Neotel, NeoConnect – Internet & Voice Offering Reviewed

Mybroadband was given the chance to test the new NeoConnect product from Neotel (their first consumer offering) before being released to the public.

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The product will be launched in May and includes: Internet access, a voice service and unlimited SMSs. The trial period that mybroadband tested was R499 pm for unlimited usuage. Not bad, obviously it will be launched with different pricing. The idea to me of having one single central, wireless, internet connection & telephone device sounds like the perfect home setup of the future… But the test device only had USB with no Ethernet… :-/ Very strange and will not work with my router at home, although I doubt Neotel will stay with USB only and will wait and see about a Ethernet device. The 3G type connection from this internet phone device to Neotels Network is currently at 2.4 Mbps and will later be upgraded to a max of 14.1 Mbps. Not bad. Mybroadband said that Neotel didn’t skimp on the international bandwidth, yay! Stating that many connections to overseas sites where faster than local connections!

“The general NeoConnect Internet experience is good with web based speed test results ranging between 93 Kbps and 700 Kbps. For multi-threaded downloads the speeds typically ranged between a few hundred Kbps and one Mbps, peaking at 1.3 Mbps.”

“The average speeds achieved on international web based speed tests were 397 Kbps, higher than the 373 Kbps on similar local tests. Upload speeds ranged between 40 Kbps and 100 Kbps with no discernable difference between local and international speeds.”

The disappointing part of the review was the latency, i was under the impression that latency wouldn’t be this high with the new CDMA 2000 technology. Wireless will always have a higher ping which makes sense, but the testing for local ping was between 150 ms and 700 ms. International ranging from 400 ms to 500 ms. A real bummer to me and my cod4 gaming career… Still, I think it’s a awesome internet and telephone solution for a home as you don’t even need a telephone line. The deciding factors for me would be the latency, Ethernet and final pricing.

Based on the mybroadband review:

Pros

• NO TELKOM! (This one alone brings water to my eyes of pure joy)
• Portability, having one wireless device to take anywhere
• Value for $, without a doubt, compared to Telkom, Vodacom, MTN, iBurst, etc
• Ease of use, took mybroadband 5min to setup
• Reliability
• No 3 week to 6 month waiting period for ADSL installations

Cons

• Latency, thus no online gaming (BIG one)
• USB only, Although I don’t think Neotel will avoid Ethernet

Greatest News I’ve heard is that Neotel will later on provide fiber optic connections to consumers; this will set free the South African community in the World Wide Web, can’t wait!

<UPDATE>

NeoConnect Prime is Neotel’s first consumer and small business offering, providing subscribers with a converged voice, fast Internet and SMS service.

NeoConnect Prime provides consumers with a CDMA voice & Internet device, a 2.4 Mbps Internet connection with 10 GB of monthly bandwidth, 1 000 free on-net voice minutes and 50 free on-net SMSs for R 599.00 per month. Out of bundle bandwidth will cost 7 c per MB, and billing will be per MB precluding the need to purchase data bundles.

This initial offering targets a specific segment of the market, but there will be many more flavours available soon Neotel pointed out. Mittal said that Neotel will launch a variety of new packages – some significantly cheaper while others will be more expensive – in May during its commercial launch which will be wider in scope.

Picture of Device:

Information & Picture courtesy mybroadband.co.za

</UPDATE>

<PRICE UPDATE>

Converged voice and data offerings range from a 2.5GB product, costing R399 per month, to an unlimited bandwidth offering, priced at R999 per month

</PRICE UPDATE>

~ by Francois Wiid on April 23, 2008.