I am now convinced that companies like Net10, StraightTalk, and Red Pocket DO NOT offer the same speeds as AT&T.
I have been an AT&T customer for the past 10 years. However, the the last 5 months I have gone from AT&T to StraightTalk, to Net10, then to Red Pocket.
What I am exp, varies greatly and sporadically, and almost always seemed to be have a long hesitation at the start of downloading a webpage.
Last night, I went into the AT&T store. I told the sales person I had Red Pocket and I asked if I could buy the Samsung Galaxy S 4 on the prepaid service for 1 month then use my Red Pocket sim card after that. We looked up the information and found that I they will not unlock the phone for 6 months on a prepaid even when paying the full price.
So I wanted to test if the Red Pocket would work on the phone without unlocking it.
To my surprise she let me take out my Red Pocket sim card from my phone and put it in the Samsung Galaxy S 4. I changed the APN to the Red Pocket APN settings. And guess what!!!!
The internet and phone service worked!
Now it was time to do a data speed test. I noticed that the internet web pages always opened slowly on my phone and I wasn't sure if it was problem with my phone or if it was the Red Pocket service.
I had two S4's side by side so I was able to open the browsers on both and I spent an hour opening and closing web pages at the same time.
The phone that had the AT&T sim card was ALWAYS way faster at loading webpages then the Red Pocket SIM and I purchased the Red Pocket ultimate $65/mo. plan. The Red Pocket phone always had a day opening the pages and often times took a painfully long time to completely load a page. I experienced this same problem with Net10 and StraightTalk service.
So by saving money getting using these resellers of AT&T's service you are not saving anything. You are getting a service with slow choked data transmission.
Any one else have have any data on the speeds? Or to share your experience?
You said all that to tell us something we already knew?
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Companies like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon are pretty much the top four faster networks (In no specific order). Naturally no contract companies that offer cheap voice and data plans are not gonna have top notch networks. You get what you pay for
They have a QoS in place for the MNVOs. They throttle them down and have worse ping because of this. Of course this goes off the old "you get what you pay for" paying.
There is no reason for ATT to provide top service to someone who pays less than their actual customers
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
It all depends how much internet you use per month. ST is perfect if you use less than 2gb dont mind saving a few dollars each month.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
buyslake said:
I am now convinced that companies like Net10, StraightTalk, and Red Pocket DO NOT offer the same speeds as AT&T.
I have been an AT&T customer for the past 10 years. However, the the last 5 months I have gone from AT&T to StraightTalk, to Net10, then to Red Pocket.
What I am exp, varies greatly and sporadically, and almost always seemed to be have a long hesitation at the start of downloading a webpage.
Last night, I went into the AT&T store. I told the sales person I had Red Pocket and I asked if I could buy the Samsung Galaxy S 4 on the prepaid service for 1 month then use my Red Pocket sim card after that. We looked up the information and found that I they will not unlock the phone for 6 months on a prepaid even when paying the full price.
So I wanted to test if the Red Pocket would work on the phone without unlocking it.
To my surprise she let me take out my Red Pocket sim card from my phone and put it in the Samsung Galaxy S 4. I changed the APN to the Red Pocket APN settings. And guess what!!!!
The internet and phone service worked!
Now it was time to do a data speed test. I noticed that the internet web pages always opened slowly on my phone and I wasn't sure if it was problem with my phone or if it was the Red Pocket service.
I had two S4's side by side so I was able to open the browsers on both and I spent an hour opening and closing web pages at the same time.
The phone that had the AT&T sim card was ALWAYS way faster at loading webpages then the Red Pocket SIM and I purchased the Red Pocket ultimate $65/mo. plan. The Red Pocket phone always had a day opening the pages and often times took a painfully long time to completely load a page. I experienced this same problem with Net10 and StraightTalk service.
So by saving money getting using these resellers of AT&T's service you are not saving anything. You are getting a service with slow choked data transmission.
