# General Business Category > Technology Forum >  HSPDA problem

## Dave A

Got a meeting on Monday and Tuesday at The Farm Inn in Pretoria.

Great, I've been there before and know something of the venue. For example - No Sentech or Iburst available. However, there is 3G.

So, I wander down to Vodacom shop to arrange 3G card (which I've kind of been considering anyway so no big deal).

No 3G cards available because all you can get is HSPDA. Well, that's fantastic - even faster - latest technology - way to go.

The shop does not have any in stock, but they'll get it delivered to me within the hour. Great - sign contract - done deal.

Sure enough, within the hour package arrives, and I'm advised to shoot out to Vodacom Customer Centre at Gateway to get set up as it can be a bit tricky.

Rush out (all excited - 1.8Mb connection here we come) and we start installing.

Come to that wonderful stage "insert card" and let's say it goes downhill from there. 

You see, I have a fairly new laptop and, unbeknown to me, it has a PCMCII Advanced slot. Vodacom's HSPDA only fits into older laptops with the now redundant PCMCIA slot. Apparently the PCMCIA slot is all but phased out overseas already.

So, many phone calls and many excuses later here is the upshot of it all:

If you get HSPDA and you happen to get it working on your laptop, forget about upgrading your laptop within the next two years (unless you are happy paying for a contract you can't use).

The HSPDA card does not work on Vodacom's wireless router - so there is no workaround that way.

I can buy the wireless router for R1500.00 but there are no 3G cards available (although Vodacom has offered to source 2nd hand ones for me).

The HSPDA card does not work on the available PCMCIA/PCMCII Advanced converter (which is also not immediately available anyway). 

Vodacom blames the computer guys for changing the slot etc., but the card does not even work on their own equipment (the wireless router).

The computer guys say that Vodacom is desperately dumping their outdated cards (read somewhere that HSPDA had been dropped in Europe because of no take-up)... and the problem is Vodacom's.

And no-one at Vodacom told me there might be this problem when I signed the contract. Apparently I was only the second person today with this problem so maybe there is no need to warn everyone about it as a matter of course...

*But I thought I'd let you know just in case.*

I just can’t figure whether Vodacom does not understand this particular market segment or whether they know us South Africans far too well.

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## Chris B

Well Dave, I dont know wat to say except that in my experience with technology I found its better to let guys like you find out the hard way and only get into it myself once the product has proven itself through numerous sources.

I can however offer a solution to youre problem.  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  I have a older model COMPAX available, im sure youre familiar with it  :Big Grin:   So if you're interested let me know and we can talk...

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## Dave A

_Nooo. You can't have my laptop._

For a first post - that was wicked!!!

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## Dave A

This issue has come up on My ADSL forum.

And it seems there is a solution. :Smile:  

The relevant thread is here.

Will update once I've found a functional workaround that works for me.

You just gotta love what these forums can do.

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## Dave A

I'm now the proud owner of an Elan U132 PCMCIA card reader. Plugs into a USB port and the HSPDA card works. I'm up and running  :Scooter:  (been dying to use that smilie).

Speeds are more like 3G at the moment, but too early to call if there's a problem there. Might be location.

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## duncan drennan

Good to hear that the Elan card actually does work  :Smile:  Recently got my iBurst modem and it is great  :Cool:  (much better than the GPRS on my cell  :Online2long:  ) Not quite as fast as your HSDPA but I was pretty happy to be downloading at 92Kb/s the other day  :Big Grin:

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## Dave A

I've still got to get 92Kbps. My best so far is 53 Kbps so you're ahead of the game right now, Duncan.

The main advantage for me with this is the wider coverage. Unfortunately iBurst just isn't (virtually) everywhere yet. When on the move, I was working through my cellphone (Edge enabled) as a modem before, and that wasn't too bad. But when you take/make a call - modem mode goes to  :Zzzzz:

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## Dave A

Just run a Vodacom HSDPA speed test and the results:




> Test Start Time : June 29, 2006, 9:26:10 pm 
> Test End Time : June 29, 2006, 9:26:54 pm 
> Download Time : 43.46 seconds 
> Size of file : 5238323 KiloBytes 
> Estimated line speed : 941.65 (Kilobits/sec) 
> Estimated line speed : 117.71 (KiloBytes/sec)


Not shabby, Nige.

