Home Internet (SIM-based)

[Toxxyc]

So I'm moving to a smallholding soon-ish, and over there I'll need internet access. I've visited the place with my Vodacom phone, did a speed test and got around 70Mbps on Speedtest.net's app. Good enough for what I want and need.

I've been browsing around for the different option, and Vodacom seems to be leagues ahead of the others in terms of price (who would have thunk?). I'm open to other suggestions, though.

Vodacom seems to have a Home Internet bundle where you pay R499 per month for 36 months, and then you get 100Mbps and a 2TB FUP. My current monthly usage is under 1TB (in fact, it's closer to 300GB per month) but I'll be using more data over there, so let's work on 500GB minimum that I'll need. Budget is enough for what I need. LOS dishes and satellite internet and so on is way more expensive, and fiber is not an option (at all).

What I want to know is this - is it really as simple as pay R500 per month and you have go-nuts-until-2TB internet in your house? I haven't been on a SIM-based internet service in a while, and back when I was on I paid R1k for A LOT less. Is it really just as simple as prices have come down enough to make it worth it?

Any advice/tips would be appreciated. Oh yes, and I'm waiting for Black Friday specials. No doubt I'd get what I need then, as I'm moving probably early December.

EDIT: Oh yes, routers. Vodacom router, or Huawei router, or which ones are best these days on these contracts?

 

[Retro1337]

Keep in mind its "up to" "best-effort" 100mbps and considering its LTE/5G expect it to be a bit all over the place.

Check for and Air fibre availability (Openserve/Frogfoot/Supersonic etc)

My advice is to try month-to-month first don't commit yourself to a 36-month contract

 

[B-1]

If you are not in a hurry you can possibly get a decent black Friday deal. Data is one of the few things that you can find real deals on.

 

[Toxxyc]

If you are not in a hurry you can possibly get a decent black Friday deal. Data is one of the few things that you can find real deals on.

This is the goal, yes.

 

[Toxxyc]

Keep in mind its "up to" "best-effort" 100mbps and considering its LTE/5G expect it to be a bit all over the place.

Check for and Air fibre availability (Openserve/Frogfoot/Supersonic etc)

My advice is to try month-to-month first don't commit yourself to a 36-month contract

It's not far from town and right next to a big retirement village, so reception there should be fine.

 

[chrisc]

Friend in Kalbaskraal (50km up the N7 from Cape Town in the sticks) uses Vodacom LTE and finds the signal and throughput consistently good

 

[BBSA]

I reside in a rural area as well and rely on Vodacom LTE. Overall, it's decent, although there can be congestion during the evenings.

Definitely wait for the BF deals.

 

[Toxxyc]

Yeah I kinda forgot about BF deals until last week, so I figured I'd ask. I did a speed test on the property (think I mentioned it above) and I got an easy 70Mbps with a fairly low ping (I think it was 19ms or something like that), so that's perfect for me. I can work with a quarter of that, so I'll be happy if I get half that anyway.