Telkom Mobile LTE Speedtest Results

Azimuth

Azimuth

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This thread will follow as the natural successor to the 8ta trial thread here:

I've taken a keen interest in LTE predominantly because:

a) No hope of getting VDSL in my area
b) Already sit with an attenuation of almost 55dB
c) Poor SNR at only 13dB when synced at 2Mbps
d) Month by month struggles and logging faults for poor internet speeds
e) HD streaming (YouTube, Apple TV) buffers to hell and back

So while LTE is not the be all and end all for many, it is a perfect solution for me. To cut a long story short, I've been conducting my own 'trial' for a week now and the results have been quite positive. The most notable part is that I'm outside of the LTE coverage map yet I get LTE signal (2-4 bars dependent on room used) on my property without external antennas.

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The last result is from my study where the upload speed is no longer representative of LTE despite great download speeds. I believe these results are a good springboard for true LTE speeds once my LPDA antennas are installed and working.

Honestly even at these speeds I cannot complain compared to < 2Mbps DL on ADSL and 400+Kbps UL. Down the road from me is a centre where the Vodacom and MTN speeds are 15-30Mbps. I dreamed of hitting those speeds - and now the dream has come true. Add to this that only Telkom Mobile is viable due to their bundle/contract offerings. Vodacom is too expensive still and MTN Uncapped Pro has a bad rep as it is.

I'll update once my LPDA's are up. :)

Resources:

Telkom Mobile LTE Leaderboard
Antenna installation and alignment
The Huawei B593 LTE discussion thread
The Poynting antenna discussion thread
 
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Hmm, can't edit my previous post and upload more results.

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No no - cell network is MTN but the tests are on a wireless network running 8ta LTE.
 
I've been fiddling about the entire weekend. I've got my two LPDA antennas mounted and finally got the direction right (complete trial and error, I was pointed at the Vodacom and MTN tower for the past 3 days).

I got my gain up from -106dB to -69dB! I got signal bars up from 2 to 5! I'm not seeing a speed increase though and this leaves me feeling like the effort (and cost) was an utter waste.

ImageUploadedByTapatalkHD1380484879.655223.jpg

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The only real improvement is a consistently low < 30ms latency. I want light speed Scotty!!!

Help please Telkom Mobile?
 
I don't mean to start a cat fight but my MTN LTE results inside my house, no antennas, just on my phone, beats my Telkom Mobile LTE speeds...and that's with only 2-3 bars signal:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1380485624.538013.jpg

I mean how is this possible?
 
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My speeds at home have taken a nose dive...5 bars signal and all. Not cool at all. I'm waiting for some kind of reply from Telkom Mobile Social Media but no good news yet.

Clearly something is very wrong with the tower. Got home and at least had 10-11Mbps down and 4-6Mbps up.

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By the end of the evening I was left with this:

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1380608916.140192.jpg

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Dare I mention it again. With 5 bars signal!!! Jirre, have I really cancelled ADSL for this?
 
@Wirelesswarrior wh on earth would you cancel your adsl now ???? I see no advantage using LTE unless the backhaul has adequate capacity to supply 50 users with bandwidth.
 
Quite simply I'm not a downloader. I don't hit torrents and such. What I do want is YouTube in HD without buffering. Same with Apple TV.

Yesterday I tested 2 users on my network - each streaming 1080p on YouTube. The caching bar ran away. ADSL can never do this for me. In fact, my line is so bad I get max 2Mbps now - and I cannot stream anything other than 360p with that. I've been fighting bad copper for 6 years. LTE is a light at the end of the tunnel for me. I've invested in proper equipment as well to make sure it is a robust solution at the end of the day. I will never have 10Mbps ADSL - I've waited 6 years to find this out.

The other side of the coin is every Dec-Jan we get multiple lightning strikes. My line is hit every year. One year it burnt the phone jack inside the house so that's a serious fire hazard. Not only do I want ADSL gone but I want the line gone too.

Hey - if 8ta can't maintain LTE properly then I jump ship to the next provider. I've got 3 months worth of data to make up my mind and I'll be posting all my results right here. :)
 
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Telkom Mobile LTE Speedtest Results - post trial

I wanted to start an "equipment" thread but couldn't find a good place to post. Anyone object if I post right here?

