Very slow 3G

Will see what I can find out.

Biometrics is in the Western Cape so might be on a different transmission path from you but he's also not within good radio coverage. The local guys are busy with Biometrics to sort this.
 
Hi Mightymouse, welcome to MyADSL :).
Mightymouse said:
I have been a Vodacom 3g user since its inception, and I can guarentee you that the service has indeed deteriorated since then. I am of course referring to internet access speeds. On day one, happy user, I can fondly remeber achieving download speeds in excess of 50kbs, and sustained. As the service has grown, and more users have joined, these speeds have reduced to now about 5-6kbs. I have complained about this, and have even logged calls. NO avail. It appears that Vodacom are running out of internet bandiwdth (the amount of bandwidth between vodacom and the internet via their ISP) The solution to this is obvious and simple. Vodacom need to buy more internet bandwidth with CIR on the international access. Then we will all see much improved download speeds. AND HEY VODACOM....Whats with the 64kb upload speed limit???? I was also promised (and beleived) that the service would be upgraded to 512kb or 1mb by July 2005. waiting, waiting,waiting. Point is, it wont make a difference if Vodacom dont buy more bandwidth.

UNHAPPY :mad:
Click to expand...
I could be wrong, but I am guessing that once HSDPA goes live in December 2005, or when HSDPA data cards are available from the manufacturers, that Vodacom's 3G service will be even better - not just for customers that go for HSDPA, but for the original 3G customers as well - I say this bcos I expect that HSDPA [which is a higher speed extension to 3G] will increase cell tower capacity - I don't know if that's where you are experiencing a bottleneck with your 3G experience, but my experience with iBurst tells me that a lot depends on the number of available base-stations in your area, as well as the number of customers concurrently using the same iBurst base-station, i.e. contention, unlike WBS' iBurst there are a lot more active 3G cell towers available, and I seriously doubt that Vodacom would be scrimping on upstream bandwidth either.

Perhaps there is a problem with the cell tower that you use most of the time, maybe it will help if you could post the cellids of the towers you mostly use...?

Also, to echo what v3g said about the 64kbits/s upload limit - it is a limit imposed by the data card, i.e. not the 3G network...
 
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Thanks for the welcome....

Hmm, HSDPA sound like the answer to all our probs. The 64kb/s upstream is what was quoted to me by Vodacom tech support. Does anyone out there have higher than 64kb upload?

As a management consultant, I travel around the greater gauteng area. Mostly I am in JHB Mooi Street - 3 and in Fourways at Leslie rd - 3 beacons.

perhaps its just me, but what do other users expereince as an "average" dowload speed?
 
Nope, no one will currently have more than 64Kb/s upload speed.

In Cape Town, I'd thumb-suck my average at about 200-250Kb/s, although I see 384 quite often, I also see 20Kb/s, depending on the site.

If you use a meter like DU Meter, you can log your download speed and get a better feel for your throughput.
 
MM, I have been using Vodacom's 3G now since last month, and I have experienced mixed speeds [high and low] i.e. the speed varies somewhat - I suspect this is due to signal variation - perhaps 3G cell tower breathing is also a factor, when I'm at home I get better sustained download speeds [between 40kBytes/s and 48kBytes/s] from one part of my house, whilst I get 20kBytes/s from other parts of my house...

I have not kept my laptop running in the car whilst driving, so I cannot comment on download speeds whilst actively moving about, but from other locations [e.g. my Sandton office and Randpark Ridge] the speed has been just as good...

I should add that these are single-threaded downloads - I haven't quite figured out how to do multi-threaded downloads in Ubuntu Linux [yet]...

When I have the 3G data card in my home Windoze desktop PC with the dash running, it shows 4 out of 5 signal strength bars...
 
vodacom3g said:
Nope, no one will currently have more than 64Kb/s upload speed.
Click to expand...

V3G could you maybe point me to a URL on Vodacom's site where this is stated?

Was looking but could find anything :eek:

(This could be part of my problem as I do a lot of uploads to our website)
 
Well i've been using tcpIQ since Feb/Mar testing speeds every now and then. The site keeps "overall" statistics based on data submitted. From there you can quite clearly see what upload/download speeds on Voda-3G generally are like [average].

It's also evident that upload speed actually improved since March BUT download speeds have taken a hit [since May] .... There is a clearcut upload speed "cap" [also easily seen in any tests done on tcpiq].

Check this site:
http://www.tcpiq.com/tcpIQ/LineSpee...ectionStats/?CountryId=196&ConnectionId=13752


It shows all kinds of statistics which i find very interesting [not only 3g].

