Network quality - who is the best?

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derp90

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I currently use Telkom Mobile, but I live in an area with not so great reception and my phone also doesn't have the best connectivity for some reason.

A lot of the time I will be phoning someone or they call me and they simply cannot hear me at all, like no signal is transferred.

I'm considering switching to MTN, as I have a perception that their network quality is better in general.

Is my perception correct?
 
SIM cards are cheap and most give you a small welcome aboard bundle when you regidter - test all of the networks yourself and then decide.
 
bwana said:
SIM cards are cheap and most give you a small welcome aboard bundle when you regidter - test all of the networks yourself and then decide.
Click to expand...
Fully agree with this, buy prepaid sims and test them, signal varies at different locations, and don't test them during loadshedding.
 
Let's say I buy a prepaid MTN SIM and it turns out to be better, can I use the prepaid SIM and just port my Telkom number to it, or do I then need to get another SIM to do that?
 
It really depends on location. Especially if you live in a rural area or an area with spotty service.
BUT in nearly every location I have found that MTN has been the best service.

And their prices are not terrible.
 
BasBas said:
It really depends on location. Especially if you live in a rural area or an area with spotty service.
BUT in nearly every location I have found that MTN has been the best service.

And their prices are not terrible.
Click to expand...
I averaged my mobile spend per month on prepaid Telkom Mobile, and looks like I buy airtime and data bundles to the value of around R210 each month, so not enough to justify that MTN SuperFlex thing at R299
 
BasBas said:
It really depends on location. Especially if you live in a rural area or an area with spotty service.
BUT in nearly every location I have found that MTN has been the best service.

And their prices are not terrible.
Click to expand...
Weirdly, I use all three networks (Vodacom, MTN and Telkom) full time. My experiences are that Telkom has its moments, in some instances, it has great signal compared to the big two, however, it has spotty coverage to say the least.

MTN is pretty decent, I have good reception in most of the areas I travel to. Not too many complaints.

Vodacom would be my pick, it gets signal in some far flung areas. It has been stable for me, unlike MTN.
 
Dups! said:
Weirdly, I use all three networks (Vodacom, MTN and Telkom) full time. My experiences are that Telkom has its moments, in some instances, it has great signal compared to the big two, however, it has spotty coverage to say the least.

MTN is pretty decent, I have good reception in most of the areas I travel to. Not too many complaints.

Vodacom would be my pick, it gets signal in some far flung areas. It has been stable for me, unlike MTN.
Click to expand...
I've tested MTN and Telkom so far just using my sim signal strength.

MTN gets an average of -114 dBm
Telkom gets an average of -104 dBm

Telkom wins, but not by much, and as you can see, my signal is not great.

I will try Vodacom, but not too hopeful.
 
derp90 said:
I've tested MTN and Telkom so far just using my sim signal strength.

MTN gets an average of -114 dBm
Telkom gets an average of -104 dBm

Telkom wins, but not by much, and as you can see, my signal is not great.

I will try Vodacom, but not too hopeful.
Click to expand...

Signal doesnt mean jack, I've been to a few places where signal is full and speeds are less than 5 megabit/ 0.5MB/s.
 
Yes it depends on your location. At me I struggled with Vodacom for years, now on Telkom and much better.
 
Rickster said:
Signal doesnt mean jack, I've been to a few places where signal is full and speeds are less than 5 megabit/ 0.5MB/s.
Click to expand...
I got no problem with speed. My issue is with call quality. Sometimes people can't hear me at all, it's just blank on their side, sometimes there's terrible line quality, etc.
 
Dups! said:
Weirdly, I use all three networks (Vodacom, MTN and Telkom) full time. My experiences are that Telkom has its moments, in some instances, it has great signal compared to the big two, however, it has spotty coverage to say the least.

MTN is pretty decent, I have good reception in most of the areas I travel to. Not too many complaints.

Vodacom would be my pick, it gets signal in some far flung areas. It has been stable for me, unlike MTN.
Click to expand...
Vodacom works well virtually everywhere...MTM is good in a city or built up area ... but bad in outlying areas.
 
@Jan

We would love to see packet loss test data from your speedtest service being published per ISP.

It would also be very informative for the Fibre vs LTE vs 5G discussion.
 
Most of the time, CellC is fine. Now and then, after dialing numbers, nothing happens

Then I also realise there is no LTE or 3G. Restarting the phone (iPhone 14) helps 75% of the time
 
Vodacom for quality
MTN of quantity

That's all - the rest don't matter, and you should never ever do business with telkom.
 
Rickster said:
Signal doesnt mean jack, I've been to a few places where signal is full and speeds are less than 5 megabit/ 0.5MB/s.
Click to expand...
That can happen yes, but a -114 dBm signal is insufficient for any chance of a decent data or call connection.
I would also test during load shedding, at least to see if the tower has backup power.
 
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