TCP connections stalling / Gmail, Gtalk, WhatsApp issues [fix in place - testing]

[neetz108]

at the last resort perhaps......Root your android device (warranty void ) and change the modem. might help.... ive used many custom roms and different modems and finally found a modem that works best for me in terms of wifi, signal and battery improvements....

 

[Ockie]

at the last resort perhaps......Root your android device (warranty void ) and change the modem. might help.... ive used many custom roms and different modems and finally found a modem that works best for me in terms of wifi, signal and battery improvements....

Firstly I dont know how...and secondly I dont want to have to root my phone to get it to work as it should. This is a network problem on Cell C's side and they should fix it.

Perhaps the guys that is more technically inclined can give it a go

 

[Base122]

Brilliant idea there ginggs!

This adds a new angle to the testing.

By the way in case I have not mentioned, all this testing is using prepaid sims only, on both networks.

So I forced the Cell C HTC DHD phone to roam on Vodacom.
My network data connection gets "dumbed" down to EDGE speed only, even though I have a rock solid 3G signal on the other V858 phone. Tried several reconnects, but remains on EDGE only. This is probably part of the data roaming agreement?

Surprised to see that I get an IP address in the normal Cell C 197.x.x.x range and not one in the 41.x.x.x range like the V858 has at the moment. So even though roaming (made sure of that Operator=Vodacom SA), I still have a Cell C IP address and all the original problems are still there..
...as ocleroux has said...still getting handed to Cell C network.

Some connections on the HTC Cell C still sitting "hung" in CLOSE_WAIT state and no "push".

Then let the phones idle for a while till they only each had an established port 5228 connection.
(HTC still has those "hung" CLOSE_WAIT connections)

Test Results:
Cell C HTC (roaming) to Vodacom V858
whatsapp message - within seconds
Gtalk - within seconds
Gmail - within seconds

Pointless to test the other way yet as the Cell C phone has active Gmail and whatsapp server connections and will work.

Then let phones idle again for a while, till only established port 5228 connections exist on both.
(Although the HTC still shows several "hung" CLOSE_WAIT connections, including the Gmail one)

Vodacom V858 to Cell C HTC (send time)
whatsapp (13:16) - No notification, but when I opened whatsapp there was the message tagged with 13:17? Maybe the whatsapp server tag time and not actually the time it was received by the whatsapp client app?
Gtalk (13:17) - Message received at 13:36
Gmail (13:18) - Message received at 13:36

It is now 13:27 and still no notifications from any of the above on the Cell C HTC, even though it has an established port 5228 connection.....
13:36 updated the above...

My money's still on the broken inbound on port 5228 on Cell C.
Off for a lunch break...

Then going to dig out a Vodacom prepaid sim and put in the HTC, just to make sure this is not a phone specific thing!

 

[Base122]

Well as I suspected, putting the prepaid Vodacom sim into the HTC, eliminates the HTC phone as the problem.

Gtalk, Gmail, whatsapp messages all worked from the V858(Vodacom) to the HTC(now Vodacom) within seconds.

No "hung" CLOSE_WAIT connections on the HTC and the port 5228 C2DM thing works as expected.

Pretty convinced this is a Cell C network configuration issue.

Over to you Cell C network specialists...(hope they read this thread)

 

[Ockie]

Well as I suspected, putting the prepaid Vodacom sim into the HTC, eliminates the HTC phone as the problem.

Gtalk, Gmail, whatsapp messages all worked from the V858(Vodacom) to the HTC(now Vodacom) within seconds.

No "hung" CLOSE_WAIT connections on the HTC and the port 5228 C2DM thing works as expected.

Pretty convinced this is a Cell C network configuration issue.

Over to you Cell C network specialists...(hope they read this thread)

From your mouth to gods ears!

*sigh* Me wants my phone to work properly so badly!

Base....you dont by any chance have a Virgin Mobile prepaid sim lying around? If you do could you perhaps run the test on that sim? Somoneone mentioned earlier that could also be a good test to do??

 

[Base122]

Base....you dont by any chance have a Virgin Mobile prepaid sim lying around? If you do could you perhaps run the test on that sim? Somoneone mentioned earlier that could also be a good test to do??

Well seeing as you asked so nicely...
Yes I happen to have a Virgin Mobile prepaid sim here and amazingly enough it still has a couple of rand airtime!

