MTN expands 7.2 Mbps HSDPA coverage

vodacom3g said:
Hmmm..., now everyone better complain that myBB is biased toward MTN, with the word 'MTN' appearing 12 times in this article. :D:D

(Remember when Skeptik accused myBB of bias when an article about VC contained the word 'Vodacom' 15 times. :rolleyes:)

Actually thinking about it, 'upgrade sites' probably means 2G-sites that got upgraded to 3G. As opposed to brand-new sites.

The networks prefer to upgrade sites as everything is already in place, especially the environmental stuff.
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My interpretation is that there is essentially a long pole which I call a mast, and attached to that mast can be a combination of 2.xG and 3.yG radio equipment.

So, if one starts off with a mast that only has 2.xG radio equipment, and then the site has 3.yG equipment added, then the site has been upgraded by essentially adding 3.yG radio equipment to the mast - along with other site upgrades like power and UPS and generator, and of course backhaul links as well.

When it comes to upgrading an existing set of 3.yG radio equipment to support a higher spec [speed] HSPA, well that is not the same as adding new 3.yG radio equipment to an existing mast.
FarligOpptreden said:
TBH the whole R49 pay-on for HSDPA 3.6 on Vodacom is a bit silly, really. I subscribed to it for a month, saw some improvement in data transfer speeds, but subsequently discontinued it because it just isn't worth the R49.
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IMO the 3.6 VAS fee makes perfect sense and is there simply to protect the QoS of Vodacom's HSPA network by discouraging everyone from going full out at maximum speed when there are still serious backhaul bandwidth limitations - thanks to Telkodemonopolies' incompetence - this relates to my first post in this thread - a company other than Telkodemonopolies needs to be sub-contracted to link up base-stations and it must be with fibre optic instead of copper which Telkodemonopolies still uses for its Digicrap links.

The fact that MTN is not charging for 3.6+ is great on the surface, but there is a real risk that MTN's network will suffer serious QoS issues as everyone tries to use the same limited amount of backhaul at the same time, i.e. serious backhaul contention.
AirWolf said:
Please also go to the MTN section of this forum. At a glance, the majority of the the queries are technical [which as you mention is not your area of expertise] which begs the question why there isn't someone with that knowledge to provide that assistance.

Also in the news section some of the content is of a technical nature, which in the discussions leads to questions about certain details. Which again does not get answered [when directed at MTN] because a technical person is not present.

As with any discussion points being discussed leads from one topic to another related one [sometimes unrelated]. Your initially responded to my post regarding technical representation with the response about other available option open to forumites. As I've stated above, customer care is one of those. While my request from then was not technical, it did fall under their scope. So, if not response was forthcoming about a non-technical issue, what hope do we have for a technical one from that avenue?
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Pitbull said:
Ok let me rephrase that for you.

You started off by saying MTN should be better represented on MyBB. I said that I'm here to help if you need it. I also stated that MTN has other forms of contact that could be used.

You have not PM'd me the day you needed help. If you did you would have been sorted. Now you move from that to haveing sent e-mails for APN activations/provisioning and and and.

Fact is, if you e-mailed me with both those requests it would have been sorted in no time. It still doesn't indicate why you said MTN needs to be better represented on MyBB.

MTN is not on MyBB to advertise and promise all these lovely wonderfull things and try and sweet talk customers to join us. MyBB is here to say things like it is, good or bad. I'm here to help MTN subscribers with problems they have if I can. If I can't I direct them to the correct people and it gets sorted.

That was your main concern when you posted. But now we've drifted away from it, why ?
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@Pitbull, I don't really want to get into this again, but I do think AirWolf has made a valid case on the technical issue - don't get me wrong though - I have no idea as to whether you are or are not a technical dude - the reason being that any technical knowledge and expertise you have is not shared openly on the forum - instead it is all done via p.m. where no one else sees it and you don't get much credit for what you do behind the scenes.

The fact is that MBB is a public forum, and as such publicly posting info helps many more people who find their way here using Google etc - the same cannot be said of info communicated only via p.m.

