What's gone wrong with the Cell C data signal from VC towers?

[Terencek]

Like some others on this forum, Cell C data users in my rural area have been complaining about a virtually unusable Cell C data signal 'piggybacked' on our local, rural Vodacom tower, for the past 3+ weeks. But now I'm trying a different rural VC tower with my Cell C SIM -- and the problem is exactly the same! Yet pop a VC SIM into the modem and Vodacom's EDGE on this (rural) tower is perfect....

So what's going on with Cell C's 'roaming' deal with Vodacom -- or is Vodacom throttling back Cell C's data signal?
Just to be clear, I am aware that the deal is you only get Cell C EDGE at best from a VC tower where Cell C doesn't have its own tower.

But it now seems too much of a coincidence that this GPRS/EDGE Cell C signal is virtually unusable from multiple VC towers -- while the Vodacom GPRS/EDGE signal from the VERY SAME TOWERS is perfect. What's going on?

 

[OMB]

it's called, payback!

 

[The_Unbeliever]

Sucks, it does.

VC is not playing fair.

On EDGE here at work, ping latency average 2000ms.

At home I get good speeds (WCDMA, HSPDA)

 

[The_Unbeliever]

edit - make that 10000ms (and higher) pings

 

[Terencek]

Finally fixed!! (At least in my rural location...). Though it did take the best part of a month, which really doesn't win any prizes!

 

[Keeper]

Finally fixed!! (At least in my rural location...). Though it did take the best part of a month, which really doesn't win any prizes!

Yeah, fixed, so nobody "notices" what they are doing

 

[ajax]

Vodacom EDGE is much much faster in Kleinmond than Cell C!

 

[Terencek]

So do we smell conspiracy here perchance?

 

[Terencek]

Well I spoke (or wrote) too soon.... We're regularly back where we were when this nonsense first started some six weeks ago, with an intermittent Cell C data signal from our local Vodacom tower (Buffelspoort Dam NWP). It appears unable to handle any major data traffic: as soon as the business day gets underway its strength drops to where it is again regularly almost unusable for anything except emails. Does no-one in Cell C or VC monitor these things?

 

[crabman]

cell c useless without 3g coverage

I'm using my 3g cellphone to connect to the internet. Just buy data bundle from them. nothing wrong with thw connection but when 3g is not available it REALLY SUCKS. Cannot keep a connection for 2 minutes.

 

[ashfaak]

put your phone in a metal bowl or something aluminium and parabolic and point it towards the tower.
might work.
true story.

 

[ajax]

I'm using my 3g cellphone to connect to the internet. Just buy data bundle from them. nothing wrong with thw connection but when 3g is not available it REALLY SUCKS. Cannot keep a connection for 2 minutes.

I used Vodacom EDGE with my Cell C sim in a small town recently and got around 200 kbit/sec. Was very usable.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

put your phone in a metal bowl or something aluminium and parabolic and point it towards the tower.
might work.
true story.

Just clean out the dish before the time... and make sure your wife doesn't see you doing that with her crockery...