How safe is neotel?

[Easter Bunny]

the reason i'm asking is because my wife is unemployed and we need internet so she can do some job hunting. everyone wants to tie us into a two year contract and i'm not keen on that.

i went round to SpermCount (telkom) and they started at R200pm for 1gig of data. popped in at altech and found a neotel thing for R600 on prepaid (8c per meg being affordable).

however, with all the bad things i've read here about neotel (ceo bailing, rising debt), i'm not sure how safe it would be to go with them.

at the moment i have 250meg bundle on my phone, so we use that for banking etc, but job hunting will need a lot of data.

should i just take the plunge? fortune favours the brave and so on?



Sent from my poorly supported by Leaf HTC Magic using MyBroadband Android App

 

[MickeyD]

The Cell C and Vodacom offers are the cheapest for low volume usage.

 

[Easter Bunny]

i'm on vodacom and the signal in our flat is rubbish. it constantly switches between gprs, 3g and hsdpa all the time.

telkom would have been perfect because it's not signal dependant, but i don't know if we can afford R200 a month. not sure if the neotel thing would work though. who do they piggyback on for their coverage?

 

[Pansyfaust]

Stay away from neotel, their pricing is really uncompetitive.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Neohell is the worst and I object to your Telkom insult ! I love Telkom after dumping them for Neotel, ended up crawling back to them on all fours!!!!

But if you have an issue with your Vodacom 3G then there is a good chance Neotel is going to be a nightmare. I was 1km from their base station and it was frustrating, the download speeds where great but it was the latency and upload speeds that got me - dialup upload.

Now Telkom is talking junk if they say a 2yr contract, that only applies if you want the "free" modem. Your 384 Line rental is going to be R159 per month, some guys will do it even cheaper. Reality is if you cannot afford R200 a month then your in a pickle. I know how financially tough it can be when the other spouse is employable.

Also if you do take the Telkom DSL offer regardless of provider then opt for self install, its free. Once the ADSL is installed you then hit a Telkom URL in your browser while connected to the new DSL line and then type in an activation code, 30-40 minutes later the line is live and happy surfing

It seems you can get a DSL modem with Wifi for R400 from incredible connection. Also you can opt for prepaid cap with rollover and Afrihost often does a free 1GB offering (no strings attached) which is great.

(Also if you get your DSL line but need some charity cap, I'm sure some of us here might have some vouchers or promotional gigs we could pass on. Just yesterday I got 39GB from Incredible Connection for buying a laptop)

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

...telkom would have been perfect because it's not signal dependant, but i don't know if we can afford R200 a month. not sure if the neotel thing would work though. who do they piggyback on for their coverage?

Nobody, they got their own infrastructure - thats the problem

 

[macxsanity]

Neotel is crap ....try web africa

 

[hambone]

There are a few things to consider here:

What usage are you likely to have on the web?

You're currently using a 250MB bundle for banking, it is likely that the job hunt will demand heavy browsing for extended periods, unlike banking which is a few minutes every other day. It is likely that you will use over a gig doing this kind of browsing for extended periods of time. You're looking to get a browsing only type connection as I assume you're not keen on downloading heaps of video's and the like.

Are you in a position to get ADSL/MobileBroadband?

You need to make sure that whatever product you end up getting you can actually use. With Telkom, you should phone to check whether hypothetically at your location whether the exchange will have ports available for ADSL. Is there Neotel coverage at your specific location, sufficient coverage to get a decent speed from Neotel? Is there 3G coverage by any of the mobile networks?

Have you considered all the costs associated with the service you've chosen?

Remember the pricing for ADSL with tekom can be very devious. There are three associated costs with ADSL: [Voice Line] + [ADSL] + [DATA] = Total. You could get all three with telkom, but you must have at least one: the voice line. Getting all three from Telkom is a crazy idea, there are other data products that offer far better value for money, i.e. more GB for less R.

With ADSL you will also need an ADSL modem/router. These could be anything from R250 to over 1000 bucks. Shop around, don't be a sucker for the sales pitch.

Do you need a contract?

With Neotel, you'll need to get a special phone and sign a contract. Seriously, do not sign a contract ever again. Thats so 1992. You have other options, use them and investigate.

CellC, Telkom and most ADSL ISP's you will not need to sign a contract unless you get duped into believing you should. Do not sign a contract.


Considering all this I would recommend:

You need the internet like now. A Telkom line will take a while to install, your wife needs a job yesterday. Also, you've indicated that R200 will me out of your price range. Line rental is R131.00, ADSL line is R152.00, plus data is $$, plus modem.

You should consider getting a CellC data bundle, pay up front and have 2GB per month to use for the next 12 months. That includes the device to connect, 2GB per month, faster than price comparable Neotel and Telkom products. Total cost is known upfront and no surprises as you get down the application for the service: R1499 / 12 = R124.91 per month (but remember you pay upfront).

If this rambling tell you nothing else: DO NOT NEOTEL. EVER. EVER. EVER.

 

[Shayd]

Never neotel never never never

Sent from my droid blender, making apple and berry smoothies all day.

 

[Tim182]

Don't think much beats CellC 12*2Gb /12*5Gb promotion at the moment IF
- you are a low end user (<2Gb/<5Gb)
- AND don't have an existing line or other equipment
- also you're not locked into a contract

For R2000 you get 12*2Gb+the modem. Alternatively buy an even cheaper 3G USB modem (which may only support lower speeds but that may be enough for you) and get the data Sim only.

For everything else you have to pay installation costs. From what you have described this seems to be the best option for you.

That aside, best value for money is 1Mbit ADSL line with uncapped in my opinion....