GPRS congestion?

Thanx for the info ScrnScrm!

Another question: Let's say I'm happily downloading away on a 2 MB file using 4 timeslots on a particular base station (or listening to streaming audio). What will happen if another user on the same base station tries to connect on GPRS and download a file? Do I get "downgraded" to 2 slots, or does the other dude have to wait for my file download to complete?

And I'd also like to know if GPRS+ is supported on the 3G cards. 80kbps is a lot better than 40 something.
 
also - its stateless connections. so you can see variations from 1 time slot all the way to 4 during a download. generally though, you shouldnt notice unless the base station is heavily saturated - the division between slots happens in milliseconds... it all basically depends on the length of the queues...
 
ScrnScrm - great info! Ok so in my GPRS settings I have the option of Class 8 (4r1t) or Class 10 (3r2t). What does this mean?
 
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wamatt said:
ScrnScrm - great info! Ok so in my GPRS settings I have the option of Class 8 (4r1t) or Class 10 (3r2t). What does this mean?
Click to expand...

Let me guess, you have a Windows PocketPC device (like an iMate?) :D
Choose Class 10. You will get better uploads TO the base station. Class 8 and Class 10 both download using 4 slots. The difference between Class 8 and 10 is that 8 only uses 1 time slot for uploading whereas Class 10 uses 2.
Cheers -
 
ScrnScrm said:
Let me guess, you have a Windows PocketPC device (like an iMate?) :D
Choose Class 10. You will get better uploads TO the base station. Class 8 and Class 10 both download using 4 slots. The difference between Class 8 and 10 is that 8 only uses 1 time slot for uploading whereas Class 10 uses 2.
Cheers -
Click to expand...

G*ddamn man, you like a walking wikipedia. hehe. Yup got the PDA2k. Bit dissapointed with GPRS for browsing, seems slooow. Hoping this GPRS+ thing will work. I can't find any cold facts on it though.
 
all the cold facts you need are in my post above :-)
GPRS+ is network side, so as long as the base station has the latest coding scheme and your device is set to class 10, you should see a performance improvement. what network are you on? Voda/MTN? what basestation? if post that i will found out what the CS is for you and revert.
cheers -
 
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Im on Vodacom. How do I know what the basestation is? (Im in Cape Town CDB)
 
the cellid will normally come up on your phone? anyway, cpt cbd has a few cs4 basestations already.
 
ScrnScrm (or Vodacom3G), any idea on what signal strength is required for a stationary handset so that the network will select CS4?
 
eh, a strong signal. hehehehehehe. the weaker the signal, the more error correction required. cs4 doesnt do much error correction....
i would say at least 4/5? but i will leave vodacom3g to give you a definitive answer on this one...
 
Just below the network name the phone should say the name of the tower you are on. Let's say you are in Somerset Mall, then your phone might say "Vodacom " and "Somerset Mall 2" just below that. If not, you must switch on area messages or cell info display on your phone/pda.
 
Hi, thanks for all the interesting information.

I've got simple a question.
This is what i know.

I've got a 3g card - Merlin novatel U630 firmware rev 14
- I don't live near a 3g tower.
- I connect @ 57600Kbs (ALWAYS) GPRS
- Max download rate is 5.5KBs -+ 44400Kbs

Today after i got the external antenna for my card, I got speeds upto 10KBs, average
8.8KBs for a 25MB zip file download. 8.7KBs with the telkom speed test.
I disconnected and reconnect and got the same slow GPRS speed.

Was this high speed just my imagination, or is it GPRS+ in working or something else? because i would really like to download my GIG a month faster than 5.5KBs.
 
Hi
The base station you are connecting to is most probably running Coding Scheme 4 which is capable of roughly 20Kbps per channel, so with 4 channels a theoretical maximum of 80Kbps. So yeah, its not just your imagination :D
 
BennieB said:
Was this high speed just my imagination, or is it GPRS+ in working or something else? because i would really like to download my GIG a month faster than 5.5KBs.
Click to expand...

Do you have a cell-id for the cell you were in when you got the higher speeds? Maybe look on your normal mobile.

I'll try and confirm the cell capability.
 
Hi, it's Deerness-1. When i'm connected, it seems that the connection goes slower and faster. My vodafone dashboard shows normally download rate of 44.4Kbs but from yesterday i get staduims when it goes constantly at 77.7Kbs after a while. But since 7:30 today i didn't get the fast speed. Will try again later.
Thanks.
 
What a great thread - thanks for the info ScrnScrm :)

Could anyone tell me the cell capability of Balgowan Valley in KZN? Preferably how to check it myself so I can keep current without having to bug people every month to see if we have CS4 yet :)
 
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