SA Digital Villages - Terrible ISP

G

Gex

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I'm posting this purely so that other users moving to an SADV complex can have more information on what they are getting themselves into, since I could find very little info on these guys before I moved.

However as you'll discover you won't have much of a choice in signing with them if you want an uncapped connection in the complex's they are in, but at least you'll be informed.

Here's what I have had to deal with.

Initial service activation was 2 weeks later than had been committed to.

The technicians that installed the wireless AP in my home glued devices to my wall without consulting me including an unsightly power adapter which should have been mounted much lower down on the wall so it cannot be seen.

The first few months I did not get close to the speed I paid for until they upgraded their network (lack of foresight)

Tech support is terrible, no one gets back to you, no answer after 5pm, no tech support on weekends.

My service has been down more times in the last 6 months than in the entire 7 years that I had ADSL, this includes the services being unusable over entire weekends.

The price for a 10Mbps line is the same as what many other ISP's offer for 50-100Mbps.

Unfortunately I live in a complex and they were/are the only option for internet services, as soon as another option becomes available I will drop them.

If you are moving into a complex with SADV this is what you can expect, but you will sign a 12 month contract with them and hope that something better comes along before you have to renew.

P.S. at least when it's up now I get the advertised speed, until it drops in the middle of a Video conference call.

Keep your 3G dongle ready!
 
I am in the process of moving to Serengeti and am interested to get more information on SADV. For a company that has so many complexes it is strange that their isn't more feedback. I would be interested to hear what everyone else has to say in relation to stability and speeds. If I look on hello peter I can only see negative comments. It is to be expected though as most people that are happy would not post.

I am trying to get a feel if these posts are the standard service I should expect or whether it is more of an exception.

Does anyone else that uses these guys have any view?
 
Nitelee said:
I am in the process of moving to Serengeti and am interested to get more information on SADV. For a company that has so many complexes it is strange that their isn't more feedback. I would be interested to hear what everyone else has to say in relation to stability and speeds. If I look on hello peter I can only see negative comments. It is to be expected though as most people that are happy would not post.

I am trying to get a feel if these posts are the standard service I should expect or whether it is more of an exception.

Does anyone else that uses these guys have any view?
Click to expand...

checkout this tread and check the feedback on their facebook page.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/658191-SA-DigitalVillages-any-good

I realize I have only really posted the negative. so here are some positives.

Since the network upgrade I get my full 10Mbps as advertised all day everyday, and if it does slow down it never seems to dip below 9Mbps.

There doesn't seem to be any throttling or shaping however i've never tried to torrent anything, but normal downloads and streaming are great!

The biggest annoyance is the fact it goes down at least once every two weeks sometimes more, and it can bed down for only an hour or like I had recently the whole weekend.

They are small compared guys like mweb and so on so there is no after hour support, if you phone after hours you might be lucky enough to be rerouted to some guy's cell phone, but he won't get back to you if he picks up at all.

I don't even log calls anymore, I just wait for it to come back on, I'm pretty sure the entire complex ends up phoning them anyway.

Evotel are getting into a few pf the complex's and I've only heard good things, in addition for the price I pay for 10Mbps with SADV you can get a 20Mbps line from Evotel.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I guess its somewhat pointless worrying as there are no alternatives other than overpriced LTE
 
So can anyone confirm whether other fibre providers besides SADV may rollout in the complexes where SADV already operates? I would like to get another provider into our estate. Choice is always a good thing. We had lots of issues with SADV initially. Things have settled down, but I would like to be able to choose a different provider if I want to. Telkom just told someone in our estate that there is a year's wait before they can even provide ADSL, fibre isn't even on the cards.
 
Which estate are you in?

I would say anyone in Greenstone Hill stands a good chance to get Evotel as they have selected Greenstone Hill as their flagship area, Evotel have made a proposal to our complex, but it will probably be some time before they get in as we are in the process of getting a CCTV system so a new ISP has been put on the back burner, but we still need as many people as possible to pledge our complex to Evotel and let the body corporate know we want another provider.

Best thing to do is pledge your complex on their website and get your fellow residence to do the same.
https://evotel.co.za/
 
Thanks Gex, I will check Evotel. I am also looking at www.bluering.co.za.

We are in De Velde Estate in Somerset West. We have DFA fibre running along two of our boundary walls, so it is frustrating that we have no choice as to our ISP.
 
Hi there, how far did you get? I recently moved into De Velde. I considered using them but after reading all the negative stuff about SA DEV I think I'll give it a skip. What option did you end up going with? Thanks
 
Hey, DynistyJar. I am currently speaking to Bluering. My contract with SADV is coming to an end in a couple of months, and I won't be renewing. Seacom is expanding their coverage, and we fall inside their expansion zone. Bluering should then be able to provide services to us.
 
I stay in greenstone crest and the past month has been terrible with them, as soon as there is saturation on my line, the latency spikes and eventually I loose my connection.

The prices are ridiculous for the Services they offer. I would not recommend them to anyone.

I would recommend an ISP like Bitco and Greencom. 9/10 for both

I have had the best experiences with those two ISP's.

SADV 4/10, not much good to say about them.
 
SADV, still worst internet service provider in greenstone and overpriced for the service they offer! Anyone know an actual isp that will give a decent prices line fast enough to connect to dstv explora and not buffer everything
 
Hi All,

To all who have SADV in their complex please take note that they are now an open Fibre network.

I stay in De Velde and SADV Fibre is installed but I'm using Cool Ideas as an ISP.
It did take awhile to get the line installed and setup but ever since then in the clouds :D
I'm currently on 10/10 for R599 and can go up to 100/100 for R1500 if i had the cash.

Good luck to all.
 
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