High latency and erratic speeds on Neotel

O

orin76

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Cape Town, South Africa
I'm using Neotel Prime Unlimited from the Paulshof area in Johannesburg and I've recently started experiencing problems, first with downloads and now with general browsing. My speeds are highly erratic and vary from minute to minute (anywhere from 200kbps to 900kbps) and the latencies vary from 2xx ms to over 2500 ms). I've just re-connected on Neotel after having DNS issues and the speedtest result (www.speedtest.net) was:

ping: 2543 ms
download: 319 kbps
upload: 13 kbps
link: http://www.speedtest.net/result/396865563.png

When trying to ping www.neotel.co.za, the results were as follows:

Pinging www.neotel.co.za [196.34.133.113] with 32 bytes

Reply from 196.34.133.113: bytes=32 time=1082ms TTL=56
Reply from 196.34.133.113: bytes=32 time=2559ms TTL=56
Reply from 196.34.133.113: bytes=32 time=725ms TTL=56
Reply from 196.34.133.113: bytes=32 time=1560ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 196.34.133.113:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 725ms, Maximum = 2559ms, Average = 1481ms

I suspect the problem is specific to my tower and I would like to know if anyone else in the area is experiencing similar problems.
 
Last edited:
Just ran another speedtest to check if the problem has improved:

ping: 2839 ms
download: 452 kbps
upload: 13 kbps
link: http://www.speedtest.net/result/396878928.png

At this rate my pings will break 3 seconds soon. A ping to Neotel's website gave the following result:


Pinging www.neotel.co.za [196.34.133.113] with 32 bytes o

Reply from 196.34.133.113: bytes=32 time=2555ms TTL=56
Reply from 196.34.133.113: bytes=32 time=2559ms TTL=56
Reply from 196.34.133.113: bytes=32 time=2565ms TTL=56
Reply from 196.34.133.113: bytes=32 time=2548ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 196.34.133.113:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2548ms, Maximum = 2565ms, Average = 2556ms

But, of course, the Neotel helpdesk informs me that Neotel does not guarantee latencies.
 
It's good to know I'm not alone. One of the many problems with Neotel's technical support is that you're always made to feel as if you are the only person who is experiencing a problem. Neotel's assumption is always that the fault is on your PC. It's never them.

Just ran a traceroute to neotel.co.za and while i don't fully understand the results, I don't think they look too good.

Tracing route to www.neotel.co.za [196.34.133.113]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 * * * Request timed out.
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 163 ms 2277 ms 2565 ms 41.174.0.1
4 2547 ms 2571 ms 2544 ms 41.160.0.242
5 2560 ms 2561 ms 2555 ms is.jinx.net.za [198.32.142.10]
6 1849 ms 2560 ms 2546 ms core5a-rba-gi1-0-0.ip.isnet.net [168.209.1.164]
7 2152 ms 2556 ms 2559 ms core1a-bry-gi0-0-1-215.ip.isnet.net [168.209.0.98]
8 2560 ms 2558 ms 2559 ms csw1-b-jup-bry-gi3-2.ip.isnet.net [168.209.218.21]
9 262 ms 2286 ms 2560 ms croixian.cambrient.com [196.34.133.113]

Trace complete.

I hope my last 4 week's experiences with Neotel are not a sign of things to come otherwise I'm seriously screwed.
 
Seems I'm lucky download speed at about 740kb/s upload at about 60kb/ps. Latency to lacal servers at about 250ms.
I'm not even in an "official" coverage area.
 
We'll check this out and let you know whether it's an isolated issue. We aim to keep our network performance within specified limits, and upgrade where required. Any additional information (specific area or time) would be helpful.
 
orin76 said:
Just ran a traceroute to neotel.co.za and while i don't fully understand the results, I don't think they look too good.
Click to expand...

Traceroute will give you the ping times to each hop (router) between you and the destination, and hence also shows you the route taken. This also helps us to tell where the various delays are in the network.
You'll get a "*" for no response, which often simply means that that particular router does not respond to pings (e.g. the first couple of hops into our network). As default, you'll see three consecutive pings for each hop.

In your example, it appears to be close to your end i.e. the wireless access network. High traffic on the uplink, in particular, can increase latency on a channel, without having much effect on download speed and general performance. If low latency is a specific requirement (e.g. gaming, rather than web browsing etc), NeoFlex (EV-DO Rev A) has a much higher upload bandwidth, and consequently much lower latency, and will not experience much change.

Nevertheless, we are looking into the changes reported, in case there is a specific problem.
 
Last edited:
Neotel said:
Traceroute will give you the ping times to each hop (router) between you and the destination, and hence also shows you the route taken. This also helps us to tell where the various delays are in the network.
You'll get a "*" for no response, which often simply means that that particular router does not respond to pings (e.g. the first couple of hops into our network). As default, you'll see three consecutive pings for each hop.

In your example, it appears to be close to your end i.e. the wireless access network. High traffic on the uplink, in particular, can increase latency on a channel, without having much effect on download speed and general performance. If low latency is a specific requirement (e.g. gaming, rather than web browsing etc), NeoFlex (EV-DO Rev A) has a much higher upload bandwidth, and consequently much lower latency, and will not experience much change.

