New to this: Struggling with Telkom Mobile in Meyersdal (Alberton).

[Stevin85]

Good day all.

Name is Stevin, and I'm about to toss this router out the damn window. I had a fixed ADSL line hosted by Telkom, and really struggled with line speed. So after much deliberation I cancelled and moved over to Wireless...

Then the fun started, I've had the setup in my house for the last 3 days and I'm struggling! The fastest line speed I have managed was 1244k/bits, but mostly it sits around 500odd kbits.

I have done some reading on the site, and have managed to organize a Pointing XPOL-06 which I will have in my hands tomorrow evening.

I have moved the router all over my house and where it stands is the best signal I currently receive. The router is a Huawei B315s-936.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<pci></pci>
<sc>268</sc>
<cell_id>13393540</cell_id>
<rsrq></rsrq>
<rsrp></rsrp>
<rssi>-89dBm</rssi>
<sinr></sinr>
<rscp>-100dBm</rscp>
<ecio>-11dB</ecio>
<mode>2</mode>
</response>

I do know that it is currently using 3G (as can be seen above, yup I learnt that recently), If I set it to connect to 4G it has 1 bar signal if any, and -114dBm and I can't even open the internet speedtest.

This is the current speed test with those signal parameters:

Start Time: 21:58:41
End time: 21:58:51
IP Address: 154.69.89.62
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 9.5360190868378 seconds
Download Speed: 42 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 336 kbits/s

Start Time: 21:59:16
End time: 21:59:24
IP Address: 154.69.89.62
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 7.5776169300079 seconds
Download Speed: 53 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 424 kbits/s

Start Time: 22:12:23
End time: 22:12:44
IP Address: 154.69.89.62
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 20.236576080322 seconds
Download Speed: 20 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 160 kbits/s

I'm not really sure on what to do, nor where the closest Telkom Mobile tower is, I did take a drive and there are a few towers very close to me in the same Crescent.

At this location there is a new tower of sorts, not sure if it is indeed a cell tower, the google maps picture is outdated but there is a small tower that now stands next to the exchange box. It's very small compared with the other towers I've seen. I have also seen another one like this located at another exchange further into Meyersdal.

https://goo.gl/maps/EedFJmxYbXS2

This is the tower I first spotted, not sure on who the provider is, but it would appear that cellmapper says it could be Vodacom.

https://goo.gl/maps/1L68PoMpG4y

This is the 3rd tower I managed to find which is about 1-2km away but looking at Google Maps it appears that the Koppie would be directly in the line of this tower. I took a drive to it, but I struggled to see any operator markings on the fixtures.

https://goo.gl/maps/sDd5nkMaq7S2


I know the knowledgeable people out there can help me with this.

 

[Madhawk]

The great thing about that router, is that you can use a Cell C, MTN or a Vodacom SIM card.

Which allows you to use the best service provider for your area.

 

[Stevin85]

Except I signed a 24 month contract on it so I would like to try get it to work before jumping ship.

On that note I spent most of last night, and some of this morning trying to improve the speed. I currently have the router cable tied to my back door security gate, with it set to only use 4G Telkom Network. I have managed to improve speeds 10 fold, but still not up to 4G standard.

IS Speedtest results:

Start Time: 17:36:53
End time: 17:36:53
IP Address: 41.246.45.242
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 0.74106693267822 seconds
Download Speed: 540 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 4320 kbits/s

Start Time: 17:37:30
End time: 17:37:31
IP Address: 41.246.45.242
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 0.42425489425659 seconds
Download Speed: 943 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 7544 kbits/s

Start Time: 17:38:09
End time: 17:38:10
IP Address: 41.246.45.242
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 0.36955118179321 seconds
Download Speed: 1082 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 8656 kbits/s

Signal Details:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<pci>66</pci>
<sc></sc>
<cell_id>5777152</cell_id>
<rsrq>-5dB</rsrq>
<rsrp>-113dBm</rsrp>
<rssi>-87dBm</rssi>
<sinr>4dB</sinr>
<rscp></rscp>
<ecio></ecio>
<mode>7</mode>
</response>

So a crazy improvement but still not amazing. If I move the router just to the side of the doorway the singal decreases to -118dBm/117dBm, and get line speeds of around 2mb/s

 

[Awesum]

In which part of Meyersdal are you located?

