Well, it's Sunday. Almost a week since I posted my initial complaint and I am happy to report that things are finally running well again. This after not making any changes. As I stated previously, it must have been an issue on Vodacom's side. REALLY wish they'd just inform their customers, or have some sort of Website where we can see what maintenance is currently underway.
Here's the result:
C:\> ping smtp.vodacom.co.za
Pinging smtp.vodacom.co.za [196.11.146.148] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 196.11.146.148: bytes=32 time=98ms TTL=252
Reply from 196.11.146.148: bytes=32 time=97ms TTL=252
Reply from 196.11.146.148: bytes=32 time=96ms TTL=252
Reply from 196.11.146.148: bytes=32 time=95ms TTL=252
Ping statistics for 196.11.146.148:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 95ms, Maximum = 98ms, Average = 96ms
C:\>
As for CSnoopy's comment, dude we're at the mercy of these big organizations. I'm betting I'll be complaining again within a week. We pay for a service, when we're unable to use it they don't consider that at the end of the month when our remaining bundle is reset we were unable to use it anyway.
Then if we stop paying, they just stop the
so-called "service".