Help Extremely Slow Download Data Speeds On My Samsung Galaxy S2 I9100 Please HELP!

[joiggo]

Hi Everyone!!! I purchased a brand new SGS2 i9100 about a week ago and have been having slow download speeds since then! I also have an iphone and have been comparing the speeds by switching my sim card between phones. The average speeds for data in my area with my cellphone provider (Movistar) are 1100kbps Down and 400kbps Up

The iphone always gets 400kbps-1200kbps Down and 200kbps-500kbps Up

The SGS2 always gets 30kbps-120kbps Down and 200kbps-500kbps Up

This issue has been bugging me ever since I bought the phone. I have tested the speed like every 4 hours since I got the phone and 0 improvements.


Here is what I have tried so far:

* Factory Data Reset (No difference in speed)
* Sim card from different provider (No difference in speed)
* Updated to latest firmware available in my country (2.3.4 gingerbread) (No difference in speed)
* Checked the APNs and they were all set to the correct values (No difference in speed)

Here is my phone info:

Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100 (internationally unlocked version)
Running on android 2.3.4 GINGERBREAD.UHKI2
Baseband Version: I9100UHKI1
Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-I9100UHKI2-CL553601 se.infra@SEI-07 #2
This phone has never been rooted

Cellphone provider and apn:
Movistar de Venezuela
APN Name: movistar INTERNET
APN: internet.movistar.ve


At this point I am pretty desperate. I think this might have to do with some speed restriction the phone or something like that. Please help guys!!!

 

[Mortenha69]

I'm new to the forum but well versed when it comes to the nuts 'n' bolts of the binary world. And to help you, we need to eliminate some possible reasons as to why you experience this problem.

First off; What kind of software are you using to measure the download/upload speed?

Are you using the same App for both phones? If not this could be the culprit. To measure download/upload speed, most apps uses a server somewhere to download/upload a dummy file to determine the speed. If the test methods are different for your phones, then the results are not comparable. I.e. lets say the Iphone uses one server to get the dummy file and your SGSII uses another, there could be differences... The network will be as fast as the weakest link in the chain of network accessed.

Rule this out before you continue...

My two cents...

Morten

 

[joiggo]

I'm new to the forum but well versed when it comes to the nuts 'n' bolts of the binary world. And to help you, we need to eliminate some possible reasons as to why you experience this problem.

First off; What kind of software are you using to measure the download/upload speed?

Are you using the same App for both phones? If not this could be the culprit. To measure download/upload speed, most apps uses a server somewhere to download/upload a dummy file to determine the speed. If the test methods are different for your phones, then the results are not comparable. I.e. lets say the Iphone uses one server to get the dummy file and your SGSII uses another, there could be differences... The network will be as fast as the weakest link in the chain of network accessed.

Rule this out before you continue...

My two cents...

Morten

Hello! Thanks for your reply. I used SPEEDTEST dot net app on both phones. I did about 20 speed tests on each phone on the same place with the same ping, server and using the same sim card!

 

[ironass]

Hello and welcome to android forums joiggo!

* Updated to latest firmware available in my country (2.3.4 gingerbread) (No difference in speed)

My first thought is that your firmware, 2.3.4, is very old by current standards. Gingerbread is now on 2.3.6 and, of course, ICS has been released. Both of these contain newer, and faster, modems.

If you were rooted, I would be recommending that you flash the latest ICS modem to your phone, (modems are not firmware dependent).

Since there is no ICS firmware release for Venezula, as yet, I'm wondering if the Argentinian, Moviestar, ICS firmware might be compatible for you.

You could flash the above firmware via Odin, as described in post#1, here.

The Argentinian, Moviestar, firmware for ICS, LPJ, is available for download, here.

This will, of course, void your warranty and is not without risk.

 

[joiggo]

I will be upgrading to ics via odin like you said to see if that fixes it (I guess I don't want to update just the modem). I have 3 questions for you tho:

1). Will I be able to downgrade back to 2.3.4 if there is a problem?
2). Do I need to root my phone in order to upgrade my phone to ICS?
3). Does it have to be The Argentinian, Movistar, firmware for ICS?

Thanks a lot man...

 

[ironass]

I will be upgrading to ics via odin like you said to see if that fixes it (I guess I don't want to update just the modem). I have 3 questions for you tho:

1). Will I be able to downgrade back to 2.3.4 if there is a problem?

Yes, you can go back to your original firmware by flashing it via Odin. Type in *#1234# on your keypad before changing your firmware as this will give you the firmware you are on now.

2). Do I need to root my phone in order to upgrade my phone to ICS?

No, you do not need to root your phone if you are flashing via Odin.

3). Does it have to be The Argentinian, Movistar, firmware for ICS?

No, it can be any firmware for the GT-i9100 that has your language pack.


For details of firmware and language packs, see, here.

 

[joiggo]

Yes, you can go back to your original firmware by flashing it via Odin. Type in *#1234# on your keypad before changing your firmware as this will give you the firmware you are on now.



No, you do not need to root your phone if you are flashing via Odin.



No, it can be any firmware for the GT-i9100 that has your language pack.


For details of firmware and language packs, see, here.

Well i meant like if for example i install a ics from Europe. would it have a different modem version for European carriers.

 

[ironass]

Well i meant like if for example i install a ics from Europe. would it have a different modem version for European carriers.

That would depend if Venezuela operates on different bands from, say, Europe. For instance, European modems are not ideal for the US because of this.

 

[joiggo]

That would depend if Venezuela operates on different bands from, say, Europe. For instance, European modems are not ideal for the US because of this.

Thank you. You have been very helpful. I will try a US, EUROPEAN and a South American ics version to see if one of them works best. I will update you guys with this so if someone else has the same problem they can fix it too.

 

[joiggo]

Hello and welcome to android forums joiggo!



My first thought is that your firmware, 2.3.4, is very old by current standards. Gingerbread is now on 2.3.6 and, of course, ICS has been released. Both of these contain newer, and faster, modems.

If you were rooted, I would be recommending that you flash the latest ICS modem to your phone, (modems are not firmware dependent).

Since there is no ICS firmware release for Venezula, as yet, I'm wondering if the Argentinian, Moviestar, ICS firmware might be compatible for you.

You could flash the above firmware via Odin, as described in post#1, here.

The Argentinian, Moviestar, firmware for ICS, LPJ, is available for download, here.

This will, of course, void your warranty and is not without risk.

OK. so I upgraded to that ICS from argentina. same speed as before average (110kbps down and 600kbps up)

I will be messing with other different ICSs and see if I get some improvement on the speed

 

[joiggo]

Hey guys so the solution to my problem. I decided to post this back here so if someone ever faces a similar issue, they can solve it.

In my case the data speed problem was solved by was flashing to this specific ICS: I9100XWLPD_NEELP4_Nordic_Android_4.0.3

Of course, if you are in a different country or different carrier, then you'll have to try different ics versions.

I tried 6 other different versions and that's the one that helped. My phone is getting now 2mbps down and 700kbps up. (I know that's nothing compared to the speeds you get in other countries, but is a hell lot better than what I got before)

Many thanks to user "ironass" for helping me out with my issue. Without him i'd probably never fixed this. He gets all the credit for this solution.

 

[ironass]

Many thanks to user "ironass" for helping me out with my issue. Without him i'd probably never fixed this. He gets all the credit for this solution.

Glad you have got yourself sorted out joiggo.

So it would seem that the ICS, LPG, firmware with the LPX modem is the best for you... as it is, indeed, for me.

Congratulations and good luck!