Neotel Lite Speed Report

Up down, up down. Disconnect, no disconnects. PMs answered, no PMs answered. Seems like a mixed bag.

I'll wait for them to sort themselves out before taking the plunge. Unless of course the contract requirements disappears.

Hope these speeds stay:D
 
Yep can't say much for the feedback via messages left here and at Head Office but my speeds are at least back to how they were before which was all I wanted. Although I am still running on the normal antenna as with the External Antenna I get about half to a third download speeds with improved latency and upload, right now I'd rather have the download speed tyvm.

PN: 460
RSSI: 98
Last Result:
Download Speed: 136 kbps (17 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 33 kbps (4.1 KB/sec transfer rate)
http://www.speedtest.net/result/526338132.png
 
Thank you for the fix Neotel.

Was disconnected yesterday evening, service was down for 2 or 3 minutes and came back full signal :), I immediately checked PN and it had changed.

Normal Antenna
PN:328
RSSI:87-92

External Antenna
PN:328
RSSI:77/78
^^It's Raining and plenty cloud cover so results should be better with clearer skies.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/529867447.png
Last Result:
Download Speed: 132 kbps (16.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 54 kbps (6.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
 
That is about half of my 384k ADSL, upload and download. Running flat out do you get around 50GB? Do they/can you measure this? My ADSL tops out around 100GB...

For half the price to get half the Gigs plus the contracts and coverage issues, I'm not sure I would take Neotel Lite at the moment. Might hold out for Prime Unlimited though...

Keep us updated! [PS thanks for volunteering as the guinea pig;)]
 
Hi There,

I am new here and new to Neotel too...

I have done a speedtest via speedtest.net and got:
Ping 1347
Download 0.04mbps
Upload 0.05mbps

At best I have 5 or 6 kbps when downloading.... this is SOOO Frustrating.

I am in the northgate area and am in "Excellent" coverage with a Neotel antenna on Belairs mall which is 700m away.

I had a techie come out and stated he would arrange for an external antenna to be installed but this was 2 weeks ago and have not heard anything again despite my email requests for an update.

From what Ive been reading here 5kbps seems low.

Are there any known "tricks" that can be used to increase this speed.

My RSSI is at 80 which is high if u ask me.

Please advise !!
 
Last edited:
Budza said:
That is about half of my 384k ADSL, upload and download. Running flat out do you get around 50GB? Do they/can you measure this? My ADSL tops out around 100GB...

For half the price to get half the Gigs plus the contracts and coverage issues, I'm not sure I would take Neotel Lite at the moment. Might hold out for Prime Unlimited though...

Keep us updated! [PS thanks for volunteering as the guinea pig;)]
Click to expand...

In the first few months of getting NeoConnect Lite Uncapped I was averaging 10-20GB odd. Havent been able to do more than 3GB/month for the last 7/8 months lol. Unfortunately ADSL is not an option for me and already wasted almost 2 years trying to get our underground cabling replaced or fixed before finally cancelling and moving to Neotel.

Month Download Upload Total
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009 August 304.31 MB 91.58 MB 395.88 MB
2009 July 2.24 GB 434.61 MB 2.66 GB
2009 June 1.98 GB 458.03 MB 2.43 GB
2009 May 1.58 GB 381.62 MB 1.95 GB
2009 April 2.11 GB 276.65 MB 2.38 GB
2009 March 1.95 GB 354.57 MB 2.29 GB
2009 February 1.92 GB 392.27 MB 2.30 GB
2009 January 4.68 GB 900.43 MB 5.56 GB
2008 December 19.51 GB 1.67 GB 21.18 GB
2008 November 22.65 GB 928.23 MB 23.55 GB
^^ Had more but lost logs due to Format

Download Speeds are back to less than dialup at 6kB :(
And cannot even complete a speedtest to prove it lol
Checking through my IRC logs, looks like today was a very bad day, I am now experiencing freezing and disconnections every 2 minutes or so.
Internet Experience totally unusable :(
But wait !!! RSSI is 78, skies are clear, midnight .. whats going on Neotel ? Thought by this time things would be back to how they should be.

