General Connectivity Problems

V

vodacom3g

Vodacom Representative
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
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Location
(mostly) Plattekloof, Cape Town
I was just busy typing this post to inform the forum of a general connectivity problem, when I got a mail stating it's up again.

A new unit was brought on-line last night to increase connection capacity and this unit failed around 6pm. It's been restored a few minutes ago.
 
I understand we live in a high tech age so problems happen - the GPRS is extremely slow - could the problems be related
 
Below is the data used to calculate your download speed:

Download time: 301.453 seconds
Size of file: 500 KiloBytes
Estimated line speed: 13.5 (kilobits/second)
Estimated line speed: 1.7 (kiloBytes/second)

Can u understand that I am getting frustrated
 
I suspect you would have seen low throughputs as the network was loaded with everyone reconnecting. You can imagine the system load when everyone, who got kicked off, try to re-connect at the same time. A bit like the old Ethernet broadcast storms.
 
Just want to mention, Error 619 is what i received everytime my connection failed [during this "downtime"]. So clearly this is a network related error and not hardware [as the error seeminly hints at]. It's now seeingly fine again.
 
What's the latest on this problem? Seems to me that connections are still very patchy ... at some times the 'internetVPN' APN seems better, at other times the 'internet' APN. May just be random ....
 
not getting the 3g service

I've subsribed to 3g on the information, that I'll be getting 3g during may '05. However, the nearest tower, i've been told by the guys at 155, will only be upgraded by phase 3.

Is there any way that I can confirm when 3g will be available. For a Fact.

I was also told, that I can migrate to a less expensive package and once 3g becomes available i can migrate again to my current package. Initially, i was told that this migration is without cost. later when i phoned back to get the ball rolling, the migration will cost me R1400

Please v3g. can you help.
 
You're not so lucky it would seem...

Radimpe said:
I was also told, that I can migrate to a less expensive package and once 3g becomes available i can migrate again to my current package. Initially, i was told that this migration is without cost. later when i phoned back to get the ball rolling, the migration will cost me R1400
Click to expand...

You're not so lucky it would seem, I was told that if I'm not happy with the coverage, Vodacom would terminate the contract at their cost?

Seems it's easier for Vodacom to loose customers - or force them away - than to improve the network? Think that's rather strange...

BTW the base station in my area was upgraded as part of phase 2 at the end of June - 3 months later with the "upgraded" base station, the 3G reception is still very poor, even to the point that sometimes the 3G service is rendered unusable, and that's trying either indoors or outdoors...
 
Did anyone else experience problems over the weekend, or was it only me? All through Saturday and Sunday I found it impossible to get a connection that a) worked for more than about 15 minutes, and b) stayed connected for more than an hour.
 
Could not connect with the OEM antenna yesterday morning. Had to use the yagi. Even after connecting DNS did not work. Fixed by the afternoon.
 
We had a slow connection all weekend, and the smtp server was problematic. Everything is working great today.
Slak
 
I managed to connect all through the weekend, by most of the time I could ping ips, but the DNS servers wouldn't work, so don't know if I could browse (don't know any ips of websites :p )

But thankfully, everything seemed to come right during the day on sunday :D
 
Still having problems with GPRS (non-3G) connections. My phone connects, and then disconnects after 10 seconds on its own. CellID = Kings Kloof

When using 3G, it works 8/10 times... the other 2 instances it connects, but fails to communicate with DNS servers.
 
What is the problem with the DNS servers? I have found a few times now, today I tried about 5 times and yesterday about 4 times, I connect but cannot find the page. I have now put SAIX DNS of 196.25.1.1 in my dial up network settings and its working. I used the vodacom APN and also switched to the internet.gprs APN. Yesterday I had to reconnect a few times before it worked. Connecting via V800.
 
I haven't had any (GPRS) connection since Thursday evening 'cept for a brief spell on Saturday night. Many calls to 155 failed to yield a reasonable explanation. Tuesday morning (now) is the first time able to connect again. I wonder if Vodacom will reimburse me prorata for the lost time ?
 
SteveB said:
I wonder if Vodacom will reimburse me prorata for the lost time ?
Click to expand...

What a sense of humour! Vodacom would rather prick its own eyes out with a soldering iron than reimburse. Don't think that word exists with them :D .

With that said, during the last bout of poor connections, etc. there were some forumites who received something like R50 back or so. Can't remember the exact setup.

Personally I'm having major issues again today. Perfect connection but no data throughput. I'm on hold to 155 as I write this. I have a new website going live tonight, with a major announcement on DSTV. I was expecting about 200 000 hits on it tonight, but since I can't access the ftp server to upload the site, I reckon I'm in deep dwang at the moment. Dial-up is too slow to get the whole site up and running in time, and since I have to 3G access at the moment, I'm going to have to put the site on a CD, drive somewhere with reliable connectivity (like the office) and upload from there. Who's going to pay for the CD, the fuel, the lost time and the inconvenience (and the dial-up call I'm using to post this)? And R50 won't cover it. Not even close...

I have been very happy with my 3G most of the time, and very calm and collected whenever things have gone wrong. I understand that this is still fairly new technology, but it isn't THAT new anymore. When will this become stable enough to warrant the monthly fee? At the moment I don't think it is there yet, and like many forumites I'm getting a bit tired of paying for a service that is so unreliable.

What about a backup system for 3G users? Maybe a toll-free dial-up number for (slow) access when the 3G network gives you hassles? Or at least a dial-up number that I can use if things go wrong, because at this stage I'm still paying for a dial-up ISP separately, for those hours when I need to work, and 3G is on holiday.
 
Airmatix said:
What about a backup system for 3G users? Maybe a toll-free dial-up number for (slow) access when the 3G network gives you hassles? Or at least a dial-up number that I can use if things go wrong, because at this stage I'm still paying for a dial-up ISP separately, for those hours when I need to work, and 3G is on holiday.
Click to expand...

I agree. I am also having to pay for a dial-up separately as a back up system. It's crazy! The whole point of getting 3G was to reduce my phone bill dramatically. Now I am having to dial in every time I want to send an email because the SMTP servers are out of action again. This is a regular "feature" in my short 3G experience.

It seems there should be some compensation on Vodacom's part. Even if it is not actual money (heaven forbid) - how about some extra bandwidth for those who need it or allowing some to roll over bandwidth to the next month.

Vodacom and I have a contract and I'm keeping up my end of the bargain - how come they get away with not keeping their part of the deal? And yes I am sure the contract has some loophole for them, but I am talking about sticking to the spirit of the deal which was that I would pay them for a service and that I would receive that service.

I am in a position where clinets ask me for advice regarding connection options all the time and it is becoming extremely hard for me to suggest 3G as a viable option.
 
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