Rain has always been a mystery to me. Maybe one of those "Makes perfect sense while you read the page and once you close it you go 'what did I just read?'" deals. I've been to their site a few times and always went "Wow" then I see them advertised on FB market place for R50 or free in the PIF section on Carbonite and I go "Okay, how does this work? I thought you buy the sim and then you pay a monthly subscription. Soooo..... this guy is giving away (or selling for R50) a monthly subscription?" 🤷♂️ I think I need to go read their website... again. 😣
...but in the mean time, since this is part PIF, part network discussion, I thought I'd throw some rando facts out there for the world to delight in (or ignore).
1. So Telkom told me that they will not re-activate my existing copper land line and if I want a landline then getting their wireless product is my only option. I asked "So you are telling me that no ISP in the entire country can offer me ADSL, only Telkom? Is that right? You are creating a monopoly and denying me ADSL from absolutely any ISP in the entire country, except you, even though I already have the copper line running right into my house?". The answer was a simple: "Yes". So no ADSL for me then since Telkom's coverage map showed that my entire town is covered except for the single stand I own and thus their system won't activate the Wireless ADSL product I got from them.
Thus I was forced to go with an LTE-A product from Vodacom (stuck in contract for 2 years) before discovering that Axxess has a much better deal at a much better price. I recently did a speedtest and found I had 87Mb down and 150Mb up and after feeling quite chuffed about the upgrade from my former 4Mb ADSL I then realized that I was actually busy torrenting while I did the speed test. Haven't run the speed test again but I don't care to. 87Mb down (and actually seeing my Steam games etc download at 30Mbps!) I am quite happy with MTN's Wireless at home product.
Side note... That complaint about Rain switching towers.... With my Vodacom LET-A product I can pack up and travel the country and it will connect to whichever tower is available. With Telkom-At-Home you can do the same but it might take up to 24 hours before you are registered with the first available tower once you leave the coverage zone of the one you used last. With MTN-At-Home you are locked to the tower you connected to FIRST and that sim can never use another tower ever again. A fact that seemed relevant...
As an aside, 18 months into my Vodacom contract we finally got Vodacom fiber in my area. Vodacom only. No other option but them. First they destroy our garden and drill multiple holes into our privately owned fence because (and I quote) "we couldn't get through the concrete you threw to build your fence in", I have no choice but to get fiber from them. Well, it turns out it costs less to get MTN Fiber at home from Axxess than it does to get fiber and the speed is better also. I was forced into LTE-A but now that I have it, fiber is dead to me.
2. Apparently it is super easy to give yourself an internet speed boost simply by changing your primary DNS server to 1.1.1.1. Apparently their DNS server is the fastest in the world and thus results in faster IP resolves. Totally free to use (simply change the DNS on your router), they also offer a pseudo VPN in that they don't hide your location but encrypt your requests so your ISP / VPN provider can't collect any info from you. More details can be found on
1.1.1.1 — The free app that makes your Internet faster. available for desktop and mobile. If you are not comfortable changing DNS settings on your router, just install their free WARP app and click the single button whenever you want to use 1.1.1.1 and click it again when you don't want to. Simple 1 click faster internet... And it's free... What have you got to loose by trying, right?
3. StarLink is currently taking limited pre-orders for their beta with South Africa getting service next year. People who apply now and pay the $99 deposit will be first in line to get StarLink next year (first come, first served). With the dish being placed on the ground or roof or anywhere you have open space, there is no installation costs as you don't need to hire anyone to ... welll ...place it on your lawn
lol
For the time being there is no data cap, speeds between 50 and 150Mbps, consistent pings of 60ms and, once launched, costs $99 per month.
As long as you don't live in an apartment or some place that doesn't have a 100 degree clear view of the sky, just read the last sentence again and try to think "Nah, not worth it".
High-speed internet. Available almost anywhere on Earth.
www.starlink.com
Hope this helps someone in some way