MBB's Vodacom forum grew simply bcos v3g and forumites shared info and solutions and ideas freely and publicly, and Vodacom has implemented lots of suggestions that forumites came up with and posted about.

The same cannot be said of MBB's MTN forum where the level of communication between MTN and MTN customers simply pales in comparison.

Please don't take offence at what I'm writing here - I know you are helping out via p.m. and there is nothing wrong with that - v3g does exactly the same via p.m. It is instead the level of communication that needs to be increased and public sharing of knowledge that would improve MBB's MTN forum for the betterment of MTN customers that know how to Google for info - the info just needs to be public and MTN needs to engage with forumites to come up with great solutions that will improve its [data] services as well as resolve long-standing issues that seem to recur all the time in the MTN forum - e.g. mistrust on the data usage figures - even Skeptik had a major problem there.
 
NathanCrow said:
For those that want to upgrade there E220 to support 7.2 follow the link below
prepare your device for telkom 3G 7.2 and MTN 7.2

http://www.mobilebroadbandrocks.com/huawei-e220-72mbps-firmware-update


http://www.cypherhackz.net/archives/2008/01/31/hack-huawei-e220-make-it-supports-up-to-72mbps/
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Just be careful with these 7.2 upgrades.

Seen quite a few E220's bricked with dodgy firmware loaded. I know ginggs managed to resurrect a bricked one before, but that's the only one I know of. The others became paperweights.

Probably best to get the official, yellow version to be safe.

@PitBull, I believe the official representation here by VC has been massively beneficial to both the company and its subscribers.

As you indicated above, there are already channels in place for certain activities such as support and billing queries but few, if any, of the networks have a process where ideas can be submitted, product concepts tested, etc.

Don't have a number off-hand but a fair number of new products, tweaks or additions were initiated on this forum and delivered.
 
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CeeBee said:
Originally Posted by NathanCrow : i just upgraded my E220 to support 7.2

I have 2 users with brand new E220 modems (from VC), when they connect, it also comes up with "Connected at 7.2Mbps"
I also didn't think they CAN do faster than 3.6Mbps.
But... it doesn't really matter? Our experiences with HSDPA is that the efficiency is generally less than 50%... so chances are not good that you will even realistically get >3.6Mbps?
Or has MTN improved the network sooo much?
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wELL IF YOU GO HAVE A LOOK AT THE FORUM OF TELKOM DO 3G THERE IS SOME DUDS THAT POSTED SPEED TEST WITH TELKOM 3G 7.2 WITH A AVERAGE 4 TO 5MBPS WITH UPGRADED e220
 
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vodacom3g said:
Just be careful with these 7.2 upgrades.

Seen quite a few E220's bricked with dodgy firmware loaded. I know ginggs managed to resurrect a bricked one before, but that's the only one I know of. The others became paperweights.

Probably best to get the official, yellow version to be safe.

@PitBull, I believe the official representation here by VC has been massively beneficial to both the company and its subscribers.

As you indicated above, there are already channels in place for certain activities such as support and billing queries but few, if any, of the networks have a process where ideas can be submitted, product concepts tested, etc.

Don't have a number off-hand but a fair number of new products, tweaks or additions were initiated on this forum and delivered.
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WELL YOU CAN ALSO USE THE TELKOM OFFICIAL FIRMWARE FOR THE 7.2 UPGRADE
MY e220 WORKS 100% PERFECT FOR MONTHS WITH THE MOBILE CONNECT SOFTWARE UNLIKE THE VODAFONE VMLITE WITCH IS NETWORK LOCK
 
NathanCrow said:
wELL IF YOU GO HAVE A LOOK AT THE FORUM OF TELKOM DO 3G THERE IS SOME DUDS THAT POSTED SPEED TEST WITH TELKOM 3G 7.2 WITH A AVERAGE 4 TO 5MBPS
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CeeBee said:
I have 2 users with brand new E220 modems (from VC), when they connect, it also comes up with "Connected at 7.2Mbps"
I also didn't think they CAN do faster than 3.6Mbps.
But... it doesn't really matter? Our experiences with HSDPA is that the efficiency is generally less than 50%...
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lol, guys - just because your computer connects at 7.2 mb/s doesn't mean it is actually able to download at 7.2 mb/s.

this happens when you manually create an uplink - it can be done with some crappy phone as well...it's not really 7.2 mb/s.
 
