Telkom’s R229 uncapped LTE service tested — with great results

MyBroadband tested Telkom’s LTE prepaid unlimited off-peak product, and it delivered on all its promises.

Telkom’s LTE prepaid unlimited off-peak service gives users unlimited data for 31 days after a once-off purchase.

It offers speeds of up to 10 Mbps for the first 250 GB, 4 Mbps for the next 50 GB, and 2 Mbps for the rest of the month.

The package costs R229, and the data is available for 19 hours per day — between 00:00 and 19:00.

There is also an all-hours version that costs R849, but we focussed on the R229 product for this article.

We purchased the Telkom LTE SIM from a Telkom store, and by the time we arrived home and inserted the SIM into a Huawei B618 router, it was already active and ready to use.

We kept track of the data used on the router and pushed the package to the limit to see how it performed.

During the initial 250 GB, speed tests gave us an average download speed of 9.8 Mbps, an upload speed of 9.7 Mbps, and an average latency of 16.4 ms.

It is close to the peak speed you would expect from a 10 Mbps broadband service, which was impressive.

Downloading large files through P2P platforms and services like Steam was quick, without any service degradation.

We could also maintain a single 1080p 60fps YouTube stream, but any higher required buffering for short periods throughout the video.

We tested Surfshark VPN connected to the South African server, and it had no impact on the speed of the service.

Our measurements showed that the speed dropped soon after reaching the 250 GB threshold.

For the next 50 GB, the average download speed dropped to 3.7 Mbps, upload speed to 3.6 Mbps, and latency 13.7 ms.

It was slightly below the rated maximums, but the connection still performed well enough for all regular online services.

YouTube streaming still allowed 1080p quality, but it required a few seconds of buffering from time to time. Streaming at 720p was smooth without any buffering.

After hitting 300 GB, the average download speed dropped to 1.8 Mbps, with an upload speed of 1.7 Mbps and an average latency of 21.7 ms.

Downloads through a browser and torrents still worked at these speeds, and the VPN also had no problems.

YouTube still streamed at 720p without any noticeable buffering.

The testing revealed that Telkom’s LTE prepaid unlimited off-peak product offers an affordable way to get uncapped broadband access.

The R229 service is particularly suitable as a backup – or even primary – connection for businesses as it offers data throughout typical office hours.

Telkom R229 uncapped LTE performance

The table below provides an overview of the performance of Telkom’s LTE prepaid unlimited off-peak product.

Now read: Telkom’s 2TB deal vs uncapped LTE and 5G