GPRS and Vodacon service underwelming

[ic]

@MDL, correct me if my memory is wrong, someone from Vodacom did come out a couple of weeks back [credit to Vodacom for sending someone out], and the diagnosis was that it was an upstream contention problem, correct?

Assuming that the problems you are still experiencing now, are the same problems that you have been experiencing all along, and for whatever reason, those problems are not being resolved by Vodacom [e.g. by giving Telkodemonopolies a big kick up the rear end to get backhaul links upgraded]...well it's fairly obvious to me that you should experiment with Vodacom's competitors...

 

[kaspaas]

My recent experience is that Voda does usually work for me.

But, thanks to the problems I had, I was forced to discover the wonders of MTN pre-paid data - which is much cheaper at the bottom end of usage than VC.

Currently my experience is that if VC data works, it works well.

If it does not work, MTN data does work, but, on Opera Mini, it is in my mind much slower than VC.

Everything at MTN is not moonshine and roses...

Make your choice...

 

[MyDraadloos]

@MDL, correct me if my memory is wrong, someone from Vodacom did come out a couple of weeks back [credit to Vodacom for sending someone out], and the diagnosis was that it was an upstream contention problem, correct?

Assuming that the problems you are still experiencing now, are the same problems that you have been experiencing all along, and for whatever reason, those problems are not being resolved by Vodacom [e.g. by giving Telkodemonopolies a big kick up the rear end to get backhaul links upgraded]...well it's fairly obvious to me that you should experiment with Vodacom's competitors...

Well this is the ultimate insult, I have been reduced to working from an Internet cafe.

Yes, they did send out an engineer ...... it only took 3-months to get them that far. It took a momentary lapse of reason and a near fatal personal attack on V3G to get that done.

I take my hat off to V3G for trying, but the customer is not king at Vodacom.
As for the diagnosis ...... I never got a straight answer on that one.

1) Tower is running close to capacity - Wierda 1 - South
2) Upstream problem ?
3) Not enough timeslots avalable ( they are not prepared to sacrifice any voice connections)
4) Cell breathing ........ bla bla
5) My phone, which remains to be proven.

Solutions they have offered me ........ none ; realy.

1) Upgrade and get HSDPA card or new cellphone
2) They offered to cancel my contract ( so they would not have to listen to me anymore)
3) Suffer in silence
4) Wait for new site to be implemented in Panorama Road

The engineer did borrow me his old 3G card for a week while he was writing exams, but the 3G was not that much better and I came to the conclusion that VC IP accounting does not add up. Used PP Sim and Contract Sim, have outstanding call for this as well.(No result) It was more stable, but not WOW fast.

The question is :

Why must I, the customer suffer because they have problems with getting sufficient capacity from Telkom. If they don't have some form of SLA from Telkom then there is no use in even trying, as they are merely making the problem worse.

Why should I have to go sign another contract to be assured of service. I want them to fix what I have at the moment before I will consider any other product.

For better or for worse they are my provider untill MNP is a reality and untill my contract expires on the 3rd of October.

They can fix it and keep me as a customer or they can ignore me at their own peril.

No threats of any sort, it is just a given that nothing good will come of having an agrieved customer.

Just seems so strange that I could get the Pet Shop Boys bannished from their IVR system, but I can't make a stable GPRS connection.

Neil Tennant had the last laugh ......... (End rant)

 

[lilDeath]

Why must I, the customer suffer because they have problems with getting sufficient capacity from Telkom. If they don't have some form of SLA from Telkom then there is no use in even trying, as they are merely making the problem worse.

Quite interesting this really. To do a little comparison, it is pretty similar to what happened earlier this year with regards to the internet peering links between the different network providers SAIX (Telkom) and IS (Internet Solutions). Basically the link was congested which was impacting all clients going between the 2 providers.

IS was on Telkom's case for months on end and regularly updated their clients as to what was happening with the progress, whether Telkom was on schedule and wotnot.
Understandably, IS was feeling the brunt of it and had to deal with large amounts of complaints from their clients because they (being IS) were held responsible for what was essentially everyone's (SAIX / Telkom / IS) problem.

With the added pressure, Telkom eventually got their act together and resolved the problem.

Case in point, shows you what can be done.

 

[ic]

Quite interesting this really. To do a little comparison, it is pretty similar to what happened earlier this year with regards to the internet peering links between the different network providers SAIX (Telkom) and IS (Internet Solutions). Basically the link was congested which was impacting all clients going between the 2 providers.

IS was on Telkom's case for months on end and regularly updated their clients as to what was happening with the progress, whether Telkom was on schedule and wotnot.
Understandably, IS was feeling the brunt of it and had to deal with large amounts of complaints from their clients because they (being IS) were held responsible for what was essentially everyone's (SAIX / Telkom / IS) problem.

