3G in Carletonville

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fskmh

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Before I move to MTN, can someone tell me if there's a timeline for 3G in Carletonville?
 
Hi ic

If you means GPRS, yes. I've been using that for the last three years, but IMO the service has degraded since MNP.
 
fskmh said:
Hi ic

If you means GPRS, yes. I've been using that for the last three years, but IMO the service has degraded since MNP.
Click to expand...
Nope, I mean that you should post some of the tower GSM [2G] IDs in the area(s) where you need 3G - Vodacom usually adds 3G onto the same physical masts as Vodacom's 2G network, although on the same mast the 3G system actually becomes a separate radio network transmitting at a different frequency.

IOW, to find out about 3G plans in your area, post the 2G Cell IDs which gives v3g specific info to lookup 3G planning info in your area.

Use a cellphone with a Vodacom sim card and enable info display to get the cellphone to display the 2G Cell IDs.
 
@vodacom3g
Thanks for your response. Yes, I have checked the map, right down to my street. The weird thing is, when I zoom out again, I don't see any colouration denoting coverage, but I know for a fact that we've had GPRS for at least 3 years.

@ic
Sorry I wasn't quite up with the jargon, but now I know what LBS is :D .
Anyway, I switched my MPx200 into engineering mode and under Service Cell Info I see cID=43BE. So then I drove a few kms into town and I got the same cID. That can't be right, can it? I've heard of one-horse towns but not one cell-tower towns :p .
 
fskmh said:
@vodacom3g
Thanks for your response. Yes, I have checked the map, right down to my street. The weird thing is, when I zoom out again, I don't see any colouration denoting coverage, but I know for a fact that we've had GPRS for at least 3 years.

@ic
Sorry I wasn't quite up with the jargon, but now I know what LBS is :D .
Anyway, I switched my MPx200 into engineering mode and under Service Cell Info I see cID=43BE. So then I drove a few kms into town and I got the same cID. That can't be right, can it? I've heard of one-horse towns but not one cell-tower towns :p .
Click to expand...
Ok, you lost me with "LBS" :) - what is that an acronym for?

I was hoping you had a Nokia cellphone [don't know what a MPx200 is, but it's definitely not a Nokia], anyways on the Nokia phones a 2G base-station's human-meaningful name gets displayed, possibly along with "3G & HSDPA Enabled" if the 2G base-station also has a 3G base-station keeping it company on the same physical mast [note: not a guarantee of coverage as 3G coverage has a much smaller footprint than 2G has - mainly due to the higher frequency used, but still an indication that 3G might be within reach].
 
ic said:
Ok, you lost me with "LBS" :) - what is that an acronym for?

I was hoping you had a Nokia cellphone [don't know what a MPx200 is, but it's definitely not a Nokia], anyways on the Nokia phones a 2G base-station's human-meaningful name gets displayed, possibly along with "3G & HSDPA Enabled" if the 2G base-station also has a 3G base-station keeping it company on the same physical mast [note: not a guarantee of coverage as 3G coverage has a much smaller footprint than 2G has - mainly due to the higher frequency used, but still an indication that 3G might be within reach].
Click to expand...

I came across the term Location Based Services while searching for info on cell IDs:
http://www.integrat.co.za/?q=node/23
I wonder if it's really true that only VC supports LBS. Looks like there are some interesting applications for it other than asset tracking and employee stalking:
http://www.fitce.be/athens8s.pdf

I will try and get hold of a Nokia :sick: :p phone to get more info for v3g.
 
It should work on almost all phones in "standard mode", should be displayed just below Vodacom. MPx200 is a Motorola? Don't see why it wouldn't display it, had Motorolas before that did as well as my SE now.
 
Syndyre said:
It should work on almost all phones in "standard mode", should be displayed just below Vodacom. MPx200 is a Motorola? Don't see why it wouldn't display it, had Motorolas before that did as well as my SE now.
Click to expand...

Yes, you'd think it would but it just says "VodaCom-SA". I've never seen it display any info about the cell tower, and I know the phone pretty well, I upgraded it from WM2002 to WM2003 so I had to do some homework :D .
 
You can enable/disable cell-id's on most handsets.

We typically display the name of the cell you're attached to as well as if that tower is 3G enabled. All 3G towers are also HSDPA enabled.

A few points:

- The cell you're attached to might not be the closest one to you. Especially if you're high up. This can have an impact on LBS type services.

- 3G coverage is different and typically smaller than 2G. So the '3G Enabled' message won't always be 100%
 
In Carletonville you pick up either Carltonville-2 or Carltonville-3. 3g will be nice !
 
venom38 said:
In Carletonville you pick up either Carltonville-2 or Carltonville-3. 3g will be nice !
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's the info I was looking for. I was only picking up Carletonville-2, but hopefully that info will help v3g :D .
It may all end up being academic though, VC still has no answer to MTNSP's Extended Data contract.
 
fskmh,
Vodacom does provide LBS ( Location Based Services). They make use of the towers your phone connects to to determine your aproximate position. MTN estimates to be ready with their system at the end of this year.

The Vodacom 'Look for Me' system makes use of LBS.

If you would like to make use of LBS you can contact Integrat. We provide an API that can be used for LBS.
 
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