Hi...first Post...advice Needed.

[Martin261]

Hi to all.

I have been using my usb mobile broadband stick/dongle on a laptop around Essex and North Kent, with no problems up to this last week.

I am now based at home for a while and thought it would be a good idea to check the balance on my account.I can connect with an exellent signal level and get my balance,but i open my browser and watch the bitrate fall to 0bps with the message cannot connect to server.

I am only 150 metres away from your Pysons road, Thanet transmitter is there any ongoing problem or work being carried out?

Thanks.
Martin.

[Retired-Reidar]

Hello Martin261 and welcome to the eForum,

It's often difficult to accurately gauge connectivity via a browser, I always advise to try multiple options first though, meaning try to download an alternative browser like Firefox (quite common), this can be done via a quick Google search on 'Firefox Free Download'.

It is entirely possible that your browser may be running too many add-ons (extra programs) and as such contribute to performance, in addition, retrieving usage data does not require as much processing power (or data bandwidth) as opening a web page, think pictures, links, text etc.

Please give my suggestion a go and let me know as soon as you can, thanks

Reidar

eForum Team

PS: Also useful may be to take a quick look at our Coverage Map, an online tool that gives you a round-up of coverage nationally.

[Martin261]

Hi Reidar_Vodafone

Thanks for your quick reply.
I have checked the coverage map and CT10 2NE is in the red "exellent coverage".
The browser i am using is firefox.
I understand it is difficult to diagnose from a distance but does "RAS Error code 690" help.
It is now refusing to connect.

If it is my dongle i will take it to my nearest Vodaphone service cemtre......before i chuck out the window.
(Being a good engineer i will make sure the window is open.....

[Martin261]

Hi Reidar_Vodafone

Thanks for your quick reply.
I have checked the coverage map and CT10 2NE is in the red "exellent coverage".
The browser i am using is firefox.
I understand it is difficult to diagnose from a distance but does "RAS Error code 680" help.
It is now refusing to connect.

If it is my dongle i will take it to my nearest Vodaphone service cemtre......before i chuck out the window.
(Being a good engineer i will make sure the window is open.....

[Retired-Lee]

Hi Martin261,

Do you have a mobile telephone you can try the SIM in? If you can try that, and browse a couple of webpages then pop back in the dongle, and let us know if that resolves the issue.

In the meantime, I've done a more detailed coverage check for you and CT10 and there is a reported fault with the case reference being 1917131. The latest on this is there are low powere levels to the site, which is affecting it's ability to transmit a signal. As you can probably tell, our engineers are aware and are currently investigating, but have yet to give a timescale for the fix.

The coverage for this area is perfect when the site is working, so you should have no problems there

If you like, you can post back and we can continue to monitor this for you.

Cheers,

LeeH
eForum Team

[Martin261]

Hi LeeH

Have just seen your reply...(thanks for the information)

As there is an ongoing problem with the Pysons road transmitter,i will wait and not sling the usb stick too far.

I have tried putting the sim card into a phone (that is unlocked and available to your network) the result was,i can get my balance but no web pages(all it says is unavailable please try later).

I agree connection is exellent but that refers to RF strength not data which is quick to drop to 0bps.
Luckily i have a land line connection to the local telephone exchange(reporting 5.8Mbps) maybe if i route a pair to your transmitter we could all share the connection on the mobile.

Martin

[Martin261]

Hi

Have taken the USB Dongle to my local service centre for a check over.
Had to leave it there to be sent to engineers for testing.
Will post update when it returned to me.

Again thanks for the information regarding problems at transmitter site and good luck
with the repair.

Martin.

[Martin261]

Hi

Thought i'd post an update.

The USB modem has been replaced with another by the sevice centre.
Full of confidence this time it would connect i plugged it into my Vista laptop..........to be greated with "Trying to detect device" then "No Device".
I then looked into Device manager and seen an unkown device listed on the USB listing.

Not to be beaten i uninstalled VMC lite program and downloaded the full install from your site.
All went well the device drivers were correctly installed after plugging in the replacement modem.....Time for a coffee and think this plug and play is going well.

After pressing connect up came the message "Can't connect RAS error 619".
This was a little frustrating to say the least,as in conversation with Dillan at my local service centre even though the transmitter locally has a problem a connection was still possible.
After a little reading on this forum re. RAS error 619 i hit on one post that explained one possible cause is Contract or Prepay setting.
Checking mine sure enough the setting was Contract............I'm Prepay,it seems the default is Contract.
Changed the setting to prepay and have not looked back since....not one failiure. Time for another coffee.

One point i'd like to make after my experience is when at first it say's "Can't connect RAS error XXX" take a look in Device manager and see
if USB devices are listed correctly then make sure the setting Contract or Prepay is correctly set.

I can't praise Dillan at the local service centre enough for the advice given during my connection problem,he gave me the confidence to press on knowing a connection was possible and the transmitter was not Out of Service..

Thanks Dillan from one happy customer that can now go mobile.......

Martin.