What you should know before getting a fibre connection

[Hanno Labuschagne]

What you should know before getting a fibre connection

Fibre-to-the-home and fibre-to-the-business are the preferred options for people looking for a fast, stable, and affordable uncapped Internet connection.

There has been a rapid increase in fibre coverage in South Africa with a slew of fibre network operators rolling of networks.

There is typically only a single fibre operator which is active in a neighbourhood, which means consumers do not have a choice between different fibre networks.

 

[nicroets]

The most important question: Do I use more than 1200 GB per year ? No need to guess the answer because you can buy 120 GB prepaid from Telkom Mobile and see how long it lasts you.

If the answer is no, it will be cheaper to get an LTE contract. Then the only reason to get it is that you need a very stable connection for Zoom or something (and you tested that LTE is too unstable). Netflix and show Max run fine on LTE especially if you have a good router.

 

[S.Claus]

This article makes it sound like the majority have a choice between FNOs. We had Openserve and only recently got MetroFibre in the area

 

[Dimpie (JIGSAW)]

This article makes it sound like the majority have a choice between FNOs. We had Openserve and only recently got MetroFibre in the area

How so? ... I read this in the OP...

There is typically only a single fibre operator which is active in a neighbourhood, which means consumers do not have a choice between different fibre networks.

 

[KikzAzz]

The question related to the router.. Does your ISP provide you with a free router?

Afrihost does. WebAfrica on the other hand keep on sending my ads, which they can shuff up their asses. Stating that they provide a free router, but in the small writing at the bottom state that it is "free to use". Big difference.

 

[backstreetboy]

The most important question: Do I use more than 1200 GB per year ? No need to guess the answer because you can buy 120 GB prepaid from Telkom Mobile and see how long it lasts you.

If the answer is no, it will be cheaper to get an LTE contract. Then the only reason to get it is that you need a very stable connection for Zoom or something (and you tested that LTE is too unstable). Netflix and show Max run fine on LTE especially if you have a good router.

Lol Netflix/Youtube HD will eat that up. That's like recommending a pigeon to deliver a letter instead of emailing it.

 

[Hemi300c]

Lol Netflix/Youtube HD will eat that up. That's like recommending a pigeon to deliver a letter instead of emailing it.

Or SAPOS

 

[nicroets]

Lol Netflix/Youtube HD will eat that up. That's like recommending a pigeon to deliver a letter instead of emailing it.

1200 GB/year is 3 GB per day. Or 1 full HD movie per day. That's quite a lot for a working bachelor. But insufficient for a family with teenagers. If in doubt, test with LTE first.

Quite often people get Netflix or Show Max and loose interest after a few months. Then they will use far less than 1200 GB/year.

 

[mr_norris]

1200 GB/year is 3 GB per day. Or 1 full HD movie per day. That's quite a lot for a working bachelor. But insufficient for a family with teenagers. If in doubt, test with LTE first.

Quite often people get Netflix or Show Max and loose interest after a few months. Then they will use far less than 1200 GB/year.

Telkom requires a decent signal on a tower that isn't congested. On top of that, they throttled my parents horribly on the month to month contract, yet there was no throttling on prepaid (signal permitting).

It's not just about how much data you use. It's also about paying for a reliable product. LTE has its place, but it's a steaming pile of ****

 

[MEG101]

1200 GB/year is 3 GB per day. Or 1 full HD movie per day. That's quite a lot for a working bachelor. But insufficient for a family with teenagers. If in doubt, test with LTE first.

Quite often people get Netflix or Show Max and loose interest after a few months. Then they will use far less than 1200 GB/year.

1200GB/YEAR?? My household of 10 people average about 80GB per day on Netflix streaming, xbox games updates and downloads and Youtube streaming. We average between 900GB and 1.5TB per month and that is on a 20mbps PureDSL connection. When we get fiber we are opting for 100mbps so we probably will average over 3 TB per month. So 1200GB/year will definately never be enough with the 10 people in my household.

 

[Rocco1]

1200GB/YEAR?? My household of 10 people average about 80GB per day on Netflix streaming, xbox games updates and downloads and Youtube streaming. We average between 900GB and 1.5TB per month and that is on a 20mbps PureDSL connection. When we get fiber we are opting for 100mbps so we probably will average over 3 TB per month. So 1200GB/year will definately never be enough with the 10 people in my household.

10 people in your household? I can't imagine the electricty and food bills... Is it one of those Cape families with grandmas and grandchildren, outhouses etc? How do you survive on DSL, Zoom would prob bomb out

 

[Dan C]

1200GB/YEAR?? My household of 10 people average about 80GB per day on Netflix streaming, xbox games updates and downloads and Youtube streaming. We average between 900GB and 1.5TB per month and that is on a 20mbps PureDSL connection. When we get fiber we are opting for 100mbps so we probably will average over 3 TB per month. So 1200GB/year will definately never be enough with the 10 people in my household.

 

[greg0205]

1200 GB/year is 3 GB per day. Or 1 full HD movie per day. That's quite a lot for a working bachelor. But insufficient for a family with teenagers. If in doubt, test with LTE first.

Quite often people get Netflix or Show Max and loose interest after a few months. Then they will use far less than 1200 GB/year.

Streaming will recalibrate your thinking, and that's not a bad thing.

1200GB per year you say?



Nope. Nuh-uh.

 

[NarrowBandFtw]

only Octotel available in my hood, weep for me

 

[cavedog]

The most important question: Do I use more than 1200 GB per year ? No need to guess the answer because you can buy 120 GB prepaid from Telkom Mobile and see how long it lasts you.

If the answer is no, it will be cheaper to get an LTE contract. Then the only reason to get it is that you need a very stable connection for Zoom or something (and you tested that LTE is too unstable). Netflix and show Max run fine on LTE especially if you have a good router.

Per year....

That won't work for me.

 

[Vorastra]

only Octotel available in my hood, weep for me

 

[Vorastra]

Per year....

That won't work for me.

View attachment 1068809

What the fek are you doing downloading 1.5TB in one day.

 

[greg0205]

What the fek are you doing downloading 1.5TB in one day.

Uploading.

Check again.

 

[Vorastra]

Uploading.

Check again.

Oh shet. Even weirder.
Working from home in media creation, is all I can think of.

 

[greg0205]

Oh shet. Even weirder.
Working from home in media creation, is all I can think of.

Probably.

I'm never surprised by people's data usage... In fact, the only thing that surprises me is that at there was a point where we all believed that a 4GB or 8GB a month package was all we'd ever need.