Whoosh to Wish

[VMS]

When Trevor did his Whoosh ads I decided to buy 2 modems. Got both the 21Mbit/s black one and the 7Mbit/s white one (for my wife). Initial tests showed 4 to 5 mbit/s (Black) and 2-3mbit/s (white). Then it shot up to around 7 to 8mbit/s. But since then it is slowly going down.

I get intermittend comms. When it works I get the following:

Download Speed: 3708 kbps (463.5 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 885 kbps (110.6 KB/sec transfer rate)

This is totally acceptable as I don't really download stuff requiring 21mbit/s. I can even live with 1mbit/s, as long as it is constant.


BUT when it goes bad I cannot even ping.

I live in Wierda Park and almost have line of sight of the tower. It seems that there are too many people using this tower and that it is impossible to have constant good comms and/or go up to max (or near max) speeds. I work from home and can feel people starting to log on around 4pm and over weekends.

Another funny thing is that my comms sometimes drop when I try to do something. I have a window open doing a ping every second to my server. As soon as I try to open a page on IE comms stop. Then it takes around 7 seconds to be able to ping again.

So as with NeoHell it feels that CellC is turning into Wish rather than Whoosh. So please CellC, check out your capacity on the Mall@Reds tower.

VMS

 

[chrisc]

I think this capacity thing (or whatever the technical term is) is the main problem for our indifferent speeds. I get nearly the same result as VMS above and have a 21 element LAPD aerial aimed at the most powerful transmitter, get excellent signal but abysmal throughput

If CellC really wanted to deliver their promises to their customers by selling them fast modems, then they should ensure that the signal delivered to the towers is sufficient to cater for the many subscribers they sell their modems and service to. No check is ever made of where you are going to use your modem. At least 8ta won't sell you a device if you are not within their coverage area. CellC maintain that there coverage is everywhere. Maybe so, but it thinly spread over this area, hence the number of complaints on this board about poor speeds, cutting off, disappearing connections, etc.

While the accountants are running the show, the technical team have to make do as best they can with the resources available to them. The accountants do not care a hoot if Johnny in suburbia has intermittent problems and it gets so bad he returns his device. This is a low statistic, the number of people that bring stuff back, that it makes a tiny difference to the bottom line, which is all they care about.

 

[drukkie]

if you want stability get adsl?
yes there are also congested exchanges but they are few and far between...

 

[VMS]

From bad to worse.

I am doing the pre-paid thing. Last night I had 290MB left. This morning nothing. Coasting on the R17 I had left and going max cost per MB. I checked my meter and nothing happened during the night. They just took it (expiry date 2012/01/24).

So I thought "what the heck" and bought another R400 bundle of airtime to convert to 3GB. Bye-bye 290MB.

Now I checked that the balance is correct but I seem to be billed from my bundle and my remaining airtime (R14 remained) at the same time. The R14 went down to R12.50 while my bundle dropped 500kbyte (well, 1MB if you round it off).

After a few minutes it seems that my airtime now stays stable with the bundle dropping. Normal again?

I guess their prepaid billing system is folding. How can something that worked so 'relatively' well for so long go completely crap so quickly. They basically took/stole 10% of my normal bundle plus a few Rand extra.

I would like to get ADSL, and probably will (for static use). Problem is I am always on the road. Going to work on the Gautrain in a few minutes, later going to a design session in Fourways and then back to the lab. That was the whole idea behind the 3G thing...mobility! But suddenly I might find myself out of airtime in a far off place and won't have the ability to "donate" some more to get back online.


Looks like I am going back to Vodacom. They have a consistant (almost crappy) connection but it always works. These new fly-by-night operators like CellC and NoTel are all screwed up.

My suggestion, to would be CellC clients, is to rather buy 2 or 3 cheaper Vodacom modems/SIMs and string them together than trying to buy the 21Mbit/s modem. Not worth it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn it. Just checked the airtime balance again and more airtime is gone (another 27c). I am now wondering what is going to happen to my 3GB bundle as soon as the last R12 is used up? This might be the last time I use this thing. Is there a way to convert airtime back to cash?

Anybody else having the same problem?

VMS

 

[Cell_C]

From bad to worse.

I am doing the pre-paid thing. Last night I had 290MB left. This morning nothing. Coasting on the R17 I had left and going max cost per MB. I checked my meter and nothing happened during the night. They just took it (expiry date 2012/01/24).

So I thought "what the heck" and bought another R400 bundle of airtime to convert to 3GB. Bye-bye 290MB.

Now I checked that the balance is correct but I seem to be billed from my bundle and my remaining airtime (R14 remained) at the same time. The R14 went down to R12.50 while my bundle dropped 500kbyte (well, 1MB if you round it off).

After a few minutes it seems that my airtime now stays stable with the bundle dropping. Normal again?

I guess their prepaid billing system is folding. How can something that worked so 'relatively' well for so long go completely crap so quickly. They basically took/stole 10% of my normal bundle plus a few Rand extra.

I would like to get ADSL, and probably will (for static use). Problem is I am always on the road. Going to work on the Gautrain in a few minutes, later going to a design session in Fourways and then back to the lab. That was the whole idea behind the 3G thing...mobility! But suddenly I might find myself out of airtime in a far off place and won't have the ability to "donate" some more to get back online.


Looks like I am going back to Vodacom. They have a consistant (almost crappy) connection but it always works. These new fly-by-night operators like CellC and NoTel are all screwed up.

My suggestion, to would be CellC clients, is to rather buy 2 or 3 cheaper Vodacom modems/SIMs and string them together than trying to buy the 21Mbit/s modem. Not worth it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn it. Just checked the airtime balance again and more airtime is gone (another 27c). I am now wondering what is going to happen to my 3GB bundle as soon as the last R12 is used up? This might be the last time I use this thing. Is there a way to convert airtime back to cash?

