GS3 Very slow download speed, <500kbs

[gocartone]

Just got my Galaxy S3 (Verizon) last week, and I have been having problems with the 3G connection on it. Testing in the same spot where my Droid X would pull 1.5mbs(my house), I am getting around 400kbs on average using Speedtest.net. Sometimes it jumps up to ~1mbs, but if I run 10 tests back to back I would call the average 400kbs, with the lowest being 67kbs!!! I've also noticed that it can barely run Pandora when I'm driving(skips every ~30 seconds, not HD streaming), while the DX would run it silky smooth. I turned off 4G and WIFI and that didn't help at all.

This doesn't seem normal, or is the antenna Samsung used completely useless? I really like the phone, but it's totally useless to me if the 3G is going to run at near dial up speeds, and the actual reception is much weaker than my DX was. If this is a Samsung issue it's getting traded in for the Maxx so I have a smartphone I can actually use I purchased it knowing that it was going to be weaker than Motorola, but it's all but useless without WIFI right now.

Thanks for any help!

 

[nseriessaga]

Just got my Galaxy S3 (Verizon) last week, and I have been having problems with the 3G connection on it. Testing in the same spot where my Droid X would pull 1.5mbs(my house), I am getting around 400kbs on average using Speedtest.net. Sometimes it jumps up to ~1mbs, but if I run 10 tests back to back I would call the average 400kbs, with the lowest being 67kbs!!! I've also noticed that it can barely run Pandora when I'm driving(skips every ~30 seconds, not HD streaming), while the DX would run it silky smooth. I turned off 4G and WIFI and that didn't help at all.

This doesn't seem normal, or is the antenna Samsung used completely useless? I really like the phone, but it's totally useless to me if the 3G is going to run at near dial up speeds, and the actual reception is much weaker than my DX was. If this is a Samsung issue it's getting traded in for the Maxx so I have a smartphone I can actually use I purchased it knowing that it was going to be weaker than Motorola, but it's all but useless without WIFI right now.

Thanks for any help!

Sounds to me 100% that you're being throttled by Verizon.. once u hit a certain amount of data usage theye limit your data speeds. Whenever I'm throttled, my speeds are consistently around 400-500kbps as well.. I hate this as it makes having a lte device almost useless if you use your phone without wifi as often as I do. That and a couple of reasons when comparing both the international version vs the US version made me decide to stick with the international one.

 

[gocartone]

Not even close using too much data, it reset last week I'm at like 150mb. It seems like it gets decent reception outside my house, but considering my DX would run 1.5MB/s constantly in my house without a problem it has to be something with the phone.

Like I said before, I really want to like this phone, but it's not even comparable to my DX for reception. I know it's not going to be as good as a Moto phone, but it's damn near useless as it sits. I've pulled the battery and sim card, played with some of the settings on it, and it hasn't changed at all.

 

[BigBeefy]

I have had the same problem, and I am on Sprint. I just got my phone on Black Friday. Today is Wednesday. Speeds on my iPhone4 BLOW this GS3 away. I am so upset about it. I am actually thinking about just trading it in for a iPhone5. Very disappointed in the speeds of this phone.
It is not at all what I thought it would be.
Sprint says I have GREAT reception at my house. I get zero to 1 bar, no 3g and most of the time I am roaming.

 

[Theonesalmon]

Speeds are fine, and this phone gets better reception than both my droid, and my old bold 9800 on 3G.

Might want to get your phones checked out, or see if they are running anything that's downloading in the background while your trying speedtests.

 

[gocartone]

Speeds are fine, and this phone gets better reception than both my droid, and my old bold 9800 on 3G.

Might want to get your phones checked out, or see if they are running anything that's downloading in the background while your trying speedtests.

Wherever there is 4G signal it is awesome, but I don't live in or near a 4G town (nearest is about an hour away). 3G speeds have always been painfully slow and flaky compared to my DX.

Another thing I forgot to bring up in the original post, and have been getting so sick of I'm getting a Razr Maxx HD, is the call quality is totally worthless. 1-2 bars in my house where my DX has full bars. Both say they have the same signal strength, but my DX would make crystal clear calls compared to every call breaking up and a lot of them being dropped with the GS3. A lot of areas where my DX had 2-3 bars and could still make perfectly fine phone calls the GS3 has no signal at all.

The 3G reception is better than the actual phone reception(still far below Moto), even though the speeds are slow and inconsistent. There are many places I can go online while getting a "No Service Found" message if I try to make a call. That's why I've lasted so long with this phone as I use it more online than making calls, but something is seriously wrong when you can browse the net and not have a good enough signal to make a damn phone call!

The Maxx HD might be a small stepping stone for me while I wait to see what the Google/Motorola phone has to offer. Motorola build quality and antennas with instant updates and cutting edge hardware is going to make for a fantastic phone. The original droid Razr and now the Razr HD were both letdowns to me as far as the actual hardware specs (outdated when released), but after trying a Samsung and seeing what my friends with other brands have to offer for reception, I'm sticking with them.

 

[gocartone]

Traded the S3 for a Maxx HD today. 3G speeds are as good if not better than my Droid X, double what my S3 was seeing in my house, and calls are crystal clear again. It's not as smooth as my S3, and from what little I've used the camera on the RMHD it's not near as good, but the fact that I can go back to using my phone almost everywhere is WAY worth it (and the huge battery doesn't hurt either!).