Slow VM Data Speeds

The sim do "work" when I out it in my datacard, but as soon as I dail up, then it give a cannot connect error.

by working, I mean it display the signal with virgin , but to internet connection work, I tried APN - vdata
and *99# as the dail up No.
 
It depends what phone you use. You have to go to settings and network selection.

Choose manual search. When your phone picks up all the networks then choose Vodacom.

It should show Vodacom then.


Are you telling me I can connect through vodacom with my VM card?
Like if I have 3G vodacom, then I will get 3G speed if I choose vodacom manually . .. Doesn't make sence to me PLS explain:confused:
 
Are you telling me I can connect through vodacom with my VM card?
Like if I have 3G vodacom, then I will get 3G speed if I choose vodacom manually . .. Doesn't make sence to me PLS explain:confused:

Yes, you can use your VM sim and roam on Vodacom's network but you won't be able to use 3G/HSDPA, only GPRS and EDGE.
 
Yes, you can use your VM sim and roam on Vodacom's network but you won't be able to use 3G/HSDPA, only GPRS and EDGE.


Can I PM you my number cause the VM 64k sim is not working in my data card.
I checked it after I made some calls as well.
datacard don't seem to read the card, cause I cannot even send sms from the card
 
since VM is using CC's network which is using VC's network would it mean that if VC's data network experienced problems, the other two would as well?

Yes - only if CC does not have a transmitter in the area and is using VC's network. CC have coverage in quite a few areas already and in this case, VC outage should not affect you. VC piggybacks totally on CC and will not be deploying any transmitters.
 
Are you telling me I can connect through vodacom with my VM card?
Like if I have 3G vodacom, then I will get 3G speed if I choose vodacom manually . .. Doesn't make sence to me PLS explain:confused:
Don't expect any speed increase though. In most cases it will be worse so only try it if you are having a lot of problems on Virgin.
 
Can I PM you my number cause the VM 64k sim is not working in my data card.
I checked it after I made some calls as well.
datacard don't seem to read the card, cause I cannot even send sms from the card

You can pm me your detail:

Name:
VM Number:
Alternative Number:
e-mail address:

As Prometheus said, don't expect a speed increase. That is true, but the connection might me more reliable if you roam on VC's network. Just a pity we can't roam on MTN's network. MTN has by far the best EDGE coverage.
 
As Prometheus said, don't expect a speed increase. That is true, but the connection might me more reliable if you roam on VC's network. Just a pity we can't roam on MTN's network. MTN has by far the best EDGE coverage.
I beg to differ. A connection of <1KB/s that works for ten minutes before hanging indefinitely and then eventually dying isn't exactly what I call reliable. :eek: I also never got MTN EDGE speed of over 12KB/s, but on Virgin I get up to 25KB/s and that with a signal that rarely goes above 66%.

I can't wait for them to get HSDPA and the savings they are getting from Neotel to be passed on to us.
 
I would hate to see a direct competitor (VM) to Vodacom being blamed for what I think is essentially Vodacom's problems in most cases.


I don't think you can really say they're Vodacom's problems. VM is providing you with the service, if the service isn't up to standard that's then their problem, who they choose to roam on is of no concern to me as long as it works. Its would be the same as Vodacom saying its not their fault if their service isn't up to standard because Telkom didn't put in the required backhaul links, at the end of the day its still their responsibility.
 
I don't think you can really say they're Vodacom's problems. VM is providing you with the service, if the service isn't up to standard that's then their problem, who they choose to roam on is of no concern to me as long as it works. Its would be the same as Vodacom saying its not their fault if their service isn't up to standard because Telkom didn't put in the required backhaul links, at the end of the day its still their responsibility.
You miss the point I made. Firstly they never chose to roam on any network, they are only using Cell-C's network, probably because they got the best deal from them for the sake of their customers. Cell-C has the roaming agreement with Vodacom so Virgin doesn't have much of a choice really. It is still Vodacom which is to blame here as it's their gprs which is crappy. The roaming is suppose to be a plus providing you with extra coverage. It's not Virgin's fault if your phone selects Vodacom when there is actually a Cell-C signal at your disposal. For someone to blame Virgin and go over to Vodacom where they will get even worse service is simply ironic as the problem itself stems from Vodacom. It puts Vodacom in the perfect position to sabotage them and get their customers through advertising and the perception that they have a better network through their 3G/HSDPA campaign, but I don't want to throw around any accusations here or I'll have 'some people' on this forum on my back again.

If a person has slow speeds on their adsl they generally blame Telkom and not their isp. The isp provides the service, but because they use Telkom you will blame Telkom. Similarly if you buy a faulty product from a distributor you will blame the manufacturer for not testing it adequately and not the distributor. Do you understand the way this works?
 
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You miss the point I made. Firstly they never chose to roam on any network, they are only using Cell-C's network, probably because they got the best deal from them for the sake of their customers. Cell-C has the roaming agreement with Vodacom so Virgin doesn't have much of a choice really.It is still Vodacom which is to blame here as it's their gprs which is crappy. The roaming is suppose to be a plus providing you with extra coverage.

True but they presumably knew the implications when they signed the contract with Cell C and the limitations of GSM technology, i.e. a phone selecting a Vodacom signal when a Cell C/VM one is available. And they only need this "plus" because they don't have the nationwide coverage that MTN and Voda do.

