Wireless Broadband Problem In Rotorua?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Wireless Broadband Problem In Rotorua?

NotReally

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#255737 26-Aug-2019 18:33

Hi,

Is anyone able to give some background on a 4G wireless broadband fault in Rotorua? My wife's grandparents and her friend are both affected. It's been ongoing since Thursday last week. Only seems to affect wireless broadband, not cellphones.

Thanks.

PeterReader

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#2306393 26-Aug-2019 18:38

What is a description of the actual issue?

NotReally

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#2306400 26-Aug-2019 18:58

The connection speed is 0.45 Mbs down and 3.62 Mbs up. Basically unusable. The modem has been replaced and speed was OK (30-40 Mbs down, 15-30 Mbs up) for a few hours then back to a crawl. The SIM was changed the next day with similar results, works for a few hours then back to a crawl. I am now told the cell tower has a "fault" but only for the wireless broadband, cellphones on the same tower (confirmed by Spark) are unaffected.

Way above my understanding.

Dolts

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#2306403 26-Aug-2019 19:04

NotReally:

The connection speed is 0.45 Mbs down and 3.62 Mbs up. Basically unusable. The modem has been replaced and speed was OK (30-40 Mbs down, 15-30 Mbs up) for a few hours then back to a crawl. The SIM was changed the next day with similar results, works for a few hours then back to a crawl. I am now told the cell tower has a "fault" but only for the wireless broadband, cellphones on the same tower (confirmed by Spark) are unaffected.

Way above my understanding.

This is what we have seen with someone on mobile broadband. Websites don't load, issues with emails.

YouTube seemed to load fine which was odd.

Spark also confirmed mobile broadband issues.

coffeebaron

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#2306409 26-Aug-2019 19:24

Have you got an external antenna? Do you have the B315 or B618?

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#2306412 26-Aug-2019 19:32

This just sounds like peak time congestion run the tests at 6am and 8pm and this should give you an idea if it's a overloaded serving cell

hio77

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#2306430 26-Aug-2019 20:17

Can you provide me your case number.. something here doesnt quite seem right.

As others have said it could just be loading, but we wouldnt be replacing modems for that..

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NotReally

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#2306464 26-Aug-2019 20:56

Hi,

The original case number is 100000322073 and the second one was opened tonight is 100000322770.

Thanks.

NotReally

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#2306466 26-Aug-2019 21:00

The original modem was a B315 and the new one is a B618. Both have the same speed problem. Thanks.

coffeebaron

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#2306467 26-Aug-2019 21:03

NotReally: The original modem was a B315 and the new one is a B618. Both have the same speed problem. Thanks.

So no external antenna?

Could be initially connecting to higher frequency, then dropping back to overloaded 700 band, or tower hopping.

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NotReally

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#2306471 26-Aug-2019 21:12

Sorry, should have mentioned there isn't an external antenna. I rebooted the modem after putting in a new SIM last night just before 8am this morning and it was fine (35+ down, 30+ up). By 9.30 am it was back to a crawl.

I tried the new modem at my place on the other side of town yesterday and it connected at a good speed. But when I took it back it was back to a crawl again. That was about 1pm on a Sunday.

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#2306475 26-Aug-2019 21:21

Overloaded serving cell or the cell is getting interference onto it from an external source causing the slow down!

The most common source of interference is those illegal RF amps that people buy online

hio77

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#2306478 26-Aug-2019 21:27

NotReally: Hi,

The original case number is 100000322073 and the second one was opened tonight is 100000322770.

Thanks.

Thanks, will drill into those cases tomorrow at some stage...

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NotReally

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#2306483 26-Aug-2019 21:33

What is an RF amp? Would it be near the cell tower or the modem? The reason I ask is that the two wireless broadband modems affected are about 1km apart (but both on the same cell tower).

hio77

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#2306495 26-Aug-2019 22:13

OK, there are some angels watching who flagged some context for me.

There is a issue the site your on (as the reps already indicated to you); The right folk are working on it, I can't provide a timeline at this stage.

It really depends on a few variables for if the impact is felt on mobiles.

However the good news is, that change of modem is quite nice for your location will overall net a better experience for you :)

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NotReally

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#2306542 27-Aug-2019 06:29

Thank you. I appreciate the response and help. The CS reps at Spark have been very helpful as well. Asking on Geekzone gets a lot of ideas from people who know much more than me to try and troubleshoot.