Neotel Lite Speed Report

So, considering these speeds, would you recommend the Lite for the casual downloader, or is the Prime a better option to keep one supplied with about as much content as one can get through in a month?

Kas- what has you average been over the past 4 months? Do you have a download server running 24/7 (as I shall have) or do you only use it during peak/business hours?

There have been reports of skewed data reporting from Neotel. Are your figures theirs or yours?

Lastly, is there anyway to boost the signal for Lite devices (any hack job involving tinfoil etc) LOL@that, but you never know;)

Keep up the good work and regular reports!
 
Budza said:
So, considering these speeds, would you recommend the Lite for the casual downloader, or is the Prime a better option to keep one supplied with about as much content as one can get through in a month?

Kas- what has you average been over the past 4 months? Do you have a download server running 24/7 (as I shall have) or do you only use it during peak/business hours?

There have been reports of skewed data reporting from Neotel. Are your figures theirs or yours?

Lastly, is there anyway to boost the signal for Lite devices (any hack job involving tinfoil etc) LOL@that, but you never know;)

Keep up the good work and regular reports!
Click to expand...

If one downloads say 5-10 gigs a month I would definately recommend the Prime 5G or 10G Package @ R499 and R599/month. Anything over 10 gigs depending what you can afford I would go for the Prime Unlimited @ R999 or the Prime 15 Gig @ R699 as a last resort the Lite Unlimited Package @ R469.

Max download speed I have seen on the Lite is 19/20 kBps whereas on the Prime you should max between 37.5 and 87.5 kBps

I have tested both Prime and Lite, Prime is very nice in my area but all depends on where you stay. I was given the option of upgrading to Prime but opted to wait for the NeoFlex packages to be released, which is more or less the same thing I would recommend for anyone else wishing to sign up with Neotel if they can afford to be patient.

I am not a big downloader i.e Only download while I zzzzz or am afk, I generally average around 9/10 gigs per month, last month I did 6 gigs (which I think was the least amount of b/w used in the 4 month period), so what I pay for I am satisfied and yes I sure do save alot more money than I used to.
Ubuntu 8.10 Took me just over 12 hours to download so if I had to download 24/7 with the Lite Unlimited Package I would download 1.2 gig's every 24 hour period.

I have no issues with skewed figures as I have the Neotel Lite Unlimited and use Bandwidth Monitor Pro for my figures, is Netlimiter better or more accurate ? I actually havent used Netlimiter before so not sure.

Jar I do know one hack with the Lite Device, well a couple, I will share with you what I have done:

1. Move your Lite device all over your house to find where you get the best signal clarity and strength (i.e download something then stop moving when you have the perfect spot with best download speeds, call someone to bring you an object that will enable the Device to rest at the exact height you have it currently i.e Table, Books and Cd Covers as I have done)

2. Tape the handset to the Device with good insulation tape and turn the Device almost 90 Degrees on it's side then position the antenna in a range between 75 and 145 Degrees. (Just play around while downloading to get optimal signal clarity) I just used big blotches of prestik to secure the Device on your home-made tower.

3. Do not hand anyone your Phone Number else you will have your internet connection and downloads interrupted when someone calls. Rather hand out one of your email addresses or IM accounts if possible.

4. Get an American GF then ask her to purchase Admuncher for you, it costs $30 but is an excellent program to block ads and unwanted b/w usage.
Those are the hacks I know for now, would be great if anyone had anymore that I can add to my itenary of Neotel Lite Device hacks.
 
Great stuff!

I was worried about that concurrency issue. It's a ballache not being able to use phone & internet at the same time. WTF is up with that? As far as I know, when using EDGE on my cellphone, I can still recieve calls.

Has there been any indication of there being a replacement device that can do both at the same time? I might hold out till those arrive...

One other thing. Neotel is a "fixed wireless" service. How fixed is fixed? Are you tied to one base station, or can you take the device with you to work/on holiday and use it wherever there is reception?
 
Threepwood said:
Lucky you, you're 384k adsl is faster than 384k, how did you manage that? Not trying to sound sarcastic.

I think those speeds are pretty good, it's about half the speed of 384 adsl IMO, at least my 384. The cost for telkom 384 adsl is around R400-R500 with a 2gb (3.6ish actually) cap.

Are the pings on Prime better? I'm not a serious on-line gamer but I want to be able to play some bf2 at least. These speeds are okay I think but not that 800ms ping I don't think.

@Kasbah, do you mean to say that your signal has dropped since starting using Neotel? Has either your upload or Download speed been affected?

I read somewhere that basically wireless networks detioriorate as more users are connected to base stations, surely the same will happen with Neotel?
Click to expand...

I suppose it depends which wireless Service Provider you are with as to whether they are capable of making sure their network doesn't deteriorate with volume. I have been with Screamer Wimax for 3,5 months and am still getting the following on my 1Mb connection:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/373283851.png
 
What is up with Neotel Lite today ;)

Noticed on a few times today that I have been getting much better downloading speeds than I usually do, signal bar indicator is on 3 bars but yet I am achieving fastest download and upload speeds on Neotel within the 5 months I have had the service, take a look below:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/378367747.png
Download: 154kbps
Upload: 45kbps
Ping: 990ms

http://www.speedtest.net/result/378239106.png
Download: 176kbps
Upload: 82kbps
Ping: 1160ms
 
7 Months using NeoConnect Lite Unlimted

Well 7 months using Neotel has come and gone by so quick.
To sum it up, I am still very happy with the service I have received, been a little hiccupy at times but overall has been a much better experience than on previous Telkom ADSL and Iburst services.

