, if they tell you that you will get 3.6 mbps - you really get 3.6 mbps, but you also get a low of around 2.4 mbps, which is very acceptable... but 0-12 kbps,,, for 3G ??????
Anyway, I decided to discontinue the "star trek TNG' download for a few minutes so that I could do other things, before resuming... and thats when the SMS came:
"Your 14 day unlimited internet access has just expired, to continue enjoying the 'free' services, please load another Ksh. 200"
I THOUGHT THEY SAID 14 DAYS !!!
==== So, lets do the math.. 7.7 % of 8800 MB = 680 MB [approximately]
200 divide by 680 = Ksh. 0.3 per MB
Conclusion : I guess in the end if I want that "star trek TNG" it will cost me Ksh 0.3 x 8800 = Ksh. 2640.... And it will take me 13 days to get it, barely making the last 14.
Have we got free unlimited internet ?? At what cost ?? _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
Hi Ndungu, I am sorry for your disappointment. I am sure you had hopes of watching some good old star trek this week. I can not confirm this but I think suffericon are throttling on torrents or shaping (really don't know)...this is I am assuming your were downloading from a torrent. However have you tried the http downloads? Do you still receive the same inept speeds? Regards, -- Lusiola Brian Everyone has photographic memory, not everyone has film though.
I was using rapidshare... [?] - mabbe one day we will get there... [actual internet freedom and good speeds]
rapidshare premium or free? -- with Regards: Get your free technology e-magazine in pdf format: Tekniaonline: http://bit.ly/tekniaonline-2 Maybe we should start a Reality show of collapsing buidlings: http://gramware.blogspot.com
free.. Lakini hata free, i was getting around 3mbps in s/africa.... The only difference is in the queues.. but you can get high speeds with the free rapidshare..
I'm just wondering.....could it be due to some poor signal at your location? Coz someone in a related thread did "8.7GB since 08:00 hrs this morning. almost finished downloading windows 7 :)" .... On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 5:44 PM, ndungu stephen <ndungustephen@gmail.com>wrote:
free..
Lakini hata free, i was getting around 3mbps in s/africa....
The only difference is in the queues.. but you can get high speeds with the free rapidshare..
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
Oh yeah, I bet it has to do with BTS congestion. I have even tried using EDGE (Dont ask me why) and its working pretty fast. I am convinced that at this rate living in the rural areas for once is better. Windows 7 is complete!. On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 5:49 PM, Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm just wondering.....could it be due to some poor signal at your location? Coz someone in a related thread did "8.7GB since 08:00 hrs this morning. almost finished downloading windows 7 :)" ....
On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 5:44 PM, ndungu stephen <ndungustephen@gmail.com> wrote:
free..
Lakini hata free, i was getting around 3mbps in s/africa....
The only difference is in the queues.. but you can get high speeds with the free rapidshare..
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
Pole sana... Ndungu You most likely have a high number of users on your local 3G Cell or are a fair distance away . There are a variety of factors that will eventually determine your seed . Don’t give up yet , mobile broadband is still a fantastic product that has come a long way .Once you realise its limitations, and can be invaluable “as long as you use it within its limitations” . About the “ Free unlimited” internet for 14 days...that’s a rather controversial method of advertising 3G deals, the guys in marketing are to blame for this one unless they explicitly failed to mention that there is a “fair usage policy “ or your daily allowance is capped at a specific amount .. I think you will just have to bite your tongue on this one . By the way newer style data cards from Huawie can boost network performance, by providing extra compression on nearly all Web content including images, vince 2009/10/26 Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com>
I'm just wondering.....could it be due to some poor signal at your location? Coz someone in a related thread did "8.7GB since 08:00 hrs this morning. almost finished downloading windows 7 :)" ....
On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 5:44 PM, ndungu stephen <ndungustephen@gmail.com>wrote:
free..
Lakini hata free, i was getting around 3mbps in s/africa....
The only difference is in the queues.. but you can get high speeds with the free rapidshare..