But I've been having the odd stall all night which, on this evidence, indicates a DNS or gateway issue between Vodacom and the rest of the www

When HSDPA flies, it flies. When it stalls, oh boy.  :Whistling:

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## Dave A

Just had a phonecall about where to get the Elan U132 adaptor.

The folks to contact are:



> Micro-D (Pty) Ltd
> Unit 2 Woodview Office park
> 1 Humber Street
> Woodmead, 2146 
> South Africa
> 011 803 2111


Hopefully that will save anyone else the trouble of figuring out how to phone me.

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## Snoopy_inc

Ok.... I guess i need to explain this a bit.   How HSDPA Works is that it works on tower signal structure.

IE if you in town near a MAIN tower and not a repeater tower then you will get good speeds with it.   Whereas if you in an area that has min towers usually you dont even get close to 3G speeds.  

HSDPA is good but the problem is 
1) the price as its more expensive the 3G
2) the coverage isnt the best as it needs to be HSDPA enabled at tower.
so basically if you giong to a area that isnt so popular..... good luck getting HSDPA you will be dropped to 3G and if they dont have that GPRS.

Its kinda sad but works if you know what to look for :Embarrassment:

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## Snoopy_inc

BTW if you need any hardware etc... PM me i can either help or give you somone in your area that can help  :Wink: 

BTW the PCMCIA slots on laptops are still ok its the Laptop that was the issue.  What type of laptop you got dave..... popular brands still work fine.... IE ACER

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## Dave A

> BTW the PCMCIA slots on laptops are still ok its the Laptop that was the issue.  What type of laptop you got dave..... popular brands still work fine.... IE ACER


In my case Fujitsu Siemens (2006 model). However, I understand Apple has already gone this route overseas, and others are expected to follow.

Could be just sales talk, but the folks I was talking to were calling the PCMCIA card "redundant technonlogy". Advanced slots are supposed to be the new thing.

I still don't get why they wanted to change. The only apparent difference is the card is smaller and accordingly takes less space in the guts of the laptop.

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## Snoopy_inc

i wouldnt listen to ppl talking..... Rather see it first.

I look into this industry cause i work in it and i have yet to hear anything about this.

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## irneb

I've been looking for this for a while now. There are 2 options I could find in the forums & doing a few Google Searches.

1. PCMCIA through a USB port with the Elan U132 (http://www.microd.co.za/catalog/prod...products_id=44)
This through the local suppliers at about R1600.

2. PCMCIA through the newer ExpressCard slot with the Roalan DuelAdapter (http://www.roalan.com/dueladapter_ex..._to_pcmci.htm). Unfortunately I can't find a local reseller for this. It is however the better option, as it is much faster (up to 5 times the speed of USB2) and also slightly cheaper (if baught directly from the UK company) at ÃÂ£95 (converted today R1332.25).

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## duncan drennan

> It is however the better option, as it is much faster (up to 5 times the speed of USB2) and also slightly cheaper (if baught directly from the UK company) at ÃÂ£95 (converted today R1332.25).


I'm not really sure how speed plays a role at all. USB2 is 400Mbps (mega bit per second), and HSPDA is only 1.8Mbps with theoretical maximums of 7.2Mbps (I think). Basically, whatever you attach it to your PC with is MUCH faster than HSPDA will ever run. The HSDPA connection is the bottleneck, not the PC connection.

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## irneb

> The HSDPA connection is the bottleneck, not the PC connection.


Although true about the HSPDA speed being the bottle neck - it's always best to not have any other possibility of a bottle neck. I've found USB2 to sometimes become to slow when using an external hard-drive (it should copy at max of 400MB/S or at about 50 mbytes/s). The best speed I've ever found was 20 mbytes/s (160 MB/s), sometimes it even went down to 120 kbytes/s (960kB/s) which is less than HSDPA.

Also, if you have the faster converter you could use it for a 1GB/s LAN card, which is also only available in PCMCIA (in SA). Most laptops only come with built-in 100MBps wired and / or 54MBps wireless LANs.

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## MonaMoo

Hi,

I've been reading through all the posts and I'm still a little confused about everything.

Ok, here is my problem.  My boss bought a new Amilo Pro V3205 Laptop - the PCMCIA slot is there but is not longer called that but an express slot (I get the difference but still need help!).  I've been onto the Micro-D website and have looked at the U132 but that still doesn't help me as I'm unsure as to wether it supports what we need it for.