What made my day was calling in earlier to follow up my 2 previous Trouble Tickets:
1. For slow download speeds, freezing and disconnections (Opened 7 months ago)
2. Credit for not being able to utilise uncapped service.

Spoke with Thabang and he said they were closed, WTF !!!
Thabang assured me this was not acceptable and even took it in his hands to speak with the relevant people while holding on the line. Was then told that this matter had been Escalated for the umpteenth time (Gawsh I so dislike that word 'Escalated')

I am honestly so shocked and dissapointed.. All this after dealing with HO, speaking with Samantha and Tebogo.
Neotel HO won't even let me speak with Albert Goosen, Neotel Rep has totally ignored my PM's.

I have nothing much further to say.
 
Bluedevil678 said:
Hi There,

I am new here and new to Neotel too...

I have done a speedtest via speedtest.net and got:
Ping 1347
Download 0.04mbps
Upload 0.05mbps

At best I have 5 or 6 kbps when downloading.... this is SOOO Frustrating.

I am in the northgate area and am in "Excellent" coverage with a Neotel antenna on Belairs mall which is 700m away.

I had a techie come out and stated he would arrange for an external antenna to be installed but this was 2 weeks ago and have not heard anything again despite my email requests for an update.

From what Ive been reading here 5kbps seems low.

Are there any known "tricks" that can be used to increase this speed.

My RSSI is at 80 which is high if u ask me.

Please advise !!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome to myBB Bluedevil678 :)

eish.. yep thats horrible speeds and latency
5/6 kBps while downloading is just less than dialup(7kB) so for NeoConnect Lite that is 1/3 of what you should be getting(I've averaged 19-20kBps before). I feel your frustration, just another 10kB added to that really does make a huge difference in a pleasurable online experience.

I suggest you phone HO and get them to tell you when the antenna will be installed, go through to complaints department.
They have the order numbers on-hand so will be able to tell you quickly if the Antenna Installation has been dispatched and when to expect the Malawian Installation Techies or whether it has even been dispatched at all.

An RSSI of 80 should be pretty good for the NeoConnect Lite device.. just from what I have read and also depending on the ISP's RSSI set-range 72 is supposedly optimal.

Debug with ##412365 (do a forum search for RSSI NeoConnect Lite) and see where are on your property you get the best RSSI, Echo Inteferrence also is a factor so check for anything that would possibly hinder or obstruct your signal. If my internet was working I would google for you, but just google/bing/wolfram/wiki yourself and read upon RSSI, Ec/lo and search through the Neotel section.

Problems seem to vary user to user, tower to tower and level of congestion so hard to really give you tricks and tips on increasing speeds when the speeds are not coming through to us in the first place.

Good luck with HO and sure hope you get improved speeds.
PS: If the Malawians come to install the antenna practise and repeat this to them when they arrive "osansandandandula" <-- Means Extra No Worries in Che-Chewa and is a much better African replacement for the Swahili "Hakuna Matata"
 
Neotel Lite Unlimited
Vorna Valley, Midrand - Corner of Le Roux and Albertyn Str.

Latency: 1213ms
Down Stream: 0.07 Mb/s (8 kB/s)
Up Stream: 0.04 Mb/s (5 kB/s)

RSSI: 84
Tower: 160


Honestly, might as well have hooked up the 56K dial-up which is superior to this Neotel scam. I got the service yesterday, no antenna yet. I went for the lite with the aim to upgrade to prime unlimited if the service was acceptable.... won't cancel the iBurst just yet though.

Does anyone know if Poynting Direct outlet in Wynberg might be open today?

http://www.speedtest.net/result/535744640.png
 
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for the past 3 weeks, I only get on average 4k. It spikes to 15k once in a while, but doesn't stay there long enough... perhaps for 5 to 10 seconds and then drops below 4k and back up to 4k.... Disconnects LOTS of times!... Have wonderful signal, but crap speed!

but... I'm a sucker for punishment, trying very hard not to become a telkom supporter again!
 