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
You can only suspect "fair usage policy " if its applicable to all or a specific group of users. So far, we have those in higher density areas with not-so-good experience while those of us in mashinani areas are relatively satisfied. This is what I expressed in a related thread about shared bandwidth per cell per: bandwidth per user diminishes exponentially as number of users per cell increases.... I believe thats the limitation of the technology itself. ./bernard On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 6:27 PM, Vincent Wayodi <wayodi@gmail.com> wrote:
Pole sana... Ndungu
You most likely have a high number of users on your local 3G Cell or are a fair distance away . There are a variety of factors that will eventually determine your seed . Don’t give up yet , mobile broadband is still a fantastic product that has come a long way .Once you realise its limitations, and can be invaluable “as long as you use it within its limitations” .
About the “ Free unlimited” internet for 14 days...that’s a rather controversial method of advertising 3G deals, the guys in marketing are to blame for this one unless they explicitly failed to mention that there is a “fair usage policy “ or your daily allowance is capped at a specific amount .. I think you will just have to bite your tongue on this one . By the way newer style data cards from Huawie can boost network performance, by providing extra compression on nearly all Web content including images,
vince
2009/10/26 Bernard Mwagiru <bmwagiru@gmail.com>
I'm just wondering.....could it be due to some poor signal at your
location? Coz someone in a related thread did "8.7GB since 08:00 hrs this morning. almost finished downloading windows 7 :)" ....
On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 5:44 PM, ndungu stephen <ndungustephen@gmail.com
wrote:
free..
Lakini hata free, i was getting around 3mbps in s/africa....
The only difference is in the queues.. but you can get high speeds with the free rapidshare..
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
goddammit !!! Now I have to hama... Which part of nairobi has the least number of 3G users ??? [?] Its only once i enjoyed speed of around 1.5 mbps - it was an afternoon.. Mabbe I should really try EDGE.
Rapidshare 'free' might have restrictions on download bandwidth to their site On Oct 26, 2009 9:04 PM, "ndungu stephen" <ndungustephen@gmail.com> wrote: goddammit !!! Now I have to hama... Which part of nairobi has the least number of 3G users ??? [?] Its only once i enjoyed speed of around 1.5 mbps - it was an afternoon.. Mabbe I should really try EDGE. _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
If you really want ulimited bandwidth just forget about Sufferingcon and get true bandwidth like zuku. at 2999 per month for 256kbps I get constant download speed of around 40kbps and its truly unlimited. In the past two weeks I have been able to download data worth over 10GB That's movies software and other stuff. You'll be surprised how much you can do with continuous constant reliable internet. Don't stress yourself when you're a heavy user.
On another angle, don't you see this as a strategy to make a niche in the ever 'undecided' market? Safaricom's Super Ongea Tarrif is develop on making lower phone calls if you are in low-income and densely populated areas - correct me on this. So my assumption is the way their internet has been doing of late, is working on the same principle - go to a low-densely populated area and you will enjoy super speeds. I think it is the reason their latest internet offer lasts around ten days... to strategically gain control of our peculiar habits! My guesses which are not ultimate. On 26/10/2009, Omondi douglas <ombokdouglas@gmail.com> wrote:
If you really want ulimited bandwidth just forget about Sufferingcon and get true bandwidth like zuku. at 2999 per month for 256kbps I get constant download speed of around 40kbps and its truly unlimited. In the past two weeks I have been able to download data worth over 10GB That's movies software and other stuff. You'll be surprised how much you can do with continuous constant reliable internet. Don't stress yourself when you're a heavy user.