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Keeper said:
lol, guys - just because your computer connects at 7.2 mb/s doesn't mean it is actually able to download at 7.2 mb/s.
this happens when you manually create an uplink - it can be done with some crappy phone as well...it's not really 7.2 mb/s.
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hehehe, jaaa, i know that... was merely commenting, on the question of if/how it can be done on E220, and that the new VC issued E220s indicate 7.2 on connection too, wouldn't do that unless they were flashed/upgraded like that....
I have to regularly explain the same speed displayed vs actual throughput issue to my non-it computer users, :))
(but lets not also get into a tiff over it :D )
I'm a Telkom Do3G user too, with B970 modem (need HSUPA), but, have not yet got more than 2.8Mbps speed.... not good signal.
But lets hope then, that MTN with their 'improved' 7.2 network will also come closer to the faster 'expected' speed.
To me the extra payment for 3.6 on Voda makes sense... IF you get what u pay for....(I have not tried it after the free trial period tho)... I don't expect to suddenly get full 3.6mbps speeds after paying my extra R50 for the VC 3.6 ability, coz I understand the issues, but I would expect it to be at least faster than 1.8, otherwise whats the use.
That is much better than to have a 'free' 3.6mbps enabled network, but (poor or FULL signal) I have never seen faster than 1300kbps.
I'd pay extra, if I know I'm gonna get extra speed...
I can now get VC at the office, and will need to subscribe to the VAS, coz I need HSUPA too.
(got MTN and now VC at the office as additional/backup internet for leased line)

edit... right now...
eish!, I moved to a different part of the house, got much better signal on Telkom 3G, did a few speedtests, on my E220: 4402kbps ave download speed.... so (if speedtest.net is to be believed) I also vouch that E220 CAN do faster than 3.6Mbps
Now to try with B970 (better reception)
 
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CeeBee said:
eish!, I moved to a different part of the house, got much better signal on Telkom 3G, did a few speedtests, on my E220: 4402kbps ave download speed.... so (if speedtest.net is to be believed) I also vouch that E220 CAN do faster than 3.6Mbps
Now to try with B970 (better reception)
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And that just proves how different wireless can be from location to location and It's amazing how many still don't understand that concept.
 
morkhans said:
And that just proves how different wireless can be from location to location and It's amazing how many still don't understand that concept.
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The very same reason why I used to advise that forumites take their HSPA modem and notebook outdoors and run some tests [speed & latency], then go indoors and repeat the tests - forumites tend to ignore the fact that the structure of a building is not made out of molten butter - the materials of a building do actually interfere with & block RF signals - the materials of a building are designed to keep the elements out and the same applies to RF.

I eventually gave up on giving that advice since very few forumites seem to listen, just like forumites tend not to listen when advised to use the 3G Only setting to minimise disconnects and will complain endlessly but not follow the advice given...:rolleyes:
 
ic said:
The very same reason why I used to advise that forumites take their HSPA modem and notebook outdoors and run some tests [speed & latency], then go indoors and repeat the tests - forumites tend to forget that the structure of a building is not made out of molten butter - the materials of a building do actually block and interfere with RF signals.
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About 8dB loss, moving indoors.
I eventually gave up on giving that advice since very few forumites seem to listen, just like forumites tend not to listen when advised to use the 3G Only setting to minimise disconnects and will complain endlessly but not follow the advice given...:rolleyes:
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Or to sort out the underlying OS first ;)
 
For me to upgrade will be useless. I live in the Cape Town CBD and will be lucky to get 1.8 (and then it is 3:00 in the morning) Around 20:00 you won't even get a connection. Looing forward to the end of my contract so that I can cancel it.
 
I have a MTN e220 modem and want to upgrade it with the latest software. The MTN site has got older software and the Nigeria MTN link is very slow. Can someone confirm which is the latest software and where on could download it for MTN?
 
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