My Vodacom Wireless nightmare

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johannesgerber

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I've been using Vodacom 3G on a 24mnth contract since May 2007 with the occasional problems but my nightmare started on the 28th of July 2008.

Before that, I've always had 3G or HSDPA signal with the occasional few mins of GPRS before switching to 3G or HSDPA again. I easily reached my 2G cap.

Since 28th of July 2008 I could only connect with GPRS/EDGE but the biggest nightmare is that it randomly disconnects. Sometimes after only 8 minutes, sometimes after 35 minutes - what's worse is that although it shows EDGE, I barely get GPRS speed. This means that emails and webpages take so long to open, that before I can open a page or download an email completely the connection drops me and I have to reconnect and start all over... :mad::mad:

At first I left it at that and thought something were upgraded and that it would return to normal soon. (happened before) After 2 weeks of constant gprs and random disconnecting I started investigating.

I upgraded the E220 modem with the firmware on Vodacom's website. I downloaded (at a friend) the new 9.3 dashboard. It was still the same...

I uninstalled everything and tried again... I formatted my Hard drive and re-installed Windows and all applications. I installed every dashboard I could find and tried it... all the same... Mobile partner, VMC lite, Mobile connect, MDMA1005 - nothing changed it.

During the first 2 weeks of problems I got HSDPA twice for about 10 minutes at a time and were able to do a speed test. after that, no HSDPA again and the Vodacom Edge is so slow it won't open the vodacom speed test page.

I then contacted Vodacom and reported loss of 3G coverage... I told them that I live on a hill with 3 towers less than 500m from my house, but that MDMA shows I'm alternately connecting to 2 towers... one 15km from me, the other 8 km from me.

The techs who phoned me didn't have a clue... they all suggested upgrading the modem and using VMC 9.3 - :mad: - cmmon! I got 3G just 3km from me downtown... the software and hardware was working! (I'm using a desktop)

I took my pc and modem downtown and got 3G right away, I got very fast download speeds when visiting Riversdale.

I took my PC outside the house and tried... nothing... same disconnecting EDGE.

OK... after 2 months of extreme frustration and no solutions from Vodacom I'm hoping someone here could help me.

I've collected some data:

I live in Scheepershoogte, Uitenhage, Eastern Cape.

Soon after the initial problems, my E220 would connect to a tower at Swartkops (almost in Port Elizabeth) and then Despatch Reservoir 3. (I live close to the highest hill in Uitenhage with 3 towers on that hill - less than 500m from me)

With my Vodacom simcard it currently connects to:

2008/10/03 11:41:47, Serial Number: 2320,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Y4L 5% Voda. 5% Other

2008/10/03 11:43:10, Serial Number: 50048,
Message Identifier: 60, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Despatch Reservoir 3 (+- 7km from my house)

2008/10/03 12:05:10, Serial Number: 10720,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Y4L 5% Voda. 5% Other

It randomly disconnects and the maximum speed never exceeds 80kbps (kilo bits) while the average speed is about 20 to 60 kilo bits per second. I cannot even open a 1MB email, because it disconnects before it's downloaded and I have to start all over again. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! :mad::mad::mad:

With my CELL C simcard it DOESN'T disconnect, it connects to the towers near me on the hill (less than 500m) and the speed is 3 times as fast as with vodacom, even though it also shows edge.

Tower info with Cell C sim:

2008/10/02 12:58:57, Serial Number: 4178,
Message Identifier: 51, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Resevoir Hill-3 38860 1020-01 A300T2

2008/10/02 13:05:46, Serial Number: 4190,
Message Identifier: 51, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Uitenhage WRes-3 38843 708-63 A220T0

2008/10/02 13:05:56, Serial Number: 94,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Van Riebeeck Hoogte

2008/10/02 13:12:04, Serial Number: 4172,
Message Identifier: 51, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Windsor Park-3 38862 717-47 A310T-2

2008/10/02 13:13:02, Serial Number: 76,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Windsor Park

2008/10/02 13:24:25, Serial Number: 94,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Van Riebeeck Hoogte

2008/10/02 13:24:27, Serial Number: 4190,
Message Identifier: 51, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Uitenhage WRes-3 38843 708-63 A220T0

Cell C simcard speed:
No disconnect
max about 230 kilo bits per second
Average download speed 120 to 200kbps

I can only guess that something at the tower had been changed and that I'm now connecting to towers in a different town... BUT my CELL C works fine... even though it's not 3G, I can at least use it... I can open a photo, download an email.

