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

[morkhans]

Can anyone connect on any one of the above 3 APNs or do you need to be activated for internetvpn and unrestricted?

Anyone can get to the first two you need to apply for access to the third.

 

[SecretCode]

Also, it might not be the different location that's affecting it, but the different time of day. I've had 3G fail and result in only 619 errors around 5pm - 5:30 a couple of days this week ... and that's before leaving the office

 

[kingrob]

I'm on Vodacom prepaid and now I really don't know anymore if I will be able to get on the internet or not, when I click on 'connect' with mobile partner - the frequent disconnects, NO connects (error 619), etc is really driving me nuts.

It's REALLY bad.

 

[PostmanPot]

Vodacom GPRS problems

Is it just me or does GPRS seem to go down all the time in the early hours of the morning?

I'm in Wynberg, Cape Town - and GPRS has been screwed at this time for the past few days.

Now I can't go to bed and Wiki (or chat a bit on MXit )

Perhaps it would be good if all Vodacom clients who aren't on Edge (this isn't GPRS right?)/3G/HSDPA to comment here when they experience downtime?

I don't know, but it does feel better after a bit of a vent

 

[AirWolf]

Yesterday I was able to connect after about five or six 619 errors. Managed to use it for about half an hour before the downloads dried up and reconnecting made no difference.

Then I discovered the power of MTN On a 20% signal strength (-106 DBm I think) I managed to top 200KB/s when downloading Quick Time using a download manager. Got the 20MB file in just over 2minutes

 

[Datura]

Ok, saw the thread. Thanks.

 

[ld13]

Yesterday I was able to connect after about five or six 619 errors. Managed to use it for about half an hour before the downloads dried up and reconnecting made no difference.

Then I discovered the power of MTN On a 20% signal strength (-106 DBm I think) I managed to top 200KB/s when downloading Quick Time using a download manager. Got the 20MB file in just over 2minutes

MTN has been known to be rather stable over the years.

 

[Jase]

Things seem to be much better after I spoke to tech support at 155. Still the occasional period when I cannot browse and I have to reconnect to be able to browse.

I will post a few speed tests sometime this weekend.

 

[sand_man]

I don't mean to rub it in but Voda has been so consistent and stable for the last week that it's not even funny!!! I had the pc converting AAC audio files the entire night and morning, left both pc and internet on and this morning still connected and still producing the following speed test results:

vodacom test
1693kbps down 359kbps up

speedtest.net
to CT 763kbps 351kbps
to LA 395kbps 257kbps
to OZ 323kbps 226kbps

2 weeks ago the service was unusuable and I was experiencing all the same problems that other users on this forum are complaining about now, that included no through put, 619 and 633 errors and constant disconnections. So vasbyt, it should/better improve soon...

 

[Barfish88]

2) Low international throughput

Good news on this one. Extra capacity is available and the upgrades should also happen in the next few days. Current planning is by middle of this week. (23/08)


Can we get a update on this please V3G

 

[vodacom3g]

Is it just me or does GPRS seem to go down all the time in the early hours of the morning?

I'm in Wynberg, Cape Town - and GPRS has been screwed at this time for the past few days.

Now I can't go to bed and Wiki (or chat a bit on MXit )

Perhaps it would be good if all Vodacom clients who aren't on Edge (this isn't GPRS right?)/3G/HSDPA to comment here when they experience downtime?

I don't know, but it does feel better after a bit of a vent

Not sure we need to know about your "Wiki-ing" in bed late at night , but your observation on GPRS is a result of the capacity issues we've been discussing on this forum. The extra capacity already added have helped a great deal, but we've still had problems late at night. (Must be all you guys wiki-ing till the wee hours!) A lot of extra capacity is busy going in.

GPRS and EDGE are both on the 2G network and 3G & HSDPA on the 3G network.

 

[Wolfling]

Hi

Could not connect at all last night between 7pm and 12pm. Actualy needed to do some (online) work last night, but that contract is now down the drain (ie I lost about 6k of Income).

This is starting to get serious for me now.

While I tried to connect last night I got an error 31. When I phoned 155 and reported this, the friendly operator alleged that the error 31 is windows driver problem. He also alleged that my data card (one of those red ones you stick into your PCMIA slot) is faulty. I seriously doubt this as I was also not able to connect at all via my phone.

When I told him that I actualy got the data card from Vodacom, he said that they are the faulty ones and that I should get one from a 'reputable supplier' (This then implies that Vodacom is NOT a reputable supplier....) He also said that I need to update my drivers on my PC (for that I need to download a driver with a currently non-existant internet connection)

Ill try to get this going tonight. If I cant I will be switching to Cell-C tomorrow morning.

I currently have 5 reference numbers spread between the 11th and 22nd of August. I wonder if ill be able to use these to recover the R300+ that I have spend on this service in this month to date. I have used less than 100 of the 500mb in my bundle. V3G how do I go about doing this? (or is VC going to leave us without compensation for this?)

