MTN for internet is terribly erratic

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Brieuse

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I have always been on Vodacom, so I thought I'd try MTN.

I purchased an MTN prepaid sim and loaded 2GB onto it.

Firstly, a huge mission to activate the sim for data usage. It seems you need to use a cellphone for that.

Secondly, the connection speeds are terrible except at 3AM in the morning.

I have an E220 and a B970 that I use. They both struggle on MTN. We're talking ping rates of over 150ms, download speeds of less than 400 kbps, upload of between 4 and 50 kbps. Tested using speed.net. This is with a full signal and HSDPA. And where is HSUPA?

At 5am this morning I managed to get 2.2Mbps upload with download of 150 kbps. That looks wonderful on paper, but the ping rates were at 150ms still. The F5 button seems to come in handy cause often pages don't seem to load the first time.

I'm in Randburg so it's not like I am out in the sticks somewhere.

During the day until late evening MTN just simply slows down to phone line speeds.

Hey maybe I am spoiled with what I used before. My Vodacom prepaid seems to stay between 0.9 and 1.2 Mbps download and about the same for upload (when using my B970). Ping rates of around 50ms. So technically MTN is faster but for real life use, Vodacom is far more useable.

I don't think I'll purchase more data for my MTN sim.
 
Same here. I'm in Centurion and also get full HSDPA /UPA. During the day it is relatively ok but during the evening from around 17:00 it is non existent to be honest. My Vodacom sim no problem during the same time. But then something funny. If I put in my company sim which is on a private APN then it works relatively ok during the same period but going back to the normal APN it sucks in the evening.

So I actually logged a call with MTN about this via their website and even got a response back. Didn't help me squad as they didn't do anything about it yet.

MTN Response on the 20/30/2009:

RE: Network Coverage Query [#1560847]

Y'ello!
Kindly note that we are aware of throughput issues in the Centurion area with regards to 3G connectivity and our technician are working on this. Apologies for the inconveniences you may experience.
Regards


Great response just seems the technician never made it to Centurion :rolleyes:
 
cant say i ever had an issues with speed on mtn at any particular time. Must just be the area you guys live in.

As for activating it for data usage, yup, have to put it in a phone first, quite a mission, and same applys for loading a bundle.
 
pieterbotes said:
Same here. I'm in Centurion and also get full HSDPA /UPA. During the day it is relatively ok but during the evening from around 17:00 it is non existent to be honest. My Vodacom sim no problem during the same time. But then something funny. If I put in my company sim which is on a private APN then it works relatively ok during the same period but going back to the normal APN it sucks in the evening.

So I actually logged a call with MTN about this via their website and even got a response back. Didn't help me squad as they didn't do anything about it yet.

MTN Response on the 20/30/2009:

RE: Network Coverage Query [#1560847]

Y'ello!
Kindly note that we are aware of throughput issues in the Centurion area with regards to 3G connectivity and our technician are working on this. Apologies for the inconveniences you may experience.
Regards


Great response just seems the technician never made it to Centurion :rolleyes:
Click to expand...



I also live in the Centurion area, and there were speed issues last year as well. Don't expect anything in the way of a notification about problems or an indication about how long it wil last.

Are you swopping vodacom and mtn sims in the same modem? I phoned a vodashop last week to hear whether I could use on their sims in my mtn E220 and they said the modems were network locked?
 
NWO said:
I also live in the Centurion area, and there were speed issues last year as well. Don't expect anything in the way of a notification about problems or an indication about how long it wil last.

Are you swopping vodacom and mtn sims in the same modem? I phoned a vodashop last week to hear whether I could use on their sims in my mtn E220 and they said the modems were network locked?
Click to expand...

Yes I do. I use the generic Mobile Partner software from Hauwei itself then you can use which ever sim you want. The modem itself is not network locked as such rather the MTN software doesn't want to see the Vodacom sim and vice versa.

http://www.huawei.com/mobileweb/en/doc/list.do?type=-1&id=5286

E220 is straight there but for instance the E272 and the E270 is the same modem etc. You can also flash back to the MTN / Vodacom software without any problem later on.
 
pieterbotes said:
Yes I do. I use the generic Mobile Partner software from Hauwei itself then you can use which ever sim you want. The modem itself is not network locked as such rather the MTN software doesn't want to see the Vodacom sim and vice versa.
Click to expand...

Thanks! You have a PM.
 
In the area I live the opposites happens!

With MTN I get great speeds and good latency but with Vodacom the speed is average and latency is really crappy.

Funny thing is that the Vodacom tower is much closer to me then the MTN tower.
 
agerbon said:
In the area I live the opposites happens!

With MTN I get great speeds and good latency but with Vodacom the speed is average and latency is really crappy.

Funny thing is that the Vodacom tower is much closer to me then the MTN tower.
Click to expand...

Same here! That is what is so sad about these two companies

Vodacon and Mtn will never have to compete for each others customers, because the moment one's towers fill up, the customers will bitch and go to ther other company.

Everyone in my area must be using Vodacon because when I use MTN for internet I get 1400 kbps on the web..

Look at peoples Speedtest.net results, most vodacom pings are 400-700, most mtn pings are 280-350
 
Depends where (location) you are, I usually get the 7.2mbps (I know its not the actual connection, but this is what pops up when I connect). But in some areas it just doesn't connect at all - I think Voda is second to none when it comes to coverage - IMO.
 
Maelly said:
Depends where (location) you are, I usually get the 7.2mbps (I know its not the actual connection, but this is what pops up when I connect). But in some areas it just doesn't connect at all - I think Voda is second to none when it comes to coverage - IMO.
Click to expand...

I think it won't connect if you're data card is set to: 3g/Hsdpa Only. And you're in a edge/gprs zone.

Its best to adjust your dashboard software to 'prefer 3g connection' while you're on the move, and 'only accept 3g connections' when you're at home/work.
 
Tweak said:
I think it won't connect if you're data card is set to: 3g/Hsdpa Only. And you're in a edge/gprs zone.

Its best to adjust your dashboard software to 'prefer 3g connection' while you're on the move, and 'only accept 3g connections' when you're at home/work.
Click to expand...

Agree on that.
 
pieterbotes said:
Yes I do. I use the generic Mobile Partner software from Hauwei itself then you can use which ever sim you want. The modem itself is not network locked as such rather the MTN software doesn't want to see the Vodacom sim and vice versa.

http://www.huawei.com/mobileweb/en/doc/list.do?type=-1&id=5286

.
Click to expand...

Thanks Pieter I downloaded the above softwear , but when Mobile Partner runs , it does not want to open MTN or Vodacom , I have to revert back to the USSD system to run it .
What am I doing wrong ?
 
robass said:
Thanks Pieter I downloaded the above softwear , but when Mobile Partner runs , it does not want to open MTN or Vodacom , I have to revert back to the USSD system to run it .
What am I doing wrong ?
Click to expand...

You need to create a profile to use:

Go to tools - options - Profile Management

then create a default profile under there... You only have to give the profile a name and put it on Dynamic unless you want to use a specific static APN.
 
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