MervynB
Well-Known Member
I've had a data contract with Vodacom for many years but enough is enough. The network is obviously not keeping up with all the new customers and I get more and more frustrated as the days pass.
I stay in Roosevelt Park, Johannesburg, two streets outside the published footprint so I suppose any data connectivity I get from Vodacom is a bonus. At 07:00 connection speeds are acceptable (between 2Mbps and 3Mbps using a K3770 modem) with things slowing down during the day to about 1Mbps. For the past few months, however, from about 19:00 to 22:00 things are so bad that I cannot even run the speedtest most days.
I've just moved to Cell-C and what a pleasure. Connection speed does vary but I have never seen less than 3Mbps and normally I see between 5Mbps and 7Mbps for downloads.
Price has never really been a consideration as I place more value on service and convenience but R249 a month for 5Gb is a bargain. Admittedly this is a "promotional" offer and when it expires it is going to cost R416 per month at present rates. This is still a better buy than 2.5Gb plus a further "free" 2.5Gb that can only be used between midnight and 05:00 for R464 from Vodacom. Mind you, as more and more disillusioned Vodacom customers migrate to Cell-C Vodacom speeds will probably improve as Cell-C get slower.
I have the option of converting my contract data SIM to prepaid and I'm considering doing this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it will probably allow me to retain my Vodamail postbox although this is not really an issue. Secondly it will give me a backup if Cell-C is ever offline.
Prepaid phone SIMs lapse if they are not used for three months and any prepaid balance is lost. (Been there and done that! ) Is the same true for data SIMs? I know data bundles lapse at the end of the month following purchase (at least until the cellphone companies are forced to meet the requirements of the CPA) but will the SIM be cancelled if I don't actually use it?
How much effort is involved in loading data every other month?
I stay in Roosevelt Park, Johannesburg, two streets outside the published footprint so I suppose any data connectivity I get from Vodacom is a bonus. At 07:00 connection speeds are acceptable (between 2Mbps and 3Mbps using a K3770 modem) with things slowing down during the day to about 1Mbps. For the past few months, however, from about 19:00 to 22:00 things are so bad that I cannot even run the speedtest most days.
I've just moved to Cell-C and what a pleasure. Connection speed does vary but I have never seen less than 3Mbps and normally I see between 5Mbps and 7Mbps for downloads.
Price has never really been a consideration as I place more value on service and convenience but R249 a month for 5Gb is a bargain. Admittedly this is a "promotional" offer and when it expires it is going to cost R416 per month at present rates. This is still a better buy than 2.5Gb plus a further "free" 2.5Gb that can only be used between midnight and 05:00 for R464 from Vodacom. Mind you, as more and more disillusioned Vodacom customers migrate to Cell-C Vodacom speeds will probably improve as Cell-C get slower.
I have the option of converting my contract data SIM to prepaid and I'm considering doing this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it will probably allow me to retain my Vodamail postbox although this is not really an issue. Secondly it will give me a backup if Cell-C is ever offline.
Prepaid phone SIMs lapse if they are not used for three months and any prepaid balance is lost. (Been there and done that!
) Is the same true for data SIMs? I know data bundles lapse at the end of the month following purchase (at least until the cellphone companies are forced to meet the requirements of the CPA) but will the SIM be cancelled if I don't actually use it?How much effort is involved in loading data every other month?