Hi everyone! So I went into a Telkom Direct Store to sign up for the 10 gigs promotion. The guy at the store told me that only half of my property (the back half, where the house is not located) has 3G coverage - so I wasn't able to sign up for the contract. Can anyone advise me on how to get 8ta to extend their 3G coverage a couple more meters? I tried doing it via their website, but I get no response.
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8ta Coverage
- Thread starter COBOL
- Start date
carstensdj
Expert Member
According to the map there is no coverage in my area, it JUST goes around it by 1 block, but i still get from nothing - mildly good signal depending on where i am, so i'm sure that coverage will cover your entire property. Tell them you bought a 8ta pre paid SIM to test it on a 3G phone and it works... Perhaps do it for your own peace of mind... My Go Big deal has been awesome for the last 2months!
The 3G coverage map is not at all accurate. At my parents' home, it also shows that the reception only extends to the portion of the property where the house is not located, yet the signal in the house is great.
At my own flat, the map shows I am well within the covered zone, but I can barely pick up any signal at all even with a 3m USB extension out the window.
Rather buy the 2+1GB promo first to test signal before you sign a contract that may end up being useless to you. Testing with a normal prepaid SIM won't help, since those can roam on MTN, but the promo and data contract SIMs can only use 8ta's own towers.
Stefanmuller
Expert Member
Agreed. Got the promo when staying in D'urbanvale, only just within the map. Got great speeds. Moved end of December to Sonstraal Heights, about 5 km away, in the heart of the map and get terrible signal now. Maybe the speeds are just going down as more people are joining?
Thanks for the advice guys. I bought a prepaid sim, and I emailed 8ta to make it a non-roaming sim. I also emailed the help desk to tell them about my problem and this is the reply I got:
Good day
Please provide your address, please bear in mind that we will have to ask the network department if there are any site planning for the area.
Please bear in mind this does not mean that your request might get fulfilled as site plans might not have time frame for completion or full coverage.
Ref: #######
Regards
Liana
Good day
Please provide your address, please bear in mind that we will have to ask the network department if there are any site planning for the area.
Please bear in mind this does not mean that your request might get fulfilled as site plans might not have time frame for completion or full coverage.
Ref: #######
Regards
Liana
carstensdj
Expert Member
Can you not use another address by any chance? Family member, work address perhaps?
I could temporarily, but I really don't want to sign up for a 2 year internet contract and not be able to use it in my home. Does anyone know how long 8ta takes to convert a sim to non-roaming? And do they notify you when it's done?
carstensdj
Expert Member
Lol, no i meant, Can't you specify someone else's address in your application form? Didn't you say they were giving you trouble because the coverage map says it doesn't cover some of your property? Am i loosing my mind :wtf: ?
The best way to get your Sim converted to non-roaming is to call their customer care. I called customer care to have my Sim converted and it was done within 24hrs. To test if your Sim has been converted to non-roaming, put your Sim in a cellphone, do a manual network search, select the 8ta network(SA-02, ZAF 02 or 65502 on some phones). If it accepts the network then your Sim is converted, if it doesn't then your Sim is not converted.
I tried your way. Phoned customer care, and they converted my SIM to a data SIM immediately. This is the speed I'm getting:
This is actually better than what I get with Cell C. So after all that struggle to get connected, I'm happy with the results.
carstensdj
Expert Member
I tried your way. Phoned customer care, and they converted my SIM to a data SIM immediately. This is the speed I'm getting:
This is actually better than what I get with Cell C. So after all that struggle to get connected, I'm happy with the results.
WOAH :wtf: Check that Upload speed! Surely that's not right?
LOL i did another speed test this morning:
I've never experienced speeds like this before.
carstensdj
Expert Member
LOL i did another speed test this morning:
I've never experienced speeds like this before.
Very nice! What modem you using? What's your signal like?
I'm using the Huawei E1752 - got it when I bought the Cell C 2GBp/m. I'm not sure how I check signal strength...
carstensdj
Expert Member
What software are you using to connect with? I use the 8ta software which works with all Huawei (Not sure if thats spelt right...) devices and it shows in the bottom left corner
Speedster
Honorary Master
That looks about right. Here's what I'm getting, sitting on my couch: http://speedtest.net/result/1702786910.png
EDIT: This is on the Huawei E173 7.2Mbps modem
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I'm using the Cell C Connector. Since it worked, I didn't bother downloading the 8ta software
I know this is going to sound like a really stupid question, but when I'm actually downloading a file, I never get the speed that the speed test shows... for example, when my speed test showed a download speed of 2.5mbps, the download speed that Firefox showed was 200kbps... is this normal?
Speedster
Honorary Master
Are you sure that's kbps? Not maybe kBps?
carstensdj
Expert Member
Yea that's normal. I think it has to do with Contension Ratio's and how many people are connecting to the tower that you are connecting to...
My speed tests show 3Mbps on average, but my true download speed is anywhere from 100Kbps - 400Kbps, depending on signal strength and time of day...