LTE Service - Slightly outside area?

[Cdaddy]

I am like 5 meters outside of the MWeb service covered area on their website and was wondering if it would still work?
Anyone else here outside of the area with a connection?

As per Mweb there is a chance it would and they have customers outside the map who do connect fine but they cannot guarantee it. My router would be on a second floor right by the window.

I need another solution as my ADSL is failing due to rotten cables and Fibre is not available in my area yet.

I would require a nice speed of like 20 meg or more and a 250gig odd cap. Mweb does have the perfect package on special at the moment.

On Telkom's site it shows I am covered fully for LTE but I would like to avoid using them.


I can see a tower from my window. Is this only a cellular tower or would it also contain the LTE? I dont know who's it is.
Below pic of tower:

 

[Venomous]

You can get the package.

But first enquire about the costs of an external antenna. Should you end up requiring one you know the costs to expect.
It could very well work just great

Then you can make an informed choice.

 

[Venomous]

I have a client that uses RAIN via Web Africa. He is approx 30-40m outside the coverage area. And he consistantly gets 7-10meg DLs. There is no fibre or ADSL in his area and he had Iburst before. So a marked improvement

Then I am with another provider(not Mweb nor WA) using RAIN. And have a look at the great speed test results from a test I ran before typing this post. I am approx 150m into this area's covered area, so I should in theory not have issues...

And here the copper is rotten and while there is fibre the plan is to move in 3-6months if possible. So pointless to pay fibre installation and then to move.
And the companies that install free free expect you to stay with them for 12-24 months at the same place.

 

[Cdaddy]

I have a client that uses RAIN via Web Africa. He is approx 30-40m outside the coverage area. And he consistantly gets 7-10meg DLs. There is no fibre or ADSL in his area and he had Iburst before. So a marked improvement

Then I am with another provider(not Mweb nor WA) using RAIN. And have a look at the great speed test results from a test I ran before typing this post. I am approx 150m into this area's covered area, so I should in theory not have issues...

And here the copper is rotten and while there is fibre the plan is to move in 3-6months if possible. So pointless to pay fibre installation and then to move.
And the companies that install free free expect you to stay with them for 12-24 months at the same place.

That is horrible!

7 to 10 meg is a bit slow.
I was hoping for more than that. Telkom shows I am covered and on their site shows speeds up to 90 meg. I think Mweb says speeds up to 50 meg?
I had a 10 meg ADSL line that just gave in after the rains a while back. Telkom does not seem interested in fixing it. Now I am really getting erratic speeds of never more than 3.5 meg.

The issue with taking the plunge is that should it not work and I have to cancel, as per Mweb I would have to pay for the router. I am thinking then I could just use the same router and test Telkom.
But it is a risk to take and I can still end up a couple of grand out of pocket. Well I suppose I can sell the router if nothing works out.

My friend lives in East London and gets constant 30 meg on Telkom.

I am so tired of this **** that I am thinking of just moving to an area that already has fibre.

 

[Venomous]

That is horrible!

7 to 10 meg is a bit slow.
I was hoping for more than that. Telkom shows I am covered and on their site shows speeds up to 90 meg. I think Mweb says speeds up to 50 meg?
I had a 10 meg ADSL line that just gave in after the rains a while back. Telkom does not seem interested in fixing it. Now I am really getting erratic speeds of never more than 3.5 meg.

The issue with taking the plunge is that should it not work and I have to cancel, as per Mweb I would have to pay for the router. I am thinking then I could just use the same router and test Telkom.
But it is a risk to take and I can still end up a couple of grand out of pocket. Well I suppose I can sell the router if nothing works out.

My friend lives in East London and gets constant 30 meg on Telkom.

I am so tired of this **** that I am thinking of just moving to an area that already has fibre.

There are plenty of people(some posters here) that are either on the line or 1-10m outside the coverage map who get 15-30, so not impossible.

 

[Cdaddy]

There are plenty of people(some posters here) that are either on the line or 1-10m outside the coverage map who get 15-30, so not impossible.

Well I am getting desperate. The Mweb special ends on the 30th of Nov so I need to decide fast. I am really worried though that it does not work out.

It took 2 days to download Prey from Steam on my current connection...

My location is as below. I am at the red star... RAIN network the blue blocks around me.