Any one else have have any data on the speeds? Or to share your experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I am on ATT branded Straight Talk in a small town in Oklahoma but still receive 4g (H+) and I consistently have 6mbs down & 1.5mbps up, the only drawback is the ping which averages 100ms for me. My home internet connection is only 5.5mbps/800k with 24ms ping. I have never been throttled and am a very heavy user and this is on a variety of att branded & unlocked phones (i4/4s/5, S3, note 1 & 2, htc vivid, etc). I am a reseller so I can play with all the newest. I get so many requests for unlocking to use ATT ST/net10 but nobody seems to get it, they are both ATT so there is no need for an unlock. Everything you get is done through APN & for more extensive tweaking through build.prop edits. When I go to Tulsa I get 10-14mbps down & around 5mbps up. I know this is not anywhere near LTE but for prepaid service in a small town or a big city you cannot complain. My girlfriends ATT bill for 2 lines with her grandfathered unlimited is $190 a month. My service for a year is $500 WITH tethering, you do the math and tell me that data speeds are THAT important.
yosoywilson78 said:
Well I am on ATT branded Straight Talk in a small town in Oklahoma but still receive 4g (H+) and I consistently have 6mbs down & 1.5mbps up, the only drawback is the ping which averages 100ms for me. My home internet connection is only 5.5mbps/800k with 24ms ping. I have never been throttled and am a very heavy user and this is on a variety of att branded & unlocked phones (i4/4s/5, S3, note 1 & 2, htc vivid, etc). I am a reseller so I can play with all the newest. I get so many requests for unlocking to use ATT ST/net10 but nobody seems to get it, they are both ATT so there is no need for an unlock. Everything you get is done through APN & for more extensive tweaking through build.prop edits. When I go to Tulsa I get 10-14mbps down & around 5mbps up. I know this is not anywhere near LTE but for prepaid service in a small town or a big city you cannot complain. My girlfriends ATT bill for 2 lines with her grandfathered unlimited is $190 a month. My service for a year is $500 WITH tethering, you do the math and tell me that data speeds are THAT important.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Straight Talk, Net 10, Red Pocket uses AT&T towers for those that do not know.
Could you share your APN Settings? Any other modifications to improve data speed?
I pay for the 2 GB of supposedly unthrottled AT&T tower use through Red Pocket and at times it is almost unbearable. Although, I have to say net10 is the worst out of the 3 carriers. Unuseable in my opinion. I don't recall having as many issues with StraightTalk but Net10 is terrible.
The only reason I left StraightTalk is because I could not get a microsim from anywhere.
Is the ping is what causes the delay at the start of the webpage downloading?
Shook if you already know then why even respond? I am sure lots of people never tested a Samsung Galaxy S IV side by side with Red Pocket and AT&T card.
Also you knew about everything I posted? The 3 and 6 months waiting period?
wow
buyslake said:
Straight Talk, Net 10, Red Pocket uses AT&T towers for those that do not know.
Could you share your APN Settings? Any other modifications to improve data speed?
I pay for the 2 GB of supposedly unthrottled AT&T tower use through Red Pocket and at times it is almost unbearable. Although, I have to say net10 is the worst out of the 3 carriers. Unuseable in my opinion. I don't recall having as many issues with StraightTalk but Net10 is terrible.
The only reason I left StraightTalk is because I could not get a microsim from anywhere.
Is the ping is what causes the delay at the start of the webpage downloading?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Red Pocket is 2G service only, Straight Talk and Net10 are both 3G (HSDPA) only... this goes for the guy above as well.
You will not get 4G from any of these providers, however as stated earier Straight Talk and Net10 will both give you very reasonable speeds of ~6mbits over AT&T's 3G network.
There are MVNOs that offer 4G on AT&T towers but none of the options being discussed offer this.
MVNOs are an excellent option as long as you take the time to understand what it is you're getting.
My phone at the top shows H+ on Red Pocket, what does that mean? 3g doesn't? AT&T does not have 4G where I live yet.
I have no issues with Straight Talk. I get 6to7 megs down and thats good enough for me
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Friends Red Pocket Mobile Data Throttle My Red Pocket Mobile Down To Slow Speeds
Thanks for watching and I appreciate if you can send your sincere condolences to Red Pocket for there business practices.
