3G Blues Again.

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The thought hasn't even occurred to me that my phone might be faulty, because its about 3 weeks old, so I highly doubt something being flaky.

I understand its not a modem, but being able to receive the 2000Mhz signal means it can USE the signal, and by far i haven't read a report or review from any online hardware expert that the HSDPA support is anything less than adequate. :)

Psycho, your profile is now on HSDPA, but it would not have changed the symbol on your phone, it would just have limited your speed. I've forwarded your details, but can you try getting your hands on a 3G modem and test with that, using your SIM and in the same area.

Your phone is a new variable and it makes sense to eliminate it as soon as possible as a potential problem.
 
My phone stays on the HSDPA signal, which is a start, and i have seen increases in data throughput, though still not constant, I'll try my best to find someone that has a HSDPA modem, hmmm, I think the ones I know still use 3G standard, oh well, let me make a few calls

I will keep you informed about any development in the situation, and when I feel up to it (carefully watching my bundle), ill do a speed test again and post the results, oh and i've noticed the faster the speed test, the more data is wasted :( .
 
My phone stays on the HSDPA signal, which is a start, and i have seen increases in data throughput, though still not constant, I'll try my best to find someone that has a HSDPA modem, hmmm, I think the ones I know still use 3G standard, oh well, let me make a few calls

I will keep you informed about any development in the situation, and when I feel up to it (carefully watching my bundle), ill do a speed test again and post the results, oh and i've noticed the faster the speed test, the more data is wasted :( .

I've seen the same. Need to investigate a bit more, but probably the test runs for a specific period and not a specific file size. It will give a better result.

Otherwise you could always test in another area with your phone. Maybe go to a Vodashop and let them run the test on one of their modems. Then run the same test on your phone and compare results.
 
Well i THINK the problem might be sorted out v3g, thanks alot, I've tested the speed again yesterday afternoon, and this is what i got:

Download Speed: 1352 kbps (169 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 270 kbps (33.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

It's quite "nice", but still on the low side, I expected more because i am literally in throwing distance of the tower, but the increase from 3g to hsdpa is acceptable. Thank you again for your great help, I'll come find you again when i need assistance with a situation, cause the strange fact is, the forum gives results faster than calling customer "care" :D
 
Well i THINK the problem might be sorted out v3g, thanks alot, I've tested the speed again yesterday afternoon, and this is what i got:

Download Speed: 1352 kbps (169 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 270 kbps (33.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

It's quite "nice", but still on the low side, I expected more because i am literally in throwing distance of the tower, but the increase from 3g to hsdpa is acceptable. Thank you again for your great help, I'll come find you again when i need assistance with a situation, cause the strange fact is, the forum gives results faster than calling customer "care" :D

1.3Mb/s is not too shabby.....As the network is upgraded to handle 3.6Mb/s you'll see a nice spin-off in increased throughput as well.
 
Is there any way of finding out the schedule of tower upgrades in a specific area? :) Or is that information on a need to know basis?

They say 1.8mb down and 384kbps up in PERFECT conditions, well I am going to setup my pc and modem on the balcony, in this way I will have perfect line of site to the tower, with no tree obstructions and building signal degradation, and about 100m from tower.

I will post the results then, and if i dont get really close to 1.8, then I dont know what perfect conditions are :(
 
Is there any way of finding out the schedule of tower upgrades in a specific area? :) Or is that information on a need to know basis?

They say 1.8mb down and 384kbps up in PERFECT conditions, well I am going to setup my pc and modem on the balcony, in this way I will have perfect line of site to the tower, with no tree obstructions and building signal degradation, and about 100m from tower.

I will post the results then, and if i dont get really close to 1.8, then I dont know what perfect conditions are :(

Only you and no-one else on the tower? And no-one sharing the backhaul with you?
 
AH,

"HSDPA with access wherever, whenever you want, capable of speeds of up to 1.8mbps* , enjoy internet the way it's meant to be!"








*Only possible in conditions that don't exist :)
 
AH,

"HSDPA with access wherever, whenever you want, capable of speeds of up to 1.8mbps* , enjoy internet the way it's meant to be!"