I have more info in terms of graph comparisons from Mobile Partner and screen shots of MDMA10025 - will send the links soon.

Please help me! I had 3G and HSDPA, I'm paying for a 2G package and I can barely download 300meg a month if I sit at the PC all day.

I've stopped paying my bill because this Vodacom 3G is just costing me money and hours of frustration, hours I have to sit @ the PC to try to download emails and open attachements where I couldve been productive...

Did Vodacom move the transmitter?

This 3G contract has become unusable to me and if it can't be fixed I want compensation of some sort... even if I can just cancel this rubbish.

Vodacom! RESTORE the internet I'm paying for!
 
johannesgerber said:
I've been using Vodacom 3G on a 24mnth contract since May 2007 with the occasional problems but my nightmare started on the 28th of July 2008.

Before that, I've always had 3G or HSDPA signal with the occasional few mins of GPRS before switching to 3G or HSDPA again. I easily reached my 2G cap.

Since 28th of July 2008 I could only connect with GPRS/EDGE but the biggest nightmare is that it randomly disconnects. Sometimes after only 8 minutes, sometimes after 35 minutes - what's worse is that although it shows EDGE, I barely get GPRS speed. This means that emails and webpages take so long to open, that before I can open a page or download an email completely the connection drops me and I have to reconnect and start all over... :mad::mad:

At first I left it at that and thought something were upgraded and that it would return to normal soon. (happened before) After 2 weeks of constant gprs and random disconnecting I started investigating.

I upgraded the E220 modem with the firmware on Vodacom's website. I downloaded (at a friend) the new 9.3 dashboard. It was still the same...

I uninstalled everything and tried again... I formatted my Hard drive and re-installed Windows and all applications. I installed every dashboard I could find and tried it... all the same... Mobile partner, VMC lite, Mobile connect, MDMA1005 - nothing changed it.

During the first 2 weeks of problems I got HSDPA twice for about 10 minutes at a time and were able to do a speed test. after that, no HSDPA again and the Vodacom Edge is so slow it won't open the vodacom speed test page.

I then contacted Vodacom and reported loss of 3G coverage... I told them that I live on a hill with 3 towers less than 500m from my house, but that MDMA shows I'm alternately connecting to 2 towers... one 15km from me, the other 8 km from me.

The techs who phoned me didn't have a clue... they all suggested upgrading the modem and using VMC 9.3 - :mad: - cmmon! I got 3G just 3km from me downtown... the software and hardware was working! (I'm using a desktop)

I took my pc and modem downtown and got 3G right away, I got very fast download speeds when visiting Riversdale.

I took my PC outside the house and tried... nothing... same disconnecting EDGE.

OK... after 2 months of extreme frustration and no solutions from Vodacom I'm hoping someone here could help me.

I've collected some data:

I live in Scheepershoogte, Uitenhage, Eastern Cape.

Soon after the initial problems, my E220 would connect to a tower at Swartkops (almost in Port Elizabeth) and then Despatch Reservoir 3. (I live close to the highest hill in Uitenhage with 3 towers on that hill - less than 500m from me)

With my Vodacom simcard it currently connects to:

2008/10/03 11:41:47, Serial Number: 2320,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Y4L 5% Voda. 5% Other

2008/10/03 11:43:10, Serial Number: 50048,
Message Identifier: 60, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Despatch Reservoir 3 (+- 7km from my house)

2008/10/03 12:05:10, Serial Number: 10720,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Y4L 5% Voda. 5% Other

It randomly disconnects and the maximum speed never exceeds 80kbps (kilo bits) while the average speed is about 20 to 60 kilo bits per second. I cannot even open a 1MB email, because it disconnects before it's downloaded and I have to start all over again. GRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! :mad::mad::mad:

With my CELL C simcard it DOESN'T disconnect, it connects to the towers near me on the hill (less than 500m) and the speed is 3 times as fast as with vodacom, even though it also shows edge.