Ok next part of my problem (where I could actually go to I-Burst and rant/rave/scream/ throw a tantrum - but it still wouldn't help!) Is there a card out there that actually supports the OLD I-Burst cards?? And if there is please point me in the right direction as I'm getting shunted around from this person to the next and I'm at my wits end! (Not to mention the phone bill we will be getting from all the phone calls including international ones where no one can still help!)  My boss has made some specific requests that is HAS to be a USB to PCMCIA converter (as the U132 is).

So please, I am on my knees begging you to help me or point me in the right direction ASAP because I'm about to loose it and just give up hope on actually finding the right thing!

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## duncan drennan

What exactly do you have, an iBurst PCMCIA card?

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## irneb

If what you're after is a converter from your old HSDPA PCMCIA card to a USB slot the U132 should work. The problems are:
- it's slightly more expensive than getting a straight off USB HSDPA modem @ about R1000. I know that iBurst & the Cell companies sell these straight off or on contract.
- Also it's much more bulky than the modem, which is a touch larger than a matchbox. Whereas the u132 is about the size of those old PDA's - just thicker & not designed for its looks.
- The u132 also requires extra drivers over and above the HSDPA card. Not so for the modem, which installs itself the moment you plug it in. No CD's required.

So unless you've got some other reason for sticking with the PCMCIA card, I'd suggest scrapping the thing & getting hold of the new modems. Much less hassle & cheaper.

As per my previous post about the speed, this only happens in extremely stressful circumstances so the USB modem should work fine for HSDPA. It also means that only one thing is used when connecting - i.e. the modem. If you're using a converter there's at least 2 things which could give problems.

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## MonaMoo

> What exactly do you have, an iBurst PCMCIA card?


Hi dsd,

Thanks for your reply, my answer in very short is yes.  He has one of the very old PCMCIA cards (he's had it for about 3 years) thus me running around trying to find a solution to the problem!

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## MonaMoo

Hi irneb,

Thanks for your reply.  I've actually just got off the phone with Micro-D and apparently the U132 doesn't support the I-Burst PCMCIA cards.  Which kind of narrows down everything to getting the new I-Burst modem as they are saying there is nothing out there (like the U132) that would actually work.  Plus they said the price is round about the same so there isn't much else that we can do.

Again, thanks for your reply and all the info!!

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## duncan drennan

If the U-132 does not support the iBurst modem, and you are planning to stay with iBurst, then the best option is probably their USB modem.

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## Dave A

Has iBurst come out with an express card version? That would seem the logical solution.

The advantage of the USB solution is it is more "universal", but USB slots wear out  :Frown: 
And on a laptop *any* kind of repair of a broken part is substantially more expensive than one would wish for.

I can highly recommend avoiding the converter route, such as the U132, if at all possible. It has worked for me (at least _most_ of the time), but what a PITA. Not to mention you can't upgrade software.

You get a laptop for convenience. You get a wireless solution for convenience. That extra box to connect the two - I simply can't wait to be rid of it! *SIGH* Another four months  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## duncan drennan

> Has iBurst come out with an express card version? That would seem the logical solution.


No. I actually haven't seen any express cards....

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## irneb

> Has iBurst come out with an express card version? That would seem the logical solution.


Oh well ... that's exactly what the client would want ... but of course we're in SA & all these companies have learned from Telkom how *not* to provide for their clients ...  :Rant1: 

The idea with a laptop is *not to have extra cables and adapters and cards and .... and .... and ....*. You can't buy any new laptop with a PCMCIA slot - they've been discontinued for a few years already, you may find a secondhand laptop (but do you want to  :Badpc: ). So why do they still sell these? You'd expect it to be the other way round: i.e. you can't find those old cards anymore, instead of you can't use them anymore :EEK!: .

I don't think it's just the logical solution, but rather the *only solution* which would make their clients happy.

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## Dave A

> So why do they still sell these? You'd expect it to be the other way round: i.e. you can't find those old cards anymore, instead of you can't use them anymore.


SA sure is a great place to dump redundant technology stock.

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## duncan drennan

I had a quick look at the info on Kyocera's website (they created the iBurst system) - currently only PCMCIA are available, but take a closer look at the page, and ExpressCard version is due to launch in December (hopefully iBurst SA will get them soon after that).

On a different note, 2Mbps terminals are due in March 2008.

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## MonaMoo

I just want to say thank you to everyone that gave me a response.  My boss eventually decided to go with the I-Burst modem since he really didn't have any other alternative.

Again thank you and have a great holiday everyone!!

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## irneb

It's a pleasure ...



