Neotel Installation Problems

[blowdart18]

I have been following these forums which much excitement especially with regards to the LTE products offered by Neotel.

So with all the good reviews I decided to go for it and see what it was about, I opted for the 4mg line and submitted the docs as requested.

2 days later I get a phone call for them to come out and install my product, to much excitement I managed to get away from a meeting early so that they could come around and do the install.

However this is where my problems started . . . .

They installed the product at around 17:00 because they got caught up at a previous site, they didn't really have the tools to start with so I was somewhat skeptical. After they hooked everything up they said that they could only activate the line the next day due to Neotel knocking off at 17:00.

Ok no internet for a day, I can handle that, what is one day.

Next day I get home to test the new product, got a phone call in the morning saying everything has been activated. NOPE, still not connecting. After much snot and drama with Neotel I find out that the external Antenna was not plugged in properly, climb the roof, nearly kill myself, and plug it in. (They secured the port with insulation tape and not the plug that comes with the antenna.)

Ok so 2nd try . . . .

Go through trouble shooting again with Neotel, this time figure out that the installers activated the wrong sim card and that the sim card in the antenna has not even been provisioned on the network.

Now going on day 3 and the problem is still not sorted.

What erks me is:

- Neotel does not accept any fault and I, me personally must make an arrangement with the installer to fix the problem.

- Installer is an independent installer and obviously does what he feels like, and can only check the product Monday to Friday, 08:00 - 17:00 so I must fit in his schedule to fix his problem.

- The reseller also feels foxtrot, they are happy to get their commission but are unwilling to deal with the problem.




Where do I stand in all of this ?

 

[andycol500]

they came to my house to install and the guy stepped on a water pipe in the ceiling which burst causing my ceiling to flood
i have now had to have my ceiling in the kitchen replaced and geyser repaired

luckily i didnt have to pay

 

[blowdart18]

That sucks fish cakes . . . . Must of be quiet a mess.

 

[PsyWulf]

Must of be quiet a mess.

 

[blowdart18]

Dam auto correct. Must of been quite a mess . . .

 

[SideWinder]

Hi Blowart18,

What system did they install? Sounds like the outdoor unit, and installer forget to feed the seal cap onto the cable before crimping the RJ45 connector to the end of the cable. I would insist he cut it off and do it correct. Ask for a few meter of slack, in case you want to move the thing later.
When they did my installation, it was clear that the installer was a Ellies DSTV etc installer (said so on his pickup), and only knew basic IP. Got it working 1st try, and tweaked it myself later.

 

[PsyWulf]

Dam auto correct. Must of been quite a mess . . .

Still not fixed

Must of (must’ve)
The usually nonsensical phrase must of comes from a mishearing of must’ve, the contraction of must have.

 

[blowdart18]

Hi Blowart18,

What system did they install? Sounds like the outdoor unit, and installer forget to feed the seal cap onto the cable before crimping the RJ45 connector to the end of the cable. I would insist he cut it off and do it correct. Ask for a few meter of slack, in case you want to move the thing later.

The installer is coming through this afternoon to sort the problem out, I insisted that he come over the weekend as I was not going to make time for him during the week.

They installed the Atel AOL-PE103 and a Zyexel router, so standard equipment that Neotel is supply if I look at the forums.

 

[blowdart18]

So we had a whole team of installers out last night trying to get the problem resolved, they realized that the position of the Antenna was below the roof level so we had it moved.

At one point it was receiving the best signal it had achieved, better than benchmarks on the forums, only to find that when they wanted to mount the pole it started giving problems again, don't know if it was due to the rain, or equipment for that matter.

At the end of the night I told them to rather take the equipment as we were not getting anywhere in terms of a resolution.

Sad that it did not work.

 

[blowdart18]

Ok Feedback time for those who were wondering. Got the techs from SS Telecoms who actually supply the Atel router to Neotel.

They checked and fiddled around a bit only to find that the previous guys installed it in the wrong location. The previous guys also did not position the antenna correctly, the flat face of the box should face the direction of the tower if you were wondering.

All in all, we managed to pick up signal, but due to the signal strength we were getting I was advised by the head of Neotel tech that it would be in vain if we continued because as the tower becomes saturated so will the signal strength decrease.

So we cancelled the contract and they waived any fees that were due.


For interest sake this is the tower you guys should look out for if you want to play around:

25°40'30.89"S
28°10'23.76"E

 

[SideWinder]

Hi Blowdart18,

Can you recall what the values were, RSSI, RSSQ & RSSP?

 

[blowdart18]

 

[SideWinder]

Hi Blowdart18,

Yip, those don't look too good. For best results, RSRP should be below -100, yours is at -109!. I have tested 10 Mbps with -104, but that's borderline, I suppose it has to do with the biggest problem GSM type signals have, and that is cell shrinking. iow, as the load (i.e. users) increase as everybody returns home in the late afternoons, the size of the cell shrinks. In practice that manifests itself as a couple of dB's lower signal strength. Hence Neotel will not install is you have a good margin of signal, to cater for "cell breathing", as it is commonly known. If the installer pointed the antenna to the (Telkom) tower you showed above, no wonder you got poor signal.

Unfortunately that this has happened, and I alway recommend to do your own homework, as the Neotel installers are not that clued up. There are good ones out there, but always best to know a bit more about the tower locations, and IP configs etc.

The contractor that installed mine insisted I have no signal at all, until i insisted he tests with the actual new unit from the box, and not his own test unit. After the swopout, BAMMM!!! full signal!!!! I wonder how many other people he fobbed off in this manner!

 

[blowdart18]

Sidewinder thanks for the heads up.

Exactly what I was told from the head of technical with regard to cell shrinkage, something I never heard of and thus why mybb helped with a ton of info.