Edit: thread created - Share-your-home-equipment-setup.
 
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Some updates:

I'm still profiling times of day so note the times of the Speedtests.

Assumed tower is at Laerskool Helderkruin in the vicinity of Banket & Ruhama.

5 bars signal at -73dBm.

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Telkom Mobile LTE Speedtest Results - post trial

That is one sweet download - the upload is more representative of 3G speeds but twice as fast as a 10Mbps ADSL line so one cannot complain!

I've backed off on the speed tests at home and settled more into simply enjoying the experience. I did a bit of downloading last night - mostly Android ROM related - and speeds ranged from 250KB/s to 2MB/s. I did a Speedtest right before going to bed - around 12:30am - and saw speeds of 18-20Mbps down and 6-8Mbps up (multiple runs). I'll be monitoring to see if there's been some improvement or if it was a fluke (my average is usually 10Mbps).

Disappointingly I've had little feedback / support from Telkom and I'm still waiting for them to come and see me. I'm not 100% happy with my antenna direction since I found out I am pointing directly at a local MTN tower - there must be some untapped capability still left.

I'm chewing through data at an alarming rate - I suppose unsurprisingly. One can just achieve so much more without constant hold ups with a miserable 2Mbps ADSL line. My 60+60GB account is somewhere in the region of 32+57GB after 16 days! Pity the midnight data is so wasted on me.
 
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Telkom Mobile LTE Speedtest Results - post trial

Since Telkom Mobile Social channel continues to disappoint with non responses, I'm getting Poynting out to check my LTE installation. They've mentioned a bunch of stuff which all plays a factor e.g. lining up the vertical and horizontal antennas exactly, spacing at least 40cm apart to ensure each is recognised as a separate antenna, etc etc. Plus they have those uber expensive signal analysers.

So just to let people know, Poynting do installations and callouts. :)
 
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goodluck, I have a LTE E5776 mifi and still don't have a clue where to get an antenna.
I get full signal for LTE and get 14Mbps down 8Mbps up, I just hope the antenna might increase my download speed:cry:

Wirelesswarrior said:
Since Telkom Mobile Social channel continues to disappoint with non responses, I'm getting Poynting out to check my LTE installation. They've mentioned a bunch of stuff which all plays a factor e.g. lining up the vertical and horizontal antennas exactly, spacing at least 40cm apart to ensure each is recognised as a separate antenna, etc etc. Plus they have those uber expensive signal analysers.

So just to let people know, Poynting do installations and callouts. :)
Click to expand...
 
Telkom Mobile LTE Speedtest Results - post trial

Just take your MiFi to Poynting in Samrand to make sure you get the right adapter cable. Thereafter they can help you choose the best possible LTE antenna. I reckon the XPOL will work a treat.
 
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A bit stunned at my speeds tonight (delighted) but then sadly the mybb speedtest and Neotel's differed. Normally they are like for like:

Neotel speedtest Mike 201310222155.jpg

Neotel speedtest Mike 201310222149.jpg

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The mybb speedtest latency is also not great. Which result set is correct?

Wow, if I can get the Neotel speedtest speeds 24/7, I'll be a happy camper. Super happy.
 
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Hi oomdomy

Kindly PM us your contact details. We'd like to have a chat with you on the below.

Regards
Telkom Mobile

oomdomy said:
goodluck, I have a LTE E5776 mifi and still don't have a clue where to get an antenna.
I get full signal for LTE and get 14Mbps down 8Mbps up, I just hope the antenna might increase my download speed:cry:
Click to expand...
 
Hi Wirelesswarrior

We'll contact you within the hour. We have read your posts and looking at assisting you.

Regards
Telkom Mobile

Wirelesswarrior said:
Just take your MiFi to Poynting in Samrand to make sure you get the right adaptor cable. Thereafter they can help you choose the best possible LTE antenna. I reckon the XPOL will work a treat.
Click to expand...
 
Awesome!! Someone already contacted me and made an appointment for today!
 
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