Fibre ISP advice

M

Mohil

Active Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2005
Messages
37
Reaction score
0
Hi all.
Vumatel is busy digging up around my house, so I have started shopping around for an ISP. After lots of research, I have short-listed Crystal Web and Cool Ideas as my best ISP options.
(I've used Afrihost and Axxess trouble-free on ADSL for years, but their package structure on Fibre just doesn't make sense when I compare them with CI and CW's upcapped/unshaped packages.)

Crystal Web:
Pros:
- Lower monthly fees compared to CI
- Quick responses to my emails

Cons:
- Activation fee of R999 mandatory
- No free router provided

Cool Ideas:
Pros:
- No activation fee charged
- Free router provided

Cons:
- Can get a 50MB line from CW for the same price as a 20Mb from CI

So basically, CI is the cheaper option upfront, but CW will be cheaper in the long-run.

Now I know that most members on this board generally state that you can't go wrong with either Crystal Web or Cool Ideas, but I do need to pick one. Aside from the upfront startup cost for Crystal Web - which I should be okay with - is there any other reason to choose Cool Ideas over Crystal? And is there another ISP that can compete with these two?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Well if you own your house and will be there for a few years then Crystal Web will work out cheaper, but honestly flip a coin, either side will be fine ;)
 
Mohil said:
Hi all.
Vumatel is busy digging up around my house, so I have started shopping around for an ISP. After lots of research, I have short-listed Crystal Web and Cool Ideas as my best ISP options.
(I've used Afrihost and Axxess trouble-free on ADSL for years, but their package structure on Fibre just doesn't make sense when I compare them with CI and CW's upcapped/unshaped packages.)

Crystal Web:
Pros:
- Lower monthly fees compared to CI
- Quick responses to my emails

Cons:
- Activation fee of R999 mandatory
- No free router provided

Cool Ideas:
Pros:
- No activation fee charged
- Free router provided

Cons:
- Can get a 50MB line from CW for the same price as a 20Mb from CI

So basically, CI is the cheaper option upfront, but CW will be cheaper in the long-run.

Now I know that most members on this board generally state that you can't go wrong with either Crystal Web or Cool Ideas, but I do need to pick one. Aside from the upfront startup cost for Crystal Web - which I should be okay with - is there any other reason to choose Cool Ideas over Crystal? And is there another ISP that can compete with these two?
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Maybe tell us what you will be using the line for?
 
I believe that with Crystal Web, the lower monthly fee is associated with a 12 month contract, but would be better if somebody that is 100% sure can respond on that point. Other than that, I am with Cool Ideas, as Crystal Web was not there when I got fibre, even now I am not looking back.
 
Thanks for all your replies.
@Symphonix: It is my own house, and that's why I'm leaning toward Crystal. I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision.
@Chevron: I do stream a lot, I upload to cloud storage regularly, and I do a lot of online gaming. So good pings and fast upstreams are important to me.
@DERoestorf: No, according to the website Crystal's packages are month-to-month.
 
Then CW would be slightly better as their lines are symetrical. 50/50 vs 20/2 of Cool Ideas.
 
I would suggest just confirming the month to month side of things, other than that it's really your call :). We do manage our own network is the only major difference.
 
@Pho3nix: Actually, CW's 50/50 package (R895) is closer in terms of pricing to CI's 20/20 package (R899) than the 20/2 (R799).

@PBCool: This is what Crystal Web's T&C's page says:
"1.Subject to this section, and any term contract you may enter into with Crystal Web, it is agreed that you may cancel any or all of your services before the 19th of the month such that the service will be terminated from the last day of the month, unless otherwise indicated by the product description or marketing. Any cancellation notice received between the 19th day of the month and the last day of the month will be regarded as a cancellation effective on the last day of the following month."
This sounds good to me.
 
Mohil said:
@Pho3nix: Actually, CW's 50/50 package (R895) is closer in terms of pricing to CI's 20/20 package (R899) than the 20/2 (R799).

@PBCool: This is what Crystal Web's T&C's page says:
"1.Subject to this section, and any term contract you may enter into with Crystal Web, it is agreed that you may cancel any or all of your services before the 19th of the month such that the service will be terminated from the last day of the month, unless otherwise indicated by the product description or marketing. Any cancellation notice received between the 19th day of the month and the last day of the month will be regarded as a cancellation effective on the last day of the following month."
This sounds good to me.
Click to expand...

