Cell C 21 Mbps modem shortage resolved

[Synaesthesia]

Well..... a speedstick shortage shouldn't be too serious an impediment.

I signed up for a year at 5c/meg. Voda is 20c/meg less discounts. Therefore after 4 months I can afford to walk away from my CellC contract and go back to Voda or MTN. My 4 months ends end March.

Soon my speedstick will be on sale on gumtree and I probably won't be alone.

Does anyone have any suggestions on wireless internet alternatives. Voda / MTN are fine, just a little pricey. Which is the best option for Randburg out of Neotel, Screamer etc?

I don't get why you would switch away from Cell C, unless you're experiencing problems with them?

 

[r00igev@@r]

MyBB - please review your article as it has some gaps.

The comparative pricing is incorrect as iBurst now matches the Cell C pricing on the low end of 2GB.

Comparatively:
- iBurst has rollover of up to 3 x the monthly allocation, Cell C does not.
- iBurst has a low out of bundle rate, Cell C has a high out of bundle rate.
- iBUrst has a 8 hour window where bucket usage is halved, Cell C does not.
- iBurst you have email (even when capped), Cell C does not.

 

[Tobi-5520]

MyBB - please review your article as it has some gaps.

The comparative pricing is incorrect as iBurst now matches the Cell C pricing on the low end of 2GB.

Comparatively:
- iBurst has rollover of up to 3 x the monthly allocation, Cell C does not.
- iBurst has a low out of bundle rate, Cell C has a high out of bundle rate.
- iBUrst has a 8 hour window where bucket usage is halved, Cell C does not.
- iBurst you have email (even when capped), Cell C does not.

Don't know if I agree - the cheapest item on the iBurst website happens to be the CellC package. The cheapset iBurst is still almost twice the price. Further, does IBurst speeds even warrant it being included in the broadband bracket?

Or am I missing something that I should be seeing?

 

[rorz0r]

Oh good!! Now more people can join their already overloaded network!!!

Lol. This damn overloaded network only gives me 12mbps now... Those b*stards!

 

[r00igev@@r]

Don't know if I agree - the cheapest item on the iBurst website happens to be the CellC package. The cheapset iBurst is still almost twice the price. Further, does IBurst speeds even warrant it being included in the broadband bracket?

Or am I missing something that I should be seeing?

Yes, refer: http://www.iburst.co.za/neuvo.aspx?link=company_newsitem&blog=9 which results in a matching of the Cell C price. On the high end you can surf as low as 0.324 cents per MB by using the 8 hour window.

As far as iBurst speeds are concerned, speedtest.net reports iBurst speeds as better than the majority of South African ISPs. By your reasoning Telkom ADSL should not be classified as broadband.

 

[Necksy]

More customers away from MTN & Vodacom, that must be horrible for them.

 

[eltherza]

Lets compare 5GB packages

---- Without Device ----

CellC without device:
R1999 for 60GB over 12 months
thats R33.30 per GB

iBurst without device
R5340 for 60GB + (60GB free mid month promotion) over 12 month
Thats R44 per GB

---With Device---
CellC withdevice:
R2999 for 60GB over 12 months
thats R49.98 per GB

iBurst without device
R6048 for 60GB + (60GB free mid month promotion) over 12 month
Thats R50.40 per GB

---Things to consider---

-IBurst has discount usage between 00:00 and 08:00 effectively increasing usage, meaning that if you schedule yourself you can get more GB out of the iBurst
-IBurst has roll over, less bandwidth is lost
-iBurst needs drivers not already disturbed with OSes
-CellC is faster
-CellC can be a once off payment [no account issues]
-CellC's stick feels more porable

 

[ExSalesman]

Comparatively:
- iBurst has rollover of up to 3 x the monthly allocation, Cell C does not.
- iBurst has a low out of bundle rate, Cell C has a high out of bundle rate.
- iBUrst has a 8 hour window where bucket usage is halved, Cell C does not.
- iBurst you have email (even when capped), Cell C does not.

- iBurst has less than 300 towers, Cell C does not - they have thousands and are growing.
- iBurst has a download speed of 600Kb/s, Cell C does not - they exceed 3Mb/s.
- iBurst is a dead-end technology, Cell C is not.

 

[Jagtiger]

<snip>

---Things to consider---

-IBurst has discount usage between 00:00 and 08:00 effectively increasing usage, meaning that if you schedule yourself you can get more GB out of the iBurst
-IBurst has roll over, less bandwidth is lost
-iBurst needs drivers not already disturbed with OSes
-CellC is faster
-CellC can be a once off payment [no account issues]
-CellC's stick feels more porable

Also:
-CellC requires special router to work
-iBurst Desktop modem can be connected to any LAN router.
-CellC antenna is more expensive than for iBurst (if you really need it. Mine works at ground level indoors without problems)
-iBurst antenna is cheaper than for CellC
-CellC is unshaped
-iBurst is shaped

 

[r00igev@@r]

Lets compare 5GB packages

---- Without Device ----

CellC without device:
R1999 for 60GB over 12 months
thats R33.30 per GB

iBurst without device
R5340 for 60GB + (60GB free mid month promotion) over 12 month
Thats R44 per GB

---With Device---
CellC withdevice:
R2999 for 60GB over 12 months
thats R49.98 per GB

iBurst without device
R6048 for 60GB + (60GB free mid month promotion) over 12 month
Thats R50.40 per GB

---Things to consider---

-IBurst has discount usage between 00:00 and 08:00 effectively increasing usage, meaning that if you schedule yourself you can get more GB out of the iBurst
-IBurst has roll over, less bandwidth is lost
-iBurst needs drivers not already disturbed with OSes
-CellC is faster
-CellC can be a once off payment [no account issues]
-CellC's stick feels more porable

You are comparing a once off yearly payment over an aggregated payment over 12 months. Even by your own calculations, not bad for something that is not a special!

