Vumatel under fire for network problems

[pinball wizard]

Agreed fully, this raises another question though, will the other players be allowed into these now monopolised suburbs? I mean do we have true competition when the FNO's are the one and only FNO in an area?

Allowed?

Who would stop them?

 

[Quantum Theory]

Frogfoot in PLZ. And in my suburb the only other option is Vumatel. Prime opportunity for some company like Openserve to take their clients! He'll, I'd leave Vox and go back to Openserve tomorrow if I could.

Vumatel as in old SADV network? Where in PE?

 

[Johand]

Thanks Johand,

It was and still is in hand with the ISP and Vumatel even prior to posting.

The only reason I was asking about ISP because it can make a big difference in how they interact with Vumatel to get items resolved. Your ISP should be able to immediately see the error rate on your line (they have that information) and confirm the problem. If you have a terrible ISP then the communication between them and Vumatel might be the actual problem.

 

[wingnut771]

Where are your issues mostly though? With the Frogfoot infrastructure, or Vox's?

I only have Vumatel in my suburb in KZN, and their infrastructure is largely rock solid. The issues by and large are on the ISP side when they hand the traffic off to them.

Have not had one hickup with vuma/afrihost in 2 years, pinetown kzn, always connected. I stay away from ISP DNS's tho, I always use 9.9.9.9 and 1.1.1.2 which have never given me issues.

 

[Johand]

Agreed fully, this raises another question though, will the other players be allowed into these now monopolised suburbs? I mean do we have true competition when the FNO's are the one and only FNO in an area?

Well - we have a template for this -- OpenServe (Telkom) owned the last mile and didn't want to share copper, conduits or anything which forced FNOs to do complete new civil works, because they realised the opportunity. Most FNOs won't build in an area with existing fibre (there are some exceptions in some areas) due to commercial reasons (they need a certain take-up per house passed) but nothing stops them.

If the FNO becomes so terrible that there is an opportunity for another FNO to supplant them then a new FNO might risk the build. In that regard it would be interesting to see what happens with OpenServe. If Telkom is not interested in growing the market they could either sell their FTTH network or let it slowly deteriorate to a point where other FNOs swoop in.

I do hope that Telkom just sell their FTTH network part-and-parcel if they have lost the appetite to invest. It would be best for all parties.

 

[JohnStarr]

Vumatel as in old SADV network? Where in PE?

In the suburb I stay in. It is the old SADV.

 

[JohnStarr]

Where are your issues mostly though? With the Frogfoot infrastructure, or Vox's?

I only have Vumatel in my suburb in KZN, and their infrastructure is largely rock solid. The issues by and large are on the ISP side when they hand the traffic off to them.

Frogfoot's infrastructure that's so full of crap.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Frogfoot's infrastructure that's so full of crap.

Then bounce to Vumatel if you can.... its worth the money to move.

 

[JohnStarr]

Then bounce to Vumatel if you can.... its worth the money to move.

I want too and know they're more expensive...but damn, they're going to be MORE expensive now too if they increase their pricing.

 

[ToxicBunny]

I haven't seen any indication that Vumatel are increasing their pricing, just that they're more expensive than Openserve after Openserve drastically reduced their pricing.

 

[Johand]

I haven't seen any indication that Vumatel are increasing their pricing, just that they're more expensive than Openserve after Openserve drastically reduced their pricing.

The dropped the 10/1 and 20/2 package forcing an upgrade to 10/10 and 20/20 (with price increase). Other packages remain as is. So it is a R60 / R100 increase.

It is funny how the article was dishing the dirt on Vumatel but the forum seems mostly happy with them I am happy -- I think they can add more value by making download/upload asymmetry a bit lower - e.g. 100/50 , 50/25 instead of 100/10. But minor gripe.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Ahhh yes, ok they dropped the packages and forced people to higher ones.

I thought someone was talking about price increases on the other packages, which would have been news to me (and unwelcome news at that)

 

[Mr Scratch]

Vumatel = SAD!

 

[YNWA]

Hi
I the attached message from my isp on a regular basis..... Vumatel can't justify that their infrastructure is superior when it breaks down on a regular basis.... load of bull dust

 

[XRider]

Okay - first off I do feel MyBroadband is only writing the negative news around Vumatel. Where is the in-depth article on the 10Gbps option.

As for service - would like to see some more statistics around it - maybe an in-depth survey?

Vumatel respliced my line 3 hours after logging an incident. During work in our complex replacing water mains, Vumatel was on standby fixing cuts within hours after the plumbing contractors cut the line (3x incidents). Vumatel helped a friend within hours after construction on his property exposed a fibre line. So my personal experience and the cases I know about doesn't gel with what is reported. So is it a Cape Town vs Joburg thing? How does the increase in complaints align with the growth in subscribers?

I used to tear my hair out when dealing with Telkom ADSL and my Vumatel experience has been the polar opposite of it... So would like to know the real statistics behind the claims in the article.

You cannot even contact Vumatel themselves as the have no contact details on their site and the isp's shield them. I have had issues for a while now and even after numerous requests nothing happens.

 

[XRider]

Vumatel is lining their pockets while their customers suffer under their high prices and poor quality of their lines/service. They know you cannot do anything about it because they are the one fibreline supplier in your area. This should change and the City of Cape Town should allow multiple suppliers to add lines in the same area thus increasing competition.

My area has Vumatel and 1 street over is Openserve. I looked at the same ISP website quoting on both.
Vumatel is R850 for 20/20mbps where Openserve is R500 for 25/25mbps.
Vumatel is R970 for 50/5mbps where Openserve is R740 for 50/25mbps.
Even Openserve 100/25mbps is cheaper at R900.

I have constant buffering on an uncapped, unshaped line even when only 1 device is running. My next house purchase will definately include looking at who the fibre line supplier in the area is as well. The further you can stay from Vumatel the better.

 

[Johand]

You cannot even contact Vumatel themselves as the have no contact details on their site and the isp's shield them. I have had issues for a while now and even after numerous requests nothing happens.

Your contract and support is with the ISP and not Vumatel. A good ISP makes all the difference in the world -- they have the tools for first line support, including line error testing. If your experience with Vumatel is bad it might very well be the ISP to blame.

I live in a complex and Vumatel has always been very, very quick on the scene to fix problems. The last time I had a problem Vumatel was there 3 hours later to resplice a bad line -- and yes, I worked through the ISP which, while I was on the phone look at the error rate on my line and immediately escalated it.