-- Solomon Mburu P.O. Box 19343 - 00202 Nairobi Cell: (+254-0) 735 431041 Man is a gregarious animal and enjoys agreement as cows will graze all the same way to the side of a hill! AND It is better to die in dignity than in the ignomity of ambiguous generosity! http://dawn-in-kenya.blogspot.com https://smiley2.wordpress.com
you can have a rough idea of your BTS status by checking the supa ongea rate. Rates of/around 8 bob means that your BTS is being heavily utilised and net might be slow. as for rapidshare , i think it suffers from the same mirroring issues that affect other mirror dependent services . Mirrors in Germany tend to be faster than those in nearby south africa and other countries. -- with Regards: Get your free technology e-magazine in pdf format: Tekniaonline: http://bit.ly/tekniaonline-2 Maybe we should start a Reality show of collapsing buidlings: http://gramware.blogspot.com
Hey Ndungu You don’t have to start packing yet . If your 3G data card has an external antenna port, You could try making a High gain Directional 13Dbi+ Tube antenna that can be mounted externally and pointed in the direction of the nearest 3G mast . With a directional antenna , you may be lucky enough to find a mast that is out of range to your neighbours , or one that is not being heavily used during peak times . Your signal quality could improve to over 2000% depending on the build quality of your antenna ie for 13Dbi+ . I am sure we can forge this bad boy antenna’s locally from empty Pringle containers . The technology behind the antennas is quite simple and the components are available locally . Provided that you are within the 3G signal range a higher gain antenna will provide you with higher data rates as your signal to noise ratio is increased, thus a better transfer rate can be achieved. A high gain antenna mounted outside in a fixed position will also result in a more stable signal. http://www.connextech.co.uk/3g-modem-antennas-18-c.asp http://www.buffalo-technology.com/products/wireless/wireless-accessories/14-... http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/3g-high-gain-directional-antenna-universal-p18963... 2009/10/26 Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi@gmail.com>
you can have a rough idea of your BTS status by checking the supa ongea rate. Rates of/around 8 bob means that your BTS is being heavily utilised and net might be slow.
as for rapidshare , i think it suffers from the same mirroring issues that affect other mirror dependent services . Mirrors in Germany tend to be faster than those in nearby south africa and other countries.
-- with Regards:
Get your free technology e-magazine in pdf format: Tekniaonline: http://bit.ly/tekniaonline-2
Maybe we should start a Reality show of collapsing buidlings: http://gramware.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke Other lists ------------- Announce: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks-announce Science: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/science kazi: http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/admin/kazi/general
On Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 9:43 PM, Omondi douglas <ombokdouglas@gmail.com>wrote:
If you really want ulimited bandwidth just forget about Sufferingcon and get true bandwidth like zuku. at 2999 per month for 256kbps I get constant download speed of around 40kbps and its truly unlimited. In the past two weeks I have been able to download data worth over 10GB That's movies software and other stuff. You'll be surprised how much you can do with continuous constant reliable internet. Don't stress yourself when you're a heavy user.
Cisco forecasts 60% of all consumer traffic in 2013 will be internet video. IP Traffic is growing fastest in the Middle East and Africa. So you get why they need to make a killing out of us now. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns82... The days of data limits below 20GB are numbered even on mobile networks. http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/09/cisco-by-2013-video-will-be-90-percent-...
Yes, definitely Safaricom knows what they are doing,,, its called 'cell breathing' - and I really do agree that they are running a test - we being the G-Force characters. Cell Breathing - i.e If you remain on a download too long, and other users check in, you will be pushed out to the periphery - and remain barely attached to the GPRS .. And as Bernard put it, the more the number of users, the more you chop up the bandwidth - which makes me wonder, how many people the base station in our area serves if people elsewhere in nairobi are singing 2 mbps ....? Safaricom knows that the cells are currently connected via 'radio waves' - and the best way to improve 3G speeds will be by connecting the BTS with fiber / STM links... So unless you are the only guy with the Bambanet Huawei 3G card in your constituency, we will not be getting uninterrupted and high speed internet unless these safaricom BTS are wired wired up...
participants (10)
-
[ Brainiac ] -
Bernard Mwagiru -
Brian Lusiola -
Dennis Kioko -
Josiah Mugambi -
Murigi Muraya -
ndungu stephen -
Omondi douglas -
Solomon Mburu Kamau -
Vincent Wayodi