What you need to know about getting fibre installed

If you’re looking at upgrading your internet, it probably includes getting fibre. Here is all you need to know about installing fibre.

South Africa is slowly catching up to the majority of the world when it comes to fibre internet.

We still have a way to go, but fibre is becoming far more commonplace than it was just 12 months ago.

If you’re considering getting fibre internet, here are a few things you need to find out from the ISP.

Does Your Fibre Go Far Enough?

A good FTTH (fibre to the home) provider will ensure that the service doesn’t end at the door, but will bring high speeds to your entire house.

It will hopefully include a Wi-Fi router. Similar to the ones that you get with an ADSL package.

If you have a large home, then you might need to get an additional router (or a wi-fi booster) to ensure adequate coverage.

Is It DIY Installation?

Reading the fine print on the package deal is important. Especially when it comes to something like getting fibre installed.

Sometimes the provider has special “sign-up now” offerings, which includes a router, but excludes installation.

This means that you’ll have to do your own installation. To do that, you’ll need to ensure that you know how to install a Wi-Fi router and connect it to the fibre.

The ideal scenario would be to have the provider install the fibre for you, as this saves effort on your part and prevents any potential mistakes.

How Much Data Are You Actually Getting?

As with ADSL, fibre providers offer capped or uncapped services.

Capped internet (whether it be fibre or ADSL) provides you with a limited amount of data. After the data has reached its limit or ‘cap’, you’ll have no more data left to use and you’ll need to top up.

You’ll get your additional data, but usually at a far higher cost than your in-bundle / in-package rates. ISPs tend to penalise you for every extra megabyte of data you use that’s over your capped limit.

Uncapped internet provides an unlimited amount of data. But, you’ll need to read and understand the fair usage policy attached to your package to ensure that you’re getting the actual speed that your package says you will.

How Do I Manage My Data Use?

Most ISPs have an online portal which lets you see how much data you’re using.

This lets you manage how much data you use, see what you’re using it for, and (hopefully) pull reports if needed.

Is There Any Customer Support?

All ISPs offer some level of customer support. But, in an ideal world you shouldn’t have to make a call or log a ticket, support should be proactive on the part of the ISP.

Make sure that you find out what type of support you can expect. What the service times are and just how many support channels there are. Some companies provide support on Twitter and Facebook, as well as traditional channels.

Fibre internet is a wonderful means of staying connected as it does not use traditional copper wiring and offers greater speeds.

So what are you waiting for? Hop onboard the fibre train and enjoy the best that the internet has to offer.

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