Network

[abssorb]

When using data on my android phones I get an acceptable data bandwidth on HSPA, but this is only available in a few locations.  At home I use wifi, so I would suggest my postcode is irrelevant.  When out and about, 3G is consistently no better that 44Kbps and is often only around 30Kbps according to the speedtest.net app.  This is the same whether 1 bar or 5 bars signal.  The internet experience matches this. Reading emails is just about possible, and forget browsing. It's pretty useless.

This is consistent in all 3G geographical areas with 2x sony ericsson phones: Experia Pro (MK16i) and Walkman Live. These weren't supplied by Vodafone, I'm on a sim only contract.  Swapping SIMs it has the same problem.

The SIM card has been changed to see if it would resolve the problem, and the helpdesk has done an investigation into the local mast (but as said - irrelevant really as I use wifi at home).

Post Title: 'First half of post code - Area' E.g. ST1 - Stoke on trent

1). Does the issue happen in just one location. If so, how far do you have to travel to regain service ?

Many locations.

2). What is the full postcode of where the issue occurs? If you don't want this showing on the forum, add it to your profile here.

Irrelevant?  Happens when roaming all across England and Wales.

3). Does the issue occur if you try your SIM card in a different phone?

Yes 

4). Are there any issues in your area already reported on the Faults Board?

No

5). Does this issue happen on 2G, 3G or both? To check, go to the Help Centre, select your phone and then select "network".

Both.

6). What errors are seen or heard when the issue occurs?

 None.  Internet use is very slow.

7) When did you first notice this issue?

About 6 months ago

8) Is the issue permanent or intermitent (If intermitent, are there certain times of the day when it occurs)?

Permanent.

Maybe this is a Sony Ericsson problem?  Any help appreciated.

[Nabs]

I suspect you are connected to a 2G GPRS data connection which is comparable to dialup in terms of speeds.

What does the Coverage Checker give for the locations where you have issues?

It would see very strange is 3G speeds wern't working accross the entire country.

Without knowing where you are using the handset it's difficult to say much more on that.

To rule out an issue with your handsets are you able to try with a different handset?

[James]

Hi absorb,

Nabs is spot on here.

So we can look at this for you please can you confirm the postcodes of the locations where you are seeing this issue and also the times where you have noticed this.

Also if possible please can you provide the speedtest results through your phone browser at these times from www.speedtest.net

James

[abssorb]

Thanks Guys.  

I just wrote a huge reply and when I pasted in the table below from speedtest.net it crashed the browser and I lost the lot.  

Date	ConnType	Download	Upload	Latency
2012-08-07 19:16	Gprs	22	29	666
2012-08-05 14:52	Gprs	42	29	507
2012-08-05 14:44	Gprs	41	97	532
2012-08-04 17:23	Gprs	43	28	528
2012-08-02 20:13	Gprs	42	69	682
2012-08-02 20:09	Gprs	37	74	613
2012-08-02 19:00	Gprs	20	29	449
2012-08-02 18:49	Gprs	29	28	660
2012-08-02 18:11	Gprs	44	27	439
2012-06-07 11:33	Hspa	2592	1188	128
2012-06-02 09:53	Gprs	40	60	515
2012-06-02 01:48	Wifi	27270	4859	24
2012-06-01 18:09	Gprs	36	27	545
2012-06-01 18:04	Gprs	40	28	513
2012-06-01 18:03	Gprs	36	38	507
2012-06-01 18:02	Wifi	24203	4777	44

[abssorb]

OK - re-typed.......

Another new sim card arrived today and it's the same (today across Warwickshire and the West mids).

Re location - I travel a lot, and often as a passenger in car or train and so I'm always looking for the H or G symbol on the android notification bar and the number of bars. We're talking hundreds of postcodes, and the 3G experience is always the same. I think it's a moot point as I think you're right - it can't be mast specific, but if you really need them I can start to gather postcodes.

One complication has been that this is happening from two phones. However, they were both purchased from a 3rd party as sim free - this might be a factor.

I've explored the only connecting to 2G with 191 guys but they dismissed it. Even when I tried a manual roam and saw that there were two networks, vodafone 2G and vodafone 3G - and my phone will only connect to the 2G one, if I try to connect to the 3G one I get:  "Your SIM card does not allow a connection to this network"

It seemed interesting to me but the guys at 191 said this wasn't the problem.