Anybody else having the same problem?

VMS

Good Day VMS

I have PM you.
Will assist as best as possible.

Regards
~AM~

 

[Cell_C]

From bad to worse.

I am doing the pre-paid thing. Last night I had 290MB left. This morning nothing. Coasting on the R17 I had left and going max cost per MB. I checked my meter and nothing happened during the night. They just took it (expiry date 2012/01/24).

So I thought "what the heck" and bought another R400 bundle of airtime to convert to 3GB. Bye-bye 290MB.

Now I checked that the balance is correct but I seem to be billed from my bundle and my remaining airtime (R14 remained) at the same time. The R14 went down to R12.50 while my bundle dropped 500kbyte (well, 1MB if you round it off).

After a few minutes it seems that my airtime now stays stable with the bundle dropping. Normal again?

I guess their prepaid billing system is folding. How can something that worked so 'relatively' well for so long go completely crap so quickly. They basically took/stole 10% of my normal bundle plus a few Rand extra.

I would like to get ADSL, and probably will (for static use). Problem is I am always on the road. Going to work on the Gautrain in a few minutes, later going to a design session in Fourways and then back to the lab. That was the whole idea behind the 3G thing...mobility! But suddenly I might find myself out of airtime in a far off place and won't have the ability to "donate" some more to get back online.


Looks like I am going back to Vodacom. They have a consistant (almost crappy) connection but it always works. These new fly-by-night operators like CellC and NoTel are all screwed up.

My suggestion, to would be CellC clients, is to rather buy 2 or 3 cheaper Vodacom modems/SIMs and string them together than trying to buy the 21Mbit/s modem. Not worth it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn it. Just checked the airtime balance again and more airtime is gone (another 27c). I am now wondering what is going to happen to my 3GB bundle as soon as the last R12 is used up? This might be the last time I use this thing. Is there a way to convert airtime back to cash?

Anybody else having the same problem?

VMS

Good Day VMS

I have PM you.
Will assist as best as possible.

Regards
~AM~

 

[chrisc]

Good Day VMS

I have PM you.
Will assist as best as possible.

Regards
~AM~

But you don't reply (at any rate to my PMs!)

 

[chrisc]

if you want stability get adsl?
yes there are also congested exchanges but they are few and far between...

I had ADSL for 8 years now, and decided to get the "Up to 10mb/sec" service. Initially, compared to the 384k I had before, it was wonderful. Then it started getting erratic, router would freeze up (was a Netgear 384GTUK). So I bought a TP-Link ADSL+ router. No better. Then crackling on the phone line and intermittent ADSL. Since 2007, Telkom's guys have been here over 150 times. I am told that the lines serving my area were laid down in the 1920's and are lead and paper insulated. Someone else from Telkom said that was cr*p, they are all copper. But on and on it goes, and since my outages are less than 2 weeks, I never get a refund. Telkom chappie was here last Wednesday, said he would bring colleague to help, but hasn't been back. I have heard this over and over, they never come back. Then when I try and report it, I am told that I have already reported it and must wait 14 working days until it can be reported again.

So I ditched Telkom and went (after a great deal of testing) for CellC. Not great, intermittent throughput, the modem freezes, but so far better than it was

If only I could get a quiet phone line, then it would be ideal

btw: Daughter in London pays £16.00 a month. 20mb/sec internet, no cap, free local calls. £2 a month for the phone itself (with an answering service and caller ID)

 

[Stavats]

I also live in Wierdapark, not sure where my closest tower is. Until a couple of weeks back I was also used to speeds of 3-4mbps, but now I feel lucky to see a webpage load and when it does I try to get everything done before the connection drops.

The new connection manager is also a piece of crap and it feels like you have to wait a minute or so after connecting before opening a browser or it won't work and you'll have to disconnect and reconnect again.

I bought a second 24gb stick to cover me after the promotion ends. Hopefully this problem is only temporary.

 

[Denyed]

I've also experienced similar problems in Mowbray, Cape Town. It constantly disconnects or sometimes says it is connected but the blue light is flashing and I have to manually disconnect and reconnect to open the connection. My signal strength sometimes goes from -73dbm to -90dbm when the stick is in the same spot!

 

[memyselfandi]

I am so glad that my prepaid data expires very soon. I also have 2, black for me and white for the wife. Yes, over the year it went from woosh to loose.

I think Cell C does not know how to fix the problem. Maybe the UMTS 900 network was not a good idea, and it can't handle the traffic. I am so used to their techies coming down to my house to do tests, agree with me that the signal sucks and then leave without resolving anything. This has been going on for 8 months and it tells me that it can not be fixed.

The tower that feeds my house has got Vodacom and Cell C transmitters on. Vodacom is fast, at least 3.5Mb/s were as Cell C is dead at max 30Kb/s. That alone tells me that the Cell C UMTS 900 network is crappy. The stronger signal proofs to fail.

Lars is gone, his right hand man (forgot his name) is gone and Cell C is turning into a huge white elephant, a dead lost, as they will start loosing subscribers very fast as many reach the end of their promotion bundles.

Vodacom, you are expensive, but reliable.

 

[Stavats]

I also live in Wierdapark, not sure where my closest tower is. Until a couple of weeks back I was also used to speeds of 3-4mbps, but now I feel lucky to see a webpage load and when it does I try to get everything done before the connection drops.

The new connection manager is also a piece of crap and it feels like you have to wait a minute or so after connecting before opening a browser or it won't work and you'll have to disconnect and reconnect again.

I bought a second 24gb stick to cover me after the promotion ends. Hopefully this problem is only temporary.

Well I'm back to 5mbps today, when it works it's great!