Greetings brothers,we have been langstaan camping for over a year now in mountains near Bonnievale west cape,pure heaven except for cellular signal which is more off than on.we have  sort of WiFi in camp but because it's part of farmers irrigation system we are very unlimited.

We would like to have movies and you tube,what are options with limited internet.

Satellite packages like DStv could be way out, unfortunately satlink are being boycotted by government .What are you guys doing for entertain?

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Also found it useless (and expensive, together with bad connections) to watch TV through Internet. Cellphone coverage also so-so.

That's why I swallowed my pride and invested (always said I won't do it, but ....) in a small TV for use in my caravan. Works well ...small dish on a used garden fork, invested in a good signal locator, cable etc. and voila!

Certainly do not watch TV all the time, but sport, news etc. during the evenings after the braai and when you are confined indoors , is lekker!.

I am in a similar situation as Nico. I take my house decoder with. But I only use it when camping for a long period at a single place. For instance - during our past 3 week breakaway I did not go through the trouble to connect the TV. We play board games (read: 'Rummikub') and listen radio. And we like to keep each other busy.🤪

With the Classique and Sensation caravan we had, it was DStv, You-tube and Netflix.  Made use of a Vodacom router.  But to be honest we barely used it as well.  Would have had the same troubles as you have now.

According to a work friend Starlink do work in SouthAfrica.  You must just get hold of it.  Subcription per month works out around R1400 per month.  He bought it for when he is working up in Africa to communicate with family at home.

He brought it to South Africa during various trips and he says its working fine.

As I read, Starlink is not allowed in SA by our government yet. What this implies to it's usage if you have it, I am not sure. But at that price, it does look like a feasable option to me.

We still use and have been for the past 3 years a 4G mobile modem (TPLink M7350) with an unlimited package from Afrihost for R495pm, you can cancel or change the package anytime. The only time we never had internet was when there was load shedding and the tower went down during that period. Other than that it has worked very well streaming Netflix as well as sport without any hassles. Coverage is on the MTN network.

The modem I purchased separately and not from Afrihost.

It really has been very useful we go out anywhere the modem goes with it has it‘s own battery which lasts for 8 hours and you can plug the cable into your USB port in the car to charge while on the move.

Right now if I had to purchase a mobile modem I would get a 5G one. Service from Afrihost has excellent.

Fred wrote:

As I read, Starlink is not allowed in SA by our government yet. What this implies to it's usage if you have it, I am not sure. But at that price, it does look like a feasable option to me.

You are correct if you do get hold of Starlink it has to be registered in a neighbouring country and you use the roaming option. The only hassle is every two months you need to go back the the registered country (I‘m not sure for how long) that the unit can access the internet from there and then you can travel back here and use it for another two months again and then you need to go back and start over again.

Hopefully it will eventually become available here soon.

We changed to the mobile modem even though our van has an automatic Alden dish installed on the roof. DSTV just became too expensive. We now use a family access code to stream and I only use it for sport when I want to watch.

BrianB wrote:

You are correct if you do get hold of Starlink it has to be registered in a neighbouring country and you use the roaming option. The only hassle is every two months you need to go back the the registered country (I‘m not sure for how long) that the unit can access the internet from there and then you can travel back here and use it for another two months again and then you need to go back and start over again.

Hopefully it will eventually become available here soon.

This is probably true as I do not have the details on how it works.  I have "ordered" a Star-link and will provide more detail "WHEN" it gets here and is in operation.

Big thing is,  it is not that easy to get it here.