 

[ColdComfort]

Ibust will also double, triple and quadruple bill you until the frickin cows come home. And then falsely hand you over to their debt collectors.

They will never get access to my bank account details ever ever ever. The end

I am very happy with my CellC connection.
CellC FTW

 

[r00igev@@r]

- iBurst has less than 300 towers, Cell C does not - they have thousands and are growing.
- iBurst has a download speed of 600Kb/s, Cell C does not - they exceed 3Mb/s.
- iBurst is a dead-end technology, Cell C is not.

 

[eltherza]

Ibust will also double, triple and quadruple bill you until the frickin cows come home. And then falsely hand you over to their debt collectors.

They will never get access to my bank account details ever ever ever. The end

I am very happy with my CellC connection.
CellC FTW

At the same time, cellc continued to charge a cancelled credit card for 3 months on my side, I spent over 20hrs on the phone with cellc trying to explain to them the credit card was invalid and to change the accounts. Eventually I had a cellc legal person on speed dial.

With cellc's "return the speed stick within 7 days for any reason" is very much a lie. I spent over 3 hrs ON THE PHONE with cellC to return this item. Eventually Dion Wired (as well as myself) were so fed up with CellC that Dion Wired accepted to refund me out of their own pocket to keep me as a happy. Well done to dion wired, and just confirms cellc hasn't changed it's spots.

But, at the same time, I'd had issues with iBurst billing as well, I find that emails and phone calls don't solve the issue (ever.) but I do have the privilege to have iBurst offices on the route home, and visiting them is effective. CellC's outlets just fax and call the useless call centre on your behalf.

 

[supersunbird]

MyBB - please review your article as it has some gaps.

The comparative pricing is incorrect as iBurst now matches the Cell C pricing on the low end of 2GB.

Comparatively:
- iBurst has rollover of up to 3 x the monthly allocation, Cell C does not.
- iBurst has a low out of bundle rate, Cell C has a high out of bundle rate.
- iBUrst has a 8 hour window where bucket usage is halved, Cell C does not.
- iBurst you have email (even when capped), Cell C does not.

iBurst has a bad reputation here due to their antics in the past. They can close for all I care...

They only good thing about iBurst is that they had the Cell C 24GB package while the Cell C shop didn't

 

[Mapleton]

Let's hope that CellC can keep up the promo price as long a possible...so that I can pick a new one up when my old one expires Anyhow - am I the only one surprised at how few people know about CellC's pricing and stll coughing up a fortune to MTN and Vodascum? It's this sort of ignorance that causes the pioneers to go bust - and in the end the consumers will be doomed!

 

[ExSalesman]

Apologies, I see your average download is 700Kb/s and not the 600Kb/s I quoted.

I also noticed, from the site you used, that Cell C's is closer to 5Mb/s and not the 3Mb/s I quoted for them.

So my previous ratio of Cell C / iBurst performance was wrong. In fact, iBurst is even worse compared to Cell C than I indicated.

Please accept my apologies for falsely inflating iBurst's performance relative to Cell C.

 

[r00igev@@r]

Apologies, I see your average download is 700Kb/s and not the 600Kb/s I quoted.

I also noticed, from the site you used, that Cell C's is closer to 5Mb/s and not the 3Mb/s I quoted for them.

So my previous ratio of Cell C / iBurst performance was wrong. In fact, iBurst is even worse compared to Cell C than I indicated.

Please accept my apologies for falsely inflating iBurst's performance relative to Cell C.

Yes, my speed is 700kb/s because I live in a forest and the neighbours don't want me in their yard with a chainsaw. But it is not my average that is important, but the ISP average which is higher.

 

[ExSalesman]

Yes, my speed is 700kb/s because I live in a forest and the neighbours don't want me in their yard with a chainsaw. But it is not my average that is important, but the ISP average which is higher.

So, if you cut down the trees, you're going to get 5Mb/s???

You realise you're arguing about tens of Kb/s or at most, a 100Kb/s difference?

This while your competition is using multiples of Mb/s to show how their networks are increasing in performance. From 14.4 to 21.2 to 42.4Mb/s.

Cell C and the other networks already have many times more 21Mb/s towers than iBurst has 1Mb/s towers. And they're in the process of upgrading to 42Mb/s.

What are iBurst's plans to upgrade their ancient 1Mb/s network to a higher speed?

What are iBurst's plans to extend coverage beyond the current smattering of towers?

Let's stop arguing about about a few kilobits here and there and get answers to the above questions.

 

[drukkie]

Really man...iburst has nothing on Cellc...just the portability alone is a winner for me....
if you want router access esquire sells them for R500...just plug in the modem and voila.
also the pricing is almost double to get the same per MB cost???