Showing posts with label lte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lte. Show all posts
Friday, December 16, 2016
Vodacom LTE 4G performance during every day mobile use
Vodacom LTE 4G performance during every day mobile use
I conducted a few ‘every day’ type tests to pit Vodacom LTE / 4G against Vodacom HSDPA / 3G because LTE was up to 46% faster than HSDPA on the Vodacom network in my initial speedtest.net results. However, I wanted to see how this speed difference translated to typical real world use such as browsing, downloading apps, using apps, and watching videos.
Internet Browsing
I set my Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE to load the desktop version of Facebook.com and then refreshed a bunch of times using both Vodacom LTE and Vodacom HSDPA while keeping track of the time it took for the Vodacom page to finish loading…. The fastest load time I clocked on Vodacom LTE was 17 seconds, while the fastest load time I clocked on Vodacom HSDPA was 20 seconds.
I could not tell the difference between Vodacom LTE and Vodacom HSDPA when I was using Twitter as timelines refresh and new tweets are loaded very close to instantaneously on both technologies.
YouTube
I was able to watch YouTube videos in HD using both Vodacom LTE and Vodacom HSDPA without any stuttering and the time it took for videos to start playing was short on both as well.
Downloading Apps
It took 22 seconds from the time I clicked ‘Accept & Download’ on the Skype app in the Google play store to the time that Skype had finished installing on Vodacom LTE. The fastest download and install time I could achieve for Skype on Vodacom HSDPA was 24 seconds.
Final verdict
The faster speeds on offer by Vodacom LTE do translate into increased performance in real world usage scenarios, however the performance of Vodacom HSDPA is already superb and the difference between LTE and HSDPA may go unnoticed in average every day use on a mobile device (apart from the fact that LTE may drain the battery faster than HSDPA).
Power users who routinely download large chunks of data should notice a marked performance difference between the 2 technologies as LTE gets more of a chance to ‘stretch its legs’. Another area where LTE performance should outshine HSDPA more readily is in scenarios where the connection is being shared by more than just one user / device.
Both HSDPA and LTE performance depend greatly on signal strength and you can check Vodacom coverage in your area here.
Both HSDPA and LTE performance depend greatly on signal strength and you can check Vodacom coverage in your area here.
Available link for download
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Vodacom LTE Network tips
Vodacom LTE Network tips
I recently activated a Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE to try out Vodacoms next generation LTE data network - Here are a few hints and tips I picked up along the way:
- LTE is not available on prepaid - You need to have a Vodacom contract to activate LTE.
- You can activate LTE on your contract yourself by logging in to vodacom.co.za or calling 111, but...
- You cant activate LTE on a 32K SIM card (this is not a problem on micro SIMs)
- You can activate LTE on a data SIM that is linked to a primary Vodacom contract as long as your primary number is on a 64K SIM card (or higher). I had to do a SIM swap on my primary 32K SIM at a cost of R63 (and activation of the linked data SIM cost R90).
- It may be helpful to set the Network mode to WCDMA or GSM only and then manually select a network operator while you are trying to get set up. My test phone could not locate a data signal for the first time while it was in Auto mode. I think its because I didnt have LTE coverage at the time, you can check Vodacom LTE coverage here.
- There is a glitch with a batch of the LTE version of the Samsung Galaxy S3 where the phone will prompt your for a network unlock code at first boot (unfortunately I got one of the bad batch). You need to phone Samsung SA (08607267864) and have your IMEI number handy to get this problem sorted.
- LTE is fast, 46% faster than HSDPA in my initial speed tests, so you might like to set your device to only update apps over WiFi if you can (under Settings in the Play Store) - Otherwise your updates could run while you are out (and all your data will be gone) before you have a chance to realise whats happened. Alternatively you can control Automatic updating at an individual app level in the Play Store as well. Id recommend a fairly strict approach as Vodacom LTE really tears through data.
- You can extend your battery life (and manage your data consumption quite well) by setting your Network mode to GSM only for day to day use as this setting is fine for most web browsing and email type tasks. Only switch over to WCDMA or LTE for specific data hungry tasks like downloads and watching YouTube, then switch back to GSM when you are done.
Available link for download
Monday, November 28, 2016
Vodacom 4G LTE data network speed test results
Vodacom 4G LTE data network speed test results
I have been entrusted with a gorgeous Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE handset from Vodacom to put their new LTE data network (also referred to as 4G) to the test. Here are the results of my initial speedtest.net tests conducted in the Emmarentia area, Johannesburg, South Africa....Note that the signal strength indicator dropped to 3/4 bars during the 4G/LTE test so I will need to find a location where I can get full strength and then retest to reveal the full potential of the Vodacom LTE network. (Update: I have since located an area with full Vodacom 4G signal and I actually achieved less impressive results than with 75% signal, but I will keep scouting...)
None the less, I am already impressed by the speed on offer by the Vodacom LTE data network in spite of not having full signal - LTE download test results are 46% faster than HSDPA and LTE upload test results are an amazing 432% faster than HSDPA (at the same location).
You can also get a feel for every day Vodacom LTE performance here or get Vodacom LTE network tips here.
Vodacom 4G/LTE speedtest.net results, Emmarentia, Johannesburg
Vodacom HSDPA/3G speedtest.net results, Emmarentia, Johannesburg
For what its worth, I got about 2.5Mbps download and 1Mbps upload on Vodacom LTE with 1 bar of signal strength, so network performance is better on full signal HSDPA than average / low signal LTE.
Available link for download
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