Amazon Prime download not right

[AndyHaf]

This is about a strange difficulty with Amazon Prime. Amazon support says they are absolutely not responsible, that Amazon never does this to customers.

My computer internet access is via a mobil hotspot from an Android phone. The phone contract allows only 5Mbps download speed for the hotspot, even though, on the phone itself, download speed may be 50Mbps. Why? That is just what the carrier does.

My Windows 10 professional system (19045.2846) is up to date. Amazon Prime software has recently been reinstalled.

The cell phone carrier started carrying a 4G/5G network a while back. They wanted everyone to switch to the new network but many phones are not compatible with the new network. After being told the old network may be discontinued soon, and being offering a rebate on a new phone, I started on the new network with a new 5G phone three weeks ago. There is no 5G service in my area, so my service is still 4G. The contract for mobil hotspot is the same as on the old network and internet speed tests on the computer still run at the contract speed.

Except for Amazon Prime video downloads:
I’ve used Amazon Prime for the past year by downloading videos on my computer, wuing mobil hotspot of the phone, to watch later because the 5Mbps bandwidth doesn’t always give decent streaming. Downloads were at 5Mbps, according to Windows Task Manager. Now, however, on the new network, new phone, Amazon videos download at a steady 2Mbps, 60% slower than on the old network, and of course it takes considerably more time to download a video. A internet speed test run in the browser, even while a video is downloading at 2Mbps, stills shows the contract 5Mbps download speed (actually about 5.7Mbps).

I’ve gone over this with the carrier a couple of times, I spoke to Amazon Prime support. I tried all their suggestions. I’ve been told by a couple of other Amazon Prime users who agreed to run tests that their download speeds are very fast (they are not using cellphone hotspots). I have run out of ideas to find the source of this problem. It is quite annoying and inconvenient. Any insights or suggestions?

 

[AugieTN]

Try another wifi connection. I don't know where you are, but some place by you should have free wifi

 

[olbriar]

Take a look at this link. It's a general how to increase your hotspot speed.

 

[AndyHaf]

Try another wifi connection. I don't know where you are, but some place by you should have free wifi

Yes, I would like to do that, and there is one sort-of free WiFi connection available, but I cannot take my computer into the public library. Their WiFi signal does not reach to me here, at home.

 

[AndyHaf]

Take a look at this link. It's a general how to increase your hotspot speed.

That might work for some people but when the hotspot bandwidth is set (and controlled) by the carrier, it is not a technical problem. It is what the contract allows. The contract says 5Mbps. I always got 5Mbps -- until now as described above.

I wasn't real happy with 5Mbps but at least I got what I was paying for. Now an internet speed test says I am still getting 5Mbps (actually usually tests at 5,7Mbps) EXCEPT when I do Amazon Prime video downloads which are 60% slower than contract. Something is responsible but "what" is what I need to discover. Maybe if I understood it I could do something about it.

 

[olbriar]

Certainly not answering your lack of hotspot speed questions, have you considered downloading the files to your phone and then transferring them to your PC via USB?

 

[AndyHaf]

Certainly not answering your lack of hotspot speed questions, have you considered downloading the files to your phone and then transferring them to your PC via USB?

This is DRM stuff. I can't even find the downloaded files on either my Windows computer or my phone.

 

[AugieTN]

This is DRM stuff. I can't even find the downloaded files on either my Windows computer or my phone.

That DRM stuff can really mess things up. I bought a movie off Google (full price $19.99) and downloaded it. Wife and I were camping in area with no service.I tried to play the movie I bought, but it wouldn't let me start it with no internet, due to DRM.

 

[AndyHaf]

I used to read public library books on a Android table. It was nice in various ways. Checkout was for three weeks. Everything worked nicely for a long time. I could read wherever I wanted to go, no internet connect needed after the download. Then they got more paranoid,; I don't know how it serves them. Every couple of days it was necessary to reconnect of a few seconds, otherwise the program (Libby) refused to display the book. This got to be such a pain. I could not read when I wanted unless I happened to be at home, so I quit using it.

 

[mikedt]

This is about a strange difficulty with Amazon Prime. Amazon support says they are absolutely not responsible, that Amazon never does this to customers.

Except for Amazon Prime video downloads:
I’ve used Amazon Prime for the past year by downloading videos on my computer, wuing mobil hotspot of the phone, to watch later because the 5Mbps bandwidth doesn’t always give decent streaming. Downloads were at 5Mbps, according to Windows Task Manager. Now, however, on the new network, new phone, Amazon videos download at a steady 2Mbps, 60% slower than on the old network, and of course it takes considerably more time to download a video. A internet speed test run in the browser, even while a video is downloading at 2Mbps, stills shows the contract 5Mbps download speed (actually about 5.7Mbps).

Could this be a net neutrality* issue with your "new network"? Where an ISP or carrier may throttle back on certain content that they're not providing, e.g. they may reduce the bandwith available for video streaming and downloads. Suggest try runnig via a VPN, and see if your Amazon Prime videos are still slowed.

* "Net neutrality is the principle that an internet service provider (ISP) has to provide access to all sites, content and applications at the same speed, under the same conditions without blocking or giving preference to any content."

 

[AndyHaf]

Where an ISP or carrier may throttle back on certain content that they're not providing

The carrier does not provide any content, only cell phone service. They told me they do not reduce speed . Of course heavy traffic, signal interference, etc. may reduce speed, and sometimes does, but that is not the problem with video downloads. I can measure to find out when the bandwidth is reduced below normal, especially when it is too slow for decent downloading of large files, so I don't try at those times. I usually wait until near, or after, midnight when general traffic is low and an internet speed test is likely to show 30 to 60Mbps on the