Potential Blackberry Owners : AVOID VODACOM!

Dolby

Dolby

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If you're going to be looking at a Blackberry, consider anyone BUT Vodacom.

BIS is down whenever needed and - although I pay for BIS - friends simply SMS and don't even bother asking whether BIS is up any more.

I got a new BB Bold in May 2010 and had decent service for all of 2 months - but for the last few, it's been a constant struggle. In fact, at one stage I thought it was my phone - but now I have a BB Torch and it's the same thing.

Not like a live in the middle of now where either - I'm in Randburg where I'd think reception show be OK.

I'm sending a mail to RIM to perhaps take a look at the networks before they allow them to sell Blackberry, as it reflects badly on them.
 
Have you PMed the Vodacom rep to ask him to check if maybe there is a problem in your area?

Randburg is a major business area and I doubt they'd skimp on their BIS service there.

For the record, my BIS works great across PTA and JHB so don't knock Vodacom until you've at least tried to have it sorted.

PS. Have you tried Options > Advanced > Host Routing Table > Menu > Register Now ... that's the sequence on a 9700, the Torch should be sorta similar.
 
I've tried in the past, feo.

I feel after spending R30,000pa on voice and data services and having Vodacom for 10+ years I'm allowed to knock if I don't get service - especially as I've seen the best of them and the slow network degradation in the same spots.

Luckily, I've managed to ditch them with most data and dropped my bill substantially - but even at R1,100.00pm and I feel I'm allowed to vent my frustrations on BIS and data. Especially when this interferes with my life (ie needing to go Postnet to email, SMSing in the middle of BBM chats as BIS vanishes for 5-10 minutes).

And I'm aware of Host Routing - but at one point I was doing this every few hours. People on other networks don't even know about this setting because ... They've never needed it.
 
Don't worry you not alone BIS on Vodacom is a joke I am glad I am on prepaid I just swop networks MTN and Cell C outperform Vodacom with BIS.
 
Im also having reception issues of BIS, is a main johannesburg suburb. i'm with vodacom and i'm considering going to mtn, but i'm worried that vodacom has ownership of my blackberry Pin( BBM pin)
 
Got a Vodafone-Vodacom Curve and activated BIS on my MTN SIM. Switched SIMs immediately. So no problems switching the phone to MTN and not a day's problem with BIS on MTN.

My frustration comes in when chatting to Vodacom users and their chats are never delivered. I resort to SMSs if it's a little urgent these days as I have no faith in VCs ability to provide a decent BIS service.
 
Yup - my friends SMS me as well.

I woke up at 8am this morning, reached for my phone and started browsing .... 20 minutes into the browsing, BIS drops. I got shower and come back 15 minutes it's STILL down. It came on about 2-3 minutes later

AS WE SPEAK, I'm busy BBM a friend about a few things and it went down about 5 minutes ago - STILL DOWN now.

On average it seems to be 5-15 minutes per hour ... Why don't you just drop the BB subscription you charge and I won't moan?

Charging me about giving 80% service is NOT on.

EDIT : 7 minutes right now.

I have FULL bar signal too ...
 
Last edited:
And that's on two different phones? Have you tried with different SIMs?
 
Dolby said:
Yup - my friends SMS me as well.

I woke up at 8am this morning, reached for my phone and started browsing .... 20 minutes into the browsing, BIS drops. I got shower and come back 15 minutes it's STILL down. It came on about 2-3 minutes later

AS WE SPEAK, I'm busy BBM a friend about a few things and it went down about 5 minutes ago - STILL DOWN now.

On average it seems to be 5-15 minutes per hour ... Why don't you just drop the BB subscription you charge and I won't moan?

Charging me about giving 80% service is NOT on.

EDIT : 7 minutes right now.

I have FULL bar signal too ...
Click to expand...

Do you have the latest OS for your phone?
 
Ironically enough, as I was replying to this BIS was dead - and been off for about 40 minutes ... even after a reboot. It's dead currently even with full signal so again, friends will be SMSing ...

I've tried two phones (BB9700 and BB9800) both the latest updates, firmware and OS. I've tried two SIM cards as well (32k and 128k) but the situation is the same. As I have 4x Vodacom contracts, I *know* it's the network as I've seen my data link go from 2mbps to substantially under 1mbps. Oh - and this on three devices - a E220, K3565 and Acer netbook with integrated 7.2 HSDPA modem.

About 5 weeks ago I was so frustrated I dropped my 2GB data bundle and purchase a Telkom - and I'e never been happier!

If I can sway as many people away from Vodacom BIS and data, I'll be happy. Currently it's the 10 MTN BBM contacts that have seen my issues first hand and swear they'll never touch Vodacom ...
 
CyCliC said:
Everytime I try and load a webpage, I get an "unable to connect to Internet, please try again later" message. Is that just my phone or Vodacom?
Click to expand...

That's Vodacom.

Getting to a page nowadays is a hit and miss affair. Trick is to keep repeating until you're through or what I've done in the past, ask a friend with an MTN or Cell C phone.
 
I'm on Vodacom and haven't had a single BIS issue except for that national VC BIS & data outage a month or two ago that alsted a few hours.
It works great, all the time.
 
Mtn and Cell C offers something Vodacom struggles or do not offer EDGE 3 to 4 times faster and BIS that not broken as a road in Polokwane
 
My wife's BIS with Vodacom works great. My MTN reception on the other hand is TERRIBLE! I am moving back to Vodacom.
 
Where are you?

Maybe its a location thing?

I've narrowed it down and its not my phone or SIM.

Yesterday - from the times I saw - I must have been down 1hr+ and while this may not sound much in a 24hr day, its the times I NEEDED it and was busy using it
 
CyCliC said:
Everytime I try and load a webpage, I get an "unable to connect to Internet, please try again later" message. Is that just my phone or Vodacom?
Click to expand...

Happened to me once but that turned out to be the phone and required a reboot. If it comes and goes odds are you're losing BIS connectivity, which is a strong indication that VC is to blame.
 
I was on MTN and have now switched to Vodacom. A friend and I did a speed test the other day, sitting at the same spot with the same phones with identical firmware, and my Vodacom BIS totally kicked ass.

My average download speeds when downloading through BIS is in the hight 150kbps region. Always have full 3g signal as well.

I operate in the Fourways/Pineslopes/Sunninghill areas.

My mtn BIS, on the other hand, would refuse to load 75% of websites, and downloads timed out all the time, in the same area. When I was lucky enough to be on 3G the speeds were poor at best. The rest of the time I was on EDGE, and I may as well not have had a blackberry :-(

Conclusion? The speed problem seems to be highly localized. I would suggest a petition to the networks to ensure a consistent delivery and quality of service throughout their coverage area, as the fluctuations on these levels are simply out of control.
 
I'm sitting here in Paulshof and can't connect to a site - even though I have 3G (5 bar) with BIS active.
 
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