Charging people 59.99 for 3GB Data then not allowing the customer to go above 0.12 K/B's in download speed. Unfair practice for customers who PrePaid the entire month prior expecting to get 3GB of Data instead Red Pocket is Throttling the customers.
All Android and Iphone on ALL IOS will be expericning the issue of Data Throttle Slow Internet Speed. Straight Talk does the same thing. AT&T Has a major Lawsuit for the same thing now Red Pocket is lining up for failure as well.
If you too want to make sure your not getting Data Throttled Just Download the Speed Test App In Your App Store on your phone and start a Speed Test it's FREE.
If You want to get a hold of me during this investigation contact [email protected]
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youtu.be/4WGLuf9UlJg Red Pocket Data Throttle!
net10 vs verizon
buyslake said:
I am now convinced that companies like Net10, StraightTalk, and Red Pocket DO NOT offer the same speeds as AT&T.
I have been an AT&T customer for the past 10 years. However, the the last 5 months I have gone from AT&T to StraightTalk, to Net10, then to Red Pocket.
What I am exp, varies greatly and sporadically, and almost always seemed to be have a long hesitation at the start of downloading a webpage.
Last night, I went into the AT&T store. I told the sales person I had Red Pocket and I asked if I could buy the Samsung Galaxy S 4 on the prepaid service for 1 month then use my Red Pocket sim card after that. We looked up the information and found that I they will not unlock the phone for 6 months on a prepaid even when paying the full price.
So I wanted to test if the Red Pocket would work on the phone without unlocking it.
To my surprise she let me take out my Red Pocket sim card from my phone and put it in the Samsung Galaxy S 4. I changed the APN to the Red Pocket APN settings. And guess what!!!!
The internet and phone service worked!
Now it was time to do a data speed test. I noticed that the internet web pages always opened slowly on my phone and I wasn't sure if it was problem with my phone or if it was the Red Pocket service.
I had two S4's side by side so I was able to open the browsers on both and I spent an hour opening and closing web pages at the same time.
The phone that had the AT&T sim card was ALWAYS way faster at loading webpages then the Red Pocket SIM and I purchased the Red Pocket ultimate $65/mo. plan. The Red Pocket phone always had a day opening the pages and often times took a painfully long time to completely load a page. I experienced this same problem with Net10 and StraightTalk service.
So by saving money getting using these resellers of AT&T's service you are not saving anything. You are getting a service with slow choked data transmission.
Any one else have have any data on the speeds? Or to share your experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well ive noticed verizon gets service in my school but att(net10) doesnt but they get the same service outside
Related
For $35 a month for technically sprint i will plunk down $300 for this beauty but how fast are the downloads?
Seems faster than my tmobile vibrant 3g was.
Sent from my MOTWX435KT using XDA App
it all depends on service and tower loads.. like at around 6pm i get 300kbps and at 6am i get 1400-1500 kbps... right now its 8:30am and im getting 850kbps... so it all depends sometimes i get 100kbps all the way down to 30kbps.. but the triumph was faster than my Buddy droid x and he had two bars i only had one.. at least 3 times faster ( both on 3g)
I was on SERO 500, and my Sprint phone died, so I want to upgrade to SEROP, but calling Sprint (5 times, they know what is SEROP but would not give it to me), email ecare (3 times, then no one reply anymore). So I am now on VM $25 plan w/ Triumph.
The phone itself is just like any other Android phone. At home, I get almost no Data. Phone and SMS go thru no problem. Google Map, Browser, Youtube 90% of the time would not load, and complaint no connection. When I walk out of the apartment building Data works.
The problem is, my old Sprint phone is Touch Pro, and it got perfect Data.
So does Sprint has any special rule for VM phone? Since I am new to VM and Android, I am reading now how to update PRL.
the main difference is that sprint plans allow roaming on verizon towers. otherwise, the data speeds are the same. any speed difference you're seeing is likely caused by device differences (e.g. antenna, radio, ...)
