MTN LTE trial network tests

Jan

Jan

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I recently received an LTE modem from MTN to play with (the Huawei E398, to be specific) and spent some time last night doing speedtests.

Whenever I get a chance I'll post a battery of test results to this thread from wherever I am at any given time.

Thusfar I've been unable to get signal near the little shopping centre in Midstream Estate, or near the University of Pretoria.

The next post will contain my results from the tests I conducted in Centurion, near the corner of Jean and Lenchen Avenue.

List of areas tested with signal:
  • Centurion, near the corner of Jean and Lenchen Avenue (Last tested: 20 September 2011)
  • Centurion, Let's Talk Geek studio near Highveld

List of areas tested without signal:
  • Little shopping centre inside Midstream Estate (Last tested: 20 September 2011)
  • Nino's Coffee Shop near University of Pretoria (Last tested: 20 September 2011)
  • Hyde Park Corner - Fratelli
 
Last edited:
MTN LTE Speedtests: 19-Sep-2011, Centurion

Tests conducted in Centurion near the corner of Jean and Lenchen Avenue.

In general the experience was pretty good, but it felt bursty at times. One minute you're browsing and then suddenly the connection is unresponsive. As the night wore on the connection seemed to get more stable - but that could be pure coincidence or bias from not using the connection as intensively as during testing.

More testing will hopefully confirm or refute the "bursty-ness" perception.

That said, even during Speedtest the download or upload would sometimes stall, often causing the average speeds to drop significantly from the peaks that were achieved (i.e. the final average would be 3 or 4Mbps, but the Speedtest dial stalled on 12Mbps or higher)

South African test using MyBroadband speedtest server:

2011-10-19_Centurion_Local.jpg


International test using MyBroadband speedtest server:

2011-10-19_Centurion_International.jpg


Various Speedtest.net tests:

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And right about here the forum image uploader broke... (pulling directly from Speedtest.net from this point)

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Looks pretty underwhelming to me. For comparison here some Cell C HSPA+ speedtests on their "live" network.

cellc_local.jpg


cellc_int.jpg


And here is the Vodacom trial screeshot Jannie posted in April already, which is waaaaay more like it.

LTE.jpg
 
I agree with ajax - somewhat disappointing results. Was expecting uber speeds, but whoosh has achieved the same (and better) numerous times... looking forward to more tests though, please keep posting!
 
Dont matter how fast it is, wont ever ever being siging with eMpTN again or Vodascum
 
Meteor said:
Dont matter how fast it is, wont ever ever being siging with eMpTN again or Vodascum
Click to expand...

In fourways area i tend to agree with you.

Anyways, trolling aside- that ping looks a bit much- i was achieving 14ms with mine and the speeds were at least 10 times that amount. LTE is not here to mimic current data speed, its to make it look like a thing of the past rather.
 
The speeds you're showing are generally what you get when you're almost completely out of range.

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Agreed. But remember this is a field trial using "new" equipment where nobody knows ideal setups??? I've seen 12-15ms pings , but lower download speeds. Also seen 83MB downloads (not sure of the ping) , so I'm sure as the trial goes on , things will be fine tuned. The postive thing is that it's out there in a real live network with real life challenges (interference , position , etc)!!!
 
Excuse my Geography ignorance , but is that Durbanville in Cape Town? LTE pilot only available in certain parts of JHB/Pretoria.
 
Wow, this 4G LTE is looking good. Tell me, how fast is 4G Meant to be? I heard 70Mbps then I heard 150Mbps.

When will this network be rolled out to all metropolitan towns??
 
ngadao08 said:
Wow, this 4G LTE is looking good. Tell me, how fast is 4G Meant to be? I heard 70Mbps then I heard 150Mbps.

When will this network be rolled out to all metropolitan towns??
Click to expand...

4G= at least 100mbps d/l- expect it to be rolled out commercially at least 3 years from now as a safe bet.
 
Did some tests at the Let's Talk Geek studios near Highveld, Centurion the other night and got far more impressive results.

2011-10-05_Centurion_LTG_Local.jpg


2011-10-05_Centurion_LTG_International.jpg


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From what ive seen the LTE tech will stabilise the network towards dedication, same way a fixed line does, this will be what our heritage is for now.
 
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