Upgrade from LTE to LTE-A

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Maverick154

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Hey guys.

Has anyone upgraded their wireless uncapped 1/2/3 contract to the LTE-A version of it? I got a call to upgrade mine and have the option to go to LTE-A with the contract remaining the same otherwise.

Questions I have, did the contract remain the same but the speed just improve? And did your connection improve by upgrading? Also, how is the new B618 router vs the old one for LTE?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.
 
Maverick154 said:
Hey guys.

Has anyone upgraded their wireless uncapped 1/2/3 contract to the LTE-A version of it? I got a call to upgrade mine and have the option to go to LTE-A with the contract remaining the same otherwise.

Questions I have, did the contract remain the same but the speed just improve? And did your connection improve by upgrading? Also, how is the new B618 router vs the old one for LTE?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.
Click to expand...

You should see a speed increase especially if you are in a lte-a covered area . The lte a upgrade us R50 or R60 more a month I think which saves you a R2799 once off fee if you wanted to do it and keep on m2m. Obviously the upgrade comes as a bew 24 months commitment.
 
cavedog said:
You should see a speed increase especially if you are in a lte-a covered area . The lte a upgrade us R50 or R60 more a month I think which saves you a R2799 once off fee if you wanted to do it and keep on m2m. Obviously the upgrade comes as a bew 24 months commitment.
Click to expand...

Yeah the sale person said as much to me and I am in an area that is covered. But just wondering how it compares to LTE for people who did the upgrade.
 
Cavedog said:
You should see a speed increase especially if you are in a lte-a covered area . The lte a upgrade us R50 or R60 more a month I think which saves you a R2799 once off fee if you wanted to do it and keep on m2m. Obviously the upgrade comes as a bew 24 months commitment.
Click to expand...

Are you saying that I cannot simply buy a B618 65d and expect a speed boost, but have to pay Telkom R50-R60 extra?
 
BaronBuffoon said:
Are you saying that I cannot simply buy a B618 65d and expect a speed boost, but have to pay Telkom R50-R60 extra?
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Nope when I was saying saves you a R2799 once off fee I was referring to the B618 router's cash price which is R2799. Currently it's the only router available locally that supports Telkom's LTE-A network and you guessed it it's only available at Telkom stores @ R2799 cash.

R2799 might be a bit expensive for some people so a R50-R60 addon to your contract when you upgrade it they will give the device to you as part of the upgrade.
 
cavedog said:
Nope when I was saying saves you a R2799 once off fee I was referring to the B618 router's cash price which is R2799. Currently it's the only router available locally that supports Telkom's LTE-A network and you guessed it it's only available at Telkom stores @ R2799 cash.

R2799 might be a bit expensive for some people so a R50-R60 addon to your contract when you upgrade it they will give the device to you as part of the upgrade.
Click to expand...

Thank you for clearing that up.
 
Upgraded this week to LTE-A as there is no sign of Fibre in my area, previous speedtest (on Huawei B593) got me approx 5Mbps and now the B618 in the same spot is getting me 20Mbps. Only setup the router yesterday and haven't had a chance to play further but i'm hoping this speed increase doesn't degrade
 
powermzii said:
Upgraded this week to LTE-A as there is no sign of Fibre in my area, previous speedtest (on Huawei B593) got me approx 5Mbps and now the B618 in the same spot is getting me 20Mbps. Only setup the router yesterday and haven't had a chance to play further but i'm hoping this speed increase doesn't degrade
Click to expand...

Make sure you set it to 2300MHz 4G only mode or you might find you are still stuck on LTE not LTE-Advanced. It can easily be changed in the settings > dialup > network settings > Preferred mode
 
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cavedog said:
Make sure you set it to 2300MHz 4G only mode or you might find you are still stuck on LTE not LTE-Advanced. It can easily be changed in the settings > dialup > network settings > Preferred mode
Click to expand...

Sorry Im going to ask a noob question here,

Im currently gone to Month to Month (@R529 now) on my Telkom LTE Uncapped contract,

Before I do anything I just want to clarify, because I did call Telkom and these morons want to renew my contract to R799 and give me another B315 Router, I did ask the agent can I get the B618 router and do I pay an additional fee, clearly she did not understand me.

Question is if i stick on month to month and buy a B618-65D router cash which I don't mind doing,

And set it up to my XPOL-6-10M Antenna with the TS9 - SMA pigtails , and if the area has LTE-A should I expect much higher speeds without upgrading my contract? or do I need a specific LTE-A contract?

My current download speeds drops between 5mb - 15mb - this is with my current B315 router setup with the XPOL-6-10M Antenna.
 
Rather stay on month to month and pay R529.. Buy the router b618s-65d for R2800 or check Gumtree if anyone selling. You will receive lte advanced speeds provided u have lte-a coverage.. I tested it and you will a difference in speed.
 
RedhotNeo said:
Rather stay on month to month and pay R529.. Buy the router b618s-65d for R2800 or check Gumtree if anyone selling. You will receive lte advanced speeds provided u have lte-a coverage.. I tested it and you will a difference in speed.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the response, I will check around for the B618-65D router.
 
bear101 said:
Thank you for the response, I will check around for the B618-65D router.
Click to expand...

You are better off staying on month to month and buying the router cash. Settling for a R529 to R799+R60 p/m "upgrade" won't be much saving at all and after only 9 months you would be equal and the remaining 15 months you will lose R330 a month then.
 
cavedog said:
You are better off staying on month to month and buying the router cash. Settling for a R529 to R799+R60 p/m "upgrade" won't be much saving at all and after only 9 months you would be equal and the remaining 15 months you will lose R330 a month then.
Click to expand...

I totally agree, thank you for your advise

So my friend managed to bring his B618-65d tonite and I connected it to the antennas, he brought his pigtail connectors also,

We first did a speed test on my B315 and still getting 5 and 6mb download,

We connected his router and speeds jumped to 40mb download,

switched back to my router and back to 5mb

switched back to his router jumped to between 35 - 40mb,

Clearly the router made a big difference.
 
bear101 said:
I totally agree, thank you for your advise

So my friend managed to bring his B618-65d tonite and I connected it to the antennas, he brought his pigtail connectors also,

We first did a speed test on my B315 and still getting 5 and 6mb download,

We connected his router and speeds jumped to 40mb download,

switched back to my router and back to 5mb

switched back to his router jumped to between 35 - 40mb,

Clearly the router made a big difference.
Click to expand...
Same sim tested in both routers?
 
cavedog said:
Make sure you set it to 2300MHz 4G only mode or you might find you are still stuck on LTE not LTE-Advanced. It can easily be changed in the settings > dialup > network settings > Preferred mode
Click to expand...
Sweet thank you. Back home tomorrow so will make the change and report
 
So does anybody know, which retailer sells the B618-65D router other thanTelkom
 
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What is the difference between the B618-65D and the B618-22S? I see the 22S being sold in a few places.
 
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