I'm gonna test Bryanston basestation

S

slimothy

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OK OK I may have been quick to rub your noses in my big steamy pile of bandwith, but in the morning I have to go through to Bryanston, so for roughly 3 hours I will get to see how fast or slow the connection really is :)

I'll report back later
 
Make sure you test all sides of the base-station bcos when I last got a smidgen of info out of Sasan, he told me that 66.6% of the base-station was completely down while it was still operating on 33.3% of the base-station, on further enquiring I discovered that the part of the array pointing totally away from me was the only part of the array actually working...
 
ic said:
Make sure you test all sides of the base-station bcos when I last got a smidgen of info out of Sasan, he told me that 66.6% of the base-station was completely down while it was still operating on 33.3% of the base-station, on further enquiring I discovered that the part of the array pointing totally away from me was the only part of the array actually working...
Click to expand...

It is a shame that, for decent wireless broadband connectivity in this country, you have to move to actually get said decent broadband connectivity.

Which is cheaper, booze + some A class drugs + a ho to suck you off or a wireless internet connection / telkom internet connection

I leave it to you, the jury, to decide
 
ah man its crap beyond belief,

I have no idea where the station was so I dont know what side I was on but the speed averaged at 6KB/s and peaked on 20KB/s when I had my laptop outside. 4% packet loss over the 3 hours I was there. I also saw the red dot twice. And all this with 100% signal and a low frame error rate.

I am just glad to be back home so I can download some big stuff :)
 
Ok, now that's like faster than what I get - sitting on 2.6Kbits/s ATM (according to DUMeter).

Sooo, when are you going to test out Snorthcliff-BS?
 
So me and ic are not talking BS - luckily I must also be on the working side of that tower.
 
AFAIK they "resolved" the 66% that wasn't working at all (otherwise I would still be stuck with no signal at all) ;).
 
Well, looks like I am on that side of the tower as well.
Average of about 6KB, with threaded downloads maxing out at 20kB if I'm lucky.

Is there no way to aim this modem? like a cantenna? I should be able to get the tower in Fourways if I can block Bryanston out
 
Last edited:
Yep, either the parabolic reflector thingy, or an external antenna (hockey puk reportedly directional, jury still out on the rectangular box).
 
I should try northcliffe out next time i'm around there, although I think its safe to say its also crap
 
Yep, Bryanston-BS was definitely down for quite a while, now it's up again... directional extant doesn't make things better when there are potentially other base-stations to choose from - in my case Fourways & Randburg - presumably within range altho I've never been able to connect to them :(...
 
so really.. what are the problems down to, is it congestion or somethign more technical.... or both
 
slimothy said:
so really.. what are the problems down to, is it congestion or somethign more technical.... or both
Click to expand...
IMO the majority of the overnight degradation problem back in January was caused by tilting the array upward which messed up the existing coverage area (customers within the previous downward pointed coverage area - meself especially since I am 3.57Km away & lower altitude than the base-station).

No doubt that going from 1500 to 2500 customers within 1.5 months would have added many customers to Bryanston-BS (probably the reason why the coverage area was increased - WBS should've put in an extra BS instead of messing with the existing coverage area, but maybe problems with permits etc...in which case don't bite off more customers than you can chew on the broadband market), so yes congestion must be a factor as well.

What I will say is that I would have accepted things if WBS had just been straight up & said we had to increase the coverage area on Bryanston-BS, which will degrade the service for some existing customers, having said that I also know that I would probably have cancelled right then & there instead of sticking about waiting for things to improve.
 
IC, any joy with the antenna? Is it a lost cause? Or are you still hopeful that they fix the problem by the 14th (I think that's what SG said).

I hope you sort it out, because if you switch to ADSL, we'll be minus our forum mod? :(
 
I tried getting hold of Dylan this am to get the orientation destructions for this newfangled rectangular box, Portia said Dylan was off to the doctor before coming in & would only be in later, so I tried sending him an email asking for extant orientation destructions, Cc'd Sasan & Shaun.

Anyways, Sasan called me & explained the whole extant kaboodle to me - so I now have a clue, gonna try his advice after lunch - just requires an assistant to watch the UTD signal strength leds whilst I do a kinda discus-throwing balancing act with the extant to find the optimal sweet spot & verify my understanding of Sasan's instructions.

I wouldn't write-off iBurst just yet, I am fully prepared to claw my way back to where the connection was back in November & December. As to the 14th, well it's mindae now, so I'm prepared to wait & see.

ADSL, well I chose iBurst bcos my bank account gets hives everytime Telkomonopoly does the billing run thing.

As to moderating iBurst, I don't mind sticking about to update stuff when iBurster forumites request me to do so. I wouldn't have personal insight anymore, but I would prefer that - allows for more objectivity - which I admitedly don't have as much of with iBurst bcos it affects me & my business. I enjoy moderating Vodacom 3G for many reasons, but it's a lot easier when you actually don't use the service itself - I can step back & compare apples without getting all uptight about problems.

Besides iBurst still has excellent moderators in TheRoDent & Regardtv :).
 
They tilted the array up? Well... that could explain things. I am quite close to the tower myself, so the nice strong signal could now be going over my head instead of aiming exactly at my modem. Or something...

Where is the Bryanston tower exactly?
 
slimothy said:
at the bryanston water tower
Click to expand...
Which is where exactly...?

Near the multipath intersection of Main & Willy's Nicol, also close to the Bryanston Post Orifice...nothing [much] more than a pole with fancy-pancy things attached... Oh, if you are driving from Epson Downs away from the Concrete Cryway then it'll be on your left.
 
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