Best provider on Octotel

N

NCS

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Need some help. Octotel is rolling out to our area in Cape Town. They list their partner ISPs as RSAWeb, CoolIdeas, WebAfrica, Vanilla, Vox, MWEB, Sonic, iConnect, Afrihost. RSAWeb, CoolIdeas and WebAfrica all have an uncapped 100Mbps offering for R999 per month. Does anyone have any experience with these 3 providers - specifically on fibre, and maybe more specifically on Octotel?

WebAfrica's fibre offerings seem to get bad reviews from what I can see, but many of these reviews are from a few years ago. Have they improved?

I can't see to find too many reviews on RSAWeb from a fibre perspective. Anyone with experience of them wrt fibre?

CoolIdeas seems to have generally posititve reviews, but they seem relatively new, so I would like to understand what people's experience is and whether they will be able to keep up as demand increases.

Any help will be appreciated.
 
NCS said:
Need some help. Octotel is rolling out to our area in Cape Town. They list their partner ISPs as RSAWeb, CoolIdeas, WebAfrica, Vanilla, Vox, MWEB, Sonic, iConnect, Afrihost. RSAWeb, CoolIdeas and WebAfrica all have an uncapped 100Mbps offering for R999 per month. Does anyone have any experience with these 3 providers - specifically on fibre, and maybe more specifically on Octotel?

WebAfrica's fibre offerings seem to get bad reviews from what I can see, but many of these reviews are from a few years ago. Have they improved?

I can't see to find too many reviews on RSAWeb from a fibre perspective. Anyone with experience of them wrt fibre?

CoolIdeas seems to have generally posititve reviews, but they seem relatively new, so I would like to understand what people's experience is and whether they will be able to keep up as demand increases.

Any help will be appreciated.
Click to expand...

You want Cool Ideas.
 
Let me know if there are any questions around the Cool Ideas offerings.
 
NCS said:
I can't see to find too many reviews on RSAWeb from a fibre perspective. Anyone with experience of them wrt fibre?
Click to expand...


They are pretty good with fibre, really well managed and fast to reply. Their crippling factor is their data price. This is for openserve side. Their communication levels should be the same across all line providers. Data pricing and attractiveness will differ.
 
NCS said:
Need some help. Octotel is rolling out to our area in Cape Town. They list their partner ISPs as RSAWeb, CoolIdeas, WebAfrica, Vanilla, Vox, MWEB, Sonic, iConnect, Afrihost. RSAWeb, CoolIdeas and WebAfrica all have an uncapped 100Mbps offering for R999 per month. Does anyone have any experience with these 3 providers - specifically on fibre, and maybe more specifically on Octotel?

WebAfrica's fibre offerings seem to get bad reviews from what I can see, but many of these reviews are from a few years ago. Have they improved?

I can't see to find too many reviews on RSAWeb from a fibre perspective. Anyone with experience of them wrt fibre?

CoolIdeas seems to have generally posititve reviews, but they seem relatively new, so I would like to understand what people's experience is and whether they will be able to keep up as demand increases.

Any help will be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I think subconsciously you know who you want. :whistle:
I'd avoid: Afrihost (constant network issues, prices on higher/proper packages), Mweb(throttle torrents), Sonic (price matches CoolIdeas on lower packages, not higher), RSAWeb (price), WebAfrica(shoddy service) from that list. Vox also seems pricey.
 
Last edited:
NCS said:
Need some help. Octotel is rolling out to our area in Cape Town. They list their partner ISPs as RSAWeb, CoolIdeas, WebAfrica, Vanilla, Vox, MWEB, Sonic, iConnect, Afrihost. RSAWeb, CoolIdeas and WebAfrica all have an uncapped 100Mbps offering for R999 per month. Does anyone have any experience with these 3 providers - specifically on fibre, and maybe more specifically on Octotel?

WebAfrica's fibre offerings seem to get bad reviews from what I can see, but many of these reviews are from a few years ago. Have they improved?

I can't see to find too many reviews on RSAWeb from a fibre perspective. Anyone with experience of them wrt fibre?

CoolIdeas seems to have generally posititve reviews, but they seem relatively new, so I would like to understand what people's experience is and whether they will be able to keep up as demand increases.

Any help will be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Just to comment on this we've been an ISP for over 6 years, but mostly just on the FTTB scene :). That being said still one of the youngest out there.
 
I'm with Cool Ideas on Vumatel and it's the best decision I ever made. The internet just works, is never slow and most importantly after my poor experience with ADSL, is stable with a consistent ping.

