How important is 3G Signal strength

[Crusader]

I recently upgraded my Topup contract with MTN and got a Huawei E270 modem. Since Vodacom is the only one that has 3G locally I'm using a Vodacom sim in the modem.

No matter how hard I try I can't seem to get a signal better than -98dBm to -83dBm (according to E620tool). On the MTN dashboard software the signal shows all the bars full, but as soon as I connect using 3G only it drops to only one bar/max three bars.

How important is the signal strength? The speeds I seem to be getting, doing speed tests on Speedtest.net range from 1338 - 600 kb/s down and uploads seem stable at around 300+ kb/s.

Test 1: 1013 kb/s down / 319 kb/s up / ping 165ms to Cape Town / Signal strength -97dBm

Test 2: 1383 kb/s down / 311 kb/s up / ping 169 to Cape Town / Signal strength -85dBm.

Any ideas if this is the normal signal strength to be expected using the E270 style modems, or is there any way I can boost the signal? I'm using a 1m USB extension cable and moved the modem in all possible directions. The best I can get is the -85dBm signal.

Also, any way of checking if Prince Albert has 3.6 Mbps enabled? I don't want to go through the hassle to get it enabled to discover it doesn't work.

 

[JimM]

As far as I am aware all Vodacom HSDPA enabled towers carry 3.6Mbps.

Remember that what you are looking at is the receive level, its not reflecting your transmit strength to the local tower (how the tower sees your signal)!

I've found that four (out of five) bars received gives me very good data rates! But when I've got five bars the data rate drops!

Just did a test...

Download: 1860

Upload: 264

I can live with that!

I'm using a E220

 

[Crusader]

Well, I'm definitely not complaining about the speed. Heck I downloaded a 7.2MB update in around 40 seconds! Compared to the half hour it would take over my dailup that is amazingly fast.

I just want to try to get the best out of the modem, so the low signal strength is a bit of a worry for me.

 

[Iam3G]

Dont forget about signal quality. You can have the best signal strength, but if your signal quality is poor, so will be your connection.

 

[Crusader]

Dont forget about signal quality. You can have the best signal strength, but if your signal quality is poor, so will be your connection.

How can you measure signal quality? I've had a few time-outs and pages not loading completely. Aside from that everything seems decent enough.

 

[JimM]

You need something that reflects the BER = Bit Error Rate.

Maximum signal does not always equate to the best BER. A BER of Zero is best so it's lowest is best scenario in the case of BER.

The BER reflects lost packets of data and resend requests. There is equipment available but not at non-professional prices!!

 

[Iam3G]

You need something that reflects the BER = Bit Error Rate.

Maximum signal does not always equate to the best BER. A BER of Zero is best so it's lowest is best scenario in the case of BER.

The BER reflects lost packets of data and resend requests. There is equipment available but not at non-professional prices!!

Would a ping do the trick? AFAIK, a ping shows packet loss and stuff.

 

[JimM]

Hmmm... A ping is subjective!

May be if you could ping your host, it would reflect the state of your connection but a ping to any other location has to take into account your connection quality and the IP link to the pinged site!

 

[Crusader]

Mmm, so there is no real easy way to check on the signal quality. Can anyone comment on what the normal signal strength for these type of modems should be? I'm around 1.5km from the tower and at work around 1km away. The signal strength doesn't seem to get much better between home and work.

 

[JimM]

Get up early around 6am after the last MXit user (should) have fallen to sleep by then and then you can do a speed test!

3.6Mb is only really available if you're the only user on the local system or tower.