VM doesn't roam, so it will never have as good reception as a sprint (or AT&T or Verizon) phone. Part of that $80-$100 a month you are paying them is for roaming access fees between the carriers.
Long and short of it is if you want the bet reception and data speeds, you need to pay for it. You aren't going to get top notch network performance for $25 a month.
emkorial said:
VM doesn't roam, so it will never have as good reception as a sprint (or AT&T or Verizon) phone. Part of that $80-$100 a month you are paying them is for roaming access fees between the carriers.
Long and short of it is if you want the bet reception and data speeds, you need to pay for it. You aren't going to get top notch network performance for $25 a month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, but you can get get top notch service for $35 a month. In some areas the best signal for a Sprint phone will be from Sprint towers; in that case, a Virgin phone (using only Sprint towers) will get the same service as a Sprint phone unless the actual phones are different.
I disagree. I have the phone and the web browsing speed was horrible as well as the download speed for apps. You guys may have towers closer to you. I stay in washington, dc. I did the prl swap, now i feel as though my data speeds are much faster, possible 300% more faster. I browse facebook, zoom! check out a youtube vid and no buffering on a 6minute video. If you have slow data speeds do the prl swap! You will appreciate the phone much more!
http://androidforums.com/triumph-all-things-root/395533-big-difference-data-speeds.html
Which PRL did you use, hitsndc? 01115? 01119? 01120? These are the 3 PRL's I've seen mentioned across the forums.
MarkMcCoskey said:
Which PRL did you use, hitsndc? 01115? 01119? 01120? These are the 3 PRL's I've seen mentioned across the forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used 01115
I just swapped to 01115; will advise if it makes a difference. I also attempted to force the phone into EvDO-only mode in the build.prop file - that MAY make a significant difference in places where the radio "hunts", which mine DOES when mobile.
If it works I'll post a "how to" which is more-or-less like what's been posted, with one exception - there's an easy way to get the phone to ALWAYS have the diag enabled using "anycut".
Update: EVDO-only lock is NOT effective, however with 01115 the phone re-selects to 3G much more reliably and quickly than with the base PRL and is also connecting to towers it never did before (as shown in "Open Signal"), so at least here it appears to be an improvement.
I swapped to 01115 myself.
Speed test are about the same, which I understood would be the case. As long as my connection is more consistent, I'd be happy. I've had a couple dropped calls. Will have to wait and see with this PRL.
I should check Google maps to see if it detects me closer/more accurately. I've had times where it was miles off, when I know there are towers closer. So hopefully I have better access to the closer towers.
Would still like to know the difference between the PRL's (01115, 01119, 01120, or any others that would work with the Triumph).
Genesis3 said:
I just swapped to 01115; will advise if it makes a difference. I also attempted to force the phone into EvDO-only mode in the build.prop file - that MAY make a significant difference in places where the radio "hunts", which mine DOES when mobile.
If it works I'll post a "how to" which is more-or-less like what's been posted, with one exception - there's an easy way to get the phone to ALWAYS have the diag enabled using "anycut".
Update: EVDO-only lock is NOT effective, however with 01115 the phone re-selects to 3G much more reliably and quickly than with the base PRL and is also connecting to towers it never did before (as shown in "Open Signal"), so at least here it appears to be an improvement.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing, with regards to locking into 3G more reliably, do the phone signal decibel levels improve as well? And how about voice quality?
Voice quality was never an issue here - this phone is capable of holding a voice call and being stable when it shows ZERO bars, which none of my other handsets have ever done.
The big difference I see is that there are other towers that now appear in the neighbor list and the handset does connect to them where it didn't before, so I am definitely "seeing" connection sources that I didn't know existed in the past.
It hasn't made a material difference in data rate performance that I can see from my house - the real test will be whether it makes a difference of materiality when I'm in the car and such, which is where I've seen a lot of "hunting" down to 1x and "sticking" there. We'll see if that is gone or not.
I'm keeping 1115 for now but have the original PRL in the event I need to go back to it.
