BlackBerry speed tests

last night speedtest...

Oct 15 20:40:16

Here are the Speedtest results for my Blackberry:

Connection Type: Carrier
Avg. Download Speed: 3.05Kbits/s
Max. Download Speed: 3.05Kbits/s

Avg. Upload Speed: 1.15Kbits/s
Max. Upload Speed: 1.15Kbits/s
 
I got these speed test results this morning past 3am.
It was amazing.
All apps worked so nice and fast.

Oct 16 03:30:21

Here are the Speedtest results for my Blackberry:

Connection Type: Carrier
Avg. Download Speed: 258.93Kbits/s
Max. Download Speed: 258.93Kbits/s

Avg. Upload Speed: 50.97Kbits/s
Max. Upload Speed: 54.2Kbits/s

Visit Xtreme Labs website at:
http://www.xtremelabs.com/apps

But now its back to the crawl again.
Hopefully these are the speeds we can expect after the BIS upgrade.

Testing at 3 in the morning is hardly a test, do this same test during business hours and post your results here. However that speed you got at 3am in the morning is how Blackberry "should" be performing for each and every user 24 hours a day but that's just not the case.
 
Hello Peter Complaint and Phone Call from Vodacom

Vodacom phoned me today and was very excited to tell me that the Blackberry service is now 100% sorted out. The guy was completely unaware of the fact that there's apparently a whole upgrade happening with regards to the link to RIM, he said "No, everyone's profiles just had to be reset." - but I still don't see any improvement. VodacomData, can you actually confirm that there is indeed an upgrade taking place? No one else knows about this???

Also, I see that they updated my hellopeter complaint and said "Problems Resolved"... You guys all still also experiencing slow browsing during the day?

Maybe I must complain again and this time make it a little more clear...
 
They are either talking k@k or they forgot to 'reset' my profile..

Oct 16 14:59:39

Here are the Speedtest results for my Blackberry:

Connection Type: Carrier
Avg. Download Speed: 4.97Kbits/s
Max. Download Speed: 4.97Kbits/s

Avg. Upload Speed: 2.5Kbits/s
Max. Upload Speed: 7.34Kbits/s

Visit Xtreme Labs website at:
http://www.xtremelabs.com/apps
 
What do we do now?

Well, what do we do now... complain again on Hello Peter? At least I got a response: http://hellopeter.com/vodacom-complaint-[330925] but it didn't really help at all. And I know that emailing [email protected] as they suggested is not going to help at all.

Any suggestions? As long as I know for sure that they're upgrading their capacity as stated on Tuesday and that it'll be better in 10 days time I'm happy to wait...but somehow only Vodacom Data knew about this...
 
I am not exactly sure, but these might be two seperate cases. Yesterday mail & BB instant messages seemed to have been delayed. This now seems to be have been corrected now. The upgrade mentioned by VD will sort out the speed for browsing as this does not affect the delivery of mail and BB messages. E&OE :p
 
Bis still sucks on vc. The only thing that was resolved was vc's continued commitment to shafting the customer.
 
Is VC BIS really fixed?

The performance on my phone certainly does not indicate improvement, nor do my Speed test results:

Oct 16 21:40:27

Here are the Speedtest results for my Blackberry:

Connection Type: Carrier
Avg. Download Speed: 9.33Kbits/s
Max. Download Speed: 46.17Kbits/s

Avg. Upload Speed: 3.31Kbits/s
Max. Upload Speed: 3.31Kbits/s

Visit Xtreme Labs website at:
http://www.xtremelabs.com/apps
Sent via my BlackBerry

If this is fixed, then there must be something terribly wrong with my Blackberry 8520 handset.

Is it just me or anyone else finding similar results?

Just to test, I did one more Speed test for the sake of my sanity since they say BIS is fixed:

Oct 16 21:56:42

Here are the Speedtest results for my Blackberry:

Connection Type: Carrier
Avg. Download Speed: 7.87Kbits/s
Max. Download Speed: 46.17Kbits/s

Avg. Upload Speed: 7.61Kbits/s
Max. Upload Speed: 34.34Kbits/s

Visit Xtreme Labs website at:
http://www.xtremelabs.com/apps
Sent via my BlackBerry

It seems my sanity is still intact, however the one who said VC BIS is fixed needs a Speed test of a different nature :eek:
 
I am not exactly sure, but these might be two seperate cases. Yesterday mail & BB instant messages seemed to have been delayed. This now seems to be have been corrected now. The upgrade mentioned by VD will sort out the speed for browsing as this does not affect the delivery of mail and BB messages. E&OE :p

. Two seperate issues...two seprate fixes...email and bb messages fixed....speed not fixed yet. To be fixed by the link upgrade VD told us about...date of implementation was something like the 24th of this month.
 