With the added pressure, Telkom eventually got their act together and resolved the problem.

Case in point, shows you what can be done.

Yep, that is IMO a good [but very brief] summary of what went down between IS & SAIX - at least the bits that joe public got to hear about [I'm sure a lot more went on behind the scenes]; and for a while I've been wondering if the SAIX vs IS peering war was a deciding factor in Vodacom's decision to drop IS as an upstream bandwidth supplier - since Vodacom now uses SAIX directly, although I'm sure that SAIX dangled a 'lower rates' carrot than IS would never have been able to offer Vodacom.

All that aside, I have to point out to Vodacom, that as of 2005-02-01, Vodacom [and MTN and CellC] have been allowed to self-provision their own backhaul links, and that 1.5 years later, Vodacom has to recognise that continuing to use Telkodemonopolies for the majority of Vodacom's backhaul links, is a strategic disaster. This is my 'told you so' @ Vodacom.

 

[MyDraadloos]

A gift from Vodacom !

Well with a little help from the postal service Vodacom delivered a new present for me this morning.

My bill for August .......... the GPRS billing covers 6 pages. It shows a totally unbelievable amount of data that I would never have been able to download using crappy GPRS handset. ( They asked me to upgrade, I'm not sure if I am ready for another 2-year's)

Not sure if it is the backhaul, this is pure speculation. The facts speak for themselves and this is classic ISP / Telco type tactics.

You only ensure that you have the bare minimum of capacity available as the backhaul infrastructure if rented from the likes of Telkom equals your stock in trade, which expires on a per millisecond basis.

The same applies for your internet connections and peering links. Not allowing for sufficient headspace means that pretty soon the service of your customers will start to degrade. The lowest form of connectivity is the one that gets booted off the network.

At peak periods the failures and resends will cause further congestion, a vicious cycle that continous to grow.

The alternative is that the GPRS network is being throttled to make people move to 3G and HSDPA.

 

[v3gout]

To make people migrate to HSDPA, perhaps. GPRS and 3G cost the same, and of late the 3G reliability has been poor and speed has been pretty much like GPRS ...

 

[loveVW]

To make people migrate to HSDPA, perhaps. GPRS and 3G cost the same, and of late the 3G reliability has been poor and speed has been pretty much like GPRS ...

I dont think they would get a away with something like this. The company is big and the word would slip out soon.

 

[vodacom3g]

To make people migrate to HSDPA, perhaps. GPRS and 3G cost the same, and of late the 3G reliability has been poor and speed has been pretty much like GPRS ...

In a sense we actually saw the inverse over the last two months or so, with the massive uptake of HSDPA and migration from 3G to HSDPA the '3G portion' saw a reduction in load and the HSDPA portion saw a massive increase.

The forum was buzzing with 'getting better 3G than HSDPA speeds', you'll remember. This was due to this shift in usage patterns.

Massive upgrades are happening everywhere to accomodate this growth but there are challenges, make no mistake. One region told me this morning they have over 2000 transmission links on back-order.....

 

[MyDraadloos]

In a sense we actually saw the inverse over the last two months or so, with the massive uptake of HSDPA and migration from 3G to HSDPA the '3G portion' saw a reduction in load and the HSDPA portion saw a massive increase.

The forum was buzzing with 'getting better 3G than HSDPA speeds', you'll remember. This was due to this shift in usage patterns.

Massive upgrades are happening everywhere to accomodate this growth but there are challenges, make no mistake. One region told me this morning they have over 2000 transmission links on back-order.....

Like another forumite has mentioned ; you have the ability to self provide, why wait for Telkom.

SAIX and Telkom might hold most of the cards for now, but don't let this deter you from doing a little DIY.

Having done this before in the ISP business, have put up some radio links as Telkom failed to provide. Not even Telkom could do anything about it without pulling finger.

Vodacom is onto a good thing, but they are fcuking themselves by being dependant on Telkom.

As in life choose who you go to bed with.

(End lucid thought)

 

[vodacom3g]

Like another forumite has mentioned ; you have the ability to self provide, why wait for Telkom.

SAIX and Telkom might hold most of the cards for now, but don't let this deter you from doing a little DIY.

Having done this before in the ISP business, have put up some radio links as Telkom failed to provide. Not even Telkom could do anything about it without pulling finger.

Vodacom is onto a good thing, but they are fcuking themselves by being dependant on Telkom.

As in life choose who you go to bed with.

(End lucid thought)

You're assuming Vodacom is not doing anything to self-provide? You don't build your own transmission network overnight.....

[off topic]

Remember lucid thoughts eventually results in sending other people PSB songs...!

[/off topic]

 

[ic]

...You don't build your own transmission network overnight.....
...