Once I swapped my prl and added the EvDo line my Data more than doubled in speed. Like hitsndc said I am now able to stream a whole 4 min video with no buffer. Once I removed that line it would stop every few seconds. Added the line, back to no Buffer. I tried this a few times before I came to the conclusion that it did make a difference.
Once I updated the PRL I used opensignal from the market to see my towers and now I was locked on to a tower close to me that wasnt even showing up on the map before.
Im alot happier with my phone now. Once we get 2.3 on here Ill be good
Where did you put the EVDO line? In build.prop? That's where I stuck it - it made no difference for me; I still occasionally "hunt" to 1x service, but the PRL change DID make a difference as I now "see" towers (and connect to them) that I wasn't before.
Look guys I only had one bar.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
I am on T-mobile 5GB/month prepaid plan and would like to know if any of you have the same issue. What I found out is that download speed using ookla's speedtest app will show at around 10 to 25 mbps but I never got upload speed to ant stable level and average around 2 mbps regardless of cell tower, reception, or time of the day! It also seems that upload speed starts at 10mbps and after 1 -2 seconds will just stop, and then do like 1 mbps. Sometimes, ookla speedtest will not be able to finish the test using LTE and report network problems. I tried using different bandwidth test apps with similar results. HSPA+ does as usual, around 10mbps down 3 to 4 mbps up, no interruptions. Something is not working right and I sure don't like it. Yesterday, while connected on LTE my music streaming got interrupted and buffered every 20 minutes or so, like I am on EDGE, LOL (no actually... it's not funny at all). Hangout video chat (while on LTE) interrupted few times as well.
Update: Switching SIM cards didn't help. Upload speed is still extremely slow or will show network error. There are at least 6 other members reporting this issue with T-mobile LTE.
T-Mobile LTE here in Houston, TX. I'm don't have any issues that you mentioned above. Had the phone for 2 days.
peteus said:
I am on T-mobile 5GB/month prepaid plan and would like to know if any of you have the same issue. What I found out is that download speed using ookla's speedtest app will show at around 10 to 25 mbps but I never got upload speed to ant stable level and average around 2 mbps regardless of cell tower, reception, or time of the day! It also seems that upload speed starts at 10mbps and after 1 -2 seconds will just stop, and then do like 1 mbps. Sometimes, ookla speedtest will not be able to finish the test using LTE and report network problems. I tried using different bandwidth test apps with similar results. HSPA+ does as usual, around 10mbps down 3 to 4 mbps up, no interruptions. Something is not working right and I sure don't like it. Yesterday, while connected on LTE my music streaming got interrupted and buffered every 20 minutes or so, like I am on EDGE, LOL (no actually... it's not funny at all). Hangout video chat (while on LTE) interrupted few times as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you get throttled on prepaid to make way for the postpaid plans. its like this on every carrier.
Is this a new device / activation with a new(er) T-Mo micro-Sim card?
What device were you using before the N5? Try powering down the N5 and restarting it?
Reminds me of the old cable broadband days - turbo speed for that initial burst of extra speed, then it's back to same old, same old. Perhaps a lot of N5 on the special plan getting activated & seizing LTE's bandwidth ??
But, even HSPA+ speed is better than our soon-to-be history VZW 3G data with its lousy coverage at our home.
Zepius said:
you get throttled on prepaid to make way for the postpaid plans. its like this on every carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have prepaid but $30 month to month.
Letitride said:
Is this a new device / activation with a new(er) T-Mo micro-Sim card?
What device were you using before the N5? Try powering down the N5 and restarting it?
Reminds me of the old cable broadband days - turbo speed for that initial burst of extra speed, then it's back to same old, same old. Perhaps a lot of N5 on the special plan getting activated & seizing LTE's bandwidth ??
