Insanely slow 2Degree data speeds when roaming onto the Vodafone cell site on Great Barrier Island

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Insanely slow 2Degree data speeds when roaming onto the Vodafone cell site on Great Barrier Island

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

BDFL - Memuneh
79263 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#2033899 11-Jun-2018 20:23

I think the OP has a case when it comes to speed. Is the service neutral when it comes to roaming? Is this guaranteed in contract or not?

I have the impression we won't find out soon.

Linux

11413 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2033905 11-Jun-2018 20:27

freitasm: I think the OP has a case when it comes to speed. Is the service neutral when it comes to roaming? Is this guaranteed in contract or not?

I have the impression we won't find out soon.

Agree I suspect both will hide behind the commercial agreement

@2degreescare are you aware of any speed restrictions in place for your customers roaming onto the VodafoneNZ 3G mobile network?

John

MichaelNZ

1387 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Integrity Tech Solutions

#2033908 11-Jun-2018 20:31

Linux: Come on @MichaelNZ of course VodafoneNZ has better coverage than 2degrees or they would not need the dam national roaming agreement in place onto the VodafoneNZ network for coverage

Even looking at the GIS site you can see SparkNZ and VodafoneNZ have far more sites located around New Zealand and as already advised this does not make it a fault

With the same handset and a Vodafone cellsite (so 2degrees is roaming) - using a 2degrees and Vodafone SIM cards, the Vodafone one gives better coverage and shows a stronger signal.

I have observed this, as have others.

So please do not use a strawman to try and derail my post.

The usual refrain is to claim the area has overlapping 2degrees native and Vodafone coverage, but this is not the case.

WFH Linux Systems and Networks Engineer in the Internet industry | Specialising in Mikrotik | APNIC member | Open to job offers

hio77

12999 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lizard Networks

#2033914 11-Jun-2018 20:40

MichaelNZ:

The usual refrain is to claim the area has overlapping 2degrees native and Vodafone coverage, but this is not the case.

by including spark in that listing (who don't have any agreement with 2d for roaming) it was clearly a blackspot issue, not an issue with roaming.

Remember to compare apples with apples, check your testing over the same frequency (not just band it could be possible Vodafone have two carriers in that band for example.)

Test side by side, multiple tests to cut down on possibilities of simply heavy utilization elsewhere in that sector..

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79263 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#2033947 11-Jun-2018 21:03

I think I will delete two pages of bickering.

MichaelNZ

1387 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Integrity Tech Solutions

#2033955 11-Jun-2018 21:21

hio77:

Remember to compare apples with apples, check your testing over the same frequency (not just band it could be possible Vodafone have two carriers in that band for example.)

Test side by side, multiple tests to cut down on possibilities of simply heavy utilization elsewhere in that sector..

I did not do extensive testing but have noticed it. Due to it being a rural area some distance from the cellsite, I have concluded it would have been 900Mhz in both cases.

Based on my own observations and what I have been told (I think it was by 2degrees?) 3G dual carrier, or 3.5G as it's commonly known, is the best available roaming option although it apparently has reduced availability for 2degrees roamers compared to Vodafone native customers.

In other words - plain 3G is the best universally available option for 2degrees.

Spark has 700Mhz LTE (for data) though my observations is Vodafone has more 700Mhz LTE coverage than Spark.

I am no great fan of Vodafone, or any of them really, but as a regular data user I can't better Vodafone for overall speed and coverage. Thus, this is what I would suggest the OP try, making sure their device supports LTE 700Mhz.

WFH Linux Systems and Networks Engineer in the Internet industry | Specialising in Mikrotik | APNIC member | Open to job offers

2degreesCare

1537 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

2degrees

#2034257 12-Jun-2018 11:27

Linux:
freitasm: I think the OP has a case when it comes to speed. Is the service neutral when it comes to roaming? Is this guaranteed in contract or not?

I have the impression we won't find out soon.

Agree I suspect both will hide behind the commercial agreement

@2degreescare are you aware of any speed restrictions in place for your customers roaming onto the VodafoneNZ 3G mobile network?

John

Hi John, no, there should not be any restrictions. We'd need details for the customer @Spong to check settings, time/date, exact location, phone make/model, was a Vodafone customer getting the same 3G speeds as a 2degrees customer etc in order to follow up on this.

@Spong - I see you're no longer on Great Barrier but if you can PM us some details next time you're over there and experience this.

Regards

^POB

Equinox IT

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.

thelonepinetree

49 posts

Geek

#2285582 30-Jul-2019 10:04

Well, not an island, but right in the middle of North Island - National Park Village. No 2degrees cellsite here, just Spark and Vodafone. 2degrees phones roam on VF no problems, until it comes to data. As expected, 2D handset connects on 3G (H+ visible in the status bar), but the data speeds are capped at 300Kbps down. Upload sometimes goes up to 800Kbps, but not always. I'm looking at the VF cellsite through my window - about 200m from me right now. Can't be more line-of-sight than that. Full bars of course.

