Vodacom Problems: Slow Throughput, trying to Connect, DNS, High Latency

[feo]

Yup, it's driving me crazy. It works fine during the day, so it's not my phone. It's not a particular tower, either, because I've tried in a variety of locations. It starts about 17:30 (or earlier, but that's the earliest I normally try to use it), and then lasts until about 22:30. It was fine last week, and I had hoped that it was just people trying to use up their bundle before the end of the month, but it's just carried right on into the new month. It either won't connect, or if it miraculously does, it doesn't actually load any sites. It's almost as if it can't even contact the DNS server.

This is why I moved away from VM, and to VC (prepaid, in case that makes a difference). And because it's GPRS on my phone that I'm trying to use, I can't even just use a MTN sim card - I'm not swapping sim cards every time I want to check my email via my phone!

Same here.

Turns to **** in the early evening and I'd guess it comes right early morning.

 

[Jase]

Thanks for the info PsychoR8der. I don't live too far from you, but my antenna definately is pointed in the opposite direction (you are on the other side of the hill).

I would kill for 1400kbps! (Well maybe just maim, maul and mug)

 

[Iam3G]

Same here.

Turns to **** in the early evening and I'd guess it comes right early morning.

Alot of Vodacom users use MXit. And if you think about it logically... alot of the connectivity problems occurs from between 17h00 to Midnight. People work during the day(no time to MXit), and when they get they all connect and chat away.

Could it be that the network is overloaded becoz of this? (*just a thought*)

 

[feo]

Alot of Vodacom users use MXit. And if you think about it logically... alot of the connectivity problems occurs from between 17h00 to Midnight. People work during the day(no time to MXit), and when they get they all connect and chat away.

Could it be that the network is overloaded becoz of this? (*just a thought*)

I hear you and yes, MXit is a major factor but people on prepaid pay R2/MB to VC so maybe they (VC) should...I dunno...use that money to upgrade the network to handle the extra load.

I'm not bashing VC here, I've rarely had problems with them and when I did, vodacom3g always gave a satisfactory reason or the problem was sorted ASAP. But having GPRS/3G crap out on you EVERY single night without fail is not on. At least we have MNP so if this crap continues we just move.

 

[Iam3G]

I'm not bashing VC here, I've rarely had problems with them and when I did, vodacom3g always gave a satisfactory reason or the problem was sorted ASAP. But having GPRS/3G crap out on you EVERY single night without fail is not on. At least we have MNP so if this crap continues we just move.

I've always been with MTN since i can remember. MTN only have problems once in a blue moon, and when they do have network problems, its sorted out within or less than a day.

I've never complained about MTN

 

[Praeses]

I hear you and yes, MXit is a major factor but people on prepaid pay R2/MB to VC so maybe they (VC) should...I dunno...use that money to upgrade the network to handle the extra load.

I totally agree. I've received responses like "buy a 3G cellphone" when I have had connection problems with my GPRS in the past. I pay R2/MB for a variable amount of speed, why should GPRS get neglected, regardless of its low speed? A 10MB download is still a 10MB download whether I'm using GPRS, EDGE, 3G and HSDPA and it will cost me R20 in all 4 instances. Money = money. Use the money to allow GPRS systems to be upgraded...that's what the customer is paying for; a reliable and fully functional network!

My GPRS has been working fine for the past 3 weeks though, I'm very glad about that but I still feel that more money should be used to maintain the GPRS network.

 

[Iam3G]

It's certainly possible that the sheer number of simultaneously connected MXit users in an area could be more connected users than a cluster of one or more base-stations is capable of dealing with at any moment in time, and that that might be affecting the network - probably characterised mainly by problems getting & staying connected, but I seriously doubt that a lot of MXit users in an area would generate enough traffic to max out a backhaul link - that's more likely to come from downloading data transfer activities etc...