But, even HSPA+ speed is better than our soon-to-be history VZW 3G data with its lousy coverage at our home.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used Galaxy Nexus and cut SIM card to micro size. Do you think it may make a difference if I replace it with new T-Mobile micro card? Why? What could be different? I would assume something like that may be the problem if I couldn't connect to LTE band- but N5 does connect with this (old customized) SIM when signal is available. I at first thought it was overloaded T-Mobile tower, but then I drove around and tested with the same results.
peteus said:
I used Galaxy Nexus and cut SIM card to micro size. Do you think it may make a difference if I replace it with new T-Mobile micro card? Why? What could be different? I would assume something like that may be the problem if I couldn't connect to LTE band- but N5 does connect with this (old customized) SIM when signal is available. I at first thought it was overloaded T-Mobile tower, but then I drove around and tested with the same results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a 3 years old PAYG T-Mo Sim card ("regular/standard sized) and it was getting worn out from being swapped around - just by looking at the metal contacts) so I grabbed extra ones for 99cents (or was it free, whatever last month) just in case - not feeling to make a run to a local T-Mo store to ask for one to be swapped out. T-Mo support site mentioned about Sim card exhausion after 2 years (that's a new one to me too, but whatever) & that a new one should be exchanged - I couldn't swap it out online by updating or changing the Sim card, so ended up calling 877-xxx-xxxx & got transferred to a live operator and was done in less than 10 minutes, no questions asked once I came up with the correct PIN (ended up changing it anyway) - CSR didn't even ask for device's IMEI #, just read those long digits to him.
Waited a few minutes, rebooted and received 2 SMS & made a quick test call confirming that everything seemed to be working. It's working for me as I only switched to the $3 per day plan to check out the speed & back on PAGO by the minutes plan now on this line - it's my emergency backup line for voice calls.
I thought about & was ready to cut down the Sim to micr-Sim size with a template, but realized that by matching it to other free micro-Sims that I might be damaging the contacts as they are oversized beyond the micro-sim's dimensions.
If you have a spare free unactivated T-mo sim around, call them to swap it out to see if it might be the root cause - supposingly, older Sims like yours (and mine) might not be properly "provisioned" for 4G/LTE and possibly max'd out at 3G/HSPA+ in those days in their system's profile.
My friendly UPS driver just dropped off another free/free micro-sim plus a data only micro-sim for the tablet, so I'm going to play with the tablet and see how lucky I can get with the "free" 200MB monthly data offer.
Letitride said:
I had a 3 years old PAYG T-Mo Sim card ("regular/standard sized) and it was getting worn out from being swapped around - just by looking at the metal contacts) so I grabbed extra ones for 99cents (or was it free, whatever last month) just in case - not feeling to make a run to a local T-Mo store to ask for one to be swapped out. T-Mo support site mentioned about Sim card exhausion after 2 years (that's a new one to me too, but whatever) & that a new one should be exchanged - I couldn't swap it out online by updating or changing the Sim card, so ended up calling 877-xxx-xxxx & got transferred to a live operator and was done in less than 10 minutes, no questions asked once I came up with the correct PIN (ended up changing it anyway) - CSR didn't even ask for device's IMEI #, just read those long digits to him.
Waited a few minutes, rebooted and received 2 SMS & made a quick test call confirming that everything seemed to be working. It's working for me as I only switched to the $3 per day plan to check out the speed & back on PAGO by the minutes plan now on this line - it's my emergency backup line for voice calls.
I thought about & was ready to cut down the Sim to micr-Sim size with a template, but realized that by matching it to other free micro-Sims that I might be damaging the contacts as they are oversized beyond the micro-sim's dimensions.
If you have a spare free unactivated T-mo sim around, call them to swap it out to see if it might be the root cause - supposingly, older Sims like yours (and mine) might not be properly "provisioned" for 4G/LTE and possibly max'd out at 3G/HSPA+ in those days in their system's profile.
My friendly UPS driver just dropped off another free/free micro-sim plus a data only micro-sim for the tablet, so I'm going to play with the tablet and see how lucky I can get with the "free" 200MB monthly data offer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll get to T-Mobile store.
