Coverage Queries

Sitting in front of my laptop with a Cell-C modem that connects on HSPA and signal strenght of 97% -85dB and I can't browse anything. So I am forced to use my BB browser to go on the internet. At least MTN gives me full speed on my BB.
 
Going perfectly on my side since the day I got it. No complaints, always getting HSPA+ (And, might I add, that where I sit MTN and Voda can't get more than EDGE!)
 
I bought a prepaid SIM and loaded a data bundle onto it just to try out Cell C -- and so far it's not looking good! Yes I know I'm not in an urban area which has or will even get one of the fancy new Cell C high-speed towers. But the deal is that you should at least get EDGE. That's certainly what my local retailer (Rustenburg) promised me from the tower which delivers my Cell C signal (Vodacom tower, full HSDPA for VC customers, at Buffelspoort Dam NWP).

But the best I can get is plain-vanilla GPRS, even with a Poynting antenna (which normally delivers full HSDPA to my system from that tower using a VC SIM), and it's painful. Definitely not the EDGE which is advertised -- which I could just about live with given the bargain-basement price of the data offer.

So what's going on here? Could the VC tower on which CellC piggybacks in our area be 3G+ capable, yet be throttled right down to GPRS for Cell C? Most peculiar....
 
I got my CellC modem yesterday and the speeds have been fantastic ... until around 14:30 today.

The 3G signal has disappeared and I am stuck with EDGE!!

Anyone else in this area having the same problem?

I have given up trying to get through to the Call Centre.

:(
 
Well I'd been using vodacom for a couple of years now, and 90% of the time I got 3g speeds, got the cell c 12 month 5gig promotion bundle today and so far all day it's been on edge, very disappointing, I'm hoping it'll sort it's self out though, I'll give it a few more days.
 
I am having no issues whatsoever. Latest speedtest: http://www.speedtest.net/result/1055766283.png

I am pretty sure there are a number of localised issues that will crop up due to coverage or backhaul. Best thing for people to do is report them and hope CellC can get round to fixing it. I would actually hope that rather than pushing the roll-out they take stock of these problem sites within the existing coverage area first and then start on new locations.
 
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Hansolo said:
Well I'd been using vodacom for a couple of years now, and 90% of the time I got 3g speeds, got the cell c 12 month 5gig promotion bundle today and so far all day it's been on edge, very disappointing, I'm hoping it'll sort it's self out though, I'll give it a few more days.
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Where are you located?
 
Piesang said:
Sitting in front of my laptop with a Cell-C modem that connects on HSPA and signal strenght of 97% -85dB and I can't browse anything. So I am forced to use my BB browser to go on the internet. At least MTN gives me full speed on my BB.
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Why don't you take it for a drive & see if it works in a differant area to see whether its just that tower your connected to?
Have you ever had it working properly?
The signal you got it should be working well.
Maybe you got Copa's disease
 
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Looks like the CellC rep as disappeared after reading all these complaints. :)
 
Hansolo said:
Cape Town, Goodwood in the Northern Suburbs, still only on edge, feels slower.
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Strange, I'm not that far from you. I've done almost 900Mb worth of downloads this evening :D

You've worked through the "stuck on EDGE thread"?
 
Hansolo said:
I'm using a N73 and a *99# connection, it was working fine with vodacom.still only getting edge.
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As far as I can tell, the N73 is only capable of UMTS at 2100MHz. Cell-C's UMTS network is at 900MHz so EDGE is the best you'll get.
 
ginggs said:
As far as I can tell, the N73 is only capable of UMTS at 2100MHz. Cell-C's UMTS network is at 900MHz so EDGE is the best you'll get.
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Thing is when I was using vodacom with the N73, I was getting perfect 3g most of the time, so I really don't understand that? The lady in the store informed me that the N73 would get 3g, what a load of *^%&* I was initially going to buy the modem they supplied but she said I could save money by not buying the modem, damnit, she also said once I bought the sim there was no going back and the modem would be double the price if I wanted to buy it afterwards, this is so infuriating.
 
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Hansolo said:
Thing is when I was using vodacom with the N73, I was getting perfect 3g most of the time, so I really don't understand that?
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There is nothing to understand - the N73 supports 2100MHz UMTS and that is what Vodacom uses.

The N73 does not support 900MHz UMTS, and that is what Cell C uses.

You should have checked the specs of the N73 first, it is specified quite clearly.

I own a N73 and a N78, the N78 supports 900MHz UMTS and works fine with Cell C, the N73 does not.
 
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I'm also in CT and it's been odd the last few days. I always have the cyan light on the modem, so that's the UMTS connection. But sometimes international sites are just dog slow. I've found disconnecting and reconnecting sometimes helps.
 
Never mind EDGE: yesterday I was right down to painful GPRS speed, and now I can't connect at all (through our local VC tower which carries the Cell C signal and provides excellent HSDPA to VC customers). If these hassles continue then even the bargain-basement rates cannot rescue this service for me.

I'll continue my trial run from elsewhere, but is it possible given all the signal complaints here and elsewhere, that Cell C has rushed their data service out before it was really ready?
 
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