Testing as we speak.....
Very interesting that Virgin Mobile is giving me a private 10.x.x.x IP address.
This could put an interesting spin on things!

Also have an 8ta prepaid sim here, but no airtime.
So if some kind soul would PM me an 8ta voucher number for a couple of rands airtime, I will check that as well...

 

[Ockie]

Well seeing as you asked so nicely...
Yes I happen to have a Virgin Mobile prepaid sim here and amazingly enough it still has a couple of rand airtime!

Testing as we speak.....
Very interesting that Virgin Mobile is giving me a private 10.x.x.x IP address.
This could put an interesting spin on things!

Also have an 8ta prepaid sim here, but no airtime.
So if some kind soul would PM me an 8ta voucher number for a couple of rands airtime, I will check that as well...

Wow...awsome base. tnx. I dont see a point really in testing 8ta as we know that this issue is definately now on the Cell C network. The reason why testing Virgin might be interesting is that they use Cell C towers...but being a VMO it would be interesting to see how the routing and ip and port things works.

 

[Base122]

Well this Virgin Mobile 10.x IP address is behaving differently...erratic delays between messages.

This might be of interest to ginggs:
Sent a Gtalk message from the V858(Vodacom) to the HTC(VMobile), even though the V858 warned that the HTC user was offline.
Waited a while and nothing happened...

Then opened Gmail on the HTC and there was an email from the V858 user. (not sent by me)
This email contained the text "These messages were sent while you were offline" followed by my "missing" Gtalk message!

This is quite a neat feature if your Gtalk messages are actually sent to your Gmail account while you are offline.
Did that happen with your testing with oc?

 

[Ockie]

Did that happen with your testing with oc?

Nope...that message he sent while my Cell C connection was sleeping got lost somewhere in cyber space. Did not get it when my connection went live again and did not get it via gmail either. How is the gmail push working on VM after the phone has been inactive for a while????

 

[Base122]

How is the gmail push working on VM after the phone has been inactive for a while????

It isn't.

Seems like the same issue as the Cell C network even though Virgin Mobile has this private 10.x.x.x IP address difference.

In fact, even if I force the apps open on both phones and send messages, there are longer delays than with the Cell C network earlier.

Not sure if this is a time of the day thing or not. (mobile network busier on a Friday afternoon? or internet busier to international servers?)

Going back to the Cell C sim on the HTC.

 

[Ockie]

It isn't.

Seems like the same issue as the Cell C network even though Virgin Mobile has this private 10.x.x.x IP address difference.

In fact, even if I force the apps open on both phones and send messages, there are longer delays than with the Cell C network earlier.

Not sure if this is a time of the day thing or not. (mobile network busier on a Friday afternoon? or internet busier to international servers?)

Going back to the Cell C sim on the HTC.

Cool...thanks for all your help regarding this Base. Now it is up to Cell_C to push this onto the network guys and for us to keep the pressure on to get it resolved. This is not like the RBM issue that we cant sign into the the self help portal. I can live without that.....but this for me is a important part of how I use my phone and I want it to work as it is supposed to! Otherwise Cell C should have put it in big red letters on their Android device adverts "PUSH DOES NOT WORK ON OUR NETWORK" so that I could have made a informed decision before I ported my number to them.

@ Cell_C.....I think we have now done all the appropriate tests and Base have posted a little treasure chest of info for you. Please will you escalate this to the Cell C network guys and ask them to have this resolved please.

Thanks to everyone that have given their feedback on this issue so far and if there are anymore of you guys having the same problem on the Cell C network...report it here.

 

[Base122]

Lol! "Push it" playing on radio KFM at the moment!
Push it real good!

 

[Ockie]

Lol! "Push it" playing on radio KFM at the moment!

mmm Kick that radio for me please.

 

[kwaggawerner]

Thanks to oceleroux for doing the ground work on this. I'm eager to see what Cell C comes up with...

Just got a new data sim from them, and loving it!

 

[Base122]

Interesting observation this morning....
The Cell C HTC DHD phone now has a 41.53.x.x IP address, different from yesterday's 197.x.x.x IP address during testing.

I have noticed this before where sometimes I get a 197.x and sometimes 41.x IP address.

