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is there a difference in data speeds between metro GSM 3G and true tmobile 3G?

akmsr

akmsr

Android Enthusiast
hi all,
i am on metro GSM 3G. my location does not have LTE. i switched to metro from boost couple of months ago. while researching before that i gathered that t-mobile 3G data speeds averages between 3~5 mbps down which i considered ok for me at that time. now after two months i figured out that i get highest 2 mbps down only between 11 pm and 6 am and rest of the time under 1 mbps for which reason i left boost in the first place. its like metro being an MVNO is getting throttled for data speed.
what i am wondering is that if i had gone to t-mobile prepaid 70$ unlimited instead of metro, would have i seen better 3G speeds? that is the title of this thread.
any users who used both metro GSM 3G and t-mobile 3G (preferably in the same location) care to weigh in?
 
Would have? No one can tell. But in a poorly provisioned area (few towers/many users), speed drops drastically during high usage periods. It doesn't matter who the carrier is, if you're out in the boonies, on a carrier that normally gives you 50mbps, and a national disaster strikes, you'll probably get dial-up speeds if there are a few hundred other people trying to get the news off that same tower face at the same time.

Measure your speed using Ookla (speedtest.net) to a server no more than a few miles from the tower you're on. (Take a drive if necessary.) Speed testing is between you and the speed testing server. If you test your speed on a nearby server, then on one cross the country, you'll see the difference. (Try one halfway around the world and go to lunch.)

Numbers don't lie, but they conceal things. Your carrier has no control over how fast your connection is once it leaves their equipment. If you're not measuring your speed to a server that's virtually in the same room as your carrier's equipment, the number you get is going to be slower than your speed to your carrier's gateway - which is the only measurement that means anything. (And in some cases, like gaming, speed isn't nearly as important as ping time.)
 
From all who have been testing and posting screenshots it seems they have the same speeds.

But if you're thinking of H+21 or 42 as 3G and looking at tmobiles map it will say 4G for those but I believe 3G on the map is HSPA 7.2 which will average around 1mbps.
 
Gman9831 said:
From all who have been testing and posting screenshots it seems they have the same speeds.

But if you're thinking of H+21 or 42 as 3G and looking at tmobiles map it will say 4G for those but I believe 3G on the map is HSPA 7.2 which will average around 1mbps.
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this makes sense.
 
Rxpert83 said:
Speeds in *your* area depend entirely on the network conditions where you are

Not all locations are equal.
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i get that but was wondering MVNO signal is treated differently at the tower with lower priority or not.
 
akmsr said:
i get that but was wondering MVNO signal is treated differently at the tower with lower priority or not.
Click to expand...

Valid question.

T-Mobile has a pay by the day prepaid plan, have you tried that to test the speeds in your area?
 
I've noticed each phone will post differnt speeds. Just for giggles I tested both my wife's and my LG L9's together with noticeable difference. Maybe because I'm rooted with only 450mb available and I just did a reset to hers. With only speedtest installed she won hands down. Don't ask numbers I forget.
 
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