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

[SoTrue]

Couldn't connect at all this morning (since 05:00) - at home, and up to now (08:45) at work (Lynnwood, Pretoria). Includes Internet on cellphone and using cellphone as modem.

Is anyone else in Pretoria-East experiencing the same problem?

 

[martin]

Couldn't connect in Valhalla, Swartkops or Rooihuiskraal (and yes, I was driving around trying to get a connection).

 

[SoTrue]

Posted a question in another thread, but yes, experienced the same problem in Mooikloof, Pretoria this morning (probably still not fixed) and currently in Lynnwood, Pretoria.

 

[Bedford]

noticed the same here in bedfordview, i tried connecting at 8am...

 

[Pilgrim]

I tried to connect just now (9:55 am) in Cape Town at the V&A Waterfront.

I am on TopUp with no bundle. (And yes, I have airtime).

Nothing changed on my side.

 

[vodacom3g]

I saw some SMS's early this morning that probably explained what you guys saw. Got the 'cleared' SMS just after 9AM (some network problem in Pretoria), so it should be all fine now.

Let me know.

 

[Pilgrim]

I saw some SMS's early this morning that probably explained what you guys saw. Got the 'cleared' SMS just after 9AM (some network problem in Pretoria), so it should be all fine now.

Let me know.

Nope, not working for me yet. Opened Opera on my phone and clicked on a bookmark.

"Error. Unable to establish network connection. Please check your connection settings."

I have not changed my network settings in the past few days.

Edit: I rebooted my phone and now the internet works

Gotta love Windows

 

[SoTrue]

I saw some SMS's early this morning that probably explained what you guys saw. Got the 'cleared' SMS just after 9AM (some network problem in Pretoria), so it should be all fine now.

Let me know.

Seems to be fine in Lynnwood, Pretoria now (11:15).

 

[vodacom3g]

Nope, not working for me yet. Opened Opera on my phone and clicked on a bookmark.

"Error. Unable to establish network connection. Please check your connection settings."

I have not changed my network settings in the past few days.

Edit: I rebooted my phone and now the internet works

Gotta love Windows

Yeah, I suspected you had another problem. I think the problem I referred to above mostly affected snor-city.

 

[hellowhowareyou]

To anyone who agrees vodacom is a useless piece of **** that deserves to be liqidated! i bow down in agreement. i cant play 1 ****ing game of dota without being disconnected and punished i like in an place with full signal and every 10 minutes i am disconnected u are really a bunch of *******s who really dont give a **** about thier customers. i have been reading through the forums and i see a $&%*^$%%^#^ **** load of unhappy people whos only awnser to thier problems is (buy buy buy) **** YOU FIX IT YOURSELF!!!! i pay enough for my crappy little 500 megs a month that i must now go and buy an arial and mount it yada yada yada. i hope someone burns your business to the ground cause i will if u dont get your act together

 

[SoTrue]

Mooikloof, Pretoria also OK now.

 

[ambo]

To anyone who agrees vodacom is a useless piece of **** that deserves to be liqidated! i bow down in agreement. i cant play 1 ****ing game of dota without being disconnected and punished i like in an place with full signal and every 10 minutes i am disconnected u are really a bunch of *******s who really dont give a **** about thier customers. i have been reading through the forums and i see a $&%*^$%%^#^ **** load of unhappy people whos only awnser to thier problems is (buy buy buy) **** YOU FIX IT YOURSELF!!!! i pay enough for my crappy little 500 megs a month that i must now go and buy an arial and mount it yada yada yada. i hope someone burns your business to the ground cause i will if u dont get your act together

WOW.... is there a message in there amongst all the asterisks ??

I of course have to assume that you have reported all these faults to the call center so that they can be resolved?

