Sim cards in USB Modems 32k or 64K?

Hosehead

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I'm using a e272 and I just bought another e272 and I bought a prepaid sim 32k with 1 gig and since I've been using it I notice I'm getting much weaker 3g signal and I'm getting dropped far far more frequently and it takes longer to reconnect (several attempts)
Previously with the same modem I used a contract 64K card and had the occasional drop but mostly smooth sailing.
Should I be using a 64K card in the modem? If so the Autopage franchisee says there is no prepaid 64k card.
But Game Stores said that this was the problem and I should take the 32k sim and upgrade to a 64k and pay the difference:confused:
 
The SIM should not make a difference...

Game stores..


Not that they wanted to sell me a sim- the bargain bin was full of 1.99 vodacom 34k's but the dept "manager" proffered her sound, although, grumpy wisdom (Ramadan, remember)
So if it's not the sim then its Vodacom and from my vantage point behind the Greenpoint stadium, only the good lord knows how vodacom will cope in 2010 if the service is so schzophrenic now in the area.
 
Yeah the Vodacom 3G signal is crap - at best i only ever get 2 bars on my card with no external antenna - And then throughput sucks...

Put my fathers MTN SIM in and my 1.8Mbps card is maxed out.
Even at my Beach House 80 Km's outside Mosselbaai - we dont have telkom service there.

Just my thoughts.
 
All I want to know is there any difference between a 32k and a 64k sim in terms of Vodacom 3G connectivity.

so far, One says NO. So I'll assume that's correct?
 
All I want to know is there any difference between a 32k and a 64k sim in terms of Vodacom 3G connectivity.

so far, One says NO. So I'll assume that's correct?

I use a number of different sim and don't see any difference.

In the very early days we did see 64K sims make a difference in the R99 devices, but not anymore.
 
I've seen no difference - I use my contract SIM (64K) until my cap runs out, then I buy a bundle on my prepaid SIM (32K) to get me through the month, and I haven't noticed any difference. I'll pay more attention in the future, to see if I can spot a pattern.
 
So what is the purpose of having a 64K SIM then ?

i would imagine it holds more data for some purpose ..
 
I found cellphone usually have better signal than GSM modems. Even with included arial!
Strange, I've found the exact opposite. Take note that "bars" are not a standard measurement of signal strength, each manufacturer has their own interpretation. Some phones show full bars even when the signal is only near the middle of its range, probably a sign that the marketing department has something to do with it.
Telephone numbers maybe? ;)

You can also store applications on the sim.
I found my 128K SIM had the same storage space for contacts and SMS messages as my 32K SIM.
 
Strange, I've found the exact opposite. Take note that "bars" are not a standard measurement of signal strength, each manufacturer has their own interpretation. Some phones show full bars even when the signal is only near the middle of its range, probably a sign that the marketing department has something to do with it.

^^

Subtle plug for proper signal level meter available on this forum......;)
 
Not sure about Vodacom, but others may recall that when Virgin initially offered data (via Cell C) they had to recall or replace all their 32k SIMS for data users because they just couldn't hack it. I also see that MTN is now issuing specific sims marked as '3G' which they say are pre-configured to their data network, and which with their greater capacity (128K I think, though may be 64?) have the advantage of storing more cellphone data like phone numbers etc.
 
Not sure about Vodacom, but others may recall that when Virgin initially offered data (via Cell C) they had to recall or replace all their 32k SIMS for data users because they just couldn't hack it.
Virgin replaced their original batch of 64K SIMs with 128K ones because of an incompatibility with the Huawei E620 card. The problem wasn't the size though, the data card would just spontaneously reset.
I also see that MTN is now issuing specific sims marked as '3G' which they say are pre-configured to their data network, and which with their greater capacity (128K I think, though may be 64?) have the advantage of storing more cellphone data like phone numbers etc.
The MTN cards marked 3G are 128K SIMs with a USIM.
MTN have some blurb about the USIM on their website, apparently helps with 3G roaming and video calls.

The 128K SIMs don't seem to have any more capacity for contacts and SMS messages than a 32K SIM.
 
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