Uncapped ADSL price comparison

Regular readers with ADSL lines installed will no doubt be pondering through confusing jargon, trying to figure out the best uncapped broadband solution on the market. There has been a flurry of activity from internet service providers since MWEB’s announcement of uncapped ADSL on March 18.

There are dozens of options, some ever so slightly cheaper than others. Some internet service providers (ISPs) are confusing matters further by promoting products like 8mpbs (megabits per second) services – which are not even on the market yet!

There is another question to be asked: should you stay on capped or move to uncapped? (This will be tackled in next Tuesday’s column).

But for now, there are three line speed options: 384kbps (kilobits per second), 512kbps, 4mbps. Some of the early adopters will scoff at 384kbps and suggest that that isn’t even classified as “broadband”. A 512kbps is decent, while a 4mbps is really speedy (especially if you live fairly near to your exchange).

Once you’ve picked a line speed (and presuming you want an uncapped service), your decision will be whether to pay for data only or to bundle your line rental and data in one bill to your ISP. There is a downside, as you’re still forced to pay your mandatory phone line rental to Telkom – you cannot bypass them completely.

The upside of including your ADSL line rental with your data access, is that any problems on your line can be diagnosed and handled by your ISP. They deal will Telkom on your behalf. The downside is that if you ever want to switch ISPs, you have to switch billing for your ADSL line too.

A final consideration: network quality (ie, speed and consistency) will differ from provider to provider. Some ISPs rely on upstream providers to provision bandwidth. Some have built their own networks. Feedback so far suggests that MWEB’s network is robust and speedy. Many ISPs rely on Internet Solutions, and one cannot really argue with the scale of their network.

Here is a pricing comparison of uncapped ADSL services available from most of the larger ISPs. A word of caution: be wary if you stumble across a “great” deal from a small ISP – they might lack the scale to compete (and service you) effectively, and you may find yourself looking for a new ISP in a few months’ time. Some ISPs may also have harsh terms and conditions which could see the “uncapped” service throttled once a certain threshold is reached (60GB/100GB).

 384kbps uncapped ADSL

  512kbps uncapped ADSL

  4mbps uncapped ADSL

Moneyweb

Uncapped ADSL price comparison << Discussion

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