Cell C Network Issues: Disconnects, Coverage, Throughput Problems - Report Here

Cell C, is the packet loss problem only on your LTE network or is C-Fibre also affected? At this stage I'm very close to cancelling my LTE contract and am considering fibre options.
 
Location: Hilton (Pietermaritzburg)
Date & Time of Issue: Started 30th of August and is ongoing)
Device Manufacturer & Model: Huawei AF23
Contract Type: pre-paid 200 GB
Existing reference numbers from Helpdesk: 7090300333
www.speedtest.net results: Ping: 50ms Down: 0.75Mbps Up: 0.29Mbps
Cell ID: 8927076991422479120
Any other information relevant to the problem: Connection speed really unacceptable, was told it is due to upgrades on the Pietermaritzburg system, but I cannot even load some webpages due to time outs.
 
To all the gamers and the people that can check their packetloss.

It seems to been fixed I checked on my teamspeak I went from 20% to 0.01% at night so it seems to be fine my side.

Could you guys confirm I need to give the tech some feedback
 
Not gaming but noticed severe slow speeds Sunday night and into Monday. Nothing lost but downloads would continually drop out.
 
DTBA said:
To all the gamers and the people that can check their packetloss.

It seems to been fixed I checked on my teamspeak I went from 20% to 0.01% at night so it seems to be fine my side.

Could you guys confirm I need to give the tech some feedback
Click to expand...

It seems to have died down for me too since about 3 weeks ago. From having packetloss ALL THE TIME to mostly NOT having it now.
 
Went with Rain Lte through Ignite IS. Huawei router R1000. 120+120GB R999 per month. Month to month deal. Much better reception than cellc. MUCH better internet speeds than cellc in my area.

That is all.
 
@CellC rep

The packet loss issue seems to be back. Have you had any feed back on this from the network team.

On the 41.50 ip range at peak hours it goes up to 20%.

I tested this again cellc sim on cellc tower and vodacom tower same issue. But vodacom sim has 0% packetloss
 
My 2nd Mygica200 bundle was best value for money ever... will probably never be able to use it all with the speeds I am getting for the last 3 weeks. Can't do anything even when roaming on Vodacom. 0.6 download, 2.2 upload.
 
Hi just quickly asking if you guys could please give me an unrestricted apn, thanks
 
I have problems download a file from Amazon S3. It's only 1.5MB, but it takes forever.

So I tried a few pings to S3. Some of them are fine, but others are horrible. For example:
ping s3-1-w.amazonaws.com
PING s3-1-w.amazonaws.com (52.216.228.96) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=1 ttl=38 time=276 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=2 ttl=38 time=433 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=4 ttl=38 time=272 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=8 ttl=38 time=339 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=9 ttl=38 time=361 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=12 ttl=38 time=418 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=13 ttl=38 time=387 ms
^C
--- s3-1-w.amazonaws.com ping statistics ---
15 packets transmitted, 7 received, 53% packet loss, time 23345ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 272.902/355.819/433.520/59.171 ms

The tests at https://cloudharmony.com/speedtest-for-aws:s3 also fail.

And I was also unable to browse / search Giphy.com

Then I reconnected with Telkom LTE and everything worked (the download, the ping, the test and giphy.com).
 
Last edited:
nicroets said:
I have problems download a file from Amazon S3. It's only 1.5MB, but it takes forever.

So I tried a few pings to S3. Some of them are fine, but others are horrible. For example:
ping s3-1-w.amazonaws.com
PING s3-1-w.amazonaws.com (52.216.228.96) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=1 ttl=38 time=276 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=2 ttl=38 time=433 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=4 ttl=38 time=272 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=8 ttl=38 time=339 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=9 ttl=38 time=361 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=12 ttl=38 time=418 ms
64 bytes from 52.216.228.96: icmp_seq=13 ttl=38 time=387 ms
^C
--- s3-1-w.amazonaws.com ping statistics ---
15 packets transmitted, 7 received, 53% packet loss, time 23345ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 272.902/355.819/433.520/59.171 ms

The tests at https://cloudharmony.com/speedtest-for-aws:s3 also fail.

And I was also unable to browse / search Giphy.com

Then I reconnected with Telkom LTE and everything worked (the download, the ping, the test and giphy.com).
Click to expand...
Cellc has a massive Packet loss issue on peak times on their network It goes up to 25% for me for local. I am not talking about tower related But the Core itself

Capture.JPG

You can use the speed test app from http://www.pingtest.net/ for win10/8/7 to check how bad it is
 
Ping test had been discontinued and I can understand why: the traditional way for routers to handle congestion is to discard packets. Newer routers may have plenty of RAM and buffer several seconds of data. If latency is several seconds, then the connection will just as useless as when there is massive packet loss.

My gut feel is that Cell C has a descent local network and international traffic is suffering. Because so much content is served locally (YouTube, Google etc), the problem is rarely noticeable.

But try making an international WhatsApp call. It only uses 44 Kbps of bandwidth, so Cell C should handle it with ease. But it's a horrible experience.

I wonder if it's possible to bypass some of problems with a local proxy server, e.g. running it at the office where you have a fibre connection.
 
We're having massive issues with the Cell C network in the Blairgowrie area (and pretty much greater Randburg); when there's a connection, it's slow, and the rest of the time there is no network.

This is on several phones, and two different routers.
 
Last night just after the power went off it was absolutely horrible. So I check and sure enough it reverted to 3G. The LTE signal drifted between 0 and 1 bar and it was a mission to connect on it. Then just after it went back up this morning it's working again and checking the LTE signal is back. What is going on here?
 
nicroets said:
Ping test had been discontinued and I can understand why: the traditional way for routers to handle congestion is to discard packets. Newer routers may have plenty of RAM and buffer several seconds of data. If latency is several seconds, then the connection will just as useless as when there is massive packet loss.

My gut feel is that Cell C has a descent local network and international traffic is suffering. Because so much content is served locally (YouTube, Google etc), the problem is rarely noticeable.

But try making an international WhatsApp call. It only uses 44 Kbps of bandwidth, so Cell C should handle it with ease. But it's a horrible experience.

I wonder if it's possible to bypass some of problems with a local proxy server, e.g. running it at the office where you have a fibre connection.
Click to expand...

Well something is still wrong peak times . Two people sitting on teamspeak using 3g one using LTE. Both users on cellc :
packetloss.jpg
Capture.JPG
 
Last edited:
The infamous packetloss on Cell C is now back in full swing for me. I can only play on weekends now after 12AM using my Telkom 500GB.

Telkom: zero packetloss
MTN: zero packetloss
Vodacom: zero packetloss

I guess Cell C just wants to go against the grain.
 
HerZeLeiD said:
The infamous packetloss on Cell C is now back in full swing for me. I can only play on weekends now after 12AM using my Telkom 500GB.

Telkom: zero packetloss
MTN: zero packetloss
Vodacom: zero packetloss

I guess Cell C just wants to go against the grain.
Click to expand...
heads up tonight try tracert google.co.za
if you are on the 41.48 keep reconnecting till you get the 41.50 range you should be getting less packetloss . The 48.41 is giving me 20% packetloss
 
Little bit of rain and the network goes to hell again. 3G is a nightmare and LTE intermittently has one bar. It seems every time it goes out or possibly even the whole base and it defaults to other stations further away. Also doesn't seem to have battery backup. I'm starting to regret renewing this but it was short notice and didn't have a Telkom sim. Won't be making that mistake again.
 
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