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Why are 3G speed tests so slow?

Here's my speed test history. The two large ones are Wifi. I wanted to make sure the app wasn't having issues. It's amazing to see the difference between 1 bar and 3 bars of Wifi. My 3G tests are dismal.

snap20100625_093849.png
 
I did several tests around town in the last hour, some within line of sight of a sprint tower, and my tests never broke 500 kbps, and usually hovered around 200-300. what could be causing this
 
The real question here is, do you have any issues with your phone running on 3g? Can you load apps,download apps, browse web pages with out issue? If so then try the pdanet tether app and see what kind of performance you get and go from there.
 
Hmmm, I wonder if it could be the "data throttling" we saw a while back. I doubt it though. I remember my one speed restult on launch day, 10 mbps down and 5.52 up. I was amazed lol. Screenshot:

Its the last one as its sorted from newest to oldest.

zk5nio.png


Then things just got worse from there :(
 
jsward12 said:
The real question here is, do you have any issues with your phone running on 3g? Can you load apps,download apps, browse web pages with out issue? If so then try the pdanet tether app and see what kind of performance you get and go from there.
Click to expand...

I was attempting to load facebook pages over 3g this past tuesday, but they would not load 100%, the green bar never finished. I flipped wifi on, and there was no issue.
 
Ouch ok yeah so a legit problem. My speeds are up and down but never have an issue with 3g which is why I question these tests.
 
So...I've been lurking on the forums for a few months now and this post finally got me to register.

I updated my PRL to the 60667 version Wednesday night. Thursday I woke up to a bunch of Error 67's and 104's on both my wife's EVO and my own EVO. Tried a bit of troubleshooting on my own before finally calling Sprint. Checked programing, restored the data profile, did an RTN on my phone, checked for network outages, opened a ticket, etc, etc. Basically I spent most of my day yesterday talking to Sprint (including advanced tech support).

During this time my 3G speeds (if I could connect at all) were garbage...like <100 kbps down. Usually I'm getting somewhere in the 2 Mbps range (I'm in Seattle for what it's worth). This morning they supposedly cancelled and reactivated my service...so far no problems, but speeds still suck.

So...could any of this have something to do with the PRL update to 60667? Now that a few more of you have updated it seems like there are a few more reports of problems.

I'm hoping this gets figured out. I don't care about screen seperation, 30 fps caps, grounding issues, different screens, or any of that nonsense. I do care that I can use the data I'm paying for.
 
ThatNewAndroidGuy said:
Hmmm, I wonder if it could be the "data throttling" we saw a while back. I doubt it though. I remember my one speed restult on launch day, 10 mbps down and 5.52 up. I was amazed lol. Screenshot:

Its the last one as its sorted from newest to oldest.

zk5nio.png


Then things just got worse from there :(
Click to expand...

That is not possible. Not on 3g and not on 4g, you can not go faster then 10mbps on 4g and 3.1 mbps on 3g. It is a radio hardware cap.




Coolguy, please go to http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ select San Francisco post the results.
 
Did a trick that I found on a xda thread, the one where you hack the phone to work on VZ network. Worked great, got consistent speeds above 1mb at home where before i was getting only about 200-350kbps. but lost 3g after a day and a half, guess went over the roaming limit. But in the same thread there was another post about changing the SID, looks like most evos are set to Kansas city, changed mine to where i am, Providence, RI, and I am getting a bit better speeds. still hovers around the old speed some times, but more near or above 500kpbs most of the time, and sometimes jumps up to about 800kbs, only got that one time before at 2am, lol.

[6/16]*techknowfile's* - Hack the HTC EVO - 3G w/o Sprint EVDO coverage! - xda-developers

here is where i found the sid if anyone wants to try and not read the whole thread, it is somewhere in the middle. Sprints seems to be in the 4000-4999 range, just make sure you find the closest to you and that it is a sprint one.
The Roaming Zone-System ID (SID) List
You need your MSL to be able to do it, ##DATA#, Edit mode, enter MSL, go to advanced and scroll down to Home SID/NID, leave NID alone and just change SID, the first set of numbers. Hit menu, and commit changes. If it lists 4139 that means it was set to Kansas City. This is not the hack for VZ 3g, thats a whole other process, lol.

And just to add, been using sprint tv since the change back to sprint 3g with the SID fix, and it is running much better, little lag and no to little pixilation, much better than before at the same location.
 
Im in Phoenix and run random tests with the speedtest.net app.. 90% of the time i get better than 1.2down and .7up (average is probably about 1.5 down, but seen as high as 2.2down) on 3G. Im happy with these numbers. its been very consistant too.
 
Jonhern said:
Did a trick that I found on a xda thread, the one where you hack the phone to work on VZ network. Worked great, got consistent speeds above 1mb at home where before i was getting only about 200-350kbps. but lost 3g after a day and a half, guess went over the roaming limit. But in the same thread there was another post about changing the SID, looks like most evos are set to Kansas city, changed mine to where i am, Providence, RI, and I am getting a bit better speeds. still hovers around the old speed some times, but more near or above 500kpbs most of the time, and sometimes jumps up to about 800kbs, only got that one time before at 2am, lol.

