Tip of the Day to get your Connection Going....

I have been experiencing various network related problems with Cell C since joining recently. Now as I'm like most people on this forum normally tied to the WEB, I will notice immediately when something is wrong....ie not connected to the various forums, e-mails and websites from my phone...

Thus today at approx 11h00 I experienced loss of connection again in Sunninghill. Restarting the new Galaxy S4 (as suggested by Cell-C technical support yesterday) still did not do anything (OK, I did not really think it will work....)

Then tried the forums and founds various comments regarding HSPA and the like using settings directly on the phone *#0011# et al.

Then I remembered that especially my Vodacom number also gave me problems in Constantia Kloof, and when changing the setting from GSM/WCDMA(Auto) to WCDMA only or GSM Only it would work again for that specific location. This is working since I tried it at Sunninghill this afternoon and also the only way to obtain data in Constantia Kloof.

We guess what, seems like to get a trickle of data, just set the phone to GSM only! Yes it is damn slow, but still good enough to read the forums, and stay in touch with text only mails.

Is this what we signed up for when joining Cell-C? NO


Any other quick way of getting the maximum out of the network would be appreciated.

(Cell-C, what about giving us an Android Ap that will at a push of a button find the correct settings for the network, for something the network should be doing dynamically - at least until you have fixed this problem permanently)

O.K.

Seems like this morning we are back to normal, ie selected WCDMA again and we have full speed again in Sunninghill (For now at least.

Lets see how long it lasts.... Hopefully longer than 11h00 this morning

Seems like around 11h00 someone switched it off. Back to GSM only and craaawwwling speeds.....

Cell C is hopeless. I have full 3G signal but little to no Internet. Every single day. Very frustrating.

What worked for me on my iPad was to deselect the Carrier from Auto, and then when it gives you the list of available carriers, I selected Vodacom.

SJB said:

Then I remembered that especially my Vodacom number also gave me problems in Constantia Kloof, and when changing the setting from GSM/WCDMA(Auto) to WCDMA only or GSM Only it would work again for that specific location.

Click to expand...

With Cell C also try to force WCDMA frequency 900MHz, or 2100MHz (if supported in your location). That way allows to stay on 3G instead of downgrading to 2G. If you find such setting on your device, it would benefitial.

Isnt there any Android apps dedicated to selecting signal/frequency?

I feel your pain man. I was on vodacom, but fell for the tempting Galaxy S4 and 1GB of data trap and regretting it now.

Hmmm...I have a similar problem, but bit different. My problem is that my phone constantly toggles between 3G and 3.5G. Whenever its on 3G I have no throughput, but when its on 3.5G I get full speeds...and I can't force my phone to use 3.5G, only options I have are GSM and 3G. I can't even use my phone as a modem on my laptop cause I always lose connectionand to reconnect I have to kill the connection on my laptop and my phone and then reconnect both, and the connection would last no more than 30 seconds. Hai I think I'll be going back to MTN. Atleast their connection is stable, though its slow.

sam7606 said:

Hmmm...I have a similar problem, but bit different. My problem is that my phone constantly toggles between 3G and 3.5G. Whenever its on 3G I have no throughput, but when its on 3.5G I get full speeds...and I can't force my phone to use 3.5G, only options I have are GSM and 3G.

Click to expand...

Toggling between 3.5G and 3G is pretty normal, as 3.5G drops to 3G when no data is transfered. It will be the same on good connection. Problem is that you request data and nothing happens, it is why it stays on 3G.

Your other writing indicate that you might have power delivery problems to the modem which depend on signal strenght and can be also triggered by network malfunction. These are separate issues and should be handled individually. Let Cell C investigate your case, in the same time read forum how to deal with power issues, as it can come back on any network, any time.

I generally don't have any signal in Sunninghill, via many devices. Been like that for years.