Maybe there aren't loads of MXit users in my area, bcos so far I haven't had a evenings problem as described by many in this thread, but there is always a first time for everything, obviously I'm aware that there are several factors in play that might cause the bandwidth & connectivity equation to become unbalanced, so it's probably just a matter of time before I also experience this problem, until then I don't think it's healthy for us to be pointing fingers at MXit users.

Not pointing any fingers, just eliminating possible cause for the connectivity issue As for mxit not being able to generate enough traffic to max out a backhaul link... MXit isnt just a IM for your phone, its got chatrooms too. Plus MXit supports file transfers, for like sending pictures also. So just think of how many young people use that function? Especially on the dating front. It'll just be a matter of time until MXit supports Video Conferencing for that low rates

I am on MXit, and i use MTN, and i even experience slow downs on regular intervals. Now more than before. So i think that there is huge load of traffic regarding this.

 

[feo]

I haven't read this thread, especially the part relating to these 619s between 17:00 and 00:00. Has v3g actually acknowledged there's a problem and is anything being done about it?

 

[Praeses]

IMO GPRS & EDGE is based on what should by now be considered to be ancient GSM technology, and some of the problems that people experience with GPRS and EDGE are due to the limitations of GSM as a technology - think along the lines of a limited number of timeslots, AFAIK the only way to 'upgrade GPRS and EDGE in an area', is to put in a crap load more GSM base-stations to provide more collective timeslots, and these days there is a lot of opposition from communities to base-stations [e.g. cell towers].

While it is true that not everyone has a 3G phone, change is inevitable, and 3G is the new cellular technology, although 3G actually requires a lot more base-stations clustered in an area due to a smaller signal footprint as a result of the higher frequency used for 3G.

The 3G phone I wanted in July last year when I renewed my contract was discontinued (SE V600) so I had to settle for a GPRS one (SE K750i). My next upgrade will definitely be a 3G phone...maybe HSDPA depending on what's available on my contract by then.

What percentage of VC data users are using supposed "ancient GSM technology" for data? Who's fault is it that most consumers use GPRS/EDGE phones? Who supplies the phones to the consumers? While VC is giving away "free" cellphones on 24month contracts that only support GPRS/EDGE they should keep their GPRS/EDGE networks running as problem free as possible. Luckily 3G phones seem to be more affordable nowadays so I guess the GPRS/EDGE load on the base-stations will decrease?
Is VC offering VOIP services yet which don't use GSM technology?

 

[vodacom3g]

There are probably multiple factors in operation here.

Firstly the data network get busy early in the day already and only tapers off after 1am. So this could affect everyone on the data network. We don't really see increased usage after 7pm.

What we do see after 7pm is voice calls drastically increasing and this will, for sure, affect GPRS users, as they'll fight for timeslots with the voice calls. So even if MXiT generates little traffic, the timeslots are probably the issue. These are obviously monitored but once a towers is full, it implies a complete new tower and even with lots of planning is not a quick proses with site issues a big problem.

I did not really pick up if it's predominantly a GPRS or 3G complaint (the after 7 thing)

 

[Iam3G]

There are probably multiple factors in operation here.

Firstly the data network get busy early in the day already and only tapers off after 1am. So this could affect everyone on the data network. We don't really see increased usage after 7pm.

What we do see after 7pm is voice calls drastically increasing and this will, for sure, affect GPRS users, as they'll fight for timeslots with the voice calls. So even if MXiT generates little traffic, the timeslots are probably the issue. These are obviously monitored but once a towers is full, it implies a complete new tower and even with lots of planning is not a quick proses with site issues a big problem.

I did not really pick up if it's predominantly a GPRS or 3G complaint (the after 7 thing)

Jam, i forgot that Voice Calls take priority over Data Calls. Now if Vodacom would implement respective towers for each Voice and Data, we wouldnt have so many problems...