I did some testing for my friend in Meyersdal using my B593 on Telkom LTE.
The Telkom tower is alongside Hennie Alberts street opposite the Golf driving range.

The last link you posted is a Vodacom tower.

 

[Zemu63]

Meyersdal is the only area in Alberton with this problem. Put your router at an open window, that's what I do to get better signal and speed. According to the map it is not LTE covered but the router says 4G with low signal.

 

[Stevin85]

In which part of Meyersdal are you located?

I did some testing for my friend in Meyersdal using my B593 on Telkom LTE.
The Telkom tower is alongside Hennie Alberts street opposite the Golf driving range.

The last link you posted is a Vodacom tower.

I live in the same crescent as in the first link, I have the Poynting antenna now, and will be hooking it up on Friday. At the moment I'm getting relatively stable 4G, but at max 10MB/s so it's an improvement. Hopefully the antenna will help boost that speed up and more so then I can move the router from the top of my fridge at night or zip tied to my gate during the day to achieve the above mentioned speeds.

 

[Larnie]

This is the 3rd tower I managed to find which is about 1-2km away but looking at Google Maps it appears that the Koppie would be directly in the line of this tower. I took a drive to it, but I struggled to see any operator markings on the fixtures.

https://goo.gl/maps/sDd5nkMaq7S2


I know the knowledgeable people out there can help me with this.

AFAIK this is a MTN tower

Did you get the Telkom Uncapped LTE service?

 

[Telkom]

Hi Stevin,

Please PM your full physical address and make/model of device used.

Your social media reference number is SM185774.

Regards,
Joshua
Telkom Social Media Team

Good day all.

Name is Stevin, and I'm about to toss this router out the damn window. I had a fixed ADSL line hosted by Telkom, and really struggled with line speed. So after much deliberation I cancelled and moved over to Wireless...

Then the fun started, I've had the setup in my house for the last 3 days and I'm struggling! The fastest line speed I have managed was 1244k/bits, but mostly it sits around 500odd kbits.

I have done some reading on the site, and have managed to organize a Pointing XPOL-06 which I will have in my hands tomorrow evening.

I have moved the router all over my house and where it stands is the best signal I currently receive. The router is a Huawei B315s-936.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<pci></pci>
<sc>268</sc>
<cell_id>13393540</cell_id>
<rsrq></rsrq>
<rsrp></rsrp>
<rssi>-89dBm</rssi>
<sinr></sinr>
<rscp>-100dBm</rscp>
<ecio>-11dB</ecio>
<mode>2</mode>
</response>

I do know that it is currently using 3G (as can be seen above, yup I learnt that recently), If I set it to connect to 4G it has 1 bar signal if any, and -114dBm and I can't even open the internet speedtest.

This is the current speed test with those signal parameters:

Start Time: 21:58:41
End time: 21:58:51
IP Address: 154.69.89.62
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 9.5360190868378 seconds
Download Speed: 42 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 336 kbits/s

Start Time: 21:59:16
End time: 21:59:24
IP Address: 154.69.89.62
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 7.5776169300079 seconds
Download Speed: 53 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 424 kbits/s

Start Time: 22:12:23
End time: 22:12:44
IP Address: 154.69.89.62
Download Size: 409600 bytes
Time Delta: 20.236576080322 seconds
Download Speed: 20 KBytes/s
Line Speed: 160 kbits/s

I'm not really sure on what to do, nor where the closest Telkom Mobile tower is, I did take a drive and there are a few towers very close to me in the same Crescent.

At this location there is a new tower of sorts, not sure if it is indeed a cell tower, the google maps picture is outdated but there is a small tower that now stands next to the exchange box. It's very small compared with the other towers I've seen. I have also seen another one like this located at another exchange further into Meyersdal.

https://goo.gl/maps/EedFJmxYbXS2

This is the tower I first spotted, not sure on who the provider is, but it would appear that cellmapper says it could be Vodacom.

https://goo.gl/maps/1L68PoMpG4y

This is the 3rd tower I managed to find which is about 1-2km away but looking at Google Maps it appears that the Koppie would be directly in the line of this tower. I took a drive to it, but I struggled to see any operator markings on the fixtures.

https://goo.gl/maps/sDd5nkMaq7S2


I know the knowledgeable people out there can help me with this.