“I could not possibly have used so much bandwidth” is a phrase I hear often. Until now it has been cumbersome and sometimes impossible to show hotspot and wireless users their own usage history using the standard radius manager reports.
As a result I decided to write a small set of scripts to monitor and display bandwidth usage of radius manager accounts.
GARDEN ROUTE IT CONSORTIUM READY TO BECOME TECHNOLOGY HUB
A consortium of Garden Route based companies is ready to launch an IT technology hub in George which will create jobs and train up new skills.
George’s IT company owner Imel Rautenbach is currently drumming up support for the initiative at provincial and national level. The consortium aims to use the Western Cape Province’s business arm to market and develop in order to get launched nationally and internationally. IT technology and electronic centred businesses will be the engine that will drive this local initiative. “The idea behind pooling resources and skills is to keep all our software and hardware developmental work in the Garden Route. We already have around 30 businesses on our data base that have all the necessary skills and technology to form the nucleus. “
In the last year or two my working life has pretty much moved from a traditional office based setup to an almost purely online existence.
Thanks to the huge surge in online applications and cloud computing, combined with more affordable and faster broadband connections it is now possible to make full use of online apps in South Africa.
These days I rotate between a office Laptop with a big screen, a desktop at home, an ultra portable netbook and an iphone. Each device has its time and place, but it has always been a nightmare keeping everything in sync, from contacts to emails to passwords to documents. This was even more of a pain every time I had to re-install any of these devices.
Well, now it is a different story, and those about to re-install as part of their Windows 7 upgrade should take note.
As someone who builds websites on an almost daily basis I often find myself in a situation where I need to wear multiple hats.
What follows is a simply breakdown of the many hats worn day to day:
The audience listens to the client, sometimes the message is clear, concise and to the point, other times it is passionate but vague, other times it is simply dreary. Everyone needs to have there say, as truly great clients can come out of small beginnings.
The assessor then needs to read the viability of the task at hand, and decide the way forward. Knowing what it takes to please the customer is a skill the assessor cannot do without. Sometimes it is better to walk away from a seemingly lucrative deal when the client needs are simply above what is practical or realistic. Trying to please everyone never works.
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End user experience is a key decider when it comes to making a hosting or bandwith choice, but this is the most elusive measurable of all.
With the increased innovation taking place in the ISP hosting and ADSL offerings area it is becoming more difficult for users to make an informed choice. It is often the extreme points of view, both good and bad, that surface on the web, distorting the real user experience.
I am proposing the creation of an impartial dashboard where everyone can view and compare the real life performance of the product offerings from the various ISPs.
Afrihost recently introduced their now well publicised R29 / Gig ADSL plan for prepaid bandwidth. As this is much much lower than the R49/ Gig that prepaid bulk bandwidth costs at WebAfrica, my ADSL provider for the last three years.
As I use lots of bandwith every month (40 – 50 GB) I sat up and took notice when the offer surfaced. It would save a lot of money each month, but then performance is also an important factor. I use and supply lots of local services, so local bandwith performance is as important to me as international performance.
There is thus good news and bad news with the ADSL bandwith that comes from Afrihost (via the IS network). Local traffic is noticibly slower (Click the orange graph) whereas international traffic is noticibly faster (Click the green graph). …