Cool Ideas Fixed 5G/4G Feedback Thread

PBCool said:
Vodacom dont know why this happened, they built us a new NAS to terminate on to fix the routing issue. Basically took 24hrs of escalating and speaking to tons of their people. Once we have their RFO we will share.
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man going through all that trouble... doesn't make it seem quite worth it... But I suppose diversifying portfolios...
 
PBCool said:
Vodacom dont know why this happened, they built us a new NAS to terminate on to fix the routing issue. Basically took 24hrs of escalating and speaking to tons of their people. Once we have their RFO we will share.
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Since the new NAS, I've been experiencing the following drops/fluctuations in network reception way too often. Was so much better before the 5G went down. Even now, the light on my router is blue indicating 3G/LTE only connection. I'm not receiving 5G reception that I used to get when I signed up towards end Nov.

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@SHL: Are you still connecting on the same 5G and 4G bands that you were originally?

You should be able to check the bands from the System -> Device Information Menu. If these have changed you can manually reset the bands using the Developer Options menu (use same router pw). I have found that I get better stability using the 5G N41 band together with the 4G B41 band rather than N41 together with B1 and B3 which is usually the automatic selection. I am unable to connect on N78 although it is available to some customers. You can also try B8 if available.

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Jake45 said:
@SHL: Are you still connecting on the same 5G and 4G bands that you were originally?

You should be able to check the bands from the System -> Device Information Menu. If these have changed you can manually reset the bands using the Developer Options menu (use same router pw). I have found that I get better stability using the 5G N41 band together with the 4G B41 band rather than N41 together with B1 and B3 which is usually the automatic selection. I am unable to connect on N78 although it is available to some customers. You can also try B8 if available.

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Let me try this. Will provide feedback. All I can tell u is that my router is permanently showing the blue 3G/LTE light at the moment and it's been like this since the new APN was issued to CI by Vodacom. The connection just drops intermittently, very irritating.
 
Jake45 said:
@SHL: Are you still connecting on the same 5G and 4G bands that you were originally?

You should be able to check the bands from the System -> Device Information Menu. If these have changed you can manually reset the bands using the Developer Options menu (use same router pw). I have found that I get better stability using the 5G N41 band together with the 4G B41 band rather than N41 together with B1 and B3 which is usually the automatic selection. I am unable to connect on N78 although it is available to some customers. You can also try B8 if available.

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I checked now and this is what I'm seeing. There's zero 5G information/data. I have not changed any settings as suggested yet. Pls advise.

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OK, try the NR5G band first. Just tap or click on all of the NR5G bands to remove the blue highlight and then select only 41 and 78. Once those two bands are highlighted tap the apply button below. This should cause the router to reboot and the top red light to turn on. Once the router has rebooted check to see if anything has changed in the Device Information Menu i.e. if any 5G band has now been selected and the top light has turned white.

If not you can then try to see whether turning on a different 4G band helps. Start by selecting the 4G bands 1 and 3 and see if there is any improvement. You can try the 1, 3, 8, 38 or 41 bands. Some of those bands may not be available on all towers. I am hoping that a different choice of bands might improve things. You can also try to rotate the direction of the router ...
 
SHL said:
Let me try this. Will provide feedback. All I can tell u is that my router is permanently showing the blue 3G/LTE light at the moment and it's been like this since the new APN was issued to CI by Vodacom. The connection just drops intermittently, very irritating.
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Changing NAS obviously has nothing to do with coverage, is your phone on Vodacom by chance?
 
cavedog said:
Vodacom doesn't own any spectrum in Band 38. The only network that does is Rain. It's been ages now but Vodacom does use Rain spectrum for its own customers. They essentially share the spectrum on the same tower.
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Yeah which may explain the variance for fixed 5G vs a roaming 5G sim.
 
PBCool said:
Yeah which may explain the variance for fixed 5G vs a roaming 5G sim.
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Yeah. Also Rain customers only connect to Rain towers and spectrum but Vodacom can connect to their own and Rain so if that Rain spectrum on the tower is congested it will be slow for both Rain and Vodacom customers.

Generally, I would advise to avoid Band 38 for this reason unless it gives good performance but usually 5pm to 9am speeds nose dive big time.

@SHL Might be worth a try to switch Band 38 and 41 off. Why 41 also because 41 overlaps band 38 frequency they are just separated because of 3GPP standards.
 
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cavedog said:
Vodacom doesn't own any spectrum in Band 38. The only network that does is Rain. It's been ages now but Vodacom does use Rain spectrum for its own customers. They essentially share the spectrum on the same tower.
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Does band 41 and 38 overlap at all?

I have seen MTN use band 41, so guessing MTN might have some spectrum there too.
 
Jason-ZA said:
Does band 41 and 38 overlap at all?

I have seen MTN use band 41, so guessing MTN might have some spectrum there too.
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Yes they do overlap. MTN got temp spectrum for covid in band 41 and then if I'm not mistaken bought in the spectrum auction. Don't quote me on that.

Band 38 is a very specific frequency range that is actually covered in full by Band 41 so if you set your router to Band41 it can also connect to Rain's band 38 range for example.
 
I will try switching bands but the question I asked CI still remains unanswered - Why am I experiencing these connectivity issues after the new APN was assigned? (I had zero issues when I signed up for this package end Nov)
 
SHL said:
I will try switching bands but the question I asked CI still remains unanswered - Why am I experiencing these connectivity issues after the new APN was assigned? (I had zero issues when I signed up for this package end Nov)
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Its simply a coincidence, we didnt get a new APN we got assigned to a new NAS.

Those changes have nothing to do with the "last mile" or customer to tower situations.
 
I just ordered the 50mbps on Vodacom package. Any chance I can pick it up from the office tomorrow if open? 😂
 
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