What does T-mobile say
There are at least 6 XDA members so far reporting issue with LTE upload speed on T-mobile. Switching SIM card to new one did not resolve the problem. One question for all with upload issues: Do you have 16 or 32GB version? I think it's vise to call T-mobile at this time in search for solution.
peteus said:
There are at least 6 XDA members so far reporting issue with LTE upload speed on T-mobile. Switching SIM card to new one did not resolve the problem. One question for all with upload issues: Do you have 16 or 32GB version? I think it's vise to call T-mobile at this time in search for solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this same problem. Nexus 5 here, and upload tests are abysmal, usually ranking at about .5mbps, whereas download is 12+.
Using a legit T-Mo micro-SIM. HSPA+ does NOT have these issues at all.
At some point soon, I'm going to go down to the T-Mobile store, and hopefully run a side-by-side test between their T-Mo branded Galaxy S4 and other devices, to compare with mine. If theirs doesn't show this issue, I'm filing a support ticket, as well as contacting Google.
I'm on the same plan and hadn't tested until you posted this. For me the results did matter what server I was on. I got close to the same download speeds you posted somewhere between 25-30 mbps down and upload went from .5 up to 20mbps when I switched servers. I have definitely noticed this phone faster but my old galaxy never slowed down in the middle of a dl. Like you mentioned after a period of time on a download it gets throttled maybe upload to IDK (havnt experienced it yet) but for me on a big(er) app like dead trigger 2 or HD wigets I get a fast dl to about 30-50% of the app with it saying something like 3 min left, then once it hits the throttle point to something like 30 min for the remainder of the dl. forcing me to cancel or use wifi. So T-mo is def. capping or watching ea dl on an individual basis and deciding off ea request a certain (what they feel to be) acceptable size for that ping, most likely to try to get rid of leach tethering. not really why it effects the LTE more than hspa +42 data tho??
So i was in a sprint store yesterday, upgrading my wife's phone to the S5. I was looking at the demo phones on display and i know those are on the new Spark Network.
So i did a speed test on both of the s5s and they were showing between 55 and 60mb down, and about 5-8 mb up
I went to the s3 that was on demo display and did a speed test on that phone, since they aren't on the spark network i would expect it to be lower.
It showed me 3-4 mb down and less than 1mb up
When my wife just bought her GS5, after all the activations and setup, we immediately did a speed test on the phone in the store, and it was abysmal
less than 1mb down, and even less than 1 mb up
So i am wondering, is there a difference in the Store phones Vs what's bought out of the box.
Were there any configuration changes done in the secret menus that aren't widely advertised? or am i missing something?
The phones are usually connected to a in-store wifi network, so the speed of the actual network is inaccurate. The main problem with Sprint's network is that they have the slowest internet speeds, thats the reason why they offer 100% unlimited data. If your not fortunate to live in a LTE market, your probably gonna be relying on open wifi networks to keep yourself sane. If you want fast and reliable, go with Verizon, but your gonna be paying a premium price. But, you might want to think about a prepaid phone, and use blank phone on wifi as a media device if you want to be cheap. The only guarantee you get with Sprint is unlimited everytthing, but speed is never promised.
JollyGrnReefer said:
The phones are usually connected to a in-store wifi network, so the speed of the actual network is inaccurate. The main problem with Sprint's network is that they have the slowest internet speeds, thats the reason why they offer 100% unlimited data. If your not fortunate to live in a LTE market, your probably gonna be relying on open wifi networks to keep yourself sane. If you want fast and reliable, go with Verizon, but your gonna be paying a premium price. But, you might want to think about a prepaid phone, and use blank phone on wifi as a media device if you want to be cheap. The only guarantee you get with Sprint is unlimited everytthing, but speed is never promised.
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The phone he is displaying is not on WIFI. The Store could have it's own AIRAVE though.
The stores I've visited appear to be on the public cell network.
I recently bought a new, unused, stock LG G2 to replace a gray market unlocked BLU Products phone because after years of being with T-Mobile with various phones, then sliding on over to Family Mobile (Walmarts discounted subsidiary T-Mobile service), my signal dropped consistently - mainly at home. My service was fine for years before and for about the first year I switched to Family Mobile from T-Mobile, but then, I developed very poor signal at home within the past 6 months.