So, having access to RBI modem (VF network), which is connected on 4G, and doing 80Mbps down most of the time, I tell it to only connect to 3G. Full bars, and... 19.2mbps down, 2.83mbps up.

When I'm back in 2D coverage areas, and I force my phone to 3G only, I get must faster speeds... That roaming on VF business is definitely throttling. Perhaps not everywhere, but definitely in National Park Village.

In summary:

Vodafone RBI, forced to 3G only: full bars reception H+, 19.2mbps down, 2.83mbps up, 51ms ping

2degrees roaming on Vodafone 3G: full bars reception H+, 0.28mbps down, 0.82mbps up, 67ms ping

I reported the issue to 2D, got a ticket acknowledgement, silence for a week, so I followed up and got told with very careful wording that this is it, and told that perhaps I should be looking at changing networks. Wow!

I've been 2deegrees customer for many years now, on their rollover plan, so I clocked up a fair amount of rollover data, I feel like we, as customers should be informed straight up of such pathetic business arrangements, and not kept in the dark. If 2D is really throttled to such insanely slow speeds on VF, then we, as customers ought to know that upfront.

@2degreescare can you confirm or deny or escalate please.

MichaelNZ

1387 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Integrity Tech Solutions

#2285583 30-Jul-2019 10:14

2degrees does not roam onto 700Mhz (Band 28) as commonly used in rural areas. Additionally, it is my honest opinion (based on observation) that 2degrees is handicapped on the Vodafone network. While not the reason I ultimately left them, I experienced in my time on 2degrees they are in denial about their coverage - especially on Vodafone. One such occasion I called them up about that 30km or so stretch of SH5 where they (and to be fair also VF and Spark) have next to no coverage while it's a wide open space... Never did get a good answer.

WFH Linux Systems and Networks Engineer in the Internet industry | Specialising in Mikrotik | APNIC member | Open to job offers

thelonepinetree

49 posts

Geek

#2285585 30-Jul-2019 10:17

Band 28 (700MHz) is only used by LTE, not 3G. 2D only roams on VF 3G, so that is not the concern here.

The issue reported here is also NOT about coverage, it is about 2D or VF data throttling 2D customers to "insanely slow data speeds". Let's keep them accountable and stick to the topic of data speeds, not coverage please.

Linux

11413 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2285632 30-Jul-2019 12:04

thelonepinetree: Band 28 (700MHz) is only used by LTE, not 3G. 2D only roams on VF 3G, so that is not the concern here. The issue reported here is also NOT about coverage, it is about 2D or VF data throttling 2D customers to "insanely slow data speeds". Let's keep them accountable and stick to the topic of data speeds, not coverage please.

@thelonepinetree Maybe restricted speed is part of the commercial agreement for national roaming

thelonepinetree

49 posts

Geek

#2285634 30-Jul-2019 12:07

@Linux - that's what I'm thinking. But on 12-Jun-2018 11:27 @2degreesCare told us that there are no restrictions.

300kbps data speed is unreasonable in this day and age though, especially without being upfront with their customers. If the deliberate throttling is true, then their marketing and coverage maps are misleading.

I would like to give them an opportunity to come clean though.

Spong

1005 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2285650 30-Jul-2019 12:26

The problem is just as bad on Great Barrier Island as it was when I started this thread, and mirror the results above. I agree, 2Degrees seem to be in denial. I suspect there are politics involved here?

I can't help thinking Vodafone are the bad guys here, giving absolutely no more than they can get away with, in order to "encourage" people in these situations to join their network as fully paid up victims. I'll never fall for that one. I imagine 2Degrees don't have a lot of clout, and about all they can do is build out their own network to fill in these gaps in their coverage.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

tripper1000

1617 posts

Uber Geek

#2285668 30-Jul-2019 13:00

I doubt Vodafone would be pulling a swifty on 2DM - it would be too easy for the 2DM techs to detect/prove and a big breach of contract law suit would ensue.

It's a fairly safe bet that 2DM will be receiving exactly what it contracted for - but we can only speculate on what that is.

Culpability could lay with 2DM if they were cherry-picking and intentionally throttling traffic from the V.F. network (or allowing it to be throttled) in a effort to limit the costs it has to pay Vodafone. It is a safe bet that roaming customers on the V.F. network aren't as profitable (or may be even entirely loss-making) compared to customers on the native network.

Linux

11413 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2289279 3-Aug-2019 18:33

Just doing some testing while roaming on a VodafoneNZ site and download speed is restricted

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6