*Only possible in conditions that don't exist :)

I've seen damn close to 1.8 (1.72, I think it was), but practically there are many limiting factors. For example how do you control the number of users per tower in a mobile environment?
 
I also saw the same post of the one person who got extremely close to 1.8, I think he tested at a mall, which makes sense, because who at a mall browses the internet :), so he was one of few that used the tower, I will move my modem outside later tonight, when most of the children and gamers on HSDPA and 3G have gone to sleep, and see what my record is, It is just something I'm curious about.

The schedule of tower upgrades in certain locations are confidential I guess, or not?
Because I can't wait to break the 3mb mark.
 
Now this is very interesting. There was an article about Vodacom successfully taking on Telkom about its advertising of its ADSL speeds http://mybroadband.co.za/news/ADSL/668.html.

Why then can Vodacom advertise its 3G and HSDPA offers as 384 kbps and 1.8 Mbps respectively?

I think it's because of the fact that a higher percentage of people who use HSDPA and 3G report close to maximum speed, and that there are a lot of factors vodacom can quote that causes low speeds they cant help.

On the other hand, Telkom uses land lines, so they can't give excuses why so many of their clients have less than average speeds. But this is only my best guess.
 
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Now this is very interesting. There was an article about Vodacom successfully taking on Telkom about its advertising of its ADSL speeds http://mybroadband.co.za/news/ADSL/668.html.

Why then can Vodacom advertise its 3G and HSDPA offers as 384 kbps and 1.8 Mbps respectively?

Actually Vodacom cannot claim the 1.8Mb/s speed anymore. ASA first stopped Vodacom from making these wire-speed statements.

We then pointed out that everyone else (MTN, Telkom, etc.) use the same (physic layer speed) to brand their products, so now ASA is stopping everyone.

We tried to explain to them that it's the only way you can spec a product. For example you're probably now working on 100Mb/s Ethernet and you know it as such. Reality dictates that you're probably closer to 60 - 70 Mb/s. The first guy that can show me he can get 54Mb/s on 802.11g will receive a bottle of rare scotch from me.

The problem is how do you spec a product at the datalink layer (where the network has control) but the user experience sits at the application layer?

You need a way to differentiate products. rpm is also looking into this.
 
I also saw the same post of the one person who got extremely close to 1.8, I think he tested at a mall, which makes sense, because who at a mall browses the internet :), so he was one of few that used the tower, I will move my modem outside later tonight, when most of the children and gamers on HSDPA and 3G have gone to sleep, and see what my record is, It is just something I'm curious about.

The schedule of tower upgrades in certain locations are confidential I guess, or not?
Because I can't wait to break the 3mb mark.

Try from 2am onwards....;) And by 7am it's flatout again.....
 
YIKES

This is most definately SA ....Everything gets Hijacked these days, even threads....Lol

Anyway, back to post 1.

I received a call from Customer Care, and they have noted my problem and assured me that I will not be paying OOB rates for data I have used after activating the extra Gig on the weekend.

I am a bit sceptical though, based on what has happened to me in the past, and this exra bundle still does not show on my current usage on the account info page. I queried this as was told I need to monitor my usage by calling 082 155.

Seriously, cant someone just fix the website? I want to know why my bundle doest show usage, when it shows its activated under the services page.

@V3g....If it so happens I get the OOB bill for this bundle, are you gonna help me challenge some accounts people on that?
 
YIKES

This is most definately SA ....Everything gets Hijacked these days, even threads....Lol

Anyway, back to post 1.

I received a call from Customer Care, and they have noted my problem and assured me that I will not be paying OOB rates for data I have used after activating the extra Gig on the weekend.

I am a bit sceptical though, based on what has happened to me in the past, and this exra bundle still does not show on my current usage on the account info page. I queried this as was told I need to monitor my usage by calling 082 155.

Seriously, cant someone just fix the website? I want to know why my bundle doest show usage, when it shows its activated under the services page.

@V3g....If it so happens I get the OOB bill for this bundle, are you gonna help me challenge some accounts people on that?

24-48 Hours. Not clock hours, daylight hours. They only work during the day. So I guess by Monday/Tuesday next week you will see the results. :p
 
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