I feel like I've stepped over a line into enemy territory by posting here. :p I've long been anti the red team due to poor 3G performance and being unable to cancel my 3GB+3GB data contract. This is quickly changing though!
Context:
Prior to mid-2012, I only used MTN, trusty old yellow team. I enjoyed 4Mbps max at the office but did have service interruptions occasionally. I remember some days the connection was dead and, at one point, for a couple weeks. I mostly got by on 500MB per month. Ha! (This was a contract for the original Samsung Galaxy Tab 7", which came to an end)
Mid 2012 I was in the market for a shiny new Galaxy Tab 7.7" and *only* Vodacom had it - on a 2GB + 2GB contact (I set it to Top-up at the time). 2GB of data was a godsend. Speeds were pretty good and a bit faster than MTN but not always.
Sometime towards the end of 2012 we all (office) started to get really bad 3G service. Before 9am all was dandy but after that, everything fell over. Weeks became months. Little to no internet connection. This drove me up the wall and I resorted to using Telkom Mobile Prepaid. I got speeds of 10-15Mbps which was unheard of. I thought this would be my next service provider but I turned to the red team yet again... mid 2013 I gave the 2GB+2GB to my wife and took out a 3GB + 3GB Vodacom data only contract. Vodacom again seemed the best over time.
I moved to a new department and got speeds of up to 30Mbps. I was over the moon and at this point always had the need for speed - purely academic of course. This lasted 2 weeks I think and then the issues started! Data throughput went down to a trickle. The biggest issue was the 10-140Kbps upload speed. It was impossible to send e-mails. I started logging tickets with Vodacom and basically stopped using the service between July 2013 and December 2013. This was also partly due to both SIM cards going into a "No service" mode on our iPads.
During Xmas 2013 the unexpected happened. I bought a second-hand Vodafone LTE router and when testing that it worked properly with above Voda SIMs, I was provision for LTE automatically and sent a confirmation SMS. I decided to again try the above Vodacom contract SIMs in our iPads. One worked on 4G right away, the other remained in its "No service" state. I ended up doing a SIM swap on both contracts and had the SIMs activated for LTE only, no other VAS service.
Today I'm using Vodacom "4G" exclusively - as is my wife and I'm really happy. At home I get around 3 bars 4G service. While roaming around Joburg, I mostly get 4G with effortless switchover to 3G and back to 4G. At the office, I've got full signal 4G. So where at the end of 2013 I still had really poor 3G (I did more speed tests as I motivated my quest for cancellation without penalty), I now have *perfect* 4G.
Speeds are good. Very good. Some people may think the speeds are no better than 3G until you check the upload speed and ping. Academically, Afrihost/MTN LTE is *much* faster but it hardly matters once you have a consistent 10Mbps download, 6Mbps upload and 30-50ms ping.
This thread will serve as a blog for my experience on Vodacom 4G going forward. :)
Footnote: I'd like to thank VodacomData for working on resolving my overcharged account for November and December 2013.
Context:
Prior to mid-2012, I only used MTN, trusty old yellow team. I enjoyed 4Mbps max at the office but did have service interruptions occasionally. I remember some days the connection was dead and, at one point, for a couple weeks. I mostly got by on 500MB per month. Ha! (This was a contract for the original Samsung Galaxy Tab 7", which came to an end)
Mid 2012 I was in the market for a shiny new Galaxy Tab 7.7" and *only* Vodacom had it - on a 2GB + 2GB contact (I set it to Top-up at the time). 2GB of data was a godsend. Speeds were pretty good and a bit faster than MTN but not always.
Sometime towards the end of 2012 we all (office) started to get really bad 3G service. Before 9am all was dandy but after that, everything fell over. Weeks became months. Little to no internet connection. This drove me up the wall and I resorted to using Telkom Mobile Prepaid. I got speeds of 10-15Mbps which was unheard of. I thought this would be my next service provider but I turned to the red team yet again... mid 2013 I gave the 2GB+2GB to my wife and took out a 3GB + 3GB Vodacom data only contract. Vodacom again seemed the best over time.
I moved to a new department and got speeds of up to 30Mbps. I was over the moon and at this point always had the need for speed - purely academic of course. This lasted 2 weeks I think and then the issues started! Data throughput went down to a trickle. The biggest issue was the 10-140Kbps upload speed. It was impossible to send e-mails. I started logging tickets with Vodacom and basically stopped using the service between July 2013 and December 2013. This was also partly due to both SIM cards going into a "No service" mode on our iPads.
During Xmas 2013 the unexpected happened. I bought a second-hand Vodafone LTE router and when testing that it worked properly with above Voda SIMs, I was provision for LTE automatically and sent a confirmation SMS. I decided to again try the above Vodacom contract SIMs in our iPads. One worked on 4G right away, the other remained in its "No service" state. I ended up doing a SIM swap on both contracts and had the SIMs activated for LTE only, no other VAS service.
Today I'm using Vodacom "4G" exclusively - as is my wife and I'm really happy. At home I get around 3 bars 4G service. While roaming around Joburg, I mostly get 4G with effortless switchover to 3G and back to 4G. At the office, I've got full signal 4G. So where at the end of 2013 I still had really poor 3G (I did more speed tests as I motivated my quest for cancellation without penalty), I now have *perfect* 4G.
Speeds are good. Very good. Some people may think the speeds are no better than 3G until you check the upload speed and ping. Academically, Afrihost/MTN LTE is *much* faster but it hardly matters once you have a consistent 10Mbps download, 6Mbps upload and 30-50ms ping.
This thread will serve as a blog for my experience on Vodacom 4G going forward. :)
Footnote: I'd like to thank VodacomData for working on resolving my overcharged account for November and December 2013.