Uncapped ADSL Pricing Guide

[GrahamZA]

Hi all!

Since MWEB's mamoth announcement of their uncapped services it seems that more and more ISPs are running to top, or equal, them. The majority of us do not have Uncapped ADSL (I think I'm the only one?) and I want to create a table that shows the different offerings.

This table will only include data only packages and all inclusive packages. None of that, "at night it's uncapped" nonsense as that's not true uncapped.

Legend:
Only - this is only the bandwitdh. You need to already have a ADSL circuit through Telkom
All - this includes the bandwidth and circuit. You don't have to deal with Telkom as the ISP does it for you
Please not that even if you get a All inclusive package you will still need a Telkom copper line (phone line).

| Bundles |	|MWEB|	|OpenWeb|	|   VOX   |	| Afrihost |
384Kbps Only	| R219 |	|   R219    |	|    ---     |	|    R197    |
512Kbps Only	| R299 |	|   R299    |	|    ---     |	|    R297    |
4Mbps Only	| R539 |	|   R539    |	|    ---     |	|    R497    |
8Mbps Only	|  ----  |	|    ----     |	|    ---     |	|    R997    |
384Kbps All	| R349 |	|   R499    |	|   R339  |	|     ----     |
512Kbps All	| R599 |	|   R699    |	|   R589  |	|     ----     |
4Mbps All	| R899 |	|  R1999   |	|   R889  |	|     ----     |

384Kbps = 48KB/s maximum download = 172MB per hour
512Kbps = 64KB/s maximum download = 230MB per hour
4096Kbps = 512KB/s maximum download = 1843MB per hour

With MWEB, and it's more than likely true for the other ISPs, the uncapped accounts are partially shaped during the day and unshaped at night. What does this mean? Unshaped means that all protocols take priority on whatever you're doing. Shaped means HTTP and e-mail (POP/STMP) take priority in order to balance out the bandwidth loads.
What does it all really mean? surf the Internet during the day and play games or download at night for the best speeds

Telkom is also in the process of upgrading their 4Mbps infrastructure to 10Mbps so this means ADSL in South Africa is only getting better!

If you see any other ISPs offering true uncapped, or want me to add anything, then let me know!

EDIT 1: I've now added that Afrihost pricing. At present the "threshold" of the 4Mbps uncapped is 200GB.

[5NAKE]

Looks like Arihost is gotta be the next Uncapped service for cheap. Interesting

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[5NAKE]

Webonline is also offering uncapped as well.

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I just upgrade my account from 5GB cap to uncapped 4mbps with Webonline this morning. Been with them for 2 years and its been working very good for me.

[GrahamZA]

Webonline is also offering uncapped as well.

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I just upgrade my account from 5GB cap to uncapped 4mbps with Webonline this morning. Been with them for 2 years and its been working very good for me.

I see they're shaped account and their terms look a little draconian (Fair Usage), but please post your comments on the uncapped when you've had a good run through!

[Terix]

I'm currently with afrihost's uncapped solution, just got it this month so i'll run with it for a few months before i give my thoughts on it

[5NAKE]

I see they're shaped account and their terms look a little draconian (Fair Usage), but please post your comments on the uncapped when you've had a good run through!

Will do. If it works just as good then im happy.

I'm currently with afrihost's uncapped solution, just got it this month so i'll run with it for a few months before i give my thoughts on it

Good stuff Terix

[5NAKE]

Just got uncapped 4mbps on webonline this afternoon.

I'll see how it goes.

[jGLZa]

Be nice to hear from Terix & 5NAKE how their 4mbps packages are going.

Im thinking of upgrading my account. Currently with Mweb and havent had any problems with them at all.
I want to upgrade from 512kbps to 4mbps. Looking at their current pricing, there is only a R100 difference between a 512k unshaped deal & a 4mb shaped deal.

So my question is: Which is better? a slower unshaped line or a faster shaped line?
I would say im a heavy downloader - making use of torrents and filehosting sites alot! But I'm also gaming online much more often now too. Any advice guys?

Also the OP can be updated now, Axxess have brought out uncapped adsl and I believe Openweb have tried to undercut them. You are not allowed to view links.Register or Login

[DarkPrince]

I work for an ISP company, we mainly do VoIP systems for companies like AVI, Murray and Roberts, Department of Minerals and Energy etc but we are also an ISP on the side as it's easy money:

And it's quite simple an capped unshaped line is a far better solution than these crappy unshaped/uncapped accounts. On a 4mb line with the uncapped accounts you will be lucky to hit even half your line speed with an unshaped account. I'll assume your getting it for torrents/Direct Downloads etc and it's not going to be very fun and will be a waste of a 4mb line.

What you need to do is learn what service provider to go with and beat out the system.

I have multiple unshaped 2gb accounts from IS. IS gives you 2gb international and 28gb local with every 2gb account purchased. What people don't know is that IS rely on Telkom to drop lines in order for people to re-authenticate and then see whether they have reached cap or not. Telkom does not do this anymore. So if you leave your router on and never turn it off you can easily get around 35gb of international bandwidth with only a 2gb account.

I have friends on 4mb uncapped lines that can't download half as much as I can and they leave their PC's running all day.

The uncapped solutions are great for browsing but not for gaming or downloading.

This is my company's price list on ISP products:

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Basic ADSL Uncapped (Shaped)     Price Excl. VAT

384kbp/s Uncapped (Shaped)    
R    174.56
512kbp/s Uncapped (Shaped)    
R    279.82
1024kbp/s Uncapped (Shaped)    
R    385.66
4096kbp/s Lite Uncapped (Shaped)    
R    420.18
4096kbp/s Uncapped (Shaped)    
R    1,578.07

IS have actually introuduced a new policy due to the amount of complaints they recieved from the uncapped accounts. They were far too slow and people were complaining all day about it, whether they were on 384k or 4mb lines.

The Uncapped Basic product set is designed for moderate users who require a no frills uncapped and affordable means of accessing the internet. The services are kept fair via a unique 10 day rolling FUP, designed to offer a great service for the majority of users. The service is initially unshaped and when usage exceeds 80% of the average, the service will be shaped.
FUP (Fair Use Policy): The top 20% of users in each product set will be throttled on all related protocols that Internet Solutions deems to be abuse or file sharing over a rolling 10 day period. Two concurrent connections with PIR sharing is allowed.

So if you want my advice and the solution I use, get an ISP that use IS accounts, get a 2gb account and when it caps go to the next one. A 2gb account can last me either a week or a day, depending on whats out to download.

[jGLZa]

Price Wars! Gotta love 'em!

Uncapped ADSL Pricing Guide

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Afrihost celebrates 10th Birthday with discounted 4mbps lines and Openweb slashes more prices!

Afrihost apparently also redesigned their website.

Uncapped ADSL Pricing Guide

[GrahamZA]

I don't trust Afrihost with regards to uncapped. If you're going to heavy download then don't go with them. Other than that their std. ADSL and hosting are great.

[jGLZa]

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MyBroadband ISP speeds survey results

Top 5

• G-Connect
• Web Africa
• Vodacom Business Uncapped
• MWeb Uncapped
• Afrihost Capped

[NeoN]

WebAfrica FTW!