@ocleroux, thanks for clearing that up.

Guess when it does rain it pours, so email and messenger fell over compounding the existing bandwidth issue.

So that has been sorted then.

It can _only_ get better from this point on, surely ;)
 
Vodacom is still denying that there is a problem after the reply i got from them on Hellopeter.

This is what happend on hellopeter:

My problem as described below was not solved as the Vodacom rep says in his reply. Just another runaround from Vodacom!

I fell for the Vodacom Blackberry 8520 scam. They are advertising that you can get unlimited on device internet. The problem is that you rarely get a connection you can actualy use. Most of the time when you try to access the internet it times out or takes ages to load. I found out that vodacom is over subscribed on the BIS but wont acknowledge that there is a problem. I have friends on the MTN Blackberry Intenet Service and they have no complaints about internet on their devices.
I called Vodacom a few times they told me to take my battery out for 30 seconds and try to access the internet again. I would like to get a straight answer from Vodacom as to what the problem is and what is being planned to rectify this problem. The time for denial is over. The problem is obvious!


Hello xlungu,
Kindly be advised that we have liaised with our Advanced Data Support Desk who advised that there were problems being experienced with the Blackberry International Gateway which has since been resolved.
Should you have any further queries, please contact us via...
 
Vodacom is still denying that there is a problem after the reply i got from them on Hellopeter.

This is what happend on hellopeter:

My problem as described below was not solved as the Vodacom rep says in his reply. Just another runaround from Vodacom!

I fell for the Vodacom Blackberry 8520 scam. They are advertising that you can get unlimited on device internet. The problem is that you rarely get a connection you can actualy use. Most of the time when you try to access the internet it times out or takes ages to load. I found out that vodacom is over subscribed on the BIS but wont acknowledge that there is a problem. I have friends on the MTN Blackberry Intenet Service and they have no complaints about internet on their devices.
I called Vodacom a few times they told me to take my battery out for 30 seconds and try to access the internet again. I would like to get a straight answer from Vodacom as to what the problem is and what is being planned to rectify this problem. The time for denial is over. The problem is obvious!


Hello xlungu,
Kindly be advised that we have liaised with our Advanced Data Support Desk who advised that there were problems being experienced with the Blackberry International Gateway which has since been resolved.
Should you have any further queries, please contact us via...

Well, not sure what has been resolved, but here is my very latest Speed test result which somehow does not seem to make _resolved_ ring very true :confused:

Oct 19 21:03:59

Here are the Speedtest results for my Blackberry:

Connection Type: Carrier
Avg. Download Speed: 8.02Kbits/s
Max. Download Speed: 173.85Kbits/s

Avg. Upload Speed: 3.92Kbits/s
Max. Upload Speed: 27.51Kbits/s

Visit Xtreme Labs website at:
http://www.xtremelabs.com/apps
Sent via my BlackBerry

While I do understand that posting Speed tests also has an impact on VC's network, it is the only way to carve into stone exactly the type of throughput we are experiencing and have to live with.

This thread exists for exactly that reason, to document the issue.

These are time stamped and the application leaves its mark as proof.

Until I see significant improvement in usability borne out of better Speed test results, I will have to say take the _resolved_ story with a pinch of salt :erm:

So we have five more days to go to 24 October 2009 as per VCD announcement, when we can expect bandwidth upgrades to RIM, no salt involved there at all.
 
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I've taken out a contract with MTN now, I figured that the amount of time wasted on Vodacom calls and destroying my phone's back cover after having to "hard boot" it for the 100th time as per the lovely consultants on 155, it's just not worth it.

So, Vodacom will be getting a lovely R200 per month from me for the next 24 months, sad sad sad, but unfortunately hiring a lawyer to get me out of this contract will just cost waaay too much money. And not paying it will only destroy my credit record. So Vodacom wins again - Congratulations!!!! So I've made peace with it, Vodacom will in total get R4800 from me over the next 2 years, while not providing me with any BIS service or anything. I cut the SIM card up and went to the MTN store today to get a new Blackberry on a new contract.

