My personal recommendation for mobile Internet in South Africa, is to use a Prepaid 3G/LTE Data Sim Card:
We went with Vodacom because of the excellent coverage and the compatibility with my mobile Wifi hotspot model.
The Prepaid Sim Card costs R1. The following Data Packages are available:
15MB for R9, 30MB for R12, 100MB for R29, 250MB for R59, 500MB for R99, 1GB for R149, 2GB for R249, 3GB for R299, 5GB for R399, 10GB for R599 or 20GB for R999 each valid for one month.
Unfortunately I had to manually enter the correct APN settings.
APN: internet.com
Username: empty
Password: empty
At www.vodacom.co.za you can check your used data and current balance after creating an account – very handy!
The Prepaid Data Sim Card is available not only in all Vodacom stores, but also in shops like the Game store. Don’t forget to bring your passport, they will take care of the activation and everything for you, so you are online and good to go within 10 minutes.
Mobile Internet in South Africa – going online while travelling – using a USB-Stick / USB-Dongle or a mobile Wifi hotspot (Mifi) together with a local Prepaid 3G/LTE Data Sim is, thanks to decreasing prices, super popular like never before.
If you need access to the internet while on vacation or during a business trip in South Africa, a Prepaid Data Sim Card from a local provider is a good choice. This way you are bypassing the super expensive International Roaming fees of your provider at home and you have access to much larger data packages at an extremely low price.
Using a Prepaid also known as, Pay as you go service, abroad you don’t have to pay a monthly fee. Normally you pay a fixed amount upfront and therefore get a certain volume of data (GB) that you can use for a specified period of time.
To speak from my own experience, I can absolutely recommend using a mobile Wifi hotspot, also known as Mifi. Using you Smartphone (Tethering) is also possible but, you will run out of battery very fast. Another advantage of the Mifi over your Smartphone is the fact that you can leave your domestic sim card in your phone, which enables you to also keep your cell phone number.
The Mifi devices are often pocket-size and smaller than a smartphone. The battery will last between 4 to 6 hours. How they work, they start a Wifi Network and all devices, like Smartphones, Laptops, Tablets, etc. can go online at the same time using this Wifi Network. Depending on the Mifi model and your mobile network connection, you will get 3G or even very fast LTE speed.