 

[MainMeat]

To anyone who agrees vodacom is a useless piece of **** that deserves to be liqidated! i bow down in agreement. i cant play 1 ****ing game of dota without being disconnected and punished i like in an place with full signal and every 10 minutes i am disconnected u are really a bunch of *******s who really dont give a **** about thier customers. i have been reading through the forums and i see a $&%*^$%%^#^ **** load of unhappy people whos only awnser to thier problems is (buy buy buy) **** YOU FIX IT YOURSELF!!!! i pay enough for my crappy little 500 megs a month that i must now go and buy an arial and mount it yada yada yada. i hope someone burns your business to the ground cause i will if u dont get your act together

...eish! - be nice and you will get some help and your problem might actually be resolved.

Get an antenna (worked for me and was the best investment I made). Vodacom can look at the signal strength in some places - I agree, but as an interm solution there are some solutions out there that does not require allot to be installed. As metioned - also try the 3G only profile, and give the help desk a call.

With all my past frustrations they have been very helpfull in resolving problems - just be nice - they want to help and, well lets give it up for Vodacom - they are one of the few companies out there that make an effort to help(i cannot say the same for some of the service providers out there but anyway...).

For a start they anwser their phones, and actually call you back (look and learn hellkom!), and in my experience have never said that they do not have a solution

 

[Iam3G]

While I don't know if we will ever hear from hellowhowareyou again, IMO some people are destined to forever be copper-tethered to Telkodemonopolies due to their own lack of common sense when it applies to wireless signals hitting obstructions like the walls etc of homes and offices, and not being able to get through these obstructions that stand in the way of wireless signals. Those that are not prepared to listen when one tries to explain that using a wireless service indoors without an external outdoors antenna severely affects signal strength & signal quality, and then foaming at the mouth complaining are their own worst enemies.

This is what I managed to extract from hellowhowareyou's post when I first read it:which is why I again suggested using the 3GOnly setting...

Common Sense, its so rare its like a superpower

Like you said, its just another rant.

 

[threegee]

I experience the same problem here in Magaliesburg and I DO have an antenna (not an el cheapo one either) and a full strength signal. This problem has been ongoing now for almost 18 months. At least once or twice every single day the signal just drops completely at the tower (NOTHING to do with my connection or aerial) and sometimes comes back within a few minutes, sometimes hours later or the next morning. I have often proven this FACT by putting my card into my laptop during an outage and driving 5km towards the tower in Magaliesburg where I then have a natural full strength signal (unboosted) and gee ... guess what still no signal.

Last night at 23:33 3G and GPRS dropped completely and were not restored until 9:15 this morning after I had contacted the engineers for this area. This afternoon at 5:15pm the signal dropped again and came back after 30 minutes but since it has come back it is not allowing any connections on 3G. Before you ask, the signal strength is FULL strength but not allowing any connections. I am NOT in a high usage area, I have been on 3G since it's inception and in the Networking and Internet fields for 16+ years so I know about settings and I know how the Vodacom system works.

The problem is definitely on Vodacom's side, I never ever attempt to lodge a complaint until I 100% check everything my side. Frequently I am told it is a problem at the CORE, if I hear those words I just want to hurt someone (really). I am quite certain the CORE networking guys get paid nothing short of a small fortune yet we can never seem to go more than 1 or 2 days (max 1 week) before all prior problems return. I've taken this up at various levels with Vodacom on numerous occasions over the last 2 years and sure enough every time I kick up a fuss everyone tries to sort the problem out, engineers are in constant contact with me and in some cases the problems disappear for a few days but they ALWAYS come back.

For the last 4 months the biggest problem has been extremely slow speeds, that has improved to an extent since my last contact with Vodacom, but now the disconnects seem to be getting worse again, classical fix one thing and something else starts breaking ... go figure.

Tonight I am stuck with GPRS only and completely unable to finish mission critical work I had started at 9:15 this morning and have been frantically and constantly working on all day just in case Vodacom had another outage. Sadly I did not make Vodacom's 5:15pm cut off deadline this afternoon.

