Do many people think advanced is good for them?

A

alkit

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Unfortunately, I think people in general get too excited when they see a new offering.

At least 5 of my friends that I've spoken to now, all of which have 3.6mb enabled phones and watch their data bundle spending like a hawk, told me that they bought the new 'advanced' data bundle from vodacom.

They all thought it would speed up their internet tremendously.

I had to admit to them though that in their case, they had just wasted their money.

Look, I'm not saying Vodacom are doing anything wrong (as they clearly advertise what the new packages offer/dont offer), but do you think it is inevitable that people, like my friends, will just buy 'advanced' thinking it is better?
 
Yes.
People are inevitably, and foolishly, driven to achieve better. What usually lacks in the equation is the knowledge of how/why it is better. This in itself usually turns out to to be, contrary to the intentions of the product, be the same or worse in the end.

Stupidity 101...
 
The Advanced will give you faster speeds, depending where you live.

I did a speedtest after getting my B970 router and was very impressed when it hit speeds of 3.9Mbps, considering that I'm on the 3.6Mbps service. So I know I will get much faster speeds if I change to the 7.2Mbps service.

What made it obvious, is when I changed my router's setting from compatibility to performance and hit 4.4Mbps speeds. :)
 
alkit said:
Unfortunately, I think people in general get too excited when they see a new offering.

At least 5 of my friends that I've spoken to now, all of which have 3.6mb enabled phones and watch their data bundle spending like a hawk, told me that they bought the new 'advanced' data bundle from vodacom.

They all thought it would speed up their internet tremendously.

I had to admit to them though that in their case, they had just wasted their money.

Look, I'm not saying Vodacom are doing anything wrong (as they clearly advertise what the new packages offer/dont offer), but do you think it is inevitable that people, like my friends, will just buy 'advanced' thinking it is better?
Click to expand...

As we all keep on saying; If you're buying advanced for higher speed as the primary reason, you're missing the point of the product.

BB-A is all about a flat-rate for data. The fact that you're provisioned for 7.2 is a cherry on top.
 
Plus what phones are they using? I haven't seen any phones that support 7.2 speeds yet.
 
So does the Omnia.

Though dependent on your usage, you may be wanting a proper 7.2 enabled 3G modem.
 
vodacom3g said:
As we all keep on saying; If you're buying advanced for higher speed as the primary reason, you're missing the point of the product.

BB-A is all about a flat-rate for data. The fact that you're provisioned for 7.2 is a cherry on top.
Click to expand...

And that just proves my point even further.
People see ADVANCED and instantly think to themsleves-"that has to be better than standard!" and are willing to pay that bit extra, even though for them, it really doesn't offer any benefit.

An informed person, as you said, would only purchase BB-A if they want flat data rate. The fact of the matter is, people are fooling themselves into thinking that the word 'advanced' automatically means higher speed even though their phone can't support it.

Look, I do believe Vodacom made a really good move (on their part) with the naming of the product. If Vodacom's sole intention was to offer a product with flat rate bundling, then call it 'Broadband Flat Rate'. By calling it 'advanced', the average consumer, not being informed enough, will make the mistake of thinking it will go faster and better.

Again, I don't believe Vodacom was trying to hide the facts etc, as these are clearly pointed out on the web etc., I just believe that the naming of the product is sure to confuse many people who are uninformed (as I have seen with my eyes)
 
alkit said:
And that just proves my point even further.
People see ADVANCED and instantly think to themsleves-"that has to be better than standard!" and are willing to pay that bit extra, even though for them, it really doesn't offer any benefit.

An informed person, as you said, would only purchase BB-A if they want flat data rate. The fact of the matter is, people are fooling themselves into thinking that the word 'advanced' automatically means higher speed even though their phone can't support it.

Look, I do believe Vodacom made a really good move (on their part) with the naming of the product. If Vodacom's sole intention was to offer a product with flat rate bundling, then call it 'Broadband Flat Rate'. By calling it 'advanced', the average consumer, not being informed enough, will make the mistake of thinking it will go faster and better.

Again, I don't believe Vodacom was trying to hide the facts etc, as these are clearly pointed out on the web etc., I just believe that the naming of the product is sure to confuse many people who are uninformed (as I have seen with my eyes)
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with you. ;)
 
i want the advanced service because I'm always hitting my cap in 2 weeks and forget to add a data bundle and then 1GB over my cap and R1.20 a MB later....sometimes it's worse and you get a bill of R6000 because vodacom's auto notification that the data bundle is depleted is always late! id rather pay extra R100 so i will pay 23sent per mb if i go over my cap, thank you very much!!!! plus im using the Dell latitude D630 and my speeds never even reach 1.8Mbps.... 3.6 is a dream for me and 7.2mbps sounds like a fantasy... I've orders a new modem from vodacom, it's 5 weeks later and still no modem.
 
Spartaniz said:
i want the advanced service because I'm always hitting my cap in 2 weeks and forget to add a data bundle and then 1GB over my cap and R1.20 a MB later....sometimes it's worse and you get a bill of R6000 because vodacom's auto notification that the data bundle is depleted is always late! id rather pay extra R100 so i will pay 23sent per mb if i go over my cap, thank you very much!!!! plus im using the Dell latitude D630 and my speeds never even reach 1.8Mbps.... 3.6 is a dream for me and 7.2mbps sounds like a fantasy... I've orders a new modem from vodacom, it's 5 weeks later and still no modem.
Click to expand...

Or get yourself a top up contract and avoid nasty surprises on the 3.6Mbps service.

(Oh, and you can get a B970 router free on most of the top ups.)
 
Spartaniz said:
what will a top up contract cost per month with a b970 router
Click to expand...

Depends how much data you need.

I'm on the topup 400, so I convert R389 to data = 2GB, which is good for me. Or if you want more, just top your account up and get more data for the month.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
3.6 is fine for me at the moment. That speed is generally ok. Advanced would just be a waste of money.
 
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