For example,

1. Best speeds on mondays, worst on wednesdays [not on weekends interestingly]
2. Best speeds at 10pm [but worst at 9pm...] at night, worst at 5am [kinda strange, maybe no one tested properly during that time?]

Looks like people log on at 8-9pm [after work], get bad speeds, log off ..and voila at 10pm you have amazing speeds :P

PS: I'm assuming that's the right connection, i noticed there's a whopping 3-4 different Vodacom 3G connections on there...but i assume the 384/384 is it?

Anyway Jul average on 3G [if i'm reading it correctly] is under 60kbits per/sec....Now have to take in consideration this is -international- speeds and the obvious effect of people only using the service [often] if they actually get bad speeds, and only using it once if they get good speeds :P

According to global statistics on there SA is the -slowest- in both upload+download [this is for all types of connections together] , 2nd slowest is India, even Malaysia kicks our buts in
download speeds.


And finally latest tests results gave me 20 kbytes/sec download and 6 kbytes/sec upload [the upload speed in my case has -always- been static like that at that speed]
 
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tcpIQ is a nice site to test international throughput but there's a few hassles with the site and the client you run on the desktop.

Some forumites have reported up to 400Kb's UPLOAD speeds, when connected via 3G. This is plainly impossible.

The unstructured nature of the way the site works, leads to a few problems:

It's up to the user to select the correct group (3G, etc.). If you select the wrong one, your data is added into that group.

Another problem, is that the client runs the tests automatically. Some people use different bearers, say 3G at home, WiFi or LAN at the office. The moment you connect via another (faster or slower) network, these test results are added into your, the country and the service stats. This obviously skews the results.

So although a good test, it's a pity it could not be more structured, especially in managing the users.

It's better to trust your own entries in tcpIQ, as long as you make sure you tested the right connection!

I tend to do FTP's to various sites and use this to measure performance.
 
Don't look at Vodacom for that little detail, look here:

http://www.novatelwireless.com/products/merlin/merlin-u630.html

[i am of course assuming you have novatel]. Every cellphone also got their own little limits tucked away in the specs too :P

Data Speeds (Basic PS Modes)
384/128, 384/64, 128/64, 64/64, 32/8
(Downlink/Uplink)
Click to expand...

notice the "/64" ...

Although there is this too, just to confuse , not sure which is correct [something tells me this is just a bit of marketing] :
Up to 384 kbps on UMTS on both Uplink and Downlink*

*Network/Operator Dependent
Click to expand...
 
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BBSA, it's not a secret as such, it's been discussed on this forum quite a few times.

The uplink/downlink speed in most broadband systems are biased to the download link, this allows to utilise available bandwidth in a manner most users will use the system, i.e. in the download direction download.

As the available bandwidth increase, for example with HSDPA, the upload speeds with also increase.
 
vodacom3g said:
BBSA, it's not a secret as such, it's been discussed on this forum quite a few times.
Click to expand...

OK, maybe you should add the following statment on all your advertising:

"Please read the myadsl.co.za Vodacom 3G Forum for full details"
 
It has been 4 weeks now and no resolution yet.

Here is my speed test for tonight:

Download time: 100.444 seconds
Size of file: 500 KiloBytes
Estimated line speed: 40.6 (kilobits/second)
Estimated line speed: 5 (kiloBytes/second)
 
BBSA, I know my feedback is wearing thin, and I agree with your impatience. Just to let you know, your situation is already (been a while, actually) at top management level. Trust me, someone is beaten up every day around this situation.
 
BBSA, from where are you doing the speed tests you've posted above?

Also, can you do a FTP from smtp.vodacom.co.za (like we've done before) and send me both sets of results please?

I'd like to send both sets to the radio guys to help them with the debugging.
 
V3G; the speed test was taken at Moreleta Park, Pretoria.

I have sent you the Telkom and smtp.vodacom.co.za test results.

Also the Siemens Guy said he will visit me this week-end but he never pitched.

Thanks for all your help.

BBSA
 
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This sounds absolutely unacceptable. A problem like this should be sorted in less than 4 days and not more than 4 weeks. A respectable ISP should be able to sort something like this out with in a few days.

What is Siemens roll in the 3G Network? Are they responsible for the maintenance?
Who is responsible for what, or is this a classic case where parties blame each other and noting gets done?
 
Hi V3G

Do you know what happened to the siemens guy; he said he would come and visit me at home about 2 weeks ago but I have not heard from him since (not even an apology).
 
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