Tower info with Cell C sim:

2008/10/02 12:58:57, Serial Number: 4178,
Message Identifier: 51, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Resevoir Hill-3 38860 1020-01 A300T2

2008/10/02 13:05:46, Serial Number: 4190,
Message Identifier: 51, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Uitenhage WRes-3 38843 708-63 A220T0

2008/10/02 13:05:56, Serial Number: 94,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Van Riebeeck Hoogte

2008/10/02 13:12:04, Serial Number: 4172,
Message Identifier: 51, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Windsor Park-3 38862 717-47 A310T-2

2008/10/02 13:13:02, Serial Number: 76,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Windsor Park

2008/10/02 13:24:25, Serial Number: 94,
Message Identifier: 50, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Van Riebeeck Hoogte

2008/10/02 13:24:27, Serial Number: 4190,
Message Identifier: 51, DCS: 1, Page 1/1
Uitenhage WRes-3 38843 708-63 A220T0

Cell C simcard speed:
No disconnect
max about 230 kilo bits per second
Average download speed 120 to 200kbps

I can only guess that something at the tower had been changed and that I'm now connecting to towers in a different town... BUT my CELL C works fine... even though it's not 3G, I can at least use it... I can open a photo, download an email.

I have more info in terms of graph comparisons from Mobile Partner and screen shots of MDMA10025 - will send the links soon.

Please help me! I had 3G and HSDPA, I'm paying for a 2G package and I can barely download 300meg a month if I sit at the PC all day.

I've stopped paying my bill because this Vodacom 3G is just costing me money and hours of frustration, hours I have to sit @ the PC to try to download emails and open attachements where I couldve been productive...

Did Vodacom move the transmitter?

This 3G contract has become unusable to me and if it can't be fixed I want compensation of some sort... even if I can just cancel this rubbish.

Vodacom! RESTORE the internet I'm paying for!
Click to expand...

Won't you PM me the reference number you got from 155 when you logged this problem and I'll follow up for you.
 
I'm at my wits end too with my 3G card. I've had it for almost 3 years and the 2-3 months I can only get GPRS connection and then only for a few minutes at a time. As soon as I have some time I'm cancelling my contract. It's so slow I can't even use up my 1 gig cap because i give up and use ADSL instead. Telkom ADSL > Vodacom 3G
 
Gazer said:
I'm at my wits end too with my 3G card. I've had it for almost 3 years and the 2-3 months I can only get GPRS connection and then only for a few minutes at a time. As soon as I have some time I'm cancelling my contract. It's so slow I can't even use up my 1 gig cap because i give up and use ADSL instead. Telkom ADSL > Vodacom 3G
Click to expand...

As above, pass me the reference numbers and I'll follow up.

@johannesgerber, still waiting for yours as well.
 
Hi Vodacom3g, I can't seem to successfully PM you.

I found the codes:

Dear Customer: Your service request no. S2-QDKCY-YWK3 has been logged. We will contact you within 1 working day with feedback. Vodacom Customer Care: 082111.
Time: 04/08/2008 20:02:12

And later the month:

Dear Customer: Your service request no. S2-QD12Q-QX947 has been logged. We will contact you within 1 working day with feedback. Vodacom Customer Care: 082111.
Time: 21/08/2008 10:43:02

2 1/2 months now with no usable internet while I'm paying for 2Gig data.
 
Last edited:
I still had 3G and HSDPA in June 2008...see Data usage report...
http://www.brighter-lights.com/tmp/june.jpg

Since 28 July 2008 I've only had gprs and edge...Vodacom gprs/edge randomly disconnects at intervals of 5 to 30 minutes, while Cell C doesn't. Here's what Vodacom's EDGE looks like agains Cell C's Edge...Although still not 3G or HSDPA like I used to have, Vodacom's 'EDGE' clearly lacks something...(remember it also disconnects every few minutes)
http://www.brighter-lights.com/tmp/cell-c-vs-vodacom.jpg
 
johannesgerber said:
Hi Vodacom3g, I can't seem to successfully PM you.

I found the codes:

Dear Customer: Your service request no. S2-QDKCY-YWK3 has been logged. We will contact you within 1 working day with feedback. Vodacom Customer Care: 082111.
Time: 04/08/2008 20:02:12

And later the month:

Dear Customer: Your service request no. S2-QD12Q-QX947 has been logged. We will contact you within 1 working day with feedback. Vodacom Customer Care: 082111.
Time: 21/08/2008 10:43:02

2 1/2 months now with no usable internet while I'm paying for 2G.
Click to expand...

Yup, have not received a PM yet, but will work on the numbers you posted.
 
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