ADSL Benefits and FAQs ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is telephone line "add on" which needs a ADSL modem installed by Telkom. With ADSL you have an always available connection to the Internet at a much faster data transfer rate than a dial-up/isdn connection, and you are able to make and receive phone calls as normal while connected. Below are a few of the benefits of using ADSL: Maybe you're still happy with your simple dial up connection, and wouldn't it be a hassle to change? But there are now more reasons than ever to get ADSL, and making the change is easy. As soon as you switch to GDKISP ADSL, you will realize what the benefits are and how you will never look back. Instead of keeping a close eye on the phone bills, you know that you can surf the Internet for as long as you want, whenever you want - it is always on. More importantly, you can make phone calls at the same time. If you're into music, skype, film, online gaming, or simply like surfing about, ADSL is the best option. The standard and most popular rate is up to 384Kbps - this works out as roughly 8 times faster than dialup. Connections of as much as 4 Megabits per second (Mbps) are available, though unless you're a heavy Internet user, or are running a sizeable business, these probably will not be necessary for you. Most ADSL providers oblige you to sign up for an initial 24 month contract, similar to contract mobile phones. However, all of GDKISP ADSL Plans have no contracts. We work on a month to month basis, reason being is that we are in times of mass technological discovery. And if we would'nt want to sign a 24 month contract, why would you. No Contracts! You can cancel your subscription at any point. To put this in perspective, many ISPs make you take out a 12/24month contract. You don't want to be tied up, thats why we offer a month-to-month subscription. You will need: ADSL line speed is an important aspect to consider when ordering a line. There are three ADSL line speeds: Usually with more speed you will download more stuff, so don't buy a faster speed than you really need... A huge misconception is that Kbps is Kilobytes per second. IT IS NOT. Many companies advertise the speed in "Kbps" because people will think it is Kilobytes when in fact it is kilobits. By the way 8 kilobits is equal to 1 Kilobyte, so the line is slower than it sounds. You do the math. In simple terms, unshaped is a better, faster connection. It definitely works better for what are known as 'latency sensitive' applications. Online gaming (such as World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Everquest and others) and VOIP (Skype, Gizmo, your SIP PABX, etc) are examples of where you will see much better results with unshaped ADSL. If you're a gamer please talk to us as we have many gamers that use our service. In more technical terms, when your computer requests some data from another computer, it will request that service using a specific protocol [Port].e.g. HTTP protocol [Port 80] is almost always the browsing service. In addition to the HTTP protocol, you also get: Telkom has decided that because most users purchased ADSL to browse with, they must make browsing look immensely fast, so they implemented a system where all HTTP(web-page) requests are processed before any other requests. This results in browsing being the most responsive service. Telkom then gave email (SMTP + POP3) the next line in the priority stakes. Lastly, FTP [21] was included. Now, if you request any other kind of service from Telkom Internet, you are going to have to wait for the other services to be serviced first. This has very little effect on anything until the Internet gets really busy - like during office hours or in the evenings. So when you are browsing an international website, that takes say 30 seconds to respond, imagine how long it is taking for Mary to receive her stock take update on port 2342, which is of lower priority. So to allow people like Mary to still receive her stock reports on port 2342 in a relatively timely fashion, the Unshaped Service was introduced. This is where no priority scheduling occurs and all data is returned and sent on a first come first served basis. Self install is a principle whereby the user would install the line by his or herself. For Self install you would require the following hardware: As well as the following: South Africa's undeniable lack of reliable, and first-world ADSL infrastructure is often the cause of some proudly South Africans abandoning their otherwise achievable project. With our forever changing IP addresses (unique codenames for our internet connections), we miss out on things such as CCTV cameras viewable from around the world, while many businesses are spending unnecessary large amounts of money on international bandwidth, communicating with local branches because they are forced to go through third-party international servers, such as [DynDNS], but no more! At GDKISP, we offer local Dynamic DNS support, meaning you no longer have to bother with complicated server settings, and most importantly, you and your business are saving time and money! No,GDKISP operates on a pay-as-you-use basis. Hence, you will be charged on a monthly basis. You can cancel your subscription at any point, should you feel unhappy with our services. Is it 4096, 512, 384 Kbps? This depends on your line rented, which we order from Telkom: 384Kbps: 512Kbps: 4096Kbps: The actual throughput of your ADSL service depends on the ADSL line speed (4096, 512 or 384 kbps) as well as on the traffic shaping and the protocols used, and the contention on the network. GDKISP works nationally, but requires you to have a Telkom ADSL line. If Telkom can supply you with an ADSL line at your location, Vanilla ADSL will work for you. You can check on the Telkom website to see whether ADSL is available at your location. Yes and No. In South Africa it is the same and is not an issue. It only a concern for the engineers. Yes, GDKISP assists hundreds of small companies to connect their local networks to the Internet via a single ADSL line and router. We also provide a premium fixed wireless connection (in some areas). Call us if you need assistance in setting up a business or home network. You still can't decide if you should get ADSL or Dial-up or even 3G? Have a look at our comparison page to learn more about the differences and advantages about ADSL. I want to setup my ADSL connectionWhat makes GDKISP among the best in South Africa?
What is ADSL?
Why get ADSL?
Speeds
Contracts
If got your ADSL line through GDKISP please be aware that we require 30 days advance notice should you wish to stop your service.What you will need?
What ADSL speed do I need?
Whats the difference between unshaped and shaped ADSL?
Self-install
Dynamic DNS
Do I have to sign a fixed-term contract?
At what speed will my ADSL service operate?
Will ADSL work in my area?
Is DSL different to ADSL?
I have more than one computer on a network. Can I use a GDKISP account?
ADSL vs Dial-up vs 3G-HSDPA
How can I configure my ADSL connection?
