We'd need to escalate to MTN, cos it's pretty much the same network at the end of the day.
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Afrihost APN - no LTE problem
- Thread starter Web Telecom Services
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We'd need to escalate to MTN, cos it's pretty much the same network at the end of the day.
No, there is no such thing in place.
I have been waiting ages now for the provisioning to be done for my number but nothing has happened yet. They say only 2 people can do the LTE provisioning and that they sent the request through, and I'm not phoning and asking it to be done all over again for the 3rd time 
I have been waiting ages now for the provisioning to be done for my number but nothing has happened yet. They say only 2 people can do the LTE provisioning and that they sent the request through, and I'm not phoning and asking it to be done all over again for the 3rd time
Sorry to hear that. Drop me a PM and I'll confirm with MTN whether there provisioning is in place and if you should be getting LTE now
Turned off LTE on my iPhone 5, the Afrihost APN just doesn't work reliably in Umhlanga. It's like being on Cell C again, at least with 3G it stays connected. myMTN works flawlessly when the afrihost one doesn't, but I don't want to run through that hassle just to check mail.
That's pretty strange, it may be due to coverage issues in the area. I've actually asked for an LTE sim in my iPad to test on my side. Works like a bomb 100% when I'm at our offices right next to a tower near MTN's offices. Get pretty much continuous connectivity throughout Joburg, though LTE at my house isn't that great. Have you checked the LTE coverage in your area on MTN's coverage map?
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I've Been having the same issue for the last few days where there is no internet when LTE is enabled (iPhone says couldn't activate cellular data), but when I change APN to mymtn IN THE SAME GEOGRAPHICAL AREA, LTE works perfectly on MTN. They change back to Afrihost and can't use LTW only 3G
Clearly this is a Afrihost problem running our of LTE sessions on the MTN network and the geographical / coverage answer is total nonsense otherwise the same problem will be experienced on mymtn APN.
Afrihost please fix this. You are making extra money because downloads are constantly interrupted when trying to se LTE on Afrihost.
Clearly this is a Afrihost problem running our of LTE sessions on the MTN network and the geographical / coverage answer is total nonsense otherwise the same problem will be experienced on mymtn APN.
Afrihost please fix this. You are making extra money because downloads are constantly interrupted when trying to se LTE on Afrihost.
Dude, I and other people have mentioned this a lot but it seems to be missed every time,
When afrihost lte doesn't work, I change apn on the spot to mymtn and LTE works. Every time.
It's not coverage, it's afrihost apn not working. I change it back to afrihost and get told it cannot activate cellular network.
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No comment from Afrihost about this AFRIHOST technical error?
I think that's a pretty strong allegation. Technical errors can occur but to infer that we deliberately interrupt sessions to make extra money is ludicrous and a little offensive as well. At the end of the day, we run on the network as provided by MTN. There are many other service providers who use APN access, and ultimately the APN we use on MTN contract is the same as the APN on our own SIM cards, except that our SIMS aren't provisioned for the myMTN APN as well.
We have plenty of clients running on LTE using our SIMS who have no problem whatsoever. Without concrete conclusive diagnosis, there could be any number of issues that could be at play here. We'll talk to MTN about this, but as far as we know and have concluded in our end-to-end testing our LTE access works as it should.
w1tw0lf
Expert Member
Also seems like there is some sort of "shaping" been implemented. For example, android app updates/downloads will max out around 600KB/s while download windows software/updates it goes all the way up to 3MB/s. Might just be me but definitely seems like there is some sort of shaping been done. Also notice that some mornings, LTE is useless and only comes right in the afternoon.
Nothing to do with coverage or signal, modem plugged into a lte router which is sharing the connection via wifi and network cable. Never had these problems before untill mtn had an issue on the LTE network a week or two ago when there was na issue with the apn(not afrihost apn) on mtn side. Seems like since then it has gone downwards.
Nothing to do with coverage or signal, modem plugged into a lte router which is sharing the connection via wifi and network cable. Never had these problems before untill mtn had an issue on the LTE network a week or two ago when there was na issue with the apn(not afrihost apn) on mtn side. Seems like since then it has gone downwards.
SteveO
Expert Member
Afriman it sounds like an issue on MTNs EPC (probably PCRF)
If the APN works if already connected but a re-attach fails then there is some sort of policy within the EPC and PCRF that seems to either limit additional users. Perhaps there is an issue in re-connecting the context once a user goes out of LTE coverage and comes back in.
