Nelspruit

D

dunerider

New Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Hi, I'm not sure which forum I should be posting in, so I thought I'd start here.

I come to Nelspruit every year to stay with family in Ext1.

I run my own business in the UK, and need to ensure during my stay I have good internet access. At the house in Ext1 there is a landline with dial up access - but as you all know this isn't that reliable. I can also pop into the Alpha internet cafes with my laptop and get connected there.

What i also would like to do is set up some form of internet access from a mobile phone. Thats the bit where I am stuck.

Should I buy a pay as you go, for the 8 weeks of my stay, or should I rent a mobile from MTN at JHB airport? What options do I have for this kind of stay. Or is a landline that goes dead everytime is rains my only choice - I'll be in Nelspruit Jan 07- March 07

Thanks in advance to ayone who replies
 
Ah...forgot to say, aswell as using the phone as a mobile, I'd also like to get email on the phone too - and maybe internet too
 
/me ninjas dunerider
/me greets the ninja'd dunerider
 
I'm thinking really hard what solutions can work for you, but they all involve cost :

1. If you rent a 3G phone, you can use the phone as a modem and surf at 3G speeds.

2. Buy a Huawei 3G modem, get a prepaid simcard and start surfing!

That's the two options I can think of, I'm sure other forumites will come up with better solutions... :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There are quite a few options:

1. Get month-month Iburst contract, depending on coverage.

2. Get HSDPA connectivity from MTN or Vodacom, prepaid or contract, are any of them offering 6 month contracts?

3. Get a DSL line installed :p
 
Inertia said:
There are quite a few options:

1. Get month-month Iburst contract, depending on coverage.

2. Get HSDPA connectivity from MTN or Vodacom, prepaid or contract, are any of them offering 6 month contracts?

3. Get a DSL line installed :p
Click to expand...

LOL he can order adsl now and will be going back in march 2007 and then only on his next return telkom will finally pitch to install the adsl :D
 
vodacom3g said:
You can also rent a HSDPA/3G data card for the duration. This will allow your laptop to stay the master for all your mail and documentation.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can rent an HSDPA datacard from here , and you will be able to pick this up at the airport when you arrive. You can book online. It will cost R800 per month including 500 MB of data per month.

While Virgin mobile is cheap, I find their connection is too much up and down to be considered reliable for work related purposes. That is my opinion.
 
Ho ho I'm on my way....

I am going to rent a phone from MTN at JNB airport. Is it only MTN there or is vodafone at the airport too?

this seems more sense to me as i should get something that works.

Any ideas what sort of phone to go for, as i want to be able to read/send email from the phone, whilst also using the phone for www access fro mthe laptop if the landline is down.

Do i need anything on the laptop its got wireless (wifi?)
 
dunerider said:
I am going to rent a phone from MTN at JNB airport. Is it only MTN there or is vodafone at the airport too?

This seems more sense to me as I should get something that works.

Any ideas what sort of phone to go for, as I want to be able to read/send email from the phone, whilst also using the phone for www access fro mthe laptop if the landline is down.

Do I need anything on the laptop its got wireless (wifi?)
Click to expand...
MTN or Vodacom should be able to do what you want done. Don't know if there is a Vodacom shop at the airport though.

The phone all depends on what technology (cost) you want. For instance of you want HSDPA or 3G, you must make sure the phone supports it in addition to you having coverage wherever you are going to be.

From what I can gather you are bascially looking for a PDA / Smartphone.
There are various devices out there in the market with this functionality, not a lot with HSDPA connectivity though.
HTC TyTN, MteoR
Nokie E61
Sony Ericsson P990i
Blackberry 8700
Imate JasJam
Nokia N80
and loads others

Just have to decide what phone is for you and what you are looking for.

The laptop access isn't really such a big deal, most laptops come with USB, wireless (wifi), bluetooth and IR, which the phone should have as well (just make sure!).
 
Ok I'm here now.....

Yes there is a vodaphone rental shop at the airport (JNB) aswellas MTN.

