WiFi in South Africa

Hi lollylo25,

WiFi is usually provided by specific places such as restaurants, shops or hotels/hostels and are sometimes free, with or without a limit and sometimes you have to pay. Sometimes it's slow or doesn't work properly. I would not recommend relying on the WiFi provided by these places to do work, you can't be sure of what you'll get.

There is excellent 3G coverage almost everywhere and also LTE in the cities. What I would suggest is buying a SIM card at the Vodacom or MTN shop when you arrive at the airport (convenient but more expensive) or at other shops such as supermarkets in the city for cheaper. You can then use your unlocked smartphone to make calls, go on the internet and as your own WiFi hotspot that other devices such as your laptop can connect to. This will be a very reliable way of connecting and you shouldn't have to worry about it being slow or spotty.

You can buy more data at ATMs, cashiers in some shops, online in various ways, through apps or USSD if you run out. Just remember to always buy a data bundle, otherwise it will be really expensive. Here is an example of the prices: Vodacom charges R399 for 5GB(about $30) and MTN charges R430 for 5GB (about $32). Vodacom has the widest coverage with MTN second, but I think MTN has the best LTE coverage.

There are some initiatives that try to provide free (sometimes limited) WiFi in the city, so you can maybe try, but I would definitely recommend having a SIM card with some data as backup. Here are some links that you could look at:
http://digitalambassadors.org.za/how-to-connect-to-joburgs-free-wifi/
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/wireless/144175-where-you-can-find-joburgs-free-wi-fi-hotspots.html
http://www.findfreewifi.co.za/mobile/Locations?cityname=Johannesburg
http://www.wificafespots.com/wifi/city/ZA--Johannesburg
https://www.goodthingsguy.com/south-afri-can-stories/cape-town-just-launched-free-wifi-heres-can-find-hotspots/
https://www.alwayson.co.za/
http://www.capetownmagazine.com/wifi

Lidia--Thanks for this info. I have a SIM card waiting at the J'burg airport. I will probably upgrade to more gb's if this is the case. I haven't really traveled much in areas where wifi was not acceptable. Great & very useful info.

Lidia--Is the speed of the wifi using your cell phone as "hotspot" reasonably fast? Does speed depend on Vodacom or other factors? I am just trying to figure out my work needs & where I will be at certain times of the month. Because I assume the wifi would be better in urban areas than rural.?

Hi lollylo25,

Yes, if you use your cell phone as hotspot it will be reasonably fast. How fast will depend on the kind of signal that you pick up from Vodacom based on your location. In urban areas you will likely pick up LTE if your smartphone is LTE-capable. This is the fastest mobile speed available here. In almost all other areas, even more rural areas, you will pick up 3G. More remote areas in Kruger usually don't have good/any signal. Both 3G and LTE are fast enough to stream video and should be fine for checking emails, internet browsing and uploading/downloading files. There are rare "dead spots" where there is no signal, even in the city, but they are usually not very big. Here is the coverage map for Vodacom to give you an idea. Using mobile data is reliable and convenient, but more expensive so you can maybe use AlwaysOn WiFi in some places, they do seem to have a lot of hotspots and they are cheaper and faster.

This is great - I had about the same question and already find all the answers here - thanks!

Do you know anything about Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana?
Can I expect decent 3G coverage?
Or, are there places where I can pay for good wifi - hotels,... ?

Just like lollylo25, I need a good connection for work from time to time - so I don't mind paying reasonable money.

South Africa's infrastructure is more developed than the other countries that you mention so as far as I know mobile coverage there is not as good as in South Africa, especially in more rural areas. Also keep in mind that if you would like to use mobile data or make voice calls from your phone you would need a separate SIM card for each country. If you have an SA SIM card and you're only staying within a few km of the SA border in one of the other countries you might still get a signal, but not farther in. You can also look into international roaming, but it would be much more expensive as far as I know. Here are some maps to give you an idea of the signal coverage (there might be other mobile providers as well):

Vodacom coverage map for Lesotho
MTC coverage map for Namibia

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find hotels/hostels with WiFi available in each of those countries so the best approach might be to find accommodation that offers WiFi and then read reviews on how reliable the internet is at that specific hotel/hostel.

hi
Can you please inform me on how you got a SIM card? I would like to do the same
thank you

Since no one has answered we have purchased them in the International Arrivals of OR Tambo airport. Also purchase them in cell shops in shopping malls and supermarkets.

Lidia your replies in this thread are really excellent, comprehensive answers thanks so much for providing it. Matches our experience as visitors to SA on several trips to Kruger. All the best~! Bookmarked!