Demand for fibre connections in Ballito is on the increase

As the internet permeates more and more of our lives the clamour for faster connections is on the increase, and fibre is supposed to be the answer.

Fibre is a newer technology that uses fibre-optic cables that transmit data using light.

This allows for faster downloads and uploads of up to 1000Mbps (megabytes per second).

ADSL is the older technology that uses copper cables and is limited to 20Mbps download and 1Mbps upload on most of the the North Coast.

But the rollout of fibre-optic cables in SA is far from complete and the Dolphin Coast is no exception.

According to Alain Schram from Vox Telecom, most places in Ballito are covered from the southernmost point of Zimbali to the northernmost boarder of Simbithi, and the free standing homes to the east of the M4 and N2 between these points.

“There is also coverage of the more northerly estates such as Dunkirk, Brettenwood and Palm Lakes,” he said.

“Certain roads and estates are at various phases of completion depending on underlying fibre providers working in the area, and some homes will have services from more than one fibre network provider. The active providers in Ballito are Openserve and Vumatel. The latter has taken over Link Africa Network.”

One of the main driving forces behind the demand for fibre is the steady increase in the number of people streaming video.

Duval Dorfling of Teamwork Computers recommends a 20Mbps uncapped package for streaming.

“We have seen a huge growth in new users in Ballito and massive spike on current user’s data usage,” Dorfling told the Courier.

“Data usages have gone up by around 20% in the past year as more and more people are moving to cloud based services and streaming. This is what has made fibre so attractive as it is able to supply these services with ease.”

Schram also recommended a 20Mbps connection or faster for video streaming, as well as online gaming.

A 10Mbps line will work fine for web surfing, email, internet calling, music streaming and basic Skype services. For activities like live video surveillance you will need a 50Mbps connection and for video conferences or smart appliances (that’s right, you can now get fridges, microwaves and more with internet connections that you can link to your computer or smartphone) a 100Mbps connection would be best.

If you decide you want to go the fibre route the first step is to contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) about the available packages and pricing. They will also be able to tell you which fibre providers are in your area and what the difference in services are depending on the underlying fibre network.

Once you have contacted your ISP and selected your package, they will place the order to the fibre provider.

The fibre provider will then contact you to arrange the installation after which they (the provider) will test it and sign it off to the ISP.

Once the installation of the actual fibre is complete, your ISP will contact you to arrange for your router to be delivered and installed and then you should be good to go. It is important to remember that ultimately the contractual agreement is with your ISP.

Schram said there is a standard procedure between ISP’s and service providers and time is taken to ensure that each step is correctly recorded and handed over between the two companies.

“Often homeowners try speed up the process and speak to both the providers. This can cause confusion and delay the final installation of services.”

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