In the end I opted for 3G Datacard from vodafone, this allows me to connect to the web from my laptop whenever I want - 20 Rand per day plus 2.5rand per MB. Whilst the cardis 3G, everytime I have connected it picks up GPRS. Is thissomething to worry about?

Am I correct in thinking I am paying 20 Rand perday for use of the datacard, then additionally I pay per MB, to date I've used 18mb so thats an addional 45rand so far? Sorry to sound dumb - just want to ensure i canstay connected for a long time without it costing me a fortune, ie I could walk away from the laptop for an hour and it costs me nothing.

I also rented a phone for calls/text etc.

For me I think this is the best solution as I reckon being able to connect my laptop is the best for me.

Vodaphone said they would phone me if they could change the tarrif from daily to monthly rate.

Thanks for the ideas and help
 
dunerider said:
Ok I'm here now.....

Yes there is a vodaphone rental shop at the airport (JNB) aswellas MTN.

In the end I opted for 3G Datacard from vodafone, this allows me to connect to the web from my laptop whenever I want - 20 Rand per day plus 2.5rand per MB. Whilst the cardis 3G, everytime I have connected it picks up GPRS. Is thissomething to worry about?

Am I correct in thinking I am paying 20 Rand perday for use of the datacard, then additionally I pay per MB, to date I've used 18mb so thats an addional 45rand so far? Sorry to sound dumb - just want to ensure i canstay connected for a long time without it costing me a fortune, ie I could walk away from the laptop for an hour and it costs me nothing.

I also rented a phone for calls/text etc.

For me I think this is the best solution as I reckon being able to connect my laptop is the best for me.

Vodaphone said they would phone me if they could change the tarrif from daily to monthly rate.

Thanks for the ideas and help
Click to expand...



hi dunerider,

i'd like you to please give me an idea of your experience with the 3G datacard, that is if you eventually used it while you were in South Africa. I am wanting to get either vodaphone or MTN.

Was the service good generally? Also, does it come cheaper than 10Rands per hour, i.e the cost of internet access at the cyber cafe.

Thank you.


dudu
 
Hi there Dudu, I think it would be your best bet to go for MTN. Read more about MTN's latest price reduction at the mtn website:

http://www.mtn.co.za/?pid=9522&fullstory=383

Click on that link.
You can also phone MTN on 083 173 to find out more about the 3G packages
 
I have been very pleased with the 3G card, it has always connected.

You can't really compare cost per hour as the card has a daily rate regardless of whether you use it or not, then you additionally pay for traffic.

So if you are going to use it for less than 2 hours per day you may be better using a cafe. Although the local cafes here charge more than 10R per hour.

I prefer to have the card as I can use www on my laptop when ever i want.
 
Am I correct in thinking I am paying 20 Rand perday for use of the datacard, then additionally I pay per MB, to date I've used 18mb so thats an addional 45rand so far? Sorry to sound dumb - just want to ensure i canstay connected for a long time without it costing me a fortune, ie I could walk away from the laptop for an hour and it costs me nothing.
Click to expand...

Probably a month late, but anyhow:

Yes, you will always pay additionally [per MB] for your data in this country. With Vodacom you'll probably get nailed with R2 per MB [you mentioned R2.5 per MB...they are ripping you off there]. Anyway so be careful with that bill!

The card rental is a seperate issue, but you "should" be able to use any simcard in it [i.e. MTN/Virgin/Vodacom] , not sure what the "terms and conditions" are with rentals though.


MTN have bundles where you can buy bandwidth in "bulk" to get it as low as 40c per MB [or 20c per MB if you buy 1GB in the next 3 months]. Unfortunately i don't think Vodacom can offer this [only on contract].

Whilst the cardis 3G, everytime I have connected it picks up GPRS. Is thissomething to worry about?
Click to expand...

That depends on your location, no idea what Nelspruit's coverage is like, maybe they're not covered with 3G yet . You should get GPRS everywhere, but not necessarily 3G.
 
Last edited:
a quicktip - use the 3G card with onspeed, this speeds up the connection and compresses the data - less mb - less charge
 
If you keep connecting on GPRS, you must not be in a 3G area or the signal is very bad, hence it downsteps to the next best available signal: GPRS
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X