Need Advise - Telkom LTE new connection

[Brent@wk]

Hi,
I had to order a Telkom LTE sim and contract as we don't have fibre in our area and our current ADSL, (10mbit), running on a dubious copper line has become so bad that it seems more down than up...
Never used LTE before.
Went for the 1TB contract but would rather buy my own router so I can opt out at any time.
Was thinking about getting the ZTE MF286C router.
Can anyone vouch for this, is is compatible with Telkom LTE?
I'm within 2 Km of several towers so what speed can I expect, (I get good 4G connection on my iPhone).
If not what are better options, need some advice quickly please.
Thanks in advance
Brent

 

[netstrider]

Hi,
I had to order a Telkom LTE sim and contract as we don't have fibre in our area and our current ADSL, (10mbit), running on a dubious copper line has become so bad that it seems more down than up...
Never used LTE before.
Went for the 1TB contract but would rather buy my own router so I can opt out at any time.
Was thinking about getting the ZTE MF286C router.
Can anyone vouch for this, is is compatible with Telkom LTE?
I'm within 2 Km of several towers so what speed can I expect, (I get good 4G connection on my iPhone).
If not what are better options, need some advice quickly please.
Thanks in advance
Brent

If it supports band 3 and Band 40 you will be okay (1800Mhz and 2300Mhz).

Getting conflicting specs from Afrihost and here

The manufacturer website is probably correct. In which case, go for it.

If you can afford it, get the B818-263 from Huawei.

 

[mr_norris]

Went for the 1TB contract but would rather buy my own router so I can opt out at any time.

Just make sure you have paperwork or an email to back this up. I went the month to month option last Jan for my parents because I knew fibre was just a matter of time - come time to cancel, they told me it was a contract and I'm liable for penalty fees.

It worked out in the end, but it was a kak experience.

 

[Dretastic06]

I also had it "month to month" 1TB deal, didnt have issues though it says contract will end 31/07/2021 just not sure when they will end the billing lol.

 

[haroldj]

I have a Huawei B818 router that I used with great success with Telkom 1TB deal, I have been using it for over 9 months, but have now decided to sign up to fibre, if any one needs to purchase this router from me, please PM.

 

[netstrider]

I have a Huawei B818 router that I used with great success with Telkom 1TB deal, I have been using it for over 9 months, but have now decided to sign up to fibre, if any one needs to purchase this router from me, please PM.

Also sold mine off on here after I got fibre but in hindsight, I should have kept it. Even the more expensive TP-Link from the ISP doesn't match up in terms of Wifi coverage or latency for that matter. Plus it's nice to have a sim in there for backup when the fibre inevitably goes down (as happened to me during one of the Bok v BIL games).

 

[haroldj]

Also sold mine off on here after I got fibre but in hindsight, I should have kept it. Even the more expensive TP-Link from the ISP doesn't match up in terms of Wifi coverage or latency for that matter. Plus it's nice to have a sim in there for backup when the fibre inevitably goes down (as happened to me during one of the Bok v BIL games).

Thanks, much appreciate your advice