I thought there was something wrong with the BLU phone, so I bought the G2 about a month ago. Same problem, no difference. At home, signal was going from 0 bars to 2 bars maximum every 10 seconds making phone calls impossible. I need the phone for business so you can imagine this problem is extra bad for me. When I'm out running around, my signal does reach maximum bars at times. This was the same case with the previous phone. This usually happens without rhyme or reason, but within a 1/2 mile radius from home, it's still very poor signal. After being with T-Mobile for years, it's mighty weird that this developed recently.
I've called customer service about 9 times within 2 months. It was no help. They checked service/towers/coverage and everything is fine and well covered in my area apparently. I've been all over the web looking for answers, especially regarding a winning APN. I've used Family Mobile recommended APN settings, T-Mobile's recommended APN settings, I even used a combination of the two with Family Mobile APN with T-Mobiles MMSC. and vica versa. I also bought a new Family Mobile SIM card. So far, that's helped the most. I now usuallly drop down to one bar, no less, and stay there while at home but it's still not good enough. I also get 4G LTE now since installing and activating the new SIM, but data isn't steady either, and pages load slowly routinely.
As I understand, the At&t G2 uses the same and more bands than T-Mobile, so tower reception should be fine. Do any of you have an idea of what direction to go next? Is it a problem that this is a AT&T branded phone that I'm trying to put on the the Family Mobile network? An unknown to me tweak to the APN?
I did a search and couldn't find a good spot to ask about plans so hopefully this fits here.
Recently upgraded from N4 to N5, since I now have have access to LTE (and T-Mobile has recently rolled out Band 2 coverage just about state wide in my state) it has opened up my service provider options. Currently on ST (AT&T) $45 a month, was hoping to be able to switch to something else and gain LTE speed (I have an early sim card and no LTE speed) and maybe save $5 or so a month.
Came across an ad for MetroPCS (MVNO for T-Mobile) offering a free LTE phone with porting of a non T-Mobile # (since I'm on AT&T right now I should be eligible). Figured I could pick up a free phone, drop the sim card into my N5 and keep the phone has a spare/give it to my son/sell it.
I have 2 questions:
1. If I were to give it to my son, would I have to use MetroPCS for service or could I use it on T-Mobile or any of its MVNOs (eyeing the $30 text/data plan). From what I have read I think it would be stuck on MetroPCS unless I unlock it, which is apparently a little difficult for their GSM devices.
2. Not sure if anyone would know the answer for sure, but the large majority of my data is used streaming music on pandora to my car radio (Android headunit running pandora app that connects to my phone via wireless tether). The appeal of MetroPCS vs. other MVNOs was even tho I lose 2GB of data (3 vs. 5) I save $5 a month and if my pandora steaming doesn't count then my monthly usage goes from about 4.5GB down to 2GB. I assume that MetroPCS just looks at the servers on the web the data is coming from and then flags anything from Pandora has not to be against my quota, it doesn't care if my phone then shares that data via wifi to another Android device.
Anyway thanks for any answers or feedback.
Well I have working tether now, I'll report back about the answer to 2. And I will steal a t-mo sim from another phone and check 1. but I believe the answer is it will only work with metropcs sims and not any t-mobile mvno.
OK to answer #2 it appears that A. MetroPCS is lying just streaming pandora on my phone seems to eat up data (or something is eating it up at an alarming rate with my phone idle and just playing pandora) and it most certainly is counted towards my data cap when its on a tethered device, in fact their whole data usage seems to be a big scam. According to the MyMetro app I have used 800mb in 3 days, this is with playing about 2 hours of pandora (which shouldn't count) 3 short trips of navigation, about 20 emails (none with attachments, just short text only emails) and about 10 minutes of web browsing. On ST that wouldn't have been more than a few hundred MB.
And lastly their coverage map isn't even remotely close, 3 separate times I have been outdoors on a main road in an area that is solid dark purple even at the most zoomed in level and I can travel a good mile in every direction before I get any kind of signal, let alone a 4G LTE signal.
/Rant