Cell C Limiting Speed?

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rvanwyk

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Bought a Cell C SIM to check what data speeds I get at home. ADSL is not an option, Telkom Mobile is slow as well as Neotel LTE.

Was very surprised when I got between 70Mbps and 82Mbps from my phone and between 60Mbps and 65Mbps from a ZTE router.

So with these speed tests done I went to a Cell C shop (Clearwater Mall) and bought a 100gb pre-paid SIM. Got home and then the problems started!

Throughput down to 20Mbps for any device. Done 20+ tests including a few this morning and all are pretty much exactly 20Mbps. Looks pretty much like it has been limited. Tested with my old Cell C SIM and get the same results.

Anyone else seen this? Did they switch off LTE-A? Very disappointing!
 
supersunbird said:
So you bought the 100gb pre-paid SIM yesterday? And those earlier tests done were yesterday or day before or weekend or...?
Click to expand...

Earlier tests were done a week or so ago with the last test on monday still showing 65Mbps. None of the tests were ever below 60Mbps.
 
i think they give priority to those test sims, as it happened to me as well very good speed on it but with the new sim and data its back to its old self
 
supersunbird said:
Have you tested in another area? Maybe the local tower has a fault....
Click to expand...

Well, I haven't seen these speeds yet in any other area. But will try.

Dretastic06 said:
i think they give priority to those test sims, as it happened to me as well very good speed on it but with the new sim and data its back to its old self
Click to expand...

Well, it wasn't a test SIM I used. I really think they just decided to limit the speeds.
 
rvanwyk said:
Bought a Cell C SIM to check what data speeds I get at home. ADSL is not an option, Telkom Mobile is slow as well as Neotel LTE.

Was very surprised when I got between 70Mbps and 82Mbps from my phone and between 60Mbps and 65Mbps from a ZTE router.

So with these speed tests done I went to a Cell C shop (Clearwater Mall) and bought a 100gb pre-paid SIM. Got home and then the problems started!

Throughput down to 20Mbps for any device. Done 20+ tests including a few this morning and all are pretty much exactly 20Mbps. Looks pretty much like it has been limited. Tested with my old Cell C SIM and get the same results.

Anyone else seen this? Did they switch off LTE-A? Very disappointing!
Click to expand...

Hi rvanwyk

Please PM or email your Cell C number + make & model of your device to [email protected]

Our team would like to look into the issue.

^BM
 
Experience the same problem on the gigs cards(throttling), have three different routers connected at the same time and as always the gigs card gives me the most pain. Event went as far as doing a simswap
 
RichardG said:
Experience the same problem on the gigs cards(throttling), have three different routers connected at the same time and as always the gigs card gives me the most pain. Event went as far as doing a simswap
Click to expand...

Hi RichardG

Please follow suit & PM your details.

We need make & model of your device, as well the Cell C number in question.

You can also email this information to [email protected], we would need to run tests.

^BM
 
Afternoon Cell C Representative

As mentioned on another post its The Huawei E5573-320(got from cell c), there is no way to force the actual device to use LTE/4G only which I find frustrating as 3 G connectivity is none existent http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=361058&d=1462902066 and with the ZTE MF910(got from cell c), works excellent without any hiccups as you able to force 4G on the device. The giga card in my position experiences throttling irrelevant of the routers used...

What I have noticed with the giga card it won't work forcing 4G on Huawei 594(latest cell c usim card that allows LTE), put contract sim card in same device able to pick up 4G without any hassles.

I have conducted lots of test downloading on contract and giga cards. Contract is the superior option - escalated the matter with your network/data desk. ..
 
@RichardG What happens if you disable roaming on all SIM's, including Giga card? It will give similar network conditions for all cards. If there is no "no roaming" option, similar effect can be achieved by doing manual network search and chosing "Cell C LTE" (it is on the screenshot you posted). I would do both.
 
I really believe there is throttling involved. My speeds just suddenly dropped as well. I will wait patiently for their LTE-A devices and then we will see. They can't do this forever without being caught out
 
sajunky said:
@RichardG What happens if you disable roaming on all SIM's, including Giga card? It will give similar network conditions for all cards. If there is no "no roaming" option, similar effect can be achieved by doing manual network search and chosing "Cell C LTE" (it is on the screenshot you posted). I would do both.
Click to expand...

Roaming is disabled on all routers but will try to manually select network and select 4G but highly doubt it will connect to 4G but rather to the best signal. Will conduct speed test in various locations this weekend.

Speed test 1 http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1930797972 changed server for second speed test http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/a/1930799409 - connected on LTE
 
Last edited:
I am getting the same problem, have the same 100GB package as well and according to the coverage map, in an LTE-A area. I activated my service this past weekend (15th of May) and haven't gone above 8Mbps for downloads. Pretty disappointed as I used to get almost the same on my old ADSL line. I am buying a HF Antennae today to see if I can boost the signal but so far not impressed. On my Vodacom LTE cell I get significantly higher speeds. If this holds up, I'm going to cancel this contract with CellC and move over to Vodacom.
 
ClivePillay said:
I am getting the same problem, have the same 100GB package as well and according to the coverage map, in an LTE-A area. I activated my service this past weekend (15th of May) and haven't gone above 8Mbps for downloads. Pretty disappointed as I used to get almost the same on my old ADSL line. I am buying a HF Antennae today to see if I can boost the signal but so far not impressed. On my Vodacom LTE cell I get significantly higher speeds. If this holds up, I'm going to cancel this contract with CellC and move over to Vodacom.
Click to expand...

Hi ClivePillay

Please PM or email your Cell C number + address to [email protected]

Our team will look into the matter.

^BM
 
RichardG said:
Afternoon Cell C Representative

As mentioned on another post its The Huawei E5573-320(got from cell c), there is no way to force the actual device to use LTE/4G only which I find frustrating as 3 G connectivity is none existent http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=361058&d=1462902066 and with the ZTE MF910(got from cell c), works excellent without any hiccups as you able to force 4G on the device. The giga card in my position experiences throttling irrelevant of the routers used...

What I have noticed with the giga card it won't work forcing 4G on Huawei 594(latest cell c usim card that allows LTE), put contract sim card in same device able to pick up 4G without any hassles.

I have conducted lots of test downloading on contract and giga cards. Contract is the superior option - escalated the matter with your network/data desk. ..
Click to expand...

Hi Richard, you can force 4G on the router, change auto to manual and click apply. It search's and brings up a list of networks and you can chose. It isn't very user friendly i must admit.
 
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