The HTC now does NOT display a whole lot of "hung" CLOSE_WAIT connections on this 41.x range as it did yesterday on the 197.x range.
Wonder why the difference?
Obviously both ranges belong to Cell C.
Something configured differently?

BUT! Alas, the port 5228 C2DM push notification mechanism does not work on this 41.x range either....

Edit:12:32
Not so fast!
After the HTC has been idle for the last hour or so, there are indeed "hung" CLOSE_WAIT connections on this 41.53.x.x range.

The difference is, where yesterday I noticed CLOSE_WAIT on port 80 and port 443 connections, today I only see this happening on port 443 connections.

All seem to be Google related connections:
Gmail:443
VPN Services:443
Google Calender Sync:443

There is one ESTABLISHED Google Calender Sync connection on port 5228, which I guess C2DM would use for notifications. (if it was working properly)

 

[hambone]

Look; i'm no tech person; and I kinda get Base122's understanding of the problem. Here is something I just tried to confirm there is a problem:

Have three SIM cards - Voda, CellC and MTN all prepaid with data loaded. MTN in IPhone 3GS; Voda in IPhone 4 and CellC in Galaxy S (bought though CellC). All phones have two e-mail accounts configured; one IMAP and one POP. Three e-mails sent an hour ago were delivered within 5 minutes to the IPhones, CellC on the Galaxy S took 1H23Min.

I wish I had the technical expertise to have a look at how the different networks handled the push...

 

[ginggs]

I think the reason for this is that even though you connect using a Vodacom tower when you roam, your connection eventually still goes through the Cell C routers and ports and billing systems etc etc. Vodacom is basically just providing the last mile whereas from there it gets handed over to the Cell C network and there you run into the same bloody port and ip problems.

You were spot on.

What is a traceroute???

See here.

My network data connection gets "dumbed" down to EDGE speed only, even though I have a rock solid 3G signal on the other V858 phone. Tried several reconnects, but remains on EDGE only. This is probably part of the data roaming agreement?

Yes, the roaming agreement is for GSM/GPRS/EDGE only.

Surprised to see that I get an IP address in the normal Cell C 197.x.x.x range and not one in the 41.x.x.x range like the V858 has at the moment. So even though roaming (made sure of that Operator=Vodacom SA), I still have a Cell C IP address and all the original problems are still there..

I was suprised too, it seems that some kind of tunnelled connection back to the home network is set up.

 

[Base122]

@hambone

Iphone looks like it uses Apple Push Notification Services.

See this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Push_Notification_Service

Same idea as the Android phones, where they keep an open ESTABLISHED internet connection from your Iphone to some apple server, except they use port 5223.

Maybe you can try the Cell C sim in one of the Iphones?
I suspect the push notification will not work on Cell C.
Would be interesting to know.

 

[Ockie]

Do you guys think Cell C will take this seriously and fix it soon? I dont want this to be the same thing of the RBM clients that still cant use the self help portal on the Cell C website that has been reported here how long ago now??

If they cant/will not fix this...then I am not sure I want to continue with my contract anymore. I am not a nitty gritty person. I can let little things go and live with it....but this situation for me is a biggie. It is really ruining my enjoyment of my phone.

I will of course give it some time for Cell C to investigate.....but if it takes like a month or two...max three to fix this then perhaps staying with Cell C just aint worth it and I will start enquiring if there is a way out of my contract. I hope it does not come to that as that on its own will be a drama I am sure. For now I will be positive and trust that Cell_C will give this thread his attention and try and get it to be made some kind of priority.

*sigh*

 

[Ockie]

@hambone

Iphone looks like it uses Apple Push Notification Services.

See this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Push_Notification_Service

Same idea as the Android phones, where they keep an open ESTABLISHED internet connection from your Iphone to some apple server, except they use port 5223.

Maybe you can try the Cell C sim in one of the Iphones?
I suspect the push notification will not work on Cell C.
Would be interesting to know.

I am not sure if I imagine it...but Iphone push seems to be a bit slower than Google. My friend got a Iphone from me a few weeks ago and is using it with his prepaid Vodacom sim. When I send him a WhatsApp message it also takes about 5 minutes to go through. When I send a WhatsApp to my other friend in Cape Town that is using a Android phone with a Vodacom sim...it is instantly delivered.