An investigation like this from MTN is going to take forever....they usually ask us to do this sort of thing.
If the APN works if already connected but a re-attach fails then there is some sort of policy within the EPC and PCRF that seems to either limit additional users. Perhaps there is an issue in re-connecting the context once a user goes out of LTE coverage and comes back in.
An investigation like this from MTN is going to take forever....they usually ask us to do this sort of thing.
Not saying anyone is being untruthful, just saying constructing conspiracy theories is not a very good way to go.
I need hard data to escalate to MTN and then we can go from there. I need specific times, test results, screen shots or whatever can demonstrate that there is an issue and exactly where it is occurring (as in GPS co-ordinates if possible). Because MTN will send out their coverage team to test in that exact location (which is also why we need to follow the coverage process).
There would definitely need to be some investigation, but the technicals would be lost on me
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Your explanation seems to explain what I gave been thinking all along, but my initial messages to Afrihost mentioned that I think MTN limits the amount of Afrihost LTE users because when on Afrihost LTE and session is connected all is fine. I have noticed that in the mornings if you are connected its fine, but if you reboot your phone it will not work on LTE (no IP address is assigned). Disable LTE on Afrihost and you immediately get an IP address on 3G.
Then change APN to mymtn and enable LTE. You immediately get an IP address and there is internet. Change to Afrihost APN and the LTE symbol goes away , comes back and then repeats the process over and over again (also I notice no ip received again).
This is costing the Afrihost customers money because if you are in the middle of a download and the Afrihost LTE limit has been reached you are disconnected and your download has to restart. So indirectly Afrihost is selling more mb's because of downloads that have to be unnecessarily restarted. If Afrihost would investigate the numerous reports the issue would be resolved.
I have even had a Afrihost call centre agent say he has exactly the same problem !
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Ok Afriman so you wanted evidence to substantiate what we are experience, well here it is. This ties in with what I have said before (either MTN limiting Afrihost to a certain amount of users or IP addresses on LTE or a policy at MTN on EPC and PCRF limiting new connections to LTE.
So this morning I was connected to LTE, had an IP address and all was working fine with LTE on the Afrihost APN at 07:16 this morning:
And you can see I have IP address 105.208.156.176 on LTE (Afrihost APN)
I then enable airplane mode and wait a minute, disable airplane mode and the problem is reproduced. The new LTE connection is not allowed by MTN - you can see there is no IP address even though I pressed reload to manually reload ip address
Next I change to mymtn APN and I get an IP address on mymtn LTE
As you can see, the IP address on mymtn LTE is 197.78.188.150
You now have the information you needed, kindly supply us with a MTN case number regarding this matter. I have noticed this problem is quite bad in the mornings ANYWHERE in South Africa. It is NOT coverage related because MTN LTE works perfectly while Afrihost LTE refuses to connect - in fact Im 99% sure Afrihost is being limited to the amount of simultaneous LTE sessions.
If Afrihost refuses to investigate then perhaps we should urge mybroadband to do their own independent tests and write a front page article about this issue ?
So this morning I was connected to LTE, had an IP address and all was working fine with LTE on the Afrihost APN at 07:16 this morning:
And you can see I have IP address 105.208.156.176 on LTE (Afrihost APN)
I then enable airplane mode and wait a minute, disable airplane mode and the problem is reproduced. The new LTE connection is not allowed by MTN - you can see there is no IP address even though I pressed reload to manually reload ip address
Next I change to mymtn APN and I get an IP address on mymtn LTE
As you can see, the IP address on mymtn LTE is 197.78.188.150
You now have the information you needed, kindly supply us with a MTN case number regarding this matter. I have noticed this problem is quite bad in the mornings ANYWHERE in South Africa. It is NOT coverage related because MTN LTE works perfectly while Afrihost LTE refuses to connect - in fact Im 99% sure Afrihost is being limited to the amount of simultaneous LTE sessions.
If Afrihost refuses to investigate then perhaps we should urge mybroadband to do their own independent tests and write a front page article about this issue ?
If there is anyone else experiencing this issue, please drop me a PM so we can create a list of who is experiencing this issue.
w1tw0lf
Expert Member
Dont think it is isolated issues @afriman. Read the thread, there is a few here that is experiencing crappy lte connections, specially in the mornings.
That's why I'd like to get a list going of all the numbers and contact details of those experience an issue so I can investigate further. Really can't do much further. As long as most clients are not experiencing this, which seems to be the case, we'll need to look at individual data and stats to look for trends and commonalities.