Realistic 43Mbps HSPA+ speeds

steel_dog said:
So here's my MTN reality check...
Driving down the N1 from Durbanville to Cape Town... 3G coverage vanishes at least FOUR times along the route. The worst is at Paarden Eiland for KM or two. I've been forced to set my handset on GSM only.
So what about MTN Data speeds???
- Longmarket St - Cape Town. Both EDGE and 3G keep timing out i.e.: latency is so damn high that my apps keep timing out.
- Century City - Cape Town - 3G is as (massively) erratic as B. Cele. :D Sane one minute... and well tilting at windmills the next. I step from my couch to TV and have a signal swap - 3G to EDGE and back. Forget getting coverage inside any stores in the Mall. 3G drops out completely and EDGE is blooming slow. Have better chances of connecting using EDGE tho. You sit for minutes watching the data card... or phone swap between bands... HSDPA... 3G... EDGE and back.
- Bellville - 3G non-existant... and again EDGE darn slow.

So what about Vodacom??
I have a Voda Data Bundle... Again!!! Damn erratic. Almost the same experiences as MTN.

So before you say equipment... no it is NOT.
Members of my Team, who provide after hours support and who live in other parts of Cape Town report the same with both MTN and Voda data cards.
In terms of data card experiences we're talking 3 MTN, 2 Voda cards.
In terms of voice it's 3 MTN and 3 Voda with handsets 2 Android, 1 iPhone, 1 WM 6.1, 1 Nokia and 1 Samsung Omnia.
So... no it's not that.

We're obviously living in the twilight zone... The respective CEO's are clearly blocking out the sun!!!! :sick:

... sigh... hate ranting but 'am real frustrated forking out ZARs for super duper smart phones that are completely hamstrung by the network. PS: battery life on Auto -= 1 day... on GSM 2-days... and that's because of the constant band switching.
Click to expand...

A bit of a long rant to basically just support what I said. :)

We need more 3G sites. All the networks. Everywhere.

But the single biggest stumbling block in getting these is the very same group that complain about coverage; Residents blocking every attempt at rolling out more towers.
 
The main point of the article made by operators was that they are upgrading to 42mbps networks in order to increase capacity. I am still not clear on how the upgrades help with this.

Using multi-bearer technology to double the speed is good for marketing, but why not use two independent bearers? That immediately doubles the cell capacity by having each site act like two independent sites. That will also help with the 'breathing' issue. Is there evidence that 1 x 42mbps service has better capacity than 2 x 21mpbs bearers on the same site, with the customers shared between the two?

I agree that the use of MIMO (dual) antennas will improve capacity by increasing noise tolerance for noise - but only in the case where the customer has the right device. I am sure that the percentage of appropriate devices per cell is extremely low, so again capacity will not be improved (in the short term).

The higher speed codecs only work (deliver higher speeds to customers) in cases where there is reduced interference, so my view (subject to correction) is that customers trying to achieve higher speeds on a noisy network simply create more noise.

Surely what will improve capacity the most is to encourage (incentivise) customers with a 'fixed' service requirement to use better antenna (preferably directional). That way their experience will be more consistent, and they will introduce less noise into the system, thereby allowing others a better experience.
 
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