Hi all
I noticed that I had 250Mb of data left on my phone this month, which I have to use up by tomorrow. I decided to use it for Windows Update (I've been putting off updates, so they've piled up a bit with service packs and such).
To cut a long story short, I couldn't get the update going without timeouts. I decided to check the 3G connection with a speed test, and this is what I saw:
Download Speed: 614 kbps
Upload Speed: 23 kbps
Pinging www.mybroadband.co.za [41.203.17.1] with 32 bytes of data:
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 104ms, Maximum = 205ms, Average = 134ms
All this on an E272 with near-perfect connection (ext antenna).
Switch over to ADSL, and
Download Speed: 2343 kbps
Upload Speed: 432 kbps
Pinging www.mybroadband.co.za [41.203.17.1] with 32 byte
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 36ms, Maximum = 142ms, Average = 76ms
This is using 4Mb ADSL with SAIX shaped PPDB (BTW, an IS semi-shaped PPDB will give me about 3500kbps d/l, 450kbps u/l, 25ms ping after 17h00)
More important, though, is the cost (although that's immaterial if the download won't work
).
The total Windows update I need is 210 Mb. Using my existing 250mb phone bolt-on, that would cost R134! (and using 1Gb ad-hoc PPDB it would be R60). For comparison the ADSL cost is R12. Now I know there are recurring rental costs with ADSL (even if you don't have a contract and supply your own modem) but those costs I accept as the cost of having an "always on" service (and they're a business expense too
).
A few weeks before I applied for ADSL, I upgraded all my equipment in a bid to get a really hot 3G service - new router, E272 modem, etc. And for a short while it worked. But despite spending lots of money (and except for the 3G HSDPA/ ADSL2 router) it's all become an expensive waste of time as the 3G performance in my area has degraded further and further (the results above speak for themselves). In fairness to VC (and V3G and the techies that assisted me), everyone tried really hard to fix this, but it looks as though the increasing human density out here has put an end to acceptable HSDPA performance (at least until such time as lots more infrastructure can be put into this area).
Don't get me wrong - the purpose of this post is not to rain on the 3G parade. What I want to say is that, in my experience, some things work fine and others work with known limitations (and even if those limitations are not initially apparent, you'll find out sooner or later - as they used to say about holidays away, getting there is half the fun!).
So for mobile use I'll stick with VC and 3G. For everyday use, I'm beginning to get used to cheap, consistently fast access.
I noticed that I had 250Mb of data left on my phone this month, which I have to use up by tomorrow. I decided to use it for Windows Update (I've been putting off updates, so they've piled up a bit with service packs and such).
To cut a long story short, I couldn't get the update going without timeouts. I decided to check the 3G connection with a speed test, and this is what I saw:
Download Speed: 614 kbps
Upload Speed: 23 kbps
Pinging www.mybroadband.co.za [41.203.17.1] with 32 bytes of data:
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 104ms, Maximum = 205ms, Average = 134ms
All this on an E272 with near-perfect connection (ext antenna).
Switch over to ADSL, and
Download Speed: 2343 kbps
Upload Speed: 432 kbps
Pinging www.mybroadband.co.za [41.203.17.1] with 32 byte
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 36ms, Maximum = 142ms, Average = 76ms
This is using 4Mb ADSL with SAIX shaped PPDB (BTW, an IS semi-shaped PPDB will give me about 3500kbps d/l, 450kbps u/l, 25ms ping after 17h00)
More important, though, is the cost (although that's immaterial if the download won't work
).The total Windows update I need is 210 Mb. Using my existing 250mb phone bolt-on, that would cost R134! (and using 1Gb ad-hoc PPDB it would be R60). For comparison the ADSL cost is R12. Now I know there are recurring rental costs with ADSL (even if you don't have a contract and supply your own modem) but those costs I accept as the cost of having an "always on" service (and they're a business expense too
). A few weeks before I applied for ADSL, I upgraded all my equipment in a bid to get a really hot 3G service - new router, E272 modem, etc. And for a short while it worked. But despite spending lots of money (and except for the 3G HSDPA/ ADSL2 router) it's all become an expensive waste of time as the 3G performance in my area has degraded further and further (the results above speak for themselves). In fairness to VC (and V3G and the techies that assisted me), everyone tried really hard to fix this, but it looks as though the increasing human density out here has put an end to acceptable HSDPA performance (at least until such time as lots more infrastructure can be put into this area).
Don't get me wrong - the purpose of this post is not to rain on the 3G parade. What I want to say is that, in my experience, some things work fine and others work with known limitations (and even if those limitations are not initially apparent, you'll find out sooner or later - as they used to say about holidays away, getting there is half the fun!).
So for mobile use I'll stick with VC and 3G. For everyday use, I'm beginning to get used to cheap, consistently fast access.