If a person has slow speeds on their adsl they generally blame Telkom and not their isp. The isp provides the service, but because they use Telkom you will blame Telkom. Similarly if you buy a faulty product from a distributor you will blame the manufacturer for not testing it adequately and not the distributor. Do you understand the way this works?

Your analogy works in the sense that I have a Vodacom contract through Nashua Mobile, so if the Vodacom network goes down I'll blame Vodacom, if there's a billing issue I'd blame Nashua etc.

But in this case its the equivalent of buying a TV from "TVland" or some other fictional store, if I bought e.g. a Sony TV from there and it broke I'd blame Sony, but if the TV I bought had been rebranded as "TVland-Plus" or whatever, even if it was originally a Sony, my blame and recourse would be against "TVland-Plus".

Basically what I'm trying to say is they're not reselling a Vodacom product, they've rebranded it and in some cases you don't even need to use the Vodacom network to use their product. So they should thereby take responsibility for the service.

Now if I was getting crap GPRS from Vodacom with a Vodacom sim card that'd clearly be a different issue.

I'd be willing to bet a significant portion of the SA public don't even know that Virgin runs on Cell C which at times runs on Vodacom. This forum isn't really a representative sample.
 
True but they presumably knew the implications when they signed the contract with Cell C and the limitations of GSM technology, i.e. a phone selecting a Vodacom signal when a Cell C/VM one is available. And they only need this "plus" because they don't have the nationwide coverage that MTN and Voda do.
Yes, but I would rather have them on the Cell-C network than on the Vodacom network. I would hate to be getting Vodacom gprs (no edge) speed or pay a premium for Vodacom's 3G/HSDPA which costs them less to deliver. The limitation is not with the GSM technology used but is actually a bug in the phone the same way that some phones will rather select a GSM signal when an UMTS signal is available. I assume you knew that. I myself don't think they need the roaming in most places anymore. They also have decent EDGE coverage in most places which is in no way inferior to 3G at 236.8kbps for 4 timeslots and 473.6kbps for 8 timeslots.

I can agree on your rebranding issue, but not in all cases.
But in this case its the equivalent of buying a TV from "TVland" or some other fictional store, if I bought e.g. a Sony TV from there and it broke I'd blame Sony, but if the TV I bought had been rebranded as "TVland-Plus" or whatever, even if it was originally a Sony, my blame and recourse would be against "TVland-Plus".
But what if they told you that the tv was manufactured by Sony, would you still blame them or would you blame Sony in that instance. I have a Vodafone branded phone. Granted it does not have Vodafone written all over it, but I know some phones, e.g. Motorola I think, has the vodafone live sticker implanted on them. If I had one and it was defective I would point finger first towards Motorola.
I'd be willing to bet a significant portion of the SA public don't even know that Virgin runs on Cell C which at times runs on Vodacom. This forum isn't really a representative sample.
You're probably right. Most people won't know this and maybe Virgin is taking too much credit in that regard to being a network provider when they are in fact only a reseller. The thing is though that when you are on the Vodacom network 99% of the time your phone will show the Vodacom logo instead of the Virgin logo, thereby giving away which network is being used. I don't see any reason why anyone should switch over to the more expensive service when the problems do in fact lie with the more expensive service. I just want as many people as possible to know that they have the option of getting cheaper and better service by switching their phones to use only Cell-C's network.

The crawling speeds on Vodacom's gprs, their lack of edge and their disinterest to do anything about it have made me want to move away from them for a long time now. This is just one more thing I can blame them for.
 
Mine stalled an hour ago and I just checked and the page hadn't loaded yet. Reconnected and all was fine. Strange the connection stalling we have on Vodacom and Virgin. But at least with Virgin I get what I pay for. With Vodacom I pay for what I don't get.
 
I'm going back too my MTN data bundle, this service is not use able at this stage. Hope they do get it fixed tho.
 
I had a few disconnects last night between 21:30 and 23:00. From 23:00 my speeds was good with no disconnects.

This morning I get average speeds of 100kb/s with no disconnects.
 
Well when im downloading 20 MB of mail and it disconnects in the middle i have too download everything again or go and delete the mail in yahoo and gmail(which i dont really wanna do).
MTN does not disconnect on me like VM.
And the speed is up and down all the time not constant.
I wanna connect in the mid afternoon with good speed not 23:00 at night.
 
Well when im downloading 20 MB of mail and it disconnects in the middle i have too download everything again or go and delete the mail in yahoo and gmail(which i dont really wanna do).
MTN does not disconnect on me like VM.
And the speed is up and down all the time not constant.
I wanna connect in the mid afternoon with good speed not 23:00 at night.

Point taken. Does anyone know what the VM data performance is like on the South Coast - Port Shepstone in particular? Hopefully I ll be getting my VM sim soon
 
Well, while loading the page my connection stalled. :(
I reconnected,everyting is 'fine' again...but for how long,i dont know.

The thing is i've only had stalls&disconnects on Vodacom...since yesterday that is. I've had a few odd disconnects on VM till date(lets say less than 5),but i've NEVER had a data_stall on VM!! It all started yesterday :confused:

What could be wrong?
 
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