I've been spending many hours on this over the last few months so your assistance is genuinely very welcome indeed.

[Nabs]

---

abssorb wrote:

Thanks Guys.  

I just wrote a huge reply and when I pasted in the table below from speedtest.net it crashed the browser and I lost the lot.  

Date	ConnType	Download	Upload	Latency
2012-08-07 19:16	Gprs	22	29	666
2012-08-05 14:52	Gprs	42	29	507
2012-08-05 14:44	Gprs	41	97	532
2012-08-04 17:23	Gprs	43	28	528
2012-08-02 20:13	Gprs	42	69	682
2012-08-02 20:09	Gprs	37	74	613
2012-08-02 19:00	Gprs	20	29	449
2012-08-02 18:49	Gprs	29	28	660
2012-08-02 18:11	Gprs	44	27	439
2012-06-07 11:33	Hspa	2592	1188	128
2012-06-02 09:53	Gprs	40	60	515
2012-06-02 01:48	Wifi	27270	4859	24
2012-06-01 18:09	Gprs	36	27	545
2012-06-01 18:04	Gprs	40	28	513
2012-06-01 18:03	Gprs	36	38	507
2012-06-01 18:02	Wifi	24203	4777	44

---

Hi abssorb,

I can see the majority of times you are not actually connected to a 3G network, you are running test on the older GPRS (2G) data network. This is the equivelent in speeds of dialup only on a mobile network. This explains why you always appear to have a slow connection.

There is only one occasion where you are connected to 3G (HSPA) and the speedtest then returned just over 2Mbps which is exactly what you would expect.

[abssorb]

Thanks for the diagnosis nabs.  This is what I said to the 191 guys.

How do I actually fix this?

[Nabs]

abssorb,

I noticed you say you travel around. Are all these readings taken from different locations?

You will proobably find that many of the locations you visited and tested don't have 3G coverage, hence the phone connects to the next best thing, in this case GPRS.

Unfortunatly there isn't anything you can do about this. No network can have perfect 3G coverage as implementing this would be too expensive so networks generally focus on highly populated areas. Whilst more rural areas are being upgraded to the slightly faster EDGE data network it will take many years before the entire network is upgraded (bear in mind they have somewhere in the region of 15000 transmitter sites.

[abssorb]

So when Android shows my connection with a G next to the signal, this is not 3G?  it's 2G? 

191 told me that the G symbol indicates a 3G connection.

[Nabs · Accepted solution]

Correct!

Depending on your handset you will see a variety of icons.
G - GPRS - a 2 G internet connection equivalent to dialup
E - EDGE - a 2.5G internet connection equivalent to ISDN
3G - Standard 3G connection giving 1-2Mbps
H - HSPA - high speed 3.5G internet connection with speeds nearer that of a home ADSL line (2Mbps+)

Hope that clears up the terms for you.
As mentioned each handset may show slightly different indicators however they all have some kind of representation of the above technologies

[abssorb]

My mistake then for not double checking.  Many thanks for helping me understand - much appreciated.

My perception of the capability of the vodafone data coverage has taken a very negative swing!  I almost wish I did have a faulty phone. It seems good 3g data coverage is almost nowhere except London.

[abssorb]

---

Nabs wrote:
Correct!

Depending on your handset you will see a variety of icons.
G - GPRS - a 2 G internet connection equivalent to dialup
E - EDGE - a 2.5G internet connection equivalent to ISDN
3G - Standard 3G connection giving 1-2Mbps
H - HSPA - high speed 3.5G internet connection with speeds nearer that of a home ADSL line (2Mbps+)

Hope that clears up the terms for you.
As mentioned each handset may show slightly different indicators however they all have some kind of representation of the above technologies

---

Just a moment though.

I get to see the following:

G, E and H in the notification bar

I have never seen:

3G

So maybe there is a problem with both these phones?  

[Nabs]

I havn't seen a 3G on my phone for ages now, i'm almost always on an H connectioon.

I beleive Vodafone are in the process of upgrading all the old 3G sites to the newer HSPA standards. My guess is your in an upgraded area.

The other reason may be that your phone is not programmed to show 3G and shows H instead.