Regards

Well, I had a connection last night, for about 30 mins, from 6.30 pm to 7.00pm. Just enough to DL the new software. Then I lost my connection, installed the software, retried. Same result.

I was not able to connect at all from 7pm until 9.30 when I went to bed, another evening wasted. I called 155 for what it is worth, they said they will put me on some or other special list and flag my problem as urgent. Did not make much difference, I still only got that bulk 'Your problem is being attended to...' SMS at 9am this morning.

I will be going to the closest MTN shop over lunch to pick up a new SIM and yeah, you lost a customer...

Im still waiting on an answer from V3G regarding a refund on the money I have spent over the last month (or should I contact my lawyer?)

 

[koontz]

Connectivity lottery

It feels as if I'm playing the lottery everytime I click the 'connect' button these days. I do after hours IT standby for a large company (using VPN) and when I get called out I RELY on my internet connection to be working. Let's just say I'm not keen to get out of bed at 2am and then drive all the way to work

Even a spot of 'normal' surfing last night at 10pm turned into a string of expletives and snapping the notebook lid shut. Argh...

Here's the details, for what it's worth -- I had 97% signal strength, after a gazillion 619 errors I manage to connect here and there, but I only get about 281 bytes downloaded, nothing else...

Date : 23/08
Time : 22.05
Area : Protea Heights, Brackenfell, Western Cape
Huawei E220 USB modem
Modem IMEI : 351827018357625
Firmware : 11.110.01.03.00
APN : internet
Any ping requests return with 'hostname could not be found'

My manager has a similar setup to me and he lives in Edgemead - he says the connection issues is driving him crazy. And yes, we've been extremely happy with the service the last few months, but the last two weeks have been disappointing, to say the least.

G

 

[morkhans]

The latest from Vodacom as of 2:22PM : "Dear customer, kindly note that the connectivity and slow through put problem experienced has been resolved. We thank you for your patience. Kind regards, Vodacom Customer Care (Sharief Levy)"

internet & unrestricted APN works, internetvpn STILL gives 619 errors, so no you have not fixed it.

 

[pieter_s]

internetVPN working in Sunnyridge Germiston

Hi, we've also been battling last night with connectivity, FTP had also been a nightmare, we are not sure if it might have been Vodacom network related. But trying to get some work in from 02h00 to 06h00 in the morning with no stable connection is definitely no fun.

Glad to say that we seem to have better connectivity this evening. Both my wife and I are on 3G Huawei E220 cards, my 3G signal strength is -79 dBm This is actually not bad since the coverage map shows only GPRS in our area - which might explain why we sometimes get problems, but would not explain no connection when we do have a strong signal.

Good news as well is that the internetVPN is working (only activated today), as well as the normal internet APN.
So no 619 errors.

Will report in more detail as per the guidelines when we next have any problems.

 

[Syndyre]

internet apn also working perfectly here, been connected for about 3 hours now and using the net constantly and its been perfect, whatever you guys did its working, thanks.

 

[AirWolf]

internet apn also working perfectly here, been connected for about 3 hours now and using the net constantly and its been perfect, whatever you guys did its working, thanks.

Working fine here too today

 

[AirWolf]

I was connected for over two hours last night without any hiccups Oh, this thread seems to be like the never ending TK thread

 

[vodacom3g]

I was connected for over two hours last night without any hiccups Oh, this thread seems to be like the never ending TK thread

It'll probably never end, as at any point in time, something is going to be broken somewhere. As long as it does not affect more than 99.9% at any given point in time, it's most likely a localised problem.

I'm getting the impression were slowly moving away from single cause, centralised problems (such as SAIX links or authentication problems) to the more 'normal', localised problems, such as a local problem (tower or link) causing a 619 or slow throughput.

Not that we're out of the woods yet, but we must maybe ensure we post more detailed info when reporting a problem here, and not automatically accept it's a big-bad-back-end problem.

I need to check what work is planned for the weekend.

 

[morkhans]

It'll probably never end, as at any point in time, something is going to be broken somewhere. As long as it does not affect more than 99.9% at any given point in time, it's most likely a localised problem.

I'm getting the impression were slowly moving away from single cause, centralised problems (such as SAIX links or authentication problems) to the more 'normal', localised problems, such as a local problem (tower or link) causing a 619 or slow throughput.

Not that we're out of the woods yet, but we must maybe ensure we post more detailed info when reporting a problem here, and not automatically accept it's a big-bad-back-end problem.

I need to check what work is planned for the weekend.

Please let us know what's next. Has the SAIX upgrade happened and are the additional upgrades to solve the 619 still underway?

This morning I tried internetvpn about 3 times and gave up (619 errors). Attempt number three on internet got me connected. I am in the residential areas just behind CC (as per my location).

PS. I was connected for about 5 hours on unrestricted last night without any issues, so for me it really seems to be APN dependent.