 

[Hummercellc]

I experience the same problem here in Magaliesburg and I DO have an antenna (not an el cheapo one either) and a full strength signal. This problem has been ongoing now for almost 18 months. At least once or twice every single day the signal just drops completely at the tower (NOTHING to do with my connection or aerial) and sometimes comes back within a few minutes, sometimes hours later or the next morning. I have often proven this FACT by putting my card into my laptop during an outage and driving 5km towards the tower in Magaliesburg where I then have a natural full strength signal (unboosted) and gee ... guess what still no signal.

Last night at 23:33 3G and GPRS dropped completely and were not restored until 9:15 this morning after I had contacted the engineers for this area. This afternoon at 5:15pm the signal dropped again and came back after 30 minutes but since it has come back it is not allowing any connections on 3G. Before you ask, the signal strength is FULL strength but not allowing any connections. I am NOT in a high usage area, I have been on 3G since it's inception and in the Networking and Internet fields for 16+ years so I know about settings and I know how the Vodacom system works.

The problem is definitely on Vodacom's side, I never ever attempt to lodge a complaint until I 100% check everything my side. Frequently I am told it is a problem at the CORE, if I hear those words I just want to hurt someone (really). I am quite certain the CORE networking guys get paid nothing short of a small fortune yet we can never seem to go more than 1 or 2 days (max 1 week) before all prior problems return. I've taken this up at various levels with Vodacom on numerous occasions over the last 2 years and sure enough every time I kick up a fuss everyone tries to sort the problem out, engineers are in constant contact with me and in some cases the problems disappear for a few days but they ALWAYS come back.

For the last 4 months the biggest problem has been extremely slow speeds, that has improved to an extent since my last contact with Vodacom, but now the disconnects seem to be getting worse again, classical fix one thing and something else starts breaking ... go figure.

Tonight I am stuck with GPRS only and completely unable to finish mission critical work I had started at 9:15 this morning and have been frantically and constantly working on all day just in case Vodacom had another outage. Sadly I did not make Vodacom's 5:15pm cut off deadline this afternoon.

100% on the DOT. that is what is happening to ME!!!! signal comes and goes funny thing is i can see the tower from my front door. Vodacom all i can say is HA HA. i am no further then 2 km from the tower..... and i connect fine but no throught put. i have moved to different locations meaning different towers and same ****! horrible speeds, latency, dns time outs etc.... must be the core network. Cell C EDGE faster and more stable! Way to go Cell C you Show Vodacom. Ha Ha, i just laugh when i hear a complaint about Vodacom because it is nothing new. Come and C 4 Urself!

 

[DXL]

If only we HAD ......

IF only we HAD......................

1. Vodacoms 3G Coverage

2. MTN's Data Network Stability to end user

3. Virginmobile's Low Data Rates

4. Cell-C's Kind heartedness

We would have the perfect wireless Data Connection @ HOME.


DXL - Mobile

Living the South African Fantasy

With Ivy & Icasa

 

[Syndyre]

IF only we HAD......................

1. Vodacoms 3G Coverage

2. MTN's Data Network Stability to end user

3. Virginmobile's Low Data Rates

4. Cell-C's Kind heartedness

We would have the perfect wireless Data Connection @ HOME.


DXL - Mobile

Living the South African Fantasy

With Ivy & Icasa

I wouldn't want VM's data rates actually, not without bundles as an option too, for anything above 500MB the VC/MTN rates are cheaper. Cell C is kind hearted?

 

[threegee]

Could finally connect again to 3G around 8:30 pm ... so that was a 3 hour outage. Add to that the one from last night which lasted 10 hours ..... 13 hours outage in one day .... not so nice ... actually totally unacceptable. But nou ja.

 

[AirWolf]

I saw some SMS's early this morning that probably explained what you guys saw. Got the 'cleared' SMS just after 9AM (some network problem in Pretoria), so it should be all fine now.

Let me know.

Port Shepstone is very far from Pretoria and I was having issues last night already. Back to normal this evening.