Fiber install on Monday, need help with ISP

T

Taladas20

Active Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2016
Messages
35
Reaction score
0
Sup guys

Actually an old member on this site but for some reason i cant post jack on my old account :((

Anyways, I need some guidance gents.

Vumatel is installing to my house this coming Monday and i have been going through the deals and cant
decide between Cool Ideas or Crystalweb.

I already have a monster of a router that I use currently for my ADSL line which i intend to reuse once fiber
is installed *unless I need a special router that uses the fiber connection?*

Cool ideas 4mbit month to month, no contracts and offer a free router + no fee and for an extra R85pm i can
get voip setup. Downside... no 20mbit, but i have been rather content with 4mbit on my ADSL line lets be honest, 4mbit on fiber is lols.

Crystalweb has 20mbit for an extra R80 pm which i would instantly hop on but that R1000 setup fee is hefty and nothing on the voip side yet.

Guys... what would you do?

One of these ISP's is going to take my money and some feedback on user experience would be awesome.

PS: WHY CANT YOU ISP's offer 10mbit !?

Thanks guys
 
Last edited:
You are raising a very interesting debate here about what is involved in offering lower data rates and transfer rates on fibre based systems.

Technically, if a fibre based system is installed and can deliver 100Mbps duplex, why would one want to go for less? The equipment costs are fixed. Where is the benefit for now offering a lower line rate than the line is capable of delivering?

Or is it all in the mind based on the belief that lower line rates should cost less?

Will be following the response you get form those that know about the 2 services on offer to you with great interest.
 
daniellgr said:
You are raising a very interesting debate here about what is involved in offering lower data rates and transfer rates on fibre based systems.

Technically, if a fibre based system is installed and can deliver 100Mbps duplex, why would one want to go for less? The equipment costs are fixed. Where is the benefit for now offering a lower line rate than the line is capable of delivering?

Or is it all in the mind based on the belief that lower line rates should cost less?

Will be following the response you get form those that know about the 2 services on offer to you with great interest.
Click to expand...

The international piece to name one reason.
 
Let please stay on topic please

FLHEM said:
What do you mean no 20mbit?
Click to expand...

Cool ideas has 20mbit for R800pm, Crystal web has it for R680

From what i see cool ideas has no setup fee.
Crystalweb wants an aditional R1000.

I still have to pay Vuma R1700 to get the fiber to my home.
 
Taladas20 said:
Let please stay on topic please



Cool ideas has 20mbit for R800pm, Crystal web has it for R680
Click to expand...
I see. Well, I cant tell you which too choose. I am currently on Cool Ideas and works well with me. But it depends on your needs. The R1000 once-off is definitely a downer on Crystal Webs side.
 
Thats the thing.

My buddy is on cool ideas and he had 0 issues and great service.
I have crystalweb as an ISP before and had 0 issues also when i was on DSL.

Sigh...

Why couldnt they have a sweet middle ground with 10mbit :/
 
Taladas20 said:
Thats the thing.

My buddy is on cool ideas and he had 0 issues and great service.
I have crystalweb as an ISP before and had 0 issues also when i was on DSL.

Sigh...

Why couldnt they have a sweet middle ground with 10mbit :/
Click to expand...

Just curious, if you don't want more bandwidth, why move to Fibre?
 
MickeyD said:
Stability. Reliability. Superior service over a newer technology.
Click to expand...

Quite correct. Those are the real benefits of an end to end fibre solution direct to your home. No conversion back to a copper based solution as well as the potential of fully symmetrical service delivery are very significant. The choice of data rates and data capacity are secondary considerations.

Still not clear as to what OP means when he says 10/20mbit?
 
Taladas20 said:
Sup guys

Actually an old member on this site but for some reason i cant post jack on my old account :((

Anyways, I need some guidance gents.

Vumatel is installing to my house this coming Monday and i have been going through the deals and cant
decide between Cool Ideas or Crystalweb.

I already have a monster of a router that I use currently for my ADSL line which i intend to reuse once fiber
is installed *unless I need a special router that uses the fiber connection?*

Cool ideas 4mbit month to month, no contracts and offer a free router + no fee and for an extra R85pm i can
get voip setup. Downside... no 20mbit, but i have been rather content with 4mbit on my ADSL line lets be honest, 4mbit on fiber is lols.

Crystalweb has 20mbit for an extra R80 pm which i would instantly hop on but that R1000 setup fee is hefty and nothing on the voip side yet.

Guys... what would you do?

One of these ISP's is going to take my money and some feedback on user experience would be awesome.

PS: WHY CANT YOU ISP's offer 10mbit !?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

So lets be honest. Both Crystal Web and Cool Ideas are excellent packages, and with both you can't go wrong.

You need to assess you needs and financial position and make a choice.

I am on Cool Ideas, 20/20 package, and have not had any issues at all. But I am probably correct in assuming the same will be true for Crystal web.

Their 20/20 package is extremely enticing, but the R999 setup fee is a downer.

The nice thing with CW is you get locked in on that price, so when the opening offer expires, you will still be paying less.

It really depends on how long you plan on staying with them. The R80pm means in 12 months you would have paid off that R999 expense
 
I dont understand what the "setup" fee is though?

Dont you just pick you ISP via the portal and login in through there etc.

CW REP!! I SUMMON THEE!!!
 
Last edited:
I'm with you there MickeyD.

I'd like to throw Web Africa into the mix as well. Same price as Cool Ideas.

Differences:
Confirmed:
Cool Ideas, no news server.
Crystal Web, IS news server only.
Web Africa, both IS news server and Web Africa news server.