Also, on the one occasion that I've needed to use support (the line was down on the vumatel side after a power outage), I called support, waited in a queue for about 2 minutes then spoke to a very helpful support person who promised to resolve the issue and call me back shortly. This happened on a Friday evening at around 6PM, so I thought yeah right, no internet for the weekend. But about 5 minutes after hanging up the phone, I was called back in a conference call with a Vumatel engineer and the Cool Ideas support guy. The issue was resolved in a few minutes on that call. This is by far the best support I've ever had from an ISP (and that includes my time in the UK prior to 2009).

While it's possible that they could fall apart tomorrow, I doubt that they will, but if they did, your on a month to month contract anyway.
 
PBCool,

I'm in same situation as OP, and when I mentioned your company name I get conflicting comments.

I would like to try your services, but have a couple of questions:
1) Can I get a fixed IP from you for the FTTH product (Sub Zero/Sub Zero+)
2) Can I start with the SZ+ package and migrate to the SZ only package? (up and down as needed)
3) Do you have a FUP? I'm not a heavy user (100-200gig). No throttling or shaping?
4) Can I use my own CPE? (Zyxel SBG3600-N)
5) The VoIP service, is that a one number and one phone only? Or do you offer VPBX services.
6) Do I get a geographic number? or can I port?

Sorry OP for hijacking your thread, but maybe these answers help you as well.
 
gfmalan said:
PBCool,

I'm in same situation as OP, and when I mentioned your company name I get conflicting comments.

I would like to try your services, but have a couple of questions:
1) Can I get a fixed IP from you for the FTTH product (Sub Zero/Sub Zero+) No fixed IPs on home products unfortunately, what do you need a fixed IP for?
2) Can I start with the SZ+ package and migrate to the SZ only package? (up and down as needed) Yes
3) Do you have a FUP? I'm not a heavy user (100-200gig). No throttling or shaping? Correct, as advertised.
4) Can I use my own CPE? (Zyxel SBG3600-N) Cant use your own CPE/ONT but you can use your own router.
5) The VoIP service, is that a one number and one phone only? Or do you offer VPBX services. We charge per additional extension, you can have as many as you like with full PBX functionality.
6) Do I get a geographic number? or can I port? You can port

Sorry OP for hijacking your thread, but maybe these answers help you as well.
Click to expand...

Response above.
 
Thanks All for the replies and information. I have cancelled my pre-order with Web Africa and will give Cool Ideas a chance. I have previously (on ADSL) given many of the other more established service providers a chance, so lets see what the new kids on block can do.
 
NCS said:
Thanks All for the replies and information. I have cancelled my pre-order with Web Africa and will give Cool Ideas a chance. I have previously (on ADSL) given many of the other more established service providers a chance, so lets see what the new kids on block can do.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat.

Confirm: CISP doesn't charge an installation fee?

R599 for the Cool 10/5 package vs R579 for same with WA, or even R549 with Vox.

The installation fee of R1710 is a couple of years worth of R20 or R50/m saving on the monthly cost. This plus CISP reputation here mean I'll likely be cancelling my WA preorder :)
 
Budza said:
I'm in the same boat.

Confirm: CISP doesn't charge an installation fee?

R599 for the Cool 10/5 package vs R579 for same with WA, or even R549 with Vox.

The installation fee of R1710 is a couple of years worth of R20 or R50/m saving on the monthly cost. This plus CISP reputation here mean I'll likely be cancelling my WA preorder :)
Click to expand...

Correct no installation fee.
 
Sorry to hijack the OP. I need to decide before the end of the month to get these free install options.

I have Octotel box on my wall but they only going to be connected by November.

Busy doing some research into which is the best provider, and also which provider gives me the most with the best performance.

So far it seems Cool Ideas have great service and performance, but they are more expensive than RSAWeb by more than R50 (10%), with both giving free router and installation that you pay if you cancel/move. RSAWeb seem to prioritize traffic on their cheaper uncapped option and their uncapped option that seems to offer similar shaping/throttling isn't available on a 10/5 line I need to get the 10/10 which pushes the price over CoolIdeas.

RSAWeb also throw in 1gb LTE sim for 547pm so even if it is prioritized, will I notice it playing online games and streaming? I don't download torrents so not too phased if they prioritize other traffic over torrents. Just kinda unsure which to pick. Please help
 
All you guy's still happe with Cool Ideas?
With Web Africa at the moment and have been waiting for them since 4 December to get back to me on a LTE issue. 4 calls later.
Was about to place order with Afrihost but would like to try CI.

Looks like Octotel is now in our area, anyone have experience with them?
 
My experience with Afrihost on Fibre was very bad. Might be different for other people.
 
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