My Honest Take on Switching from NetByNet to Megafon - A Wild Ride

We'd been with NetByNet for years - they're a decent operator, but lately, the speeds just weren't cutting it. Websites were taking forever to load, and some wouldn't even load at all. I figured it was time to explore other options.

First, I thought about upgrading my speed with NetByNet, but it turns out they only offer 100 Mbps in my area. I sent them a message saying I wanted to cancel my contract if that was the case. They offered to switch me to Megafon with a 10% discount for six months. Without the discount, 200 Mbps would cost 450 rubles.

With the discount, it's the same price as I'm paying now, but with twice the speed. That was a no-brainer.

I asked if they'd need to replace the cable that runs into my apartment:
- No, it's the same operator, so the cable won't need to be replaced.

I decided to give it a shot. I mean, why not? I wouldn't have to rip up my hallway to install a new cable, and the money would be transferred automatically. I submitted the application.

That was the end of my dealings with NetByNet, and then the Megafon dance began.

🌐🌐 BEFORE CONNECTION 🌐🌐

The next day, the operator called to schedule a technician visit.

She went over the tariff conditions again, but forgot to mention the discount. I reminded her about the discount.

- It's not listed... That's strange, usually when you switch, they offer a 10% discount for six months... Oh well, I'll add it. Goodbye.

A couple of days later, the operator called again to confirm the technician's visit. She went over the tariff conditions again, but forgot about the discount. I reminded her:

- Did they really promise you a discount? I'll check on it... Would 20% for six months work for you?

- More than.

- Great, I've added it.

🌐🌐 THE DAY OF THE TECHNICIAN'S VISIT 🌐🌐

The technician called 10-15 minutes before the scheduled visit time and arrived right on cue. First, he checked our router and confirmed it would work. Then, looking at the cable, he said:

- I'll just lay a new one.

I looked at my hallway, which would need to be cleared out completely.

The technician finished on time. I filled out the contract, and he handed me... a SIM card.

It turned out that's the number for my account. The technician said the SIM card would be needed if I needed to get an SMS to activate my personal account. He said the 20% discount was applied, and the money from NetByNet would be transferred.

We said our goodbyes.

An hour passed, and I still hadn't received an SMS. I decided to insert the SIM card and try to log in to my personal account.

I went in, looked around - the money hadn't been transferred.

Oh well, at least I activated my account.

A few hours later, I got an SMS:
"You have a debt of 29 rubles, please settle it as soon as possible."

I went back to my account - yes, there were two deductions of 3 and 26 rubles... for internet!

I mean, when the phone turned on, it naturally started sending requests to the internet using the SIM card. Megafon didn't bat an eye and deducted the money.

In my account, it's clear that there's 1000 MB of internet on the SIM card.

I suppose that's for cases like this.

So, we're calling the hotline.

I had a weird conversation with the operator when I was trying to activate my contract. She told me that I needed to pay money to activate it, and then everything would be fine. I was like, 'How much do I need to pay?' And she said, '450 rubles.' I was like, 'Wait, don't I get a discount?' And she said, 'Oh, I see the comment, but nobody applied the discount, let me do it.' But then she told me that I had a debt of 29 rubles, and I should activate the contract first and then complain.

Yeah, that was a weird conversation.

I ended up paying 600 rubles, and the contract was activated. They deducted 360 rubles, and I got my money back from NetByNet.

It was a bit of a struggle to get through to the real operator, but I managed to do it.

But then, they confirmed that there was an error in the internet billing, and they returned my money.

On the one hand, it's good that they fixed the issue, but on the other hand, it shouldn't have happened in the first place!

After the connection

SPEED AND STABILITY

I subscribed to the 200 Mbps tariff for 450 rubles per month.

Plus, I got a 20% discount for half a year, so I paid 360 rubles.

I measured it a few times, and the speed was stable, without any drops.

For remote work, I had enough stability and speed from my previous provider, in general.

For gaming, the ping in Genshin was around 30-40 ms during peak hours, which is acceptable. Before, it was around 40-50 ms.

To be honest, I'm pretty happy with the speeds so far.

But then, this happened:

Internet outage

To make it clear, my house is equipped with a smart home system. There are cameras, sensors, and other gadgets (like scenarios for turning on the lights). Plus, there's no TV - just a smart TV on a projector.

I was on my New Year's vacation, and it was January 6th. I opened the app for my smart home, and it said, 'No internet.' I thought the hub was broken. But I'd be home later, so I'd check it then.

When I got home, I saw that there was no internet. I tried restarting the router, but it didn't help.

I left a request with the operator, and they promised to fix it by 22:00 on January 6th.

They didn't fix it, so I checked back, and they said they'd fix it by 10:00 on January 7th.

They didn't fix it, so I checked back again, and they said they'd fix it by 16:00 on January 7th.

I lost it at this point and switched my smart home to mobile internet.

They didn't fix it, so I checked back again, and they said they'd fix it by 10:00 on January 9th.

They didn't fix it, so I checked back again, and they said they'd fix it by 14:00 on January 9th.

So, from the night of January 5th to January 6th to January 9th (until the evening), there was no internet at all. I used my mobile SIM card instead.

At first, the operator was being slow, but then they compensated me for 4 days of no internet, and eventually, they agreed to a 20% discount for 3 months.

Mobility app

The app is okay, but it sometimes kicks me out and asks for a password to log back in. And this password comes to my mobile SIM card. I once inserted it, and it connected to the internet again. But then they deducted 3 rubles. I wrote to the operator, 'What's going on?' And they said, 'Let's just disable internet on this SIM card altogether?' And I was like, 'What, was that an option?'

How it is now

As of now, my tariff
200 MBps for 450 rubles per month
has turned into
300 MBps for 450 rubles per month.

I'm still with this provider, but I keep an eye on the competition. To be honest, there aren't many alternatives in our area, and the others have similar quirks.