gerasmus
Well-Known Member
Hi All,
I live in rural backwater part of South Africa, in the middle of nowhere and way out of reach from ADSL. My main internet access is via a WISP.
How does Vodacom (I have Vodacom 3G) deliver data services/access to rural parts of the country ? My understanding is that there is no fibre linking us to civilization (our closest neighborung town, a village is 110km away) How is the data delivered ? Via a microwave link to a central base station, or transmitted from one tower to the next ?
I understand that on wireless there is factors like amount of users, signal strenghth, distance from the tower, USB data card data capabilities, equipment installed in tower etc. that can affect speed and performance.
Why am I able to get much higher up/download speeds on 3G in rural South Africa, but when using WISP I am getting much MUCH slower speeds ? Shouldn't the WISP's bonded ADSL, chopped into pieces and then re-sold, be delivering better performance ?
- Why am I able to receive a minimum of 120k p/sec in peak time with signal strenght at 2/5 on 3G ? In off-peak I can receive anything from 230k-430k p/sec on 3G. Able to do online gaming but data costs too expensive for online gaming.
- When using my WISP in peak time (1mb line) I can barely get 15k p/sec ? During off-peak I can be lucky if I get 35k p/sec. I still can't use webradio (even 96bit and lower), low-res Youtube videos take 10-15 minutes to load each. Unable to do online gaming due to lack of bandwidth and jitter. I have asked my WISP what's going on and I can never get a straight answer. I also don't have much of a choice here as the alternative WISP in town is even more expensive.
Just so that there is no confusion, this is where I live. Get out your http://maps.google.nl and point GPS coordinates -23.689418, 27.74022. The town is Ellisras (nowadays Lephalale) en Limpopo.
I live in rural backwater part of South Africa, in the middle of nowhere and way out of reach from ADSL. My main internet access is via a WISP.
How does Vodacom (I have Vodacom 3G) deliver data services/access to rural parts of the country ? My understanding is that there is no fibre linking us to civilization (our closest neighborung town, a village is 110km away) How is the data delivered ? Via a microwave link to a central base station, or transmitted from one tower to the next ?
I understand that on wireless there is factors like amount of users, signal strenghth, distance from the tower, USB data card data capabilities, equipment installed in tower etc. that can affect speed and performance.
Why am I able to get much higher up/download speeds on 3G in rural South Africa, but when using WISP I am getting much MUCH slower speeds ? Shouldn't the WISP's bonded ADSL, chopped into pieces and then re-sold, be delivering better performance ?
- Why am I able to receive a minimum of 120k p/sec in peak time with signal strenght at 2/5 on 3G ? In off-peak I can receive anything from 230k-430k p/sec on 3G. Able to do online gaming but data costs too expensive for online gaming.
- When using my WISP in peak time (1mb line) I can barely get 15k p/sec ? During off-peak I can be lucky if I get 35k p/sec. I still can't use webradio (even 96bit and lower), low-res Youtube videos take 10-15 minutes to load each. Unable to do online gaming due to lack of bandwidth and jitter. I have asked my WISP what's going on and I can never get a straight answer. I also don't have much of a choice here as the alternative WISP in town is even more expensive.
Just so that there is no confusion, this is where I live. Get out your http://maps.google.nl and point GPS coordinates -23.689418, 27.74022. The town is Ellisras (nowadays Lephalale) en Limpopo.