IBurst a vein - I am Committed

Computers

For those of you thinking of IBurst as a cheap Internet-access alternative to the Telkom monopoly or one of the other fallible options, here is a route to avoid the traps.

This is the second blog on this subject. For #1 read "In The Beginning there Was a Monopoly"

Take your Pick
First-off you must determine whether the IBurst service is available in your area. Open the Rollout map. Scroll past the drop-down menu's because they don't obviously differentiate between planned and existing Base Stations. Scroll down to the Area List. There might be one or more towers close to you. Now be careful to open the "Individual Base Station" link for the applicable areas. This will show the signal coverage and strength for that Base Station only. If you have a choice of Base Stations pick the one which shows the darkest shade of green for your home. IBurst will pick one primary Base Station and won't download from another Base Station unless it is in the direction in which the directional Antenna is pointing, so using the Total Coverage map is deceiving. If your house has no signal whatsoever (white and no green) then you might have to wait for future developments.

So do you get it?
Once you have determined that you do have some signal coverage (even if it is light-green which is the lowest signal strength) and you feel that you want it, then get it! Remember if you have a light green signal you will need to invest in a Directional Antenna to "boost" the signal.
As I mentioned in my previous blog, I decided to purchase the equipment from Tradepage because they have a 7 day opt-out period where a full refund is promised if you are not happy with the purchase. I decided to pick up the equipment instead of the delivery option because I wanted no delay with the testing.

Prozac Nation
Happy as a kid with a new toy, I unpacked the equipment as soon as I arrived home. A modem, a USB and Ethernet cable, a Directional antenna, a bracket for the antenna and a CD with the drivers and some free software.

It Starts
First of all, we want to make sure that the equipment works in basic mode without the antenna.
Unpack equipment
Don't connect the modem yet (USB model)
Install the software/drivers located in the Drivers folder for your specific Operating System (XP or w2000 etc.)
Reboot (with Windows install)
While the PC is rebooting, attach the modem to the PC via the USB cable and connect the power cable for the Modem.
The modem will display a green light for a connection on the light which has a antenna icon if there is a connection. There are 5 lights which show the incoming signal strength by lighting up 1-5 of the lights to indicate the strength. In low signal areas this might be sporadic.
Once you have a signal, try double-clicking the iBurst icon on your desktop.
You will be prompted for three items of information.
1) Your logon ID. This is on the lid of the box which contained the modem.
2) Your Password. This is on the lid of the box which contained the modem.
3) The means of connection. Either the PCMCIA, UTD(USB) or UTD (Ethernet) connection, but for now we choose the USB option.
click Connect.
The dialog box should say "Connecting" and then "verifying user name and password" and the you should be connected. The IBurst console icon in the system tray (bottom right of screen) will show an IB if connected. If not connected it will show and IB with a red cross through it.
If it doesn't connect then check that the Modem has power and a signal and is connected to the PC.

Which Connection?
We have now verified that there is a connection and that the modem works using USB. Now you decide which mode of connection you wish to use. For the USB/Ethernet Modem you can connect using either USB and, you guessed it, Ethernet. With the PCMCIA modem you only have PCMCIA.
There is no speed benefit with using either USB or Ethernet because the Internet connection is much slower than either of the two anyway. The criterion will be logistics. You might not have enough USB ports or need to place the modem in another place in your home, so then use Ethernet. If you have enough USB ports or the directional antenna (if used) can be close to the connecting PC, then use USB.

Ethernet Smethernet
What is Ethernet? It is the most common type of physical network connection and protocol connecting PC's and other network devices. If you are contemplating connecting via Ethernet then you will need an Ethernet card in your PC. If you are planning on using that same PC to provide Internet connectivity to any other PC's in the home, then you will need two Ethernet cards in that PC. Once you have installed the required number of Ethernet cards in your PC, you might need to reinstall the IBurst software/drivers if both of the cards weren't installed prior to the driver installation.

Connecting via the Ether

• To connect using Ethernet, remember that the IBurst console software is not required, so close it (by rightclicking on the IB in the System tray and selecting Exit) Also remove it from the Startup folder (Start-Programs-Startup on W2K, and Start-AllPrograms-Startup on XP)
• Disconnect the USB cable safely by right-clicking on the USB ison in the System tray and selecting the Safely Remove/Disconnect option and selecting the IBurst Modem.
• Connect the Modem to the Ethernet card via the Ethernet cable.
• Ensure the modem is powered on.
• Try double-clicking the iBurst icon on your desktop.
• You will be prompted for three items of information.
• 1) Your logon ID. This is on the lid of the box which contained the modem.
• 2) Your Password. This is on the lid of the box which contained the modem.
• 3) The means of connection. Either the PCMCIA, UTD(USB) or UTD (Ethernet) connection, but now we choose the Ethernet connection option. The Ethernet connection name will differ from PC to PC because it show's the brand name and driver name of the Ethernet card. Also if you have installed 2 Ethernet cards, both cards will show up as an option. Pick one of the Ethernet options ( we can try the other one if it doesn't work immediately)
• click Connect.
• The dialog box should say "Connecting" and then "verifying user name and password" and the you should be connected. If it doesn't work, try the other Ethernet option, but close the connect dialog box first. It seems that if the dialog box isn't completely closed it doesn't always work.

What Next?
I took the plunge and purchased IBurst and kept it even though my signal was horrible. So I had to get it to work.
My next blog will discuss the process of getting the best signal possible and also how to share your IBurst connection with other PC's on your home network. As we used to say in the days of SADF conscription "Alpha Bravo, Jou seine vywe, myne?" which roughly means "Your signal's coming in strong, how strong is mine?"