[6/16]*techknowfile's* - Hack the HTC EVO - 3G w/o Sprint EVDO coverage! - xda-developers

here is where i found the sid if anyone wants to try and not read the whole thread, it is somewhere in the middle. Sprints seems to be in the 4000-4999 range, just make sure you find the closest to you and that it is a sprint one.
The Roaming Zone-System ID (SID) List
You need your MSL to be able to do it, ##DATA#, Edit mode, enter MSL, go to advanced and scroll down to Home SID/NID, leave NID alone and just change SID, the first set of numbers. Hit menu, and commit changes. If it lists 4139 that means it was set to Kansas City. This is not the hack for VZ 3g, thats a whole other process, lol.

And just to add, been using sprint tv since the change back to sprint 3g with the SID fix, and it is running much better, little lag and no to little pixilation, much better than before at the same location.
Click to expand...

If you do this and you go above 300mb per month, sprint will kick you off. Period. Please read and understand your terms of service. What you are promoting can and will get a lot of people in some very serous problems. Please refrain from posting material that will cause people to get kicked from there carrier.

terms of service said:
Off-network Roaming: The primary use of your Device must be for domestic purposes within the Sprint-owned network. Domestic means use in the 50 United States and U.S. Territories (except Guam). Sprint reserves the right, without notice, to deny, terminate, modify, disconnect or suspend service if off-network usage in a month exceeds: (1) voice: 800 min. or a majority of minutes; or (2) data: 300 megabytes or a majority of kilobytes. The display on your device may not always be on and will not indicate whether you will incur roaming charges. You can monitor usage online through My Account. Roaming is not available with single-band phones, or to customers who reside or whose primary use is outside an area covered by the Nationwide Sprint Network. Sprint may limit or terminate service if you move outside of the Sprint owned-network.
Click to expand...

https://manage.sprintpcs.com/output/en_US/manage/MyPhoneandPlan/ChangePlans/popLegalTermsPrivacy.htm
 
RiverOfIce said:
If you do this and you go above 300mb per month, sprint will kick you off. Period. Please read and understand your terms of service. What you are promoting can and will get a lot of people in some very serous problems. Please refrain from posting material that will cause people to get kicked from there carrier.



https://manage.sprintpcs.com/output/en_US/manage/MyPhoneandPlan/ChangePlans/popLegalTermsPrivacy.htm
Click to expand...

Yeah, I am not promoting the roaming one, but changing the SID is a different thing, does not have to do with using VZ network. It has improved coverage on the Sprint Network.
 
Finally people are posting with the same experiences I've seen since I got this phone. I had assumed Sprint's network is just horribly slow, but now I'm hearing that might not be the case from people with other phones on Sprint. I average 500kbps down, every now and then I'll break 1mbps. 4G (when I can get it) has yet to break 2.8mbps down.

This isn't just in speedtest apps, either. I don't store media on my phone, I stream it from my home server using Subsonic. I can see exactly how fast (or not as the case may be) those files are transferring.

By comparison, I always got over 1.2mbps on my iPhone 3G and my co-workers are consistently getting 2.5mbps and even 3.0 at times on 3G.
 
Jonhern said:
Are you doing the VZ thing? Got the same, but stopped working after a day and a half.
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yes, but there's multiple PRL's and i tried quite a few before i found one that worked well with my location.

i use 40050 which is older.

i tried 40060, 30045, 40055, 01337, 31337, and 00001 before i realized 40050 was the best for me. some of the others would work, but then i'd go to a certain area and there would be no 3G, or some wouldn't work with 3G at all.
 
Jonhern said:
Yeah, I am not promoting the roaming one, but changing the SID is a different thing, does not have to do with using VZ network. It has improved coverage on the Sprint Network.
Click to expand...

how are you changing your sid and where might i find an sid for charlotte, nc? i just want a better signal is all. thanks
 
mrvirginia said:
yes, but there's multiple PRL's and i tried quite a few before i found one that worked well with my location.

i use 40050 which is older.

i tried 40060, 30045, 40055, 01337, 31337, and 00001 before i realized 40050 was the best for me. some of the others would work, but then i'd go to a certain area and there would be no 3G, or some wouldn't work with 3G at all.
Click to expand...

How long have you been using it? How much data have you used?
 
Jonhern said:
How long have you been using it? How much data have you used?
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almost a month. i can't check data usage anymore because i just merged my account with my moms. i'll see if i can email her and get her account info and get back to you.

no info on changing the SID?
 
mrvirginia said:
almost a month. i can't check data usage anymore because i just merged my account with my moms. i'll see if i can email her and get her account info and get back to you.

no info on changing the SID?
Click to expand...

posted above #34, you need to get your MSL first, but since you have been changing your PRL guessing you already have it, if not dial *2 to get it, i just asked and they gave it, just say you don't want to reprogram with them, that you want to do it yourself. Its a dix digit pass-code.
 
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