Afrihost MTN Fixed LTE-A Thread

@Shamina: If you don't want to purchase another router another option is to look at one of the Telkom Mobile 61-day prepaid bundles. These cost only slightly more than the Afrihost Pure LTE bundles. You can purchase a 61-day 60+60GB prepaid bundle for R459 and use it over two months so you effectively pay R230pm which is slightly more than the Afrihost Pure LTE 30+30GB package which costs R199pm.

The night time data on the Telkom packages is only valid for 31 days so you may need to work around that if you are currently downloading or streaming after midnight. The Telkom Mobile data can be used in any router or phone and you can also transfer data to other users on the Telkom network which can be very useful.

If you set up another SIM card on a Telkom More plan and load your airtime onto this SIM card you will get a bonus amount of free airtime equal to the amount that you loaded. You can then transfer the original airtime to the device with the Smart Broadband Internet SIM and purchase the 60+60GB bundle. You cannot purchase LTE bundles with the bonus airtime and it only lasts a week but it can be used to make calls and send SMSs etc. If you recharge small amounts every week you should always have free airtime to make calls etc. You can only purchase the large LTE bundles from a SIM that has been configured on the Smart Broadband plan.
 

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@Jake45 Wow Jake, I really appreciate your help. Actually I had a very good deal with Telkom for a long time, I had the 50g day 50g night for R250. My problem is the tower where I live has been down for 6 weeks now and I work from home. So I have been basically paying for a service I cannot use unless I drive about 10km out of the area. So that's why I have been forced to look for another provider. Telkom doesn't seem to have any sense of urgency with regards to fixing the tower.
Again, thanks alot.
 
@ShaminaA: If you are prepared to take a 24 month contract from MTN you can probably get a proper mobile package that can be used in any device for a similar price. MTN usually has some decent Black Friday deals that might be worth waiting for. There is a very active thread about the best Black Friday MTN data contracts.

These MyMTNChoice 40GB or 80GB 24 month contract bundles might be of interest.

Another option would be to look at one of the WebAfrica/MTN Fixed LTE bundles. They sell refurbished B525 and B618 (faster) routers for R1000. They have a 50+50GB bundle for R319 per month and you can purchase a refurbished B618 (my recommendation) from them for R1000. You should be able to move to the ISP of your choice after several months as these are not contracts.
 
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I've had telkom with great signal but poor speeds and congestion at night. Mtn sorted that out. Literally 10 to 20x the telkom speeds .
Maybe was just my tower
 
I went out to Bashewa AH today to test. Surprise surprise. I was expecting the SIM to not be activated which is always the case. The router booted and got LTE signal.

Downloaded a KNOPPIX ISO from ftp.is.co.za: 91Mbps.

Ping 196.25.1.1 with an average response time of 40ms.

Can't complain about that with no external antenna. Forgot to do a Speedtest.

As I indicated in my above post: I'm ignorant of these things and didn't know what to expect. I would be very interested to see the Telkom LTE speeds. Maybe, I will test that too at a later stage.

Besides the poor support and falsely advertised router (I'm assuming Afrihost will not do anything about), I salute them and MTN!

If MTN says you have coverage for fixed LTE, then you do indeed have coverage for fixed LTE.

I apologise for my outward frustration in the matter.

Thank you.
With those speeds you must be connecting to the same tower a few hundred metres away. Networks share towers.
My sincere advice would be to stick with mtn. If need be, get a xpol 6 to increase signal strength
 
@ShaminaA: If you are prepared to take a 24 month contract from MTN you can probably get a proper mobile package that can be used in any device for a similar price. MTN usually has some decent Black Friday deals that might be worth waiting for. There is a very active thread about the best Black Friday MTN data contracts.

These MyMTNChoice 40GB or 80GB 24 month contract bundles might be of interest.

Another option would be to look at one of the WebAfrica/MTN Fixed LTE bundles. They sell refurbished B525 and B618 (faster) routers for R1000. They have a 50+50GB bundle for R319 per month and you can purchase a refurbished B618 (my recommendation) from them for R1000. You should be able to move to the ISP of your choice after several months as these are not contracts.
@Jake45 Yes actually I am waiting for black Friday deals to sign up for. And I will definitely look into those deals you mentioned. You are a star!
 
Link back to post in the Afrihost Mobile Feedback thread from a short while ago, wrt Afri / MTN deterioration :

 
Anyone around the Howick/Pietermaritzburg areas in KZN having issues with their Afrihost/MTN fixed LTE ?
mine has been basically unusable since around 10:30 PM 17th December with speed test results
such as this one:
or this one:
10626605998.png

@AfriNatic how would I go about finding out if there is a tower issue ? and if there is one get an approximate eta on a fix ?
 
Anyone around the Howick/Pietermaritzburg areas in KZN having issues with their Afrihost/MTN fixed LTE ?
mine has been basically unusable since around 10:30 PM 17th December with speed test results
such as this one:
or this one:
10626605998.png

@AfriNatic how would I go about finding out if there is a tower issue ? and if there is one get an approximate eta on a fix ?

The best is to get a couple of speedtests. We need to fill in a coverage and speed complaint and send it to MTN to give us feedback.
 
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Anyone around the Howick/Pietermaritzburg areas in KZN having issues with their Afrihost/MTN fixed LTE ?
mine has been basically unusable since around 10:30 PM 17th December with speed test results
such as this one:
or this one:
10626605998.png

@AfriNatic how would I go about finding out if there is a tower issue ? and if there is one get an approximate eta on a fix ?

I've had ongoing issues similar to yours the last few weeks - this post in another thread, along with others further up :

 
The best is to get a couple of speedtests. We need to fill in a coverage and speed complaint and send it to MTN to give us feedback.
Does MTN give specific feedback on each logged complain or is it only something they keep in mind when planning future upgrades/expansion?

My speed has been half of what it was earlier this year and the latency has been unusable with a ping spiking between 100-300ms local. Speed and latency used to be rock solid until recently.
 
Does MTN give specific feedback on each logged complain or is it only something they keep in mind when planning future upgrades/expansion?

My speed has been half of what it was earlier this year and the latency has been unusable with a ping spiking between 100-300ms local. Speed and latency used to be rock solid until recently.

Morning,

MTN investigates and look at the tower that the client is connected to. If the tower is congested they make note of that in the report and then they will not accept new signups for that specific area.

If the tower is not congested they do give signal stats and suggest using an antenna to improve radio conditions. If the tower has an alarm they also make mention of it and the ETA of the issue to be resolved.
 
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Updated comments in related thread :
(more +ve in some respects)

 
Again, updated comments in most recent related thread :
 
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