Confirmed:
Cool Ideas, no FUP based throttling, etc.
Crystal Web, no FUP based throttling for intoductory accounts.
Web Africa, FUP based on 10 day rolling mystery threshold where you lose stars if you've been naughty... (my interpretation)
 
Last edited:
Taladas20 said:
I dont understand what the "setup" fee is though?

Dont you just pick you ISP via the portal and login in through there etc.

CW REP!! I SUMMON THEE!!!
Click to expand...

It is a fee that Vuma charges to ISP's. Some ISP's waive that fee, others pass them on to the consumer. I am no expert on this, so DJ could maybe expand with the explanation.

This was from the Blairgowrie group

DJ... said:
Vumatel charge the full R999 to all ISPs when a line is provisioned. We double-checked this with them quite a few times, and waiving that charge, while offering the absolute cheapest in the market by a long shot, is just not feasible...
Click to expand...
 
Cool ideas it is then :D

Also if any ISP reps read this thread... offer 10 bloody mbit damn it!!

4mbit and 20mbit is a massive gap and im sure there are people who would gladly go for 10mbit.

DERoestorf thanks for being a gem with the intel buddy
 
Taladas20 said:
Sup guys

Actually an old member on this site but for some reason i cant post jack on my old account :((

Anyways, I need some guidance gents.

Vumatel is installing to my house this coming Monday and i have been going through the deals and cant
decide between Cool Ideas or Crystalweb.

I already have a monster of a router that I use currently for my ADSL line which i intend to reuse once fiber
is installed *unless I need a special router that uses the fiber connection?*

Cool ideas 4mbit month to month, no contracts and offer a free router + no fee and for an extra R85pm i can
get voip setup. Downside... no 20mbit, but i have been rather content with 4mbit on my ADSL line lets be honest, 4mbit on fiber is lols.

Crystalweb has 20mbit for an extra R80 pm which i would instantly hop on but that R1000 setup fee is hefty and nothing on the voip side yet.

Guys... what would you do?

One of these ISP's is going to take my money and some feedback on user experience would be awesome.

PS: WHY CANT YOU ISP's offer 10mbit !?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

Hi,

I am the CEO of Crystal Web. Our VOIP links are complete and will certainly be available to all customers on our network. It's even easier than the current deployment methods which is why it has taken some time to get tested correctly. It is the same system that our enterprise customers use by the way.

With respect to the setup fee, a number of people are querying this with us. It is a direct cost from Vumatel to the ISP when a connection is provisioned. We incur that cost no matter what. Now if you look at the ridiculously cheap rates we're offering on introduction, I think you can understand why we cannot further cover this direct cost as well.

On the question of 10Mbps - Vuma doesn't offer a 10Mbps line, it's as simple as that, and the line is the vast bulk of the cost. We could theoretically offer a 10Mbps account on a 20Mbps line, but the cost saving to you would be minimal as like I said, the bulk of the cost is for the line itself and not the data...
 
Saber said:
I'm with you there MickeyD.

I'd like to throw Web Africa into the mix as well. Same price as Cool Ideas.

Differences:
Confirmed:
Cool Ideas, no news server. Crystal Web, IS news server only. Web Africa, both IS news server and Web Africa news server.

Unconfirmed:
Cool Ideas, no FUP based throttling, etc.
Crystal Web?
Web Africa?
Click to expand...

Webafrica use the IS news server. Never heard of a proprietary WA news server before. As Crystal Web we are exploring making our premium news server available on the Vumatel accounts as well, and we may in the near future, but for now it's only one standard news server.

Crystal Web is unshaped no FUP for the introductory offerings...
 
Go with Crystal Web. They were awesome when I used them for 2 months last year. Only left for Afrihost so I could get a 100Mbps connection within my budget. Now I'm considering going back because AH is giving issues.
 
DJ... said:
Hi,

I am the CEO of Crystal Web. Our VOIP links are complete and will certainly be available to all customers on our network. It's even easier than the current deployment methods which is why it has taken some time to get tested correctly. It is the same system that our enterprise customers use by the way.

With respect to the setup fee, a number of people are querying this with us. It is a direct cost from Vumatel to the ISP when a connection is provisioned. We incur that cost no matter what. Now if you look at the ridiculously cheap rates we're offering on introduction, I think you can understand why we cannot further cover this direct cost as well.

On the question of 10Mbps - Vuma doesn't offer a 10Mbps line, it's as simple as that, and the line is the vast bulk of the cost. We could theoretically offer a 10Mbps account on a 20Mbps line, but the cost saving to you would be minimal as like I said, the bulk of the cost is for the line itself and not the data...
Click to expand...

Just to clear this us up. Anyone going over the Vumatel network can only get packages speed wise in 4,20,50,100 mbit flavours at the moment. Nothing inbetween like 8,10mbit etc?

I thought all the packages were limited speed wise by the ISP and not the actual line.
Eg: My ADSL line synch at 10mbit but im on a 4mbit account hence limiting me to 4mbit.

Theoretically speaking if i was on lets say Mweb 4mbit over fiber and i wanted to i want to quickly switch over to
another ISP with a backup account and use a 100mbit account, would that be possible?

I have used crystal web as an ISP and i have no complaints, but that R1000 is a mofo with Vumas R1700 once off install on top of it.

Wallet will dictate at the end but as much as i want that 20mbit, i think il have to settle for 4mbit from another ISP unless my wife decides to stop talking to her sister on phone 6hrs a day and CW can save me with some VOIP
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X