Needless to say, it's working like a dream on MTN and I'm loving the Blackberry experience for the first time. It's a costly lesson for me, next time I'm going to investigate much more before I sign a contract. What's sad is that in South Africa you need to research first before you decide who to sign a contract with because no one gives a damn, they're all too helpful to get you into the one-sided contract, but from there you're on your own and complaining to ICASA is a total joke. So they get away with it.

At least I managed to sell the Vodacom Blackberry to someone for R2000 so I got some of the wasted Vodacom money back at least.(I told them Vodacom Blackberry Internet is AMAZING!).
 
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I've taken out a contract with MTN now, I figured that the amount of time wasted on Vodacom calls and destroying my phone's back cover after having to "hard boot" it for the 100th time as per the lovely consultants on 155, it's just not worth it.

So, Vodacom will be getting a lovely R200 per month from me for the next 24 months, sad sad sad, but unfortunately hiring a lawyer to get me out of this contract will just cost waaay too much money. And not paying it will only destroy my credit record. So Vodacom wins again - Congratulations!!!! So I've made peace with it, Vodacom will in total get R4800 from me over the next 2 years, while not providing me with any BIS service or anything. I cut the SIM card up and went to the MTN store today to get a new Blackberry on a new contract.

Needless to say, it's working like a dream on MTN and I'm loving the Blackberry experience for the first time. It's a costly lesson for me, next time I'm going to investigate much more before I sign a contract. What's sad is that in South Africa you need to research first before you decide who to sign a contract with because no one gives a damn, they're all too helpful to get you into the one-sided contract, but from there you're on your own and complaining to ICASA is a total joke. So they get away with it.

At least I managed to sell the Vodacom Blackberry to someone for R2000 so I got some of the wasted Vodacom money back at least.(I told them Vodacom Blackberry Internet is AMAZING!).

Just a bit of info for your information. I've had contracts with mtn since february this year. I have yet to receive a statement from them. I see the payments going off my bank statements but I don't know what its for.

So the grass is not always greener on the other side. I'm also unable to check my balances via ussd as its always down and when its working it takes at least a week to update.

Calling 808 doesn't help either. I've logged numerous call all without success. Goodluck with mtn.
 
Just a bit of info for your information. I've had contracts with mtn since february this year. I have yet to receive a statement from them. I see the payments going off my bank statements but I don't know what its for.

So the grass is not always greener on the other side. I'm also unable to check my balances via ussd as its always down and when its working it takes at least a week to update.

Calling 808 doesn't help either. I've logged numerous call all without success. Goodluck with mtn.

so it sounds that you are stuck either way with getting a BlackBerry for the "amazing free internet service". Go with MTN and you dont get any support, go with Vodacom and their service is over subscribed (cant belive they still deny this absolute fact, just do one search for BlackBerry on this site to see why). So I guess right now a BlackBerry is a no go, oh man how I miss O2 now :(

luckily I checked the forums before signing my 24 month contract with Vodacom. I was about to get the Bold this week, so were two mates of mine (they were goin for the Storm). but after reading all of the reports on the crappy BIS vodacom offers, will give it a pass right now. Cant believe Vodacom can be so stupid though, they could have gained most of the BlackBerry market, but with speeds like that noboddy will renew their contract. ah well, good ol SA> ;)
 
luckily I checked the forums before signing my 24 month contract with Vodacom. I was about to get the Bold this week, so were two mates of mine (they were goin for the Storm). but after reading all of the reports on the crappy BIS vodacom offers, will give it a pass right now. Cant believe Vodacom can be so stupid though, they could have gained most of the BlackBerry market, but with speeds like that noboddy will renew their contract. ah well, good ol SA> ;)
If the speeds are any indication then there is a good chance they have gained more than their fair share of the market - and we, the existing consumer, are reaping the "benefits" :mad:

I purposely haven't renewed my contract so I'm more than prepared to change to MTN if Vodacom doesn't live up to their assurances and sort this out by the end of the month - and by sort it out I mean something sustainable.
 
Is my imagination or is the network a bit better than the normal no performance

I can actually open a website again
 
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It does look a little bit better. Maybe its faster because of all the customers that left vodacom. Hahahaha!
 
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