The cheapest ways to get uncapped Internet in South Africa

Uncapped Internet has become an increasingly common product in South Africa, but in many cases, it can still be very expensive.

Therefore, if you are buying uncapped Internet, and want it to be affordable, you may have to make some compromises.

This can be worthwhile for certain customers who are willing to make certain sacrifices in order to get effectively unlimited connectivity.

If you are one of these people, we have outlined some great uncapped Internet options for the South African on a budget.

Rain 19-hours unlimited off-peak – R250

Rain made waves in the local Internet industry when it released its 19-hours unlimited off-peak deal.

This deal allows you to use the Internet with no limit from 11pm to 6pm every day.

However, if you wish to use the Internet between 6pm and 11pm, you will have to pay the standard rate of R50 a gig.

If you don’t use much Internet in this period, however, this becomes a great deal. You could also subscribe to a separate, cheap contract to fill in for these five hours.

This deal is also a month-to-month offering, which means that you can cancel your package with ease.

Rain unlimited 4G 24/7 – R469

If you don’t want to deal with no Internet access between 6pm and 11pm, you could always just choose Rain’s more expensive unlimited 4G 24/7 product, which offers uncapped data at speeds up to 10Mbps at all times.

The downside to this package is that it only guarantees a streaming quality resolution of up to 360p, which while fine on a smartphone, is low quality for streaming on TVs or computer monitors.

At R469 per month, Rain’s 4G product is comparable to similar products like entry-level fibre and ADSL products.

Cheap uncapped fibre

Many fibre ISPs offer low-speed products that are more affordable than the higher-performance alternatives.

These fibre products can offer speeds as low as 10Mbps, which will not let you stream in pristine quality, but will be a reliable connection to perform most tasks.

MyBroadband recently compared the pricing of fibre across ISPs and network providers.

You can view this information here.

ADSL

For areas which do not yet have fibre coverage, ADSL is the closest alternative.

ADSL offers a relatively reliable and speedy Internet connection, albeit an inferior experience to the aforementioned cable.

Historically users have needed to pay a line fee and a voice fee, and these additional connection costs make ADSL a weaker value proposition than fibre – but many ISPs now offer an all-in-one price.

Telkom is in the process of shutting down its ADSL services, but it will only do this once an area is covered by fibre – meaning it may be worthwhile switching to ADSL in the meantime.

The pricing of some of these packages is below.

Wireless/Microwave Internet packages – From R500 per month

If you do not have fibre in your area and do not have Rain coverage – or if you are just looking for a different option – fixed wireless broadband technologies are an alternative to consider.

Various service providers use microwave technologies to send microwave connectivity, and these packages can be relatively affordable.

The downside is that objects between you and the microwave transmitters can affect your signal, meaning that this form of connectivity is not always as reliable as a fibre or cellular connection.

Some wireless and microwave Internet prices are detailed below.

Now read: “Telkom didn’t pay me again, so I turned off their cellphone tower”