Nevertheless, we are looking into the changes reported, in case there is a specific problem.
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding. This morning things seem to be better. The last 2 speedtest I've performed had pings < 500ms and download speeds were above 700 kbps. Web surfing is slow, but usable (I can't seem to exceed 40 kBi/s) and pings to neotel are under 300 ms. Unfortunately once I try and connect to giganews.com via nntp, the downloads start well for about 10 seconds then trickle down to zero and stay there. When I disconnect from giganews, I find that I can't access any websites because hosts are no longer being resolved.

This problem doesn't seem to be time dependent. I can websurf indefinitely without issues, but the moment I connect to giganews, everything breaks. I've tried this on 2 different PC's and the results are similar.

I am glad that I can still websurf, but the giganews issue is quite important to me. I didn't sign up for a R1000/month package just to surf youtube :)
 
Just an update. After roaming the outdoors for a few hours, I returned home to find that sanity has been restored to my universe. Pings are still a little high, but not badly so. The most important change is that websites are now loading normally and my download speeds are consistent.

I don't know what the Neotel rep said or did, but I am thankful that he/she read my posts (it gives customers a feeling that things are being done to solve a problem). I'll see how things progress overnight and tomorrow morning before closing the trouble ticket.
 
I also stay in Paulshof so I share your pain.

My Speedtest:

Last Result:
Download Speed: 31 kbps (3.9 KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 12 kbps (1.5 KB/sec transfer rate)

My tracrt www.neotel.co.za:


C:\>tracert www.neotel.co.za -w 10000 -h 100

Tracing route to www.neotel.co.za [196.34.133.113]
over a maximum of 100 hops:

1 <1 ms 2 ms <1 ms 192.168.0.1
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 * * * Request timed out.
4 5904 ms 459 ms 120 ms 41.174.0.1
5 284 ms 279 ms 279 ms 41.160.0.244
6 296 ms 279 ms 299 ms is.jinx.net.za [198.32.142.10]
7 297 ms 299 ms 319 ms core5a-rba-gi0-0-0.ip.isnet.net [196.26.0.42]
8 298 ms 299 ms 419 ms core1a-bry-gi0-0-1-215.ip.isnet.net [168.209.0.98]
9 298 ms 299 ms 279 ms csw1-b-jup-bry-gi3-2.ip.isnet.net [168.209.218.21]
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 * * * Request timed out.
15 * * * Request timed out.

[more of the same]

95 * * * Request timed out.
96 * * * Request timed out.
97 * * * Request timed out.
98 * * * Request timed out.
99 * * * Request timed out.
100 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.
 
RaD said:
I also stay in Paulshof so I share your pain.
Click to expand...

Neotel Prime is basically useless as a general web surfing solution in Paulshof. MyBB takes ages to load and general websurfing and watching youtube is painful. I now only use Neotel for newsgroup downloads (even then I seldom exceed 60kB/s). When I'm at work (in Ekurhuleni) then Neotel is great (excellent pings and great speed), but in the North, it sucks donkeys b@lls.
 
The thing is that a few months back Neotel was fine in the north (Midrand incl) but it has been getting worse and worse. It makes me think that the tower is overloaded or ...? In any event I'd really appreciate an honest answer from Neotel. I need to know whether to stick it out or cancel the contract.
 
RaD said:
The thing is that a few months back Neotel was fine in the north (Midrand incl) but it has been getting worse and worse. It makes me think that the tower is overloaded or ...? In any event I'd really appreciate an honest answer from Neotel. I need to know whether to stick it out or cancel the contract.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I think too, but good luck getting Neotel to admit that. When I mentioned it, they suggested I get an external antenna. This is despite me having an RSSI of 72 and being able to get speeds > 110kB/s between 02h00 and 06h00 most days. At least with IS, I only used to get crap speeds during office hours. With Neotel, I only get 4 hours decent speeds a day.
 
They also suggested to me to get an arial but i am in excellent covergae area but i seem all of a sudden to be getting a poor signal.
 
Check my previous posts, there is a overloading... there is a problem.... but Neotel will not admit it.

There has been no response from them in the last 2 weeks on this forum since issues occured.

Maybe they will realise its a good thing to actually tell your client base... listen we have a issue, we are working on it.... and if they were really really really good... the issue is this....

However.... my connection and others I know get worse and worse...

This all seems to have happened since the new Neoflex data....

Makes you wonder...... doesn't it....


New guys get great speads until...oops....
 
Tonight is worse than ever. I've got 366kbps down, 13 kbps up :eek: and a ping of 2939 ms. FFS, google.co.za took 17 seconds to load. 17 seconds!!! I never thought I'd see the day when my 384kbps ADSL connection whips my 2.4Mbps "high speed" connection.
 
I've also got an absolutely crap connection, and it has been like that since I got my Neoflex Data almost 2 weeks ago. It's only good during obscure times, like early mornings or late evenings. My signal strength is always at 5 full green bars, so I very much doubt that the problem is on my side. Also, if the problem was the signal, then it would always be bad, not just during peak times. Obviously some piece of hardware somewhere is overloaded with users.

I currently have more than 5 pages worth of tests done during various times of more than a week now to try and establish a trend of when things go pear shaped. Currently, 8pm to 9:30pm is the worst for me - I can barely open plain-text web pages such as my wow guild forums, nevermind downloading things...

I would like to ask the people posting their pings and speed tests done to also show the time those were done at, and the area they did them from.
 
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