True, it is very costly and time consuming to put cables into the ground, and definitely doesn't happen overnight, but my impression is that Vodacom delayed taking advantage of the one good proclamation that her Poisonous Ivyness has made during her [ongoing] reign of terror as ministress of miscommunications, and now Vodacom is suffering as a result of being forced to wait for Telkodemonopolies to upgrade the capacity of existing backhaul links...

Are all new Vodacom backhaul links being self-provisioned by Vodacom [or sub-contracted out] as opposed to waiting for Telkodemonopolies?

 

[MyDraadloos]

You're assuming Vodacom is not doing anything to self-provide? You don't build your own transmission network overnight.....

[off topic]

Remember lucid thoughts eventually results in sending other people PSB songs...!

[/off topic]

Eeek ! Don't make me send you my copy of " I do not know what you want, but I can't give it anymore".

I do suspect that MC Hammer will be able to afford a new pair of flaired pants and Rick James will get new perm with the money from the royalties.

I suspect you will know the link between these two misfits.

If Vodacom is taking matters into their own hands them I take my hat off to them, I know MTN talked about this, but the closest they got was to purchase an ISP (Citec).

PS. Eventualy I will have to ask your physical address to deliver a case of Bateleur. Or if your tastes are a bit more simple " 'n kas Koos Weie Voete".

 

[MyDraadloos]

Eish ! What a day .......... after all the surprises I am sure I might still see Bigfoot or the Easter Bunny drop by as well.

For starters after 5-months of waiting Telkom decide to show up and install a phone line. No copper, the things operates on 1.9 Ghz but is apparently useless for data.

2 Glue sticks, 50m of cable and 2 swopped units later I now have a "wireless" landline.

Of course this was perfect timing for Vodacom engineers to pitch up as well. And like everyone knows, when the people show up you will never be able to replicate the fault so they presume that all is well.

We checked everything including my phone, but could not replicate the disconnections I experienced.

Will test again tonight.

 

[MyDraadloos]

Well it seems because I kept my trap shut for a few weeks they decided not to fix GPRS network after all.

The people in billing are more interested in sending me a new bill than looking at the old ones with all the GPRS disconnects.

 

[lilDeath]

I read in the other thread you decided to go ahead and get HSDPA....
How is that going?

 

[MyDraadloos]

I read in the other thread you decided to go ahead and get HSDPA....
How is that going?

The HSDPA is doing fine, it is a lot more stable than GPRS. Unfortunately that does not explain why the GPRS connection is unstable.

Have installed it a PCI adaptor on destop running on LAN, but from time to time, like today I still use GPRS. And more often than not the frustration returns.

It is also rather unfortunate that PPDB are still not unavailable. My efforts to get a VC Messenger contract with 3G databundle tacked on was met with some surprised faces and blank stares at VC Centurion Mall.

In desperation I have written a note to Father Christmas asking for a new i-Mate JasJam ....... maybe the old bugger will come through for me this year.

(Hugging lump of coal)

PS. Is there a patron saint of Technology ?

 

[lilDeath]

HSDPA sucked for me again last night in Houtbay, 3rd Wednesday in a row, just after 19:30, like clockwork _________________
This time couldnt even reconnect again. Last week we were negotiated down to GPRS.

Good to hear the HSDPA is "a lot more stable" than your previous medium.

/curls up into foetal position

 

[rabbiddog]

Between the 619 errors, disconnects, and bad speed over the hast few days HSDPA is becoming a pain! My ISDN line is faster.
(and yes all the little blue lights are flashing)

Vodacom speed test does not even run.
Telcom speed test:
* Download time: 133.047 seconds
* Size of file: 500 KiloBytes
* Estimated line speed: 30.7 (kilobits/second)
* Estimated line speed: 3.8 (kiloBytes/second)

BTW. This has been posted on dialup as the page takes 10 min to open on HSDPA at the moment

 

[MyDraadloos]

Between the 619 errors, disconnects, and bad speed over the hast few days HSDPA is becoming a pain! My ISDN line is faster.
(and yes all the little blue lights are flashing)

Vodacom speed test does not even run.
Telcom speed test:
* Download time: 133.047 seconds
* Size of file: 500 KiloBytes
* Estimated line speed: 30.7 (kilobits/second)
* Estimated line speed: 3.8 (kiloBytes/second)

BTW. This has been posted on dialup as the page takes 10 min to open on HSDPA at the moment

I was bragging to a friend of mine about the speed of HSDPA. She told me to make a little video clip she could put on her tech / fashion BLOG (www.anina.typepad.com). On my first attempt it failed to connect ; the second time round it shows me being unable to connect to any of the 5 mailservers in my Outlook profile. LOL

Will have to make a new one.

She did add some news from MyBroadband to her site, just glad it was nothing related to Ivy.