It's busy storming like mad at the moment so thought I would do a speed test in the worst of conditions, already been struck by lightening and my NIC and sound card seem to blown up but here goes:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/408825646.png
Download: 136 kbps (17 KBps)
Upload: 31 kbps (3.87 KBps)
Ping: 1319ms
 
Here is my speedtest on Friday the 13th:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 134 kbps (16.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 91 kbps (11.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
 
Kasbah said:
Uptime is pretty much 24/7 over the last few weeks :)
Click to expand...

You mind me asking what and from where you download? I would be keen for a <R500 unlimited solution that is able to connect to either international or local torrent sites etc. Do larger files give issues? Number of seeds required etc..

There is this new offering: http://www.openweb.co.za/uncapped_adsl.php (128k uncapped ADSL @R599/m)

Could be another option, depending on upload speed. How many Gigs can you pull in per month? My 384 on uncapped local is just less than a 100GB:cool:

Sweet.
 
neotel support is utter rubbish. for 3 weeks my mom has been trying to sort out her neotel - yesterday her speeds were download 13kbps and upload, wait for it......0.02. today wow, we have a massive step forward, download 26kbps and upload 32kbps.

needless to say when calling again today for about the 30th time re this issue, the reference number i received yesterday is not on their system, the call I made is not logged but no fear, I received a new one today and wowee a second tier technician is looking into the problem...hmmmmmmmmmmmm.
 
JohnnyBravo said:
Here is my speedtest on Friday the 13th:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 134 kbps (16.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 91 kbps (11.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
Click to expand...

Hi there, I'm thinking of going with Neotel lite uncapped
I stay in Fourways.
Do you think it's the right choice? And will i still be able to download stuff from torrents?
How would it compare to the speeds that the Prime connection gives?
 
11 Months using NeoConnect Lite Unlimted

http://www.speedtest.net/result/506993960.png
Download: 7.3 kB/58.4 kb
Upload: 3.6 kB/20.8 kb
Ping: 1139 ms

That is with an external antenna which Neotel Supplied free of charge, I get better speeds without the external antenna, just much more intermittency and disconnections.
Have had no coverage for the past 2 months and prior to that had excellent coverage indoor and outdoor.

Was in contact with Samantha last week, cannot even get hold of her let alone return my calls. Cannot get to speak to Albert Goosen as all calls are reffered to Samantha now.

Should I be a happy customer after almost 1 year of loyality to Neotel ?
I am really so tired of asking "Please help" as it seems that I am more of a nuisance than a valued customer to Neotel.
 
So things have taken a turn for the worse then?

@ Kasbah. What do you download? Can you leave your PC running 24/7 without disconnects?

Do local torrents work at decent speed? What about international? Lite would not be much use for anything else IMO. Too slow for browsing...
 
Budza said:
So things have taken a turn for the worse then?

@ Kasbah. What do you download? Can you leave your PC running 24/7 without disconnects?

Do local torrents work at decent speed? What about international? Lite would not be much use for anything else IMO. Too slow for browsing...
Click to expand...

Yeah things have gone worse for me (according to their map excellent coverage still falls in the middle of the main road about 300m away from my house, I still don't understand it as no-one lives let alone uses Neotel in the middle of the main road, which is why I just want to speak to the Engineer responsible for my Tower.)

My connection used to run 24/7 without disconnections but now have to use mIRC with a ping script to keep my connection running when afk.

5-7 Months ago I was doing average 10-20 gigs per month which was mainly made up of software/series and movies, Yeah a good junk of my downloads came through with torrents (but had to unblock the port Bitcomet used first), no difference between local/international and could usually run 1, 2 or 3 at 6Kb =>
Haven't bothered to try download as I can barely browse (lucky I am using Opera 10.00 Beta 2 with Opera Turbo enabled which helps alot lol)

I'd say if my coverage/tower was fixed browsing and download would be very acceptable again, I've tried telling Neotel this for going 7 months now with currently 2 Trouble Tickets open, Head Office now ignoring me and just taking messages which no-one ever calls back and Neotel Rep ignoring my Private messages that I have sent.

When You have excellent coverage, good RSSI and download speeds of 18Kb+ I don't see reason for Lite Unlimited not being a satisfactory and relatively cheapish service.


Right now it's only good for chit-chat with mIRC ;)
 
Back to Normal Antenna :)

Out of frustration unplugged the external antenna and put up my stack of boxes on the desk, plugged the normal antenna in again, adjusted according to RSSI and wow back to how it was before.. months ago :)

Test Done 23 July 2009 10:19pm GMT+2
RSSI: Fluctuating 97-98 (2/3 Bars Signal)
Last Result:
Download Speed: 140 kbps (17.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 55 kbps (6.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
http://www.speedtest.net/result/523962088.png

Test Done 24July 2009 12:00pm GMT+2
RSSI: 98/99 (2/3 Bars Signal)
Download Speed: 137 kbps (17.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 35 kbps (4.4 KB/sec transfer rate)
http://www.speedtest.net/result/524254518.png

*Latency is better with external antenna but at max d/l speeds of around 8kB

Wander if this is because of Seacom going live ?
Hope this lasts as this is now satisfactory NeoConnect Lite Unlimited service, goody can get some torrents coming in again.
 
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