Buy a new prepaid sim at Checkers and test out the network in the typical places you want coverage. Nevertheless I would be surprised if Cell C's coverage and network quality outperformed MTN's. Low risk porting over IMHO.
I agree with the initial part. I was a Cell C user (HCF). Cell C hardly crossed the 2 Mbps benchmark, but as I used it for WhatsApp calling only. It did not affect much. But during load-shedding, it would completely black out as soon as the power was turned off. After reading much about MTN's network quality on MyBroadband, I thought to give it a try. Even though I knew Cell C's prepaid users roam over the MTN network, and it may not make any difference. I still decided to give it a shot, thinking that it might not be the case. I bought a MTN prepaid SIM card. Even though the speed has marginally increased, the load-shedding issue was still consistent. Tested Telkom and Vodacom, too. Couldn't fully test Telkom due to bad customer support and issues encountered during the initial phase. Vodacom performed exceptionally well. During load-shedding, it stays alive. When power is switched off, it sometimes disconnects for a minute or two, but that's livable. There's no doubt that MTN and Vodacom offers the best possible coverage. Still I encourage you to try each one of them starting with the network that you prefer the most, and at the locations where you spend most of your time. Try to balance it, You might even get luckier and have the excellent coverage at most preferable locations such as office and home.
P.S.
Test Location: Alberton, Gauteng
Vodacom is the cheapest, MTN is the most expensive, and Cell C is no longer cheap; it is actually even more expensive than MTN, if we take MTN's 100 Gig for R219 promotion. (In terms of Prepaid Data Options)
If you're like me and prefer to do everything over the internet instead of talking to someone or visiting the store, I tried every single one's App.
App rating: Vodacom's is the best (More Stability, Better UI, More Features Except the Data Transfer) > Cell C (Each and every feature you can expect/Customer support via the app is not up to the mark) > MTN > and finally Telkom (Even though MTN's app is the one with the fewest features. Telkom is still rated the lowest because of the bugs I encountered and the signup process. Telkom's app crashed on two of my devices at launch.)
Cell C offers the best Data Rollover service.
