Uncapped LTE Options

[Rudolph Hart]

I’m trying to get setup with an uncapped LTE connection at home. I’m out of town, so no fibre (or any physical cables whatsoever).

I was looking at going with Afrihost, they use MTN but I don’t need to sign a two year contract if I go with Afrihost. The problem is, after six phone calls trying to enter my delivery address into their system and them questioning the bank account they’ve had a debit order running off for eight years, I’m fast losing patience with them.

Are there any other options out there? I’m not interested in a two year contract, Telkom is a non-starter (no signal and I don’t need them dipping into my bank account), and I’d rather not use Vodacom (my phones are both Vodacom and I’d rather have a different network if there are issues on one, I’ll still have the other. Rain doesn’t have signal out here, so they’re out the mix.

 

[biometrics]

I’m trying to get setup with an uncapped LTE connection at home. I’m out of town, so no fibre (or any physical cables whatsoever).

I was looking at going with Afrihost, they use MTN but I don’t need to sign a two year contract if I go with Afrihost. The problem is, after six phone calls trying to enter my delivery address into their system and them questioning the bank account they’ve had a debit order running off for eight years, I’m fast losing patience with them.

Are there any other options out there? I’m not interested in a two year contract, Telkom is a non-starter (no signal and I don’t need them dipping into my bank account), and I’d rather not use Vodacom (my phones are both Vodacom and I’d rather have a different network if there are issues on one, I’ll still have the other. Rain doesn’t have signal out here, so they’re out the mix.

I've only used Rain (turned to shit), Telkom (variable speed) and Cell C. Telkom & Cell C was capped. This was Hermanus so semi rural. Cell C was the best imo. Fuck knows who they roam on, they sold their infrastructure, didn't they?

 

[Rudolph Hart]

Not sure what’s up with Cell-C these days. I suppose I’ll just go with Afrihost. Let’s be honest, if you have a hard requirement that you’ll only use an ethical company, who you admire, for connectivity, you might as well live in a cave.

 

[Rudolph Hart]

So I decided to stop being self-righteous and just place the order. Jumped through their silly hoops to confirm my bank account and uploaded the documents they demand for RICA (including a photo of myself holding my ID book, which is definitely not a legal requirement).

They then reject my proof of residence, which is a letter from my employer stating that they rent the house to me and what the address is. I argued with the ‘manager’ for a while, get left on hold for even longer, read him a list of acceptable documents and ask him to show me his list, get cut off, call back and get cut off twice more before getting hold of a fairly helpful chap who said they hadn’t looked at the documents yet. I opened my emails and read the one where they rejected my proof of address out to him, and in bit of delicious irony, while I was doing that, the statement for my daughters car finance arrived (it’s in my name), and lo and behold, MFC have my residential address in the statements. I’d checked Standard bank’s statements, ABSA’s, the municipality rates account (empty stand, no street address), but forgotten about that one. When he came back to me I was contemplating admitting that I’d found something, or maybe just ending the call and submitting the statement, but he was happy to inform me that it was all sorted out. Maybe I’ll not need to call them again ever.

 

[biometrics]

So I decided to stop being self-righteous and just place the order. Jumped through their silly hoops to confirm my bank account and uploaded the documents they demand for RICA (including a photo of myself holding my ID book, which is definitely not a legal requirement).

They then reject my proof of residence, which is a letter from my employer stating that they rent the house to me and what the address is. I argued with the ‘manager’ for a while, get left on hold for even longer, read him a list of acceptable documents and ask him to show me his list, get cut off, call back and get cut off twice more before getting hold of a fairly helpful chap who said they hadn’t looked at the documents yet. I opened my emails and read the one where they rejected my proof of address out to him, and in bit of delicious irony, while I was doing that, the statement for my daughters car finance arrived (it’s in my name), and lo and behold, MFC have my residential address in the statements. I’d checked Standard bank’s statements, ABSA’s, the municipality rates account (empty stand, no street address), but forgotten about that one. When he came back to me I was contemplating admitting that I’d found something, or maybe just ending the call and submitting the statement, but he was happy to inform me that it was all sorted out. Maybe I’ll not need to call them again ever.

