3G Problems in Pta area

I am still experiencing error 619 in PTA area. I logged a call via vodacom4me last night. Followed the call up this morning, I was just called back by Devon. There is once again a general 619 error in the PTA area. Devon will escalate the problem.

I can only connect using gprs. Anyone in PTA area able to connect via 3G?

SoftDev
 
ic,

Mine shows 3 bars, not connected and Vodacom. As I understand this, there is a good 3g signal, for some reason I just cannot connect. The problem is still ongoing today (now the 3rd day). I duel boot between xp and linux, both of them cannot connect on 3G. GPRS is fine though.

I am going to a friend's house this afternoon in Centurion; I'll take the laptop with and see if I can connect.
 
ic,

I went to my friend's house in Centurion; VMC shows 2 bars, not connected and Vodacom. This time I can connected via 3G. I disconnected and re-connected 3 times and left 3G running for about an hour, no problems.

Back here in Faerie Glen I still cannot get connected, still getting 619. I suspect that the 3G tower (Cabana-Glen-3) has a little problem. Hopefully the technicians will be able to resolve the problem tomorrow, as per the data helpdesk the technicians only really work Monday - Friday.

What a disappointment this weekend, after the April downlink stop problem I have had a 619 problem twice maybe. 3G has been very stable and I have been really impressed, especially after the credit to my account for the April problem. It is a pity that in one weekend Vodacom can damage the reputation that they had with me. I guess it is no help in bitching…at least it feels good ;-)
 
ic said:
Maybe the problem is one of high contention issues with the Faerie Glen 3G|HSDPA base-station, v3g?
Click to expand...

The eastern side of Pta does seem to come up frequently? But then, so does Pta in general.....:(

Last time Softdev had a problem, the guys did do something to get it working, but this time it might just be congestion. Will ask tomorrow and feed back.
 
v3g,

Received a call from the engineer today, as I suspected there is a problem with the tower. Not sure how long it will take to fix. I think that someone is working there now as the 3g on the VMC is behaving differently than yesterday. Acquiring...Vodacom..Acquiring etc. During the weekend it used to show Vodacom all the time.

Hopefully the reason is that an engineer is working on the problem...let's look at the glass as half full ;-)

I would still appreciate it if you could inform me what was wrong with that tower?

Thanks
 
SoftDev said:
v3g,

Received a call from the engineer today, as I suspected there is a problem with the tower. Not sure how long it will take to fix. I think that someone is working there now as the 3g on the VMC is behaving differently than yesterday. Acquiring...Vodacom..Acquiring etc. During the weekend it used to show Vodacom all the time.

Hopefully the reason is that an engineer is working on the problem...let's look at the glass as half full ;-)

I would still appreciate it if you could inform me what was wrong with that tower?

Thanks
Click to expand...

As soon as I know, you'll know ;)
 
v3g,

Although I can now connect via 3G again, the speed is not good:
Download Speed: 118 kbps (14.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 55 kbps (6.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

I did a speed test last night and received the same results.

Should I log a new call with the helpdesk? Maybe there is still something wrong with the tower?

Thanks
 
SoftDev said:
v3g,

Although I can now connect via 3G again, the speed is not good:
Download Speed: 118 kbps (14.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 55 kbps (6.9 KB/sec transfer rate)

I did a speed test last night and received the same results.

Should I log a new call with the helpdesk? Maybe there is still something wrong with the tower?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Please do, and cc me if you still have my e-mail.
 
v3g,

Sorry I do not have your e-mail. I did call the helpdesk, the call for the 619 error is still in a pending status, they did not want to open another one. I then chatted to the engineer (Andre) again. He will get someone to have a look at the tower again. Andre has me cell number and will call me he says.

I did another speed test (this time under Linux) and I still get 14.3 KB/sec dowload and 7.1 KB/sec upload.

Thanks
 
v3g & all,

Can there be a problem with the data card that have the effect of limiting ones' download speed on 3G? Using the speed tests from Vodacom and Telkom I now only manages to get a download speed of between 14.x - 14.9 KB/sec, not a bit or byte more. I did these tests using Windows and Linux and consistently get the same results. (I clear the cache each time before I do the test). In the past (about 2 weeks ago) I managed to get an average of 37 – 43 KB/sec.

I even brought my laptop to work (in Sandton) today and here I also get the same speed results 14.x – 14.9 KB/sec.

Any ideas?
 
I received a call from Vodacom Network people stating that the tower in my area and a number of others are not coping with the amount of traffic.

They have seemingly allowed for very little or no "head-space" when planning the network.

I was advised not to purchase any Vodacom Data products untill they commission a new tower.

Farken lovely !
 
MyDraadloos said:
I received a call from Vodacom Network people stating that the tower in my area and a number of others are not coping with the amount of traffic.

They have seemingly allowed for very little or no "head-space" when planning the network.

I was advised not to purchase any Vodacom Data products untill they commission a new tower.

Farken lovely !
Click to expand...

Crazy....won't you PM me the details of this call you got. Just a silly statement for them to make. There might be delays in getting capacity, etc. but it must be sorted.
 
v3g & all,

Received a call from the helpdesk, they have re-tested the tower, all is OK. I was advised to have the card tested at Vodaworld.

At Vodaworld the person (Chris) tested the 3G card and stated that the download speed of 14.x KB/sec is within acceptable range and is fast enough. I disagreed as two week ago I was still getting 37 - 43 KB/sec. Chris also said there might be something wrong with the card. His advice is to swap the card for the new HSDPA ones'.

I reluctantly did it, I work with Linux and I just new I was going to have problems getting the new card to work under Linux.

I tested my new HSDPA card (using only 3G) and now once again I am getting speeds on 3G of between 37 - 43 KB/sec. Very strange...

Connecting at HSDPA speeds...well then the thing moves like a bullet...now I need to get Linux up and running.
 
Pta isn't the only place experience problems with 3G atm, Durban seems to have it now as well.

I know i'm kind of hijacking this thread, but I'm getting thoroughly fed up with this right now... I've had to reconnect at least 5 times this evening. My connection either just stops responding entirely while i'm in the middle of doing something, or it just disconnects all on its own. Is this an issue with the towers themselves or what cos this is a fairly new issue for me on 3G.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Pta isn't the only place experience problems with 3G atm, Durban seems to have it now as well.

I know i'm kind of hijacking this thread, but I'm getting thoroughly fed up with this right now... I've had to reconnect at least 5 times this evening. My connection either just stops responding entirely while i'm in the middle of doing something, or it just disconnects all on its own. Is this an issue with the towers themselves or what cos this is a fairly new issue for me on 3G.
Click to expand...


/me recons that ever since they launced their HSDPA service all the 3G and GPRS users have become second class citizens on their network.
 
From the latest load of excuses I had to listen to this morning I think it is going to get worse before it gets better.

Even the people working at Vodacom have admitted that most of the problems started after the HSDPA service was introduced.

This is what happens when you have a bastardized network of non-matching bits and pieces.
 
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