 

[Iam3G]

It did start whilst you were away, so I suggested that forumites do the all important email [email protected] - unfortunately details are quite sketchy in most posts about this problem - perhaps if everyone experiencing the evenings issue, goes back to post #1 in this thread and then reposts providing the standing info that you requested for such problems, then it will give a better indication of what and where the problem might be.Ummm, technically how do you propose that Vodacom or MTN or even CellC does such a thing? - the radio link shouldn't care whether voice data or IP traffic data is being relayed.

Someone that was in the telecommunications industry for a long time explained to me how works. He even sketched it. So i suggested to him the same thing... Why not make a dedicated Data Tower?? I know it would be expensive, but it would help us alot and reduce these kinds of complaints.

 

[feo]

619 galore . Anyone else?

 

[Iam3G]

7:25pm... did 3 speed tests... this was the best out of the 3...

Download Speed: 102 kbps (12.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 211 kbps (26.4 KB/sec transfer rate)

This is really becoming a problem. 2weeks ago i was flying faster than Superman on Steriods with HSDPA.

 

[feo]

Area - Pretoria (Laudium)
Type of modem - N/A, using my phone. 6230i connecting with GPRS
Modem's IMEI - I must post my phone IMEI?
Modem's firmware - see above
apn - 'internet'

I'm getting constant "GPRS authentication failed" errors. Like ic said, it sounds like the equivalent of 619. IF it does by some miracle connect one of 2 things happen:
-connection drops again after a few seconds
-it stays connected but no data flows at all.

Things are fine during the day so my phone isn't the problem.

 

[Jase]

Vodacom Speed tests:

Time: 6.31pm
Download: 576kbps
Upload: 238kbps

Time: 8.05pm
Download: 235kbps
Upload: 176kbps

Reason for posting: To highlight the continued peak time problems experienced.

I will be plaguing [email protected]

Cheers

J.

>>>> You know something is wrong when your son tells the speedo on the bandwidth meter to change gear!!<<<<

Edit: I just did a test, I disconnected my external aerial, rebooted and reconnected: d/l 570kbps, u/l 153kbps on 3 bars signal strength. I think it's connecting me to another tower, which, I think means that my tower that gives me the best signal strength must be congested!!

 

[Daveogg]

There are probably multiple factors in operation here.

Firstly the data network get busy early in the day already and only tapers off after 1am. So this could affect everyone on the data network. We don't really see increased usage after 7pm.

What we do see after 7pm is voice calls drastically increasing and this will, for sure, affect GPRS users, as they'll fight for timeslots with the voice calls. So even if MXiT generates little traffic, the timeslots are probably the issue. These are obviously monitored but once a towers is full, it implies a complete new tower and even with lots of planning is not a quick proses with site issues a big problem.

I did not really pick up if it's predominantly a GPRS or 3G complaint (the after 7 thing)

Nope this is NOT a GPRS/3G issue.

With a prepaid sim on either GPRS or 3G anytime after about 17H30 it will not connect. Upon replacing the prepaid sim with a contract sim it immediately connects and remains connected.

This is a prepaid vs contract issue.

Prehaps the system which "reserves" some of the prepaid balance is getting saturated by all the people trying to log on and therefore it will not authenticate your account as valid on the data network??

 

[Abe]

This is a prepaid vs contract issue.

This sounds liike what is happening to me. I have a 1GB PPDB on a Prepaid SIM. Since last week, Friday I think, I keep getting disconnected every couple of minutes. Sometimes when I am on, I will get zero feedback from the server. My received bytes on the connection sits at 231. After a while, it comes right. I have a Nokia 6233 which I am using as a 3G Modem.

 

[feo]

Definitely a prepaid issue. I would've heard bitching and moaning from friends if they couldn't connect on contract but they can.

 

[Abe]

The problem is that I have just recommended to someone else that they get a VC PPDB of about 500 Meg per month. They have already bought the PCMCIA card and now this stuff happens. Better be sorted out ASAP.