3g Data Connectivity Very Slow In Central London

[daneel3001]

Went back to work after a week off and I noticed that since Monday I am getting extremely slow download/upload speed with the Vodafone 3G service. I am not using the USB modem but instead a builtin 3G modem in a Sony VAIO Z laptop.
I commute to Central London from Weybridge in Surrey and browsing experience is now dreadful, I cannot connect to Windows Live Messenger anymore and my Twitter client fails over with timeouts every minute or so.
I know of at least another person who is having severe issues with his connectivity too.
Daniel

[daneel3001]

Hi daniel fernandes

I'm sorry you're still experiencing difficulties.

Are you able to make the connection consistently with the other version of the software?
If you connect on GPRS only will the pages load (To do this in VMC go to Settings > Network Preference > 2G only)
Is it possible for you to try your SIM in a phone and see if you are able to get a stable connection to the internet?

I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this.



Kirsty
eForum Team

P.S for anyone experiencing simillar issues - don't forget to check out the Mobile Broadband Troubleshooting section.

The problem I've got really right now is that VMC 9.3.6 nearly always see my 3G builtin modem as switched off.
And from experience, only 9.3.6 allows me to connect at good speed.
Version 9.3.0 that used to work fine for me won't have good connectivity. I will try again today..
Daniel

[rjwagstaff]

I too have been experiencing extremely slow performance every single day in the City of London (Lime St) between 10am and 4pm every day since mid January. I'm using an E172.

I get resonable performance before 10am and after 4pm, but it appears that there is pretty much no bandwidth available at all between 10am and 4pm. My throughput goes down to single figure kbps or nothing at all. Then it's back up to 2-400 kbps again after 4pm.

I sit next to a window and can see several masts, some of which must be Vodafone, and have full signal stength. The only possible causes I can think of are either that the Vodafone infrastructure here is partially faulty (e.g. extra capacity infrastructure failing) or not up to the demand, or that I'm being throttled out.

Daz, is there a problem with the cell? I'm in EC3M 7HA.

Thanks

I get exactly the same problem as drivel. I'm at EC1N 2HT, I always get 5 bar signal strength on 3G+, but between about 10:00am and 4:00pm the download rates are bad or non-existent. Often I cannot load a simple web page and sometimes get the DNS error page, which I guess is because the service is so bad that I don't even get the IP address back from the DNS. The connection does not drop, it always stays connected, but download speeds of zero BPS for much of the day are unacceptable.

I've reported this before, but the only reponse that I've had is that there in no problem in the EC1N 2HT area and that there is not a bandwidth/capacity issue on the Vodafone network.

Today it's still awful at 4:30pm. Normally things would be getting better by this time. I'm posting this from my office desktop PC as by mobile service on the laptop is just sat there...

"Waiting for http://..............................................." it's been waiting to load the webpage for about 15 minutes now.

I bought this 3G service mainly for use during the working day. Most days, out of the 9 hours I'm in the office the service is usable for only about 3 hours.

Interestingly, last week, on the days that half of the City stayed at home because of the G20 protests, the service was ok. Now that everybody is back to work the service is back to being useless.

[rjwagstaff]

Even worse this morning in EC1N 2HT. I normally get reasonable responses before about 10:00am.

Today, even at 9:00am all i get is the IE DNS error page displayed.

As usuall VMC reports that I have 5 bars on 3G+. The connection is stable, it does not drop. Just no response from the network.

You really need to understand how frustrating this is when the service does not work and Vodafone provide not even an explanation, never mind a resolution.

[Retired-Jon_V]

Even worse this morning in EC1N 2HT. I normally get reasonable responses before about 10:00am.

Today, even at 9:00am all i get is the IE DNS error page displayed.

As usuall VMC reports that I have 5 bars on 3G+. The connection is stable, it does not drop. Just no response from the network.

You really need to understand how frustrating this is when the service does not work and Vodafone provide not even an explanation, never mind a resolution.

Hi rjwagstaff,

The Cell Site serving your postcode is showing a very high rate of failure at the moment, which I believe to be the cause of the issue. The Cell ID is 16113.

So that we can raise a fault with our technical team for this, I'll need to send you an email requesting your account details. This will be with you shortly

Jon

eForum Team

[rjwagstaff]

Jon, I've replied to your email.

I'm not convinced that the failures rates you see on this cell today can be the whole of the story. I purchased my Dell mini-9 from Vodafone just before xmas and the service seemed fine until the middle of January. Since then it has had consistently bad response time/total failure most days Mon-Fri between 10:00am and 4:00pm. Surely if there was a problem with this cell it would have been detected and fixed sometime between January and today?

[worsy]

Jon, I've replied to your email.

I'm not convinced that the failures rates you see on this cell today can be the whole of the story. I purchased my Dell mini-9 from Vodafone just before xmas and the service seemed fine until the middle of January. Since then it has had consistently bad response time/total failure most days Mon-Fri between 10:00am and 4:00pm. Surely if there was a problem with this cell it would have been detected and fixed sometime between January and today?

Similar issue to me on this thread http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/index.php?show...16618&st=40

[techtia]

Today (7th April) in Canary Wharf,I decided to take some action as I've been getting very bad signals which I hoped explained the non-existant downloads.

I have an E172 white USB modem. Part of the building I am in is next to One Canada Square and the guys at the Vodafone shop say that this is fully connected.

Great, I though so off I went with my laptop to an office overlooking One Canada Square. Check signal strength and fantastic - the rate shows as 'optimal' and the bar is full!! Never had this from my original location further inside the building.

So, connect, authenticate and.... nothing. Web browser stays at blank screen and eventually times out. Connection shows as being available. Email not working - nothing - 0kbps.

Now to the Vodafone staff, I realise how upset you are going to be regarding this state of affairs and how keen you are to help get to the bottom of the matter so could an internal incident be raised along the lines of 'Mobile Broadband in London is pants - techies - sort it out' or something along those lines?

[worsy]

And another

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=22489

[Retired-Reidar]

Hi Everyone

We have fed back the various connection issues you have been experiencing, as well as those that may be due to the cell site updates that are going on around the country and London in particular.

As soon these issues are resolved you should notice an improvement in connection within your particular areas. In the meantime if you've been asked to forward your details via email i.e. Rgwagstaff by Jon, please do so in order to facilitate the raising of faults in the area.

Thanks

Reidar

eForum Team

[chrisdack]

Hi Everyone

We have fed back the various connection issues you have been experiencing, as well as those that may be due to the cell site updates that are going on around the country and London in particular.

As soon these issues are resolved you should notice an improvement in connection within your particular areas. In the meantime if you've been asked to forward your details via email i.e. Rgwagstaff by Jon, please do so in order to facilitate the raising of faults in the area.

Thanks

Reidar

eForum Team

Hi, i have htc magic, and with 4 bars insight of masts in canary wharf or in central london i have NEVER achieved more than 400 kbps and normally around 300kbps, ( 30kb/s ). So about 1 / 100 to 1 / 200 advertised speed. Ideas please?
Thanks
Chris