Disappearance Of Usage Counter

[RosemaryChan]

Hi, in trying to fix my slow connectivity i have managed to lose my Vodafone usage counter, which no longer pops up whenever i plug in my USB stick.

Can anyone please advise how i might be able to get this back? Thank you!

[Ben_H]

Hi RosemaryChan,

Thanks for posting and a very warm welcome to the eForum

I'd say the easiest way to get your data counters back would be to uninstall and restore the software for the VMC Lite. You can do this by going into the add/remove programmes on your control panel.

As for your connectivity speeds, is it slow in a certain area or time of the day? I'd be more than happy to check a postcode for you to make sure there are no issues on the network. We also have a Spotlight on the Mobile Modems which will give you tips on how to get the best performance from your device, why not have a peek

Cheers, Ben

eForum Team



Should you wish to provide any feedback on how I have addressed your query for you, then we have a short form to enable you to do that. It just takes a few minutes and any comments are appreciated!

[RosemaryChan]

Hi Ben,

Thanks for your help.

Usage counter has now reappeared, but still having troubles with connectivity and speed. I have downloaded the software update as advised in other recent posts but it hasn't made much of a difference.

I have a Huawei E172 USB stick, which i have been using for about 15 months. Issues with performance have only been fairly recent (eg. past week). I live in central London (WC2E 7NE) and connectivity varies throughout the day.

Thanks very much
Rosemary

[Retired-Jon_V]

Hi Rosemary,

To help us get a grasp on your problem, we'd like to get a better idea of your connection speed. Since this can often be affected by many variables, including the site you're trying to access, we'll need you to run an independant speed checker tool and post the results here.

Please go to this link and post the results. This will allow us to see exactly how well your modem is performing and determine the cause of the issue for you

We're always looking for feedback on how we're handling queries for customers, so if you want to leave any on how I've handled your query today, then if you want, you can go here and complete the quick form. Any feedback is appreciated and helps to ensure that we're offering the best service we can for our customers.

Jon

eForum Team

[RosemaryChan]

Hi Jon,

Results of the speed test (once i was able to connect) are as follows:

Speed Test Results
Date 16/08/09 13:13:02
Speed Down 2687.67 Kbps ( 2.6 Mbps )
Speed Up 692.19 Kbps ( 0.7 Mbps )
Port 8095
Server speedtest1.thinkbroadband.com

While i think the customer service is generally good on the eForum, can i say it can be difficult to access when you can't even connect to the internet!

Thanks
Rosemary

[Retired-Jon_V]

Hi Rosemary,

Thanks for those results. This confirms that you are getting a good broadband speed of 2.6Mb/s - this is a good average for a cell-site whose maximum speed would be 3.6Mb/s.

Since the speeds are good, any problems you have with browsing are likely to be due to issues with the sites you're trying to access. Do you always browse the same few websites when you experience issues? Google and the BBC website are usually good sites to test to get an idea of general browsing speeds for benchmarking against.

With regards to being unable to connect at all, this could only be down to congestion on the local cell site, since once you're connected the connection seems to be running well. There is a finite number of connections that each site can support, which will cause it to reject new connections if it is overloaded to the point where more connections would cause slow speeds for people who are already connected. I have fed back your coverage request for less contention in this area, and it will be taken into consideration when new sites are planned. Unfortunately however there is no immediate fix that we'd be able to implement to resolve the particular issue you're having, since it is purely coverage related.

I'm sorry I couldn't bring you better news

Please keep us updated on the issue and let us know if you experience any problems which can't be explained by the above, as there's always the possibility that we've missed something

Jon

eForum Team

[RosemaryChan]

Hi Jon,

As i stated in my original email, i have only been having problems for the past week or so. I have not changed my surfing habits (eg. mainly Hotmail, Google) and i have tried at various times of the day (eg. afternoon, evening, and early hours) so i do not understand what the issue is given everything has been working fine for the past 15 months. I notice that several other people have also had similar problems (in various parts of the UK) , so i would query whether it is in fact 'congestion in the cell' particularly at 3am in the morning!

In terms of having 'good broadband speed', i should add that it took me 3 goes to get those results, as i was unable to connect on the first 2 attempts. I would appreciate if you could have another look at this. If not, would it be possible to cancel my contract given i'm not receiving the service i was promised.

Thank you
Rosemary

[Retired-PaulE]

Hi Rosemary,

Jon is correct on his post I'm afraid - congestion is caused when the cells receive more connection requests than they can handle at one time - even at 3am

This would not be grounds to cancel your contract though - as stated in your terms and conditions we cannot guarantee a connection, or the speed that connection will acheive as there are outside factors that will affect this.

Paul
eForum Team