South Africans feel like they are paying for fibre speeds they don’t need

[Newsfeed]

South Africans feel like they are paying for fibre speeds they don’t need

World Wide Worx CO Arthur Goldstuck says that many households are being sold fibre speeds they don't need.

 

[Lupus]

So why don't they drop the speed?

 

[Mirai]

Meanwhile Asus etc release domestic 10 Gigabit routers.

 

[EmmanuelGoldstein]

Yeah Arthur, I am paying for a speed I don't actually get... Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

 

[robinsonia]

Who are these people buying things they don’t need?

 

[Johnatan56]

People get fiber packages based on price, not speed, with obvious exceptions who will just want a bigger number, and those who actually would like to use (e.g. faster steam download).

 

[Swa]

What about the forced upgrades? They should have kept 10Mbps connections and just reduced the price.

 

[WanderingMind]

Who are these people buying things they don’t need?

My parents was forced to upgrade because the lower packages was dropped by company.

That's what happened.

 

[EmmanuelGoldstein]

My parents was forced to upgrade because the lower packages was dropped by company.

That's what happened.

Yep, that's happened to a LOT of people.
I have had my line forced back to 100/100 because I am financially constrained.
And here's the kicker... it's good enough, it's more than good enough.
The problem is I am often told the "slow international traffic" is my router, and when I prove it isn't, they deny anything being wrong.

We know they throttle and shape, in 2026. Using a VPN to bypass the throttling is how we get by.

 

[Johnatan56]

What about the forced upgrades? They should have kept 10Mbps connections and just reduced the price.

It's the easiest way to keep people on a higher priced package, people research when they get it, then just leave it as long as price increases are around inflation matched. Providers also hope that people get used to higher speeds, e.g. 50-> 100Mbps doing something like a one hour download becomes 30 minutes, and wouldn't want to downgrade again.

Yep, that's happened to a LOT of people.
I have had my line forced back to 100/100 because I am financially constrained.
And here's the kicker... it's good enough, it's more than good enough.
The problem is I am often told the "slow international traffic" is my router, and when I prove it isn't, they deny anything being wrong.

We know they throttle and shape, in 2026. Using a VPN to bypass the throttling is how we get by.

Is this on fiber? Would definitely swap providers. If a local VPN sorts it out, there's a good chance you have packet loss on the line, it limits the throughput.

 

[NR7]

Fibre speeds need to get faster and cheaper.

Had a look at US fibre plans and they start around R500-R600 for 300Mbps with options for 500Mbps/1Gbps/2Gbps.

 

[Genisys]

Fibre speeds need to get faster and cheaper.

Had a look at US fibre plans and they start around R500-R600 for 300Mbps with options for 500Mbps/1Gbps/2Gbps.

controversial take in these parts. Lets see how this pans out.

Most people on this forum don't understand how progression works and would rather be stuck on 4Mbps ADSL as opposed to fibre

 

[RedViking]

So why don't they drop the speed?

Uhm I wonder why....

Post in thread 'Just when I thought Cool Ideas is the best.... they go an do this.'

Apr 30, 2026

HAHAHAHAHAH! I have been warned. Well played @PBCool ! Now how the hell do I downgrade back to 25 25 you sneaky sneaky...




No shame from these companies. Sies man @PBCool

• RedViking

They upgrade you without giving you a choice and then they increase your monthly fee. Then they remove the previous packages so you can't downgrade.

 

[Defiler]

I want faster speeds but don't want to pay more, or keep my current speed and pay less...

 

[Speedster]

Fibre speeds need to get faster and cheaper.

Had a look at US fibre plans and they start around R500-R600 for 300Mbps with options for 500Mbps/1Gbps/2Gbps.

What is the use case for these speeds for home/residential use. We have 50/10 for a family of 5. We've never had any issues streaming on multiple devices, online meetings etc. I realise I might not know what I don't know, so kindly enlighten me.

The one pain I do have is the slow upload, 10mbps is slow for anything that matters

 

[Brian_G]

We largely have much more knowledge individually speaking than the public, a lot of people who wouldn't need it (if they can afford it) do fall for the speed hype.

Always been that way, same thing as endlessly going for faster etc. computing power decade after decade.


And quite a few accusations I've seen here about ISP's additionally throttling 4G to "encourage" upgrading.

 

[robinsonia]

My parents was forced to upgrade because the lower packages was dropped by company.

That's what happened.

Change company, that's what I'd do.

 

[Frankie64]

My parents was forced to upgrade because the lower packages was dropped by company.

That's what happened.

Ja , i dont get this about ZA , there are millions of pensioners out there, an untapped market.
But there are no pensioner packages available from any providers.
Its a shame.
As pensioner , i would be happy with a 20/10 line good enough to watch netflix at a decent affordable sub R400 per month fee.
Instead of being forced to pay for speeds i dont need or require.

 

[Lupus]

Fibre speeds need to get faster and cheaper.

Had a look at US fibre plans and they start around R500-R600 for 300Mbps with options for 500Mbps/1Gbps/2Gbps.

That's what this forum was about

 

[Smiggles]

Same people that’ll complain about buffering on slower cheaper lines