Incredibly Erratic Internet

[gawguy]

My ZTE Internet SIM Modem works perfectly, but I get wildly varying results when streaming video using AIS, mostly on the bad side.

 

Perhaps I was told all I need to know by a response from WorldFun to a previous post, who said, ".. you won't get the max & often times loose the connection as it switches back and forth between the 2G/3G/3.5G cell towers!"

 

When streaming a video it seems to be constantly changing speed and the software indicates HSDPA, UMTS or EDGE. Sometimes it indicates HSDPA but the download speed shows up as EDGE speed. Sometimes 0.00 download rate, which I guess means a drop. When that happens the video stops loading and won't load until I close and reopen the web page, then, if it does restart, it most likely drops again at some point. Bottom line is I'm paying for 3G but I can't watch videos.

 

I came across a very interesting and lengthy article that talks about this experience in great detail in regards to a service in Gaya, India. He then tries other providers.

 

He really had issues with the first provider: "Occasionally it provides light ‘3G’ experience, but it is rare and happens only once or twice a week and at midnight. The biggest problem is that most of the time there is simply no signal or intermittent signal... When it does work it provides intermittent signals so it would be working fine for 10-15 seconds and then go blank for next two minutes. Again it would come back suddenly from nowhere working for next one minute. But just when it seems it is working, the message ‘Problem loading page’ appears again. I can do with slow speed if something keeps appearing slowly so that I can do my work somehow. But that is not the case, it simply refuses to work."

 

http://webupon.com/w...iew-experience/

 

I used True for awhile but it seemed to run out really fast. I don't believe I was getting nearly the gigabytes I should have and I don't know how to keep track. It was more expensive too.

 

I'm not really asking for advice because I don't think anything can be done about this. But any comments and feedback are always interesting...

 

Thanks,

Gaw Guy

[Dexi]

It seems strange there is no way of checking how much data you have used.Don`t you have an account where you can log in and check ?The USB dongle I use ( 3) creates a panel on the home screen which shows all the related info. such as max download speed,data used etc.

[gawguy]

It seems strange there is no way of checking how much data you have used.Don`t you have an account where you can log in and check ?The USB dongle I use ( 3) creates a panel on the home screen which shows all the related info. such as max download speed,data used etc.

 

The dongle does have software that tracks usage by the day I think. In the article he shows a list of numbers he can call using the SIM in his phone, and I think *123* 10 # reports data usage. True gave me a website to access which only gives me my plan details and expiration date. Not data used.

 

Also with True, when you run out of $ to sustain 3G they don't flip you to EDGE. They block your SIM. You can't access the internet, so since I can't find out how many mb.s I've used or how many I have left, I have to have another SIM as backup.

 

I only got a few days out of True after buying 2GB. I've been using AIS heavily for a couple of weeks and I'm not cut off from 3G. I think it just doesn't work well. The article I've linked is quite interesting.

 

Thanks..GG