> eventually decided to go with the I-Burst modem


Well, that's just it ... it's the simplest solution available at present. You still have a loose thing dangling off your knee at the airport lounge :Mad:  - unless of course there is a wi-fi connection, then you don't need it :Big Grin: .

BTW, apparently SA is close to on par with the rest of the world on wireless connections (see http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Broadband/317.html). At least comparing price / speed :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): .

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## Chatmaster

Boy, have I been up and on today... My 3G is falling apart! Sometimes I have access to the web other times I can only receive email. Then again I connect on 2G. It is getting really annoying. :Rant1:

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## Dave A

I find the service is "unstable" at times. Auto-disconnects, incomplete page requests...
Damn frustrating when it plays up.

But this morning international seemed pretty shaky for me via ADSL as well. So maybe problems upstream this time. It's been better this afternoon, though.

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## duncan drennan

iBurst has now released an ExpressCard version of their modem.

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## Dave A

I'm going to have to start paying attention to the options. My HSDPA contract is up for renewal in May.

Thanks, Duncan.

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## Chatmaster

I heard that iBurst has a big problem with disconnections. Does anyone have personal experience with iBurst?

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## duncan drennan

I use iBurst and the service has been pretty good. Sometimes I can go a whole month without disconnecting. Probably have to reconnect two to three times a month on average. I'm in a pretty strong signal area though, and I suspect there are not too many users on the tower I connect to. Download speeds are typically over 80kB/s (640kbps).

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## Dave A

My highspeed ADSL has dropped to a whopping 2kBps on average since yesterday morning. No-one (that would be Telkom) can tell me why as yet, despite the fact that I've harrased three departments so far.

They're experiencing exceptionally high call volumes. I wonder why?

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## duncan drennan

> ADSL customers fortunate enough still to be online are complaining that their Internet connection speed has plummeted.
> 
> On Friday, Telkom lost a third of its international bandwidth when its submarine cable to Malaysia broke. Telekom Malaysia is working on the problem.
> 
> Then, on Monday, local cable theft left Telkom with only one international data line. This problem has been fixed.
> 
> Ã¢â¬ÅOur installation and repair crews are being messed around badly by EskomÃ¢â¬â¢s power problems. T he electricity crisis is hurting our data service badly.Ã¢â¬Â
> 
> Full story on MyBroadband


Going back to that comment on the international lines....

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## Chatmaster

I wonder if another fish trailer hooked one of the underwater cables again? :Devil2:

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## Dave A

If this is the main international cable, how come V3G is unaffected?

EDIT: And come to think of it, browsing local sites over ADSL is just as not-so-lekker too.

I smell smoke.

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## duncan drennan

> I smell smoke.


Smells like it, doesn't it? There are two major lines out of SA (AFAIK). One is UUNET (which I know iBurst uses) and the other is SAIX (which Telkom uses....duh).

You might find that V3G uses UUNet, or possibly both, and the SAIX international connection are down at the moment (for whatever reason).

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## Dave A

It still shouldn't affect local browsing, I'd have thought.

If there was an "event" that brought Telkom ADSL to its knees, it was around 11.00 am yesterday (6 Feb 2008). It was a very sudden and *very* noticable drop in performance

But here's what I don't get...

I've developed a checklist of procedures and questions from previous occasions of trying to figure out speed issues. When I've finally got through (on no less than 3 occassions so far), there has been no talk of a known problem - in my area or anywhere else. In fact they've all gone "You're the only one in your area to report a problem" and "there isn't a general problem with the network."

EDIT: I recall now that v3g reported they'd brokered connections with both SAIX and UUNet a while ago. I'll say this for Vodacom - they don't do things in half measure.

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## Dave A

My home phone line problem was fixed on Sunday. However, I'm still getting daily reports that Telkom is yet to deal with my ADSL line problem.

I suppose I should be grateful for the prompt service on my home line - repaired only 3 days after reporting the fault.



> A Telkom telephone line has been dead for five months, despite complaints having been logged with the telecoms company, Mitchell Krog, a West Rand resident said on Monday.
> 
> Khulani Qoma, Telkom media spokesperson told Sapa it was not always immediately clear what caused problems.
> 
> "We would be commenting in darkness. We need to find out why they advised the customer wrongly," said Qoma.
> 
> "At Telkom what we do [now] is we take the reference number of the faulty line and the relevant department will be able to find a way of helping" he said.
> full story from IOL here

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