I refuse to deal with Afrihost after Gian was exposed to be a liar back in 2015.

 

[Rudolph Hart]

I refuse to deal with Afrihost after Gian was exposed to be a liar back in 2015.

I told myself that I shouldn’t. But then remembered that my domain with my email is with them and I just don’t have the energy to move that elsewhere right now, so I’m already a hypocrite. It’s a bit like buying from Amazon - I despise the way they treat their employees, but somehow I still buy from them because it’s too much of a mission to find another supplier.

I’ll claim pragmatism above hypocrisy, somewhat hypocritically.

 

[biometrics]

I told myself that I shouldn’t. But then remembered that my domain with my email is with them and I just don’t have the energy to move that elsewhere right now, so I’m already a hypocrite. It’s a bit like buying from Amazon - I despise the way they treat their employees, but somehow I still buy from them because it’s too much of a mission to find another supplier.

I’ll claim pragmatism above hypocrisy, somewhat hypocritically.

Agreed. But when it comes to ISPs it's personal!

 

[Rudolph Hart]

Agreed. But when it comes to ISPs it's personal!

I’m supporting local business with two separate WiFi connections, and neither of them work reliably, all I want now is to be able to get WhatsApp and internet without having to go and stand next to the window. I’m hotspotting to work from home two days a week and once that data bundle is dead, I don’t want to have to buy another one.

 

[Nicholas]

I've only used Rain (turned to shit), Telkom (variable speed) and Cell C. Telkom & Cell C was capped. This was Hermanus so semi rural. Cell C was the best imo. Fuck knows who they roam on, they sold their infrastructure, didn't they?

I haven't had trouble with my Telkom LTE yet. I seldom measure my connection speed any more - it just seems fast enough for me. It isn't uncapped, but 300Gb is adequate.

 

[Nicholas]

I refuse to deal with Afrihost after Gian was exposed to be a liar back in 2015.

He came across as smarmy to me.

 

[Y2K]

The biggest issue I have with the mobile operators in this country in particular is the lack of competence and arrogance of management.

So I've taken a new approach, close the account and find an alternative, granted this may not be feasible but it sure as hell beats waiting on the phone for someone who doesn't know what they're talking about to lie to me hoping that I'll just get tired and end the call.

As much as I don't like Vodacom their network has been the most reliable.

Telkom: Terrible signal overall.

Cell C: Do I really need to explain?

MTN: Dies during loadshedding.

Rain: Can't speak for the 5G but the speeds are just kak overall and time sensitive applications like POS, VoiP and real time collaboration tools are frustrating to use.

I don't know what the current status is on Starlink in South Africa but this government will impede progress until they get their cut or conform the business to play by their rules.

 

[Rudolph Hart]

I refuse to deal with Afrihost after Gian was exposed to be a liar back in 2015.

Now that it’s installed (arrived yesterday), I was reminded how inaccurate Afrihost’s data logging is. I’ve apparently used well over 5GB already and that’s not even 24 hours. No computers have even connected to it yet, and all I’ve used it for is to stream some YouTube videos last night.

I’ll be in trouble with their FUP soon. I’m happy that I’m not tied in to a contract with this.

 

[Nicholas]

The service provider reserves the right to introduce data capping at any time.

 

[biometrics]

Now that it’s installed (arrived yesterday), I was reminded how inaccurate Afrihost’s data logging is. I’ve apparently used well over 5GB already and that’s not even 24 hours. No computers have even connected to it yet, and all I’ve used it for is to stream some YouTube videos last night.

I’ll be in trouble with their FUP soon. I’m happy that I’m not tied in to a contract with this.

5 GB is quite possible streaming.

 

[Rudolph Hart]

5 GB is quite possible streaming.

Might need to look at my settings and reduce the quality a bit. I’m replacing a 5Mbs line and their FUP allows 100GB at full speed, and reduces from there. I thought that would be plenty - I’ve been using a 3GB a day data bundle this month while I’ve had no other internet and it’s been more than enough. I suspect that the Chromecast uses a higher resolution than my phone by default so will need to fiddle a bit. Or just find a better package.