Lite

Lo lite users,

If you are looking to use lite as unlimited browsing goodies for downloads then you are definately on the wrong trail folks. The lite is aimed at basic internet browsing users - I wouldn't recommend it for email either if you are sending a lot of large attachments.Prime will be much better as lite falls in the region of dial-up speeds (as you've experienced). Lite doesnt do much much for you when there are more than the norm of users on the Base station.
 
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I'm impressed!

Neotel said:
Lo lite users,

If you are looking to use lite as unlimited browsing goodies for downloads then you are definately on the wrong trail folks. The lite is aimed at basic internet browsing users - I wouldn't recommend it for email either if you are sending a lot of large attachments.Prime will be much better as lite falls in the region of dial-up speeds (as you've experienced). Lite doesnt do much much for you when there are more than the norm of users on the Base station.
Click to expand...

Hi there

Thanks for the PM, hope you can help, but reading the above, my situation at the time of signing up was that I was in the process of immigrating to Aus/Nz and required to cut costs but retain uncapped. (plans on hold for a good few years)

We're 2 users, 5 - 6 computers on the network, however only 2 really makes use of the net.

I do agree 100% with what you've stated above, but I'd like to ask this : If and when I'd like to upgrade to the prime uncapped, Would i have to downgrade my lite contract or pay the device costs and take a new contract? because I seriously doubt this device was meant to run prime!... or is there a better solution to upgrade?

Its such a pity we can't go the other route with the router on uncapped! (still using my Netgear DSL router to do the routing work...)
 
Last edited:
Neotel said:
Lo lite users,

If you are looking to use lite as unlimited browsing goodies for downloads then you are definately on the wrong trail folks. The lite is aimed at basic internet browsing users - I wouldn't recommend it for email either if you are sending a lot of large attachments.Prime will be much better as lite falls in the region of dial-up speeds (as you've experienced). Lite doesnt do much much for you when there are more than the norm of users on the Base station.
Click to expand...

I've been with Neotel over a year now and from the initial signing of the contract I was experiencing average download speeds of 18-19kBps(144-152kbps) for a period of 4 months which was exactly what I wanted, then for the remainder of that period average download speeds have been max 5-9kBps (40-72kbps) with frequent disconnections and downtime.

I'm sorry Neotel but a binding precedent was set in conjunction with a 24 month contract. Neotel used to have an expected minimum and maximum speeds displayed on their website for the NeoConnect Lite service, but no more.
Peak Dialup Speeds are 56 kbps or 7 kBps, Neotel Rep if you are openly stating that NeoConnect Lite is equivalent to dialup, then could you please advertise on your website that in that case so new users that wish to sign up are aware what they are in for. I think it is only proper business etiquette to do so, don't you think ?

http://www.neotel.co.za/neotel/view/neotel/en/page49582
"Basic Internet use with peak download speeds of 156Kbps."
Click to expand...
Would be great if I could actually peak at 156kbps, speed was never an issue for me, reason why I went for the Uncapped Lite Package but with very unstable service and max peak speeds of 5-9kBps renders The Uncapped Lite package to be utterly useless. I think it is time that Neotel re-evaluate their Lite packages, particularly their Uncapped package as I feel highly ripped off at paying Neotel R5 967 + calls/smses up until now for a service that is pretty much un-usable.

I was however finally able to get the Engineer responsible for my local Tower around last week to show him exactly what I was going through and he was shocked ! He couldn't believe that my problem hadn't been fixed for the last 7 months and was so very apologetic.

He immediately did some tests with his Motorola Device which normally connects at 3.1mbps and was only able to achieve 120 kbps download but 700kbps upload and was immediately able to determine I was experiencing Spillage from other Towers (Just make sure for other NeoConnect users, this could be the reason for the inconsistent service)
The engineer promised me that they would re-zone and adjust to fix up my service once and for all on Tuesday.
 
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