I got the interweb, and its not what I thought it would be!  

Posted by Smoke

Its true, came Xmas day, I found a USB modem with hsdpa capability under the tree from mother.
Her only condition was one good blog a month, or was it a week? Anyway, this wont be it.

Up till know I have been using a sub standard Internet connection, so when I received this technological wonder, I was truly hyped and thankful, not only do I have access to super fast Internet, but also, its free for the next two years.

Now I have used a similar connection while visiting mom, so I thought I knew what I was getting myself into,
then I went home!

So I fire the old notebook up, connect and install the modem, and take a sho' left onto the information super highway, only to find not only that I left the map at home, but also the spare wheel and the Motor.

The problem is coverage, the main Cellular network provider in Azania is Vodacom and they are subsidised by Vodafone. We get three basic connections. GPRS(a 1100 Honda), EDGE(the same Honda, with alloy wheels and a sound system) and 3G/hsdpa(BMW M3 GTR).
I connect and find I only get EDGE, so I walk around a bit and nothing happens. I then go to Vodacom's coverage map, and after 15 minutes of zooming, I find my hometown, now EDGE is shown in green and 3G in red, only to find my area is in the green with scattered showers of red.
I then zoom onto my home and I realise I have been screwed big time.

According to the map, the Red only starts about 100 meters(300ft) away from my house. I don my hiking boots and off I go with laptop in hand to hunt the elusive hsdpa. I'm walking and monitoring at the same time when I strike gold, or Cyan, as the modem indicates hsdpa.
The problem is I'm not even close to a house and I am standing in the middle of a train track!!
If I move off the track, I lose my baby, and to make it worse is that the train passes every hour or so.

Plan of action? to contact the service provider and complain, but only in February, as we don't want to attract their attention just yet. Why? well my brother in law's girlfriend is currently in Australia, and for some reason he is making international calls to her at local rates.

Enough said.

The spreading of the gospel