 

[Raaz1zn]

On your phone, go network settings then manually search for networks. Select the network with a whole lot of numbers in it. That's RAIN. You will be able to check network using that. extremely high probability of coverage as I was approximately 100m outside but got better signal than MTN and Vodacom

 

[Cdaddy]

On your phone, go network settings then manually search for networks. Select the network with a whole lot of numbers in it. That's RAIN. You will be able to check network using that. extremely high probability of coverage as I was approximately 100m outside but got better signal than MTN and Vodacom

Just under Wi-Fi?
If so then nothing like that.

 

[Dan C]

Well I am getting desperate. The Mweb special ends on the 30th of Nov so I need to decide fast. I am really worried though that it does not work out.

It took 2 days to download Prey from Steam on my current connection...

My location is as below. I am at the red star... RAIN network the blue blocks around me.

View attachment 480124

hmm that's a bit iffy... I'm outside the coverage area and get constant +20 mbps down.

 

[Venomous]

Just under Wi-Fi?
If so then nothing like that.

No.

Under cellphone networks. But you must note you cannot use it on your cellphone. You can only determine if there is signal in your area

 

[Venomous]

No.

Under cellphone networks. But you must note you cannot use it on your cellphone. You can only determine if there is signal in your area

In my area there are various avail.

The telkomSA on the bottom of the 1 screen shot is the same one that is the first telkomsa on the 2nd screenshot.

 

[Cdaddy]

In my area there are various avail.

The telkomSA on the bottom of the 1 screen shot is the same one that is the first telkomsa on the 2nd screenshot.

It looks different on my phone. Like in the screenshot below. Does not say "LTE"
For instance for Telkom;
"TelkomSA RAT: WCDMA" and "Telkom RAT: GSM" ? What does that mean?

Since I see Telkom on there and from their site they show I am covered perhaps I should just go with them despite not really wanting Telkom.

 

[Venomous]

Wcdma is 3G or even HSDPA+
But not LTE

 

[Venomous]

GSM is edge

 

[cavedog]

GSM is edge

The fact that none of those operators show 4G or LTE on his phone I'm sure he does not have a LTE capable cellphone.....

 

[EasyUp Web Hosting]

The fact that none of those operators show 4G or LTE on his phone I'm sure he does not have a LTE capable cellphone.....

Was about to say the same thing.

@Cdaddy Also, just because you see a tower, it doesn't mean it will have RAIN equipment on it.

 

[Cdaddy]

Was about to say the same thing.

@Cdaddy Also, just because you see a tower, it doesn't mean it will have RAIN equipment on it.

Ok well I have an LG G4 and I do not know if it is LTE compatible.

The tower may belong to Telkom then? Their site shows me as right in the middle of coverage.

So now I dont know if it is worth taking the chance with Telkom, because they cannot say I am covered and then not provide me with the service. Mweb shows I am not covered so I cannot complain to them if it does not work but as Telkom says I am - it better work and work as advertised on their site.

On map it looks like I am in the middle so almost as if (and I am making a lot of assumptions here) that the tower is the middle and a Telkom LTE tower.

 

[EasyUp Web Hosting]

It's funny, the phone does have LTE.

As for Telkom, you can always get a prepaid sim and test that in your phone, but currently the RAIN "special" is the best value for money. There are a couple of people that have posted in the Rain LTE A sub forum, that are outside of the coverage area, which have service, myself included...

 

[Cdaddy]

It's funny, the phone does have LTE.

As for Telkom, you can always get a prepaid sim and test that in your phone, but currently the RAIN "special" is the best value for money. There are a couple of people that have posted in the Rain LTE A sub forum, that are outside of the coverage area, which have service, myself included...

But the phone does not pick up anything under the RAIN network at all.
Should I also be worried that it does not show LTE on anything?
I really dont want a slow connection here. I was hopping for at least 20 meg.
The Mweb deal which does use the RAIN network is perfect with regards to the amount of data.

I have only a couple of days to make my mind up here. I am very scared.

 

[Cdaddy]

My IT manager looked at my phone and says my SIM card is a very old type that does not support LTE and 4G so it is not the phone that is the problem.
I have had it for a long time, since 3 phones back so it is a couple of years old.