Neotel network speed degradation update

Erm - why does the coverage map now suddenly say my area is not covered?
 
Neotel said:
Cameronkk,

We have not carried out optimisation in the Pretoria region as yet.

The upgrades / optimisation results based on feedback from customers located in the areas where upgrades were done are being analysed and adjustments will be made as part of the 2nd phase.

Once the feedback is positive will the solution be applied to the rest of the network.
Click to expand...

So again I ask, Am I getting a technician to look into why I'm down to 50kbs or are you planning a 2nd phase for Sunninghill/Megawatt because clearly 1st phase did not work !!!:mad:
 
Just checked on my coverage;

When I joined it was EXCELLENT coverage and as of 1:39pm (12th March 2009) I am still listed as being in EXCELLENT coverage.
 
Coverage has definately changed in the Midrand area.
All around me is in excellent coverage now, I used to be on the edge.
Now just to beef up the towers congestion handling and I'll be happy.
 
Neotel said:
Hi all,

As part of the first phase of upgrades, changes were made this weekend to the following 3 base stations:

- Paulshof
- Halfway House
- Megawatt Park / Sunninghill

We require your feedback on whether this as made a difference in terms of speed. Please post responses with RSSI, Speed and Location.

Thank you.

@Ushir: I think you have already seen the difference ;-)
Click to expand...

Speed terrible!

Area: Lonehill/ Paulshof
RSSI: 94
PN: 360
Down: 171kbps
Up: 17Kbps
Ping: 546
 
Neotel you guys had a blank piece of paper when starting your network - it's interesting all the problems you are having! before you started did you not look at other Wireless Networks? & the issues that they had?

You seems to be playing catch up VS keeping ahead of the game.
 
PeteH said:
Speed terrible!

Area: Lonehill/ Paulshof
RSSI: 94
PN: 360
Down: 171kbps
Up: 17Kbps
Ping: 546
Click to expand...

need an antenna! Will help you set it all up.

I see he has the same PN number as me, is that the tower we connect to? Find that strange since he is in Lonehill and I'm in Vorna Valley.
 
@ PeteGT; @PeteH - I'm located at the end of Leeuwkop, close to the prison in Sunninghill.
Here's the strange thing; my computer room is closest the midrand area and from there my RSSI is 101 and PN 360

The next room faces Lonehill/Paulshof and the RSSI is 83 and PN is 456. Will post a speedtest from here with Laptop if I'm able to see that tower.

What is very clear is the PN 360 is seriously poked as we are all getting the same kind of degraded service.
 
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erasma said:
Neotel you guys had a blank piece of paper when starting your network - it's interesting all the problems you are having! before you started did you not look at other Wireless Networks? & the issues that they had?
Click to expand...

just wanna step in here and explain a little bout what i know when it comes to setting up a network.

firstly, you can design a network to your hearts content on paper, but in implementing it there are so many factors that will completely change the way in which the network will behave. So in implementing the net you need to tune it to the best of your abilities then let it run live for a few months, recording stats about users experiance and the the loads that are being placed on the network, where are the holes, where and when is the network failing etc etc. Once you have this info, only then can you seek to rectify it all and send in the guys to optimize it and if neccessary recomend that new towers be errected or moved etc.

So its my view from what i have seen on this forum that neotel is simply undergoin this process at this time.Doing your homework and trying to find example problems form other networks is pretty much impossible as each and every implementation will be different in some way.This is why the rep on this forum is so interested in hearing your complaints, cos without customer input the job of optimizing the net would be impossible to do correctly.

this i say with the limited training i have encountered so far, but i can say that if Neotel had choosen to utilise the company i work for ...all these problems might never have happened ;) hehe
 
Great news!!

They built a new tower like RIGHT next to my house. RSSI 58. DL speeds average at 85KB/s and spike at 190KB/s :D

Let's hope it stays that way

Latest Neotel speed test:

Download Speed: 710 kbps (88.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 83 kbps (10.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

woot!!

Maybe when they get the whole bandwidth thing sorted I might be able to get perma 200KB/s or something. Finally, its worth the money I'm paying for.
 
Yes thats fantastic news! Things were definately loading for me a lot quicker today - im enjoying this now :)
 
ushir said:
Yes thats fantastic news! Things were definately loading for me a lot quicker today - im enjoying this now :)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I can't say the same. Just got back home after 2 weeks away only to find that instead of the 4 signal bars I had on my device before the Paulshof area upgrade, I now only have 2. My RSSI has gone from a range of 69-78 to 80-101. My download speeds are firmly in the 300kbps range. The only positive is that my pings are now averaging below 1000ms (but I don't really game so who cares).

Edit: Just spoke to the call center. Apparently there is a work notice out for my area. Things are expected to improve by 11am tomorrow. I'll keep my fingers crossed :)
 
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orin76 said:
Unfortunately I can't say the same. Just got back home after 2 weeks away only to find that instead of the 4 signal bars I had on my device before the Paulshof area upgrade, I now only have 2. My RSSI has gone from a range of 69-78 to 80-101. My download speeds are firmly in the 300kbps range. The only positive is that my pings are now averaging below 1000ms (but I don't really game so who cares).

Edit: Just spoke to the call center. Apparently there is a work notice out for my area. Things are expected to improve by 11am tomorrow. I'll keep my fingers crossed :)
Click to expand...
I also live in the Paulshof area, and have the exact same problem (obviously). At least you get a solid 300kbps, whereas I am lucky to get much more than 100kbps peak. Mine is also very unstable.

Let's hope things will improve at 11am tomorrow, but from my experiences with their call centre thus far, it probably won't. They just tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone mostly. :( If I am wrong, I'll come apologise here, but such has been my experience.
 
My own experience has degraded from what was absolute pleasure when I first received Neoflex, to it being pretty much unusable these days. What made it so refreshingly different from my Vodacom HSDPA was that the speed was consistent and the connection never dropped.

Starting about 2 weeks ago the connection became unresponsive, but still fast. You'd have to try to navigate to a website a few times before it would actually load, but when it loaded it would come up quickly. Then came erratic speeds, going from 5kB/s download to 50kB/s down to 3kB/s again and so on within seconds. Shortly after this I also started experiencing my first disconnects from the Neotel network.

The connection is now worse than Vodacom HSDPA for me. I'm currently downloading VLC player from a South African source and it's chugging along at 3.5kB/s, a speed I haven't experienced so consistently since I left dial up back in the stone age. Web pages load slowly, the connection is unresponsive and sometimes drops completely. Basically dial up on a bad telephone line.
 
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