Which Line Provider - Vumatel or Openserve

LOTR

LOTR

Senior Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2013
Messages
735
Reaction score
308
I have been an Early.Connect customer on the Rain network. so been using their LTE-A service for almost a year. Decent speeds and (being an E.C client), massively discounted fees. However, this program is closing down end April, and I'll be migrated to Afrihost if I wish to continue with my LTE service. Based on Afrihost (and others) fees, it turns out that I'd be better off with fibre. (Details - https://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/941181-Early-Connect-Customers-Changes).

I am lucky enough to have a choice of Fibre providers - Openserve (aerial) and Vuma (trenched).
The question is, which one do I chose?

This decision goes a long way in me choosing my ISP. Some have great deals on Openserve, while others seem to have better deals on Vuma.

Any suggestions from the knowledge base (aka MyBroadband members) on which way to go?
 
Im with Vuma in Cape Town.

Performance has been super stable and get my line speed all the time (With WebAfrica only 4mb line) . Get +-150 ms ping to european servers if that means anything to you.
 
AntennaMan said:
+1

The best Internet I've ever had.

Edit:
Openserve is more expensive as well.
Click to expand...

Not really - Check out some of the options - month-to-month basis.
Sure - Vuma install is cheaper than Openserve (R1710 vs R2850 - diff = R1140), which is a once off cost.
But lets review thereafter -
CISP 20/20 Uncapped R899 on Vuma (no FUP, etc)
Vox 100 bundle (so say 50/50 although I understand it works very differently) Uncapped (subject to FUP) R729 on OpenServe plus 1GB Mobile data (could make use of this) plus SupaPhone with per second billing (not actually one of my requirements and not needed).
Diff is 170 per month - Setup costs difference repaid within 8 months and you get 1GB mobile data for "free" during that, thereafter monthly saving R170 plus getting 1GB mobile data.
The FUP is no issue to me, as I don't exceed 100GB a month currently (not a Gamer - stream/dowload a few things, and the rest is info/research/study (my son)/email/browsing).
So, is Vuma really cheaper?

But my question is not which ISP, but which line provider.
 
I recommend vumatel based on mine and friends experiences. They provide a much better service than openserve.
 
LOTR said:
Not really - Check out some of the options - month-to-month basis.
Sure - Vuma install is cheaper than Openserve (R1710 vs R2850 - diff = R1140), which is a once off cost.
But lets review thereafter -
CISP 20/20 Uncapped R899 on Vuma (no FUP, etc)
Vox 100 bundle (so say 50/50 although I understand it works very differently) Uncapped (subject to FUP) R729 on OpenServe plus 1GB Mobile data (could make use of this) plus SupaPhone with per second billing (not actually one of my requirements and not needed).
Diff is 170 per month - Setup costs difference repaid within 8 months and you get 1GB mobile data for "free" during that, thereafter monthly saving R170 plus getting 1GB mobile data.
The FUP is no issue to me, as I don't exceed 100GB a month currently (not a Gamer - stream/dowload a few things, and the rest is info/research/study (my son)/email/browsing).
So, is Vuma really cheaper?

But my question is not which ISP, but which line provider.
Click to expand...

There is one major flaw in your reasoning. You are comparing apples to oranges.

You want to find out which line provider has the best value. To do that you will need to make valid comparisons. Fibre packages are linked to ISP's (since they cover the cost of monthly line rental as part of their packages) and different ISP's have different costs associated with their products. By comparing CISP on Vumatel to Vox on Openserve, you are essentially introducing two variables in your comparison, making it all but impossible to make the valid comparison you need.

A better comparison will be to choose any ISP that offers packages on both Vumatel and Openserve and comparing comparing packages that offer the same value (ie up and down speed) with one another.
What makes the comparison slightly difficult is that Openserve and Vumatel doesn't offer the same package combination. In that case look at the closest alternative

Example:

ISP Linespeed Data Vuma Openserve Price Diff Winner Note
Mweb 20Mbps Uncapped R799 R899 R100 Vuma No up speed given
Mweb 100Mbps Uncapped R1199 R1349 R150 Vuma
Axxess 20/20 & 20/10 Uncapped R1046 R1299 R253 Vuma Vuma give "more line" for the money.

You can do this for as many ISP's as you want. After doing this comparison, then you can look at addisional value adds like a voice line, mobile data, etc.
 
Vuma is cheaper for the quality you are getting, stick with that.
 
AntennaMan said:
There is one major flaw in your reasoning. You are comparing apples to oranges.

You want to find out which line provider has the best value. To do that you will need to make valid comparisons. Fibre packages are linked to ISP's (since they cover the cost of monthly line rental as part of their packages) and different ISP's have different costs associated with their products. By comparing CISP on Vumatel to Vox on Openserve, you are essentially introducing two variables in your comparison, making it all but impossible to make the valid comparison you need.

/snip
Click to expand...

Yes - I agree with you there - it's the process I'm currently undertaking. I just threw out a basic example from what I have noted so far.

I think I'll contact a few of the ISP reps via PM to get their view on their opinion as to who's easier to deal with and who provides the best/most consistent resolution responses when it comes to issues relative to the line provider.
 
Openserv should only be an option if it's the only one you have...
 
Also, look how many people are recommending Vumatel vs how many people are recommending openserve.
 
Thread Necro!

How is the sentiment these days?

I wish we had Openserve as an option - stuck with only Vumatel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X