Clarify the above with CW live chat just to be sure... im with CW on the adsl side and its perfect, when i get fibre i will still be with CW... but CI is great also, so really, this is a flip of the coin thing because you narrowed it down to the best
 
Mohil said:
@Pho3nix: Actually, CW's 50/50 package (R895) is closer in terms of pricing to CI's 20/20 package (R899) than the 20/2 (R799).

@PBCool: This is what Crystal Web's T&C's page says:
"1.Subject to this section, and any term contract you may enter into with Crystal Web, it is agreed that you may cancel any or all of your services before the 19th of the month such that the service will be terminated from the last day of the month, unless otherwise indicated by the product description or marketing. Any cancellation notice received between the 19th day of the month and the last day of the month will be regarded as a cancellation effective on the last day of the following month."
This sounds good to me.
Click to expand...

Yeap but also check the pricing on Vumatels shop front that is promotional pricing.
 
Mohil said:
Thanks for all your replies.
@Symphonix: It is my own house, and that's why I'm leaning toward Crystal. I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision.
@Chevron: I do stream a lot, I upload to cloud storage regularly, and I do a lot of online gaming. So good pings and fast upstreams are important to me.
@DERoestorf: No, according to the website Crystal's packages are month-to-month.
Click to expand...
I'm with Crystal Web, also choose the cheaper 12 month package. It's been about 5 months now and haven't had any reason or desire to move away.
 
Seems we should start offering contract packages then :).
 
Even Vumatel's shop mentions that the terms for Crystal Web is month-to-month. I haven't seen any mention of a 12-month contract anywhere.
Am I missing something? It seems like I am, as this insistence on checking the terms has unsettled me. Can somebody perhaps post a link of where Crystal Web specifies a 12-month contract for their packages? I'm certainly not finding it.
 
Mohil said:
Even Vumatel's shop mentions that the terms for Crystal Web is month-to-month. I haven't seen any mention of a 12-month contract anywhere.
Am I missing something? It seems like I am, as this insistence on checking the terms has unsettled me. Can somebody perhaps post a link of where Crystal Web specifies a 12-month contract for their packages? I'm certainly not finding it.
Click to expand...

Those packages aren't available anymore. I looked. Look on CW's website, it says month-to-month
 
Mohil said:
Even Vumatel's shop mentions that the terms for Crystal Web is month-to-month. I haven't seen any mention of a 12-month contract anywhere.
Am I missing something? It seems like I am, as this insistence on checking the terms has unsettled me. Can somebody perhaps post a link of where Crystal Web specifies a 12-month contract for their packages? I'm certainly not finding it.
Click to expand...

Just drop them a note, if you look at the vumatel shop they have promo offer and regular package pricing. When the promos first came out they were based on 12 month terms so rather just check with them.
 
PBCool said:
Just drop them a note, if you look at the vumatel shop they have promo offer and regular package pricing. When the promos first came out they were based on 12 month terms so rather just check with them.
Click to expand...

Just check on Crystal Web's Website, it does look like this is a permanent thing now. They don't even have the R999 pricing on their website anymore, and on their website they state the price is R895pm for the 50/50 line.


50Mb/s Symmetric Premium Uncapped
R895.00
Get Crystal Web FTTH Premium Uncapped Symmetric 50Mb/s here. The ultimate in FTTH uncapped performance.

Premium Uncapped
Unthrottled
Premium News Server
Standard News Server
Month-to-month
Fibre network priority
 
DERoestorf said:
They don't even have the R999 pricing on their website anymore
Click to expand...

Actually, when you fill in the online application, the terms and conditions at the bottom does specify this.
"New Vumatel activations are subject to a R999.00 once-off activation fee which is the fee charged by Vumatel to ISPs to activate each connection, and no additional charges are added by Crystal Web in this process."
 
Mohil said:
Actually, when you fill in the online application, the terms and conditions at the bottom does specify this.
"New Vumatel activations are subject to a R999.00 once-off activation fee which is the fee charged by Vumatel to ISPs to activate each connection, and no additional charges are added by Crystal Web in this process."
Click to expand...

i mean the R999 monthly price, lol, sorry, should have been more clear.

On Vuma's Website they have 2 pricings, the R895pm and the R999pm for the same product
 
I wasn't aware of this. Thanks for clearing that up.
So then I suppose there isn't any clear cut reason for me to choose Cool Ideas over Crystal Web.
Are there any other ISPs worth considering?
 
Mohil said:
I wasn't aware of this. Thanks for clearing that up.
So then I suppose there isn't any clear cut reason for me to choose Cool Ideas over Crystal Web.
Are there any other ISPs worth considering?
Click to expand...
Not really, no.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X