Best LTE for overseas gaming?

[JustAnotherGamerGirl]

Hey there, we are renting a flat from the mine and they refuse to allow fibre installations for some reason. We currently have ADSL but we received communication that support will stop (Telkom ofc) and we will receive interrupted connection from March onwards. So LTE remains our only option. We have coverage for every provider, however MTN's connection (on my mobile) has been very inconsistent and sometimes it's even disconnected. We are two people in the house, one mostly streams netflix/showmax and I game online, and the games I play do not have South African servers, so consistent and good latency is very important. My question being, which LTE provider would best suit us taking all of the above into consideration?

 

[RunningFromFat]

Get prepaid sims and test it first before locking any contract deal in.

 

[Gtx Gaming]

I tested most lte connections, for me it was vodacom. Vodacom did not provide the fastest download speed, but it gave the best ping. Rain provided fastest speedtest when it was working...

Try each one and see what happens.

Most them could not beat fibre at all or come close to it.

 

[neoprema]

I will never understand why the government doesn’t pass a law that having access to (if available from a supplier) wired broadband is a human right. That way stupid people with dumb decisions like “We don’t allow fiber” (you would be surprised how many Body corporate also) can be legally told to go F off. If the pandemic proved one thing it’s that connectivity is not a luxury anymore and everyone should have the right to choose how they connect.

It grinds my gears in tell you. I need more coffee

 

[JustAnotherGamerGirl]

Get prepaid sims and test it first before locking any contract deal in.

This is a good idea. We don't have a LTE modem, and aren't planning on buying one until we decided, so will mobile hotspot or usb tethering from my phone have similar results?

 

[JustAnotherGamerGirl]

I tested most lte connections, for me it was vodacom. Vodacom did not provide the fastest download speed, but it gave the best ping. Rain provided fastest speedtest when it was working...

Try each one and see what happens.

Most them could not beat fibre at all or come close to it.

Thanks, we have Vodacom in our phones and the signal never drops, so that might be a good choice when it comes down to it. As to the speed, what we are sitting with right now 9mbs download and 1mbs upload, I can probably take a guess that Vodacom is a lot faster lol.

 

[netstrider]

Not on LTE anymore but I found Telkom to be remarkably stable and quick when I used their 1TB deal.

 

[RunningFromFat]

This is a good idea. We don't have a LTE modem, and aren't planning on buying one until we decided, so will mobile hotspot or usb tethering from my phone have similar results?

Technically results should be better with a router over a phone, so if you’re getting good speeds by just using your phone, you will be fine

 

[1am7h30n3]

Depending on which types of games you play (you mention servers, so potentially less of an issue), if you're doing P2P gaming (gta online, etc.) you should consider the NAT type you can get with your LTE. Telkom makes it easy, use the unrestricted APN. Afrihost through MTN makes it easy as well, their default setup gives you good NAT type. CellC, MTN, Vodacom don't have good NAT by default, although with some of those there might be work-arounds.

I've not had very good luck with Afrihost through MTN for P2P gaming though and I'm not certain why, my speedtests and latencies can be good but then I'll struggle and be disconnected in the game. I suspect they may fiddle with some strange routing at times, but I really don't know. (like you can stream 4k but then try to stream from a different server and 360p buffers - and if you switch to another provider both will stream 4k, so it's not the streaming service that's bad).

Telkom generally works the best for me for gaming, but definitely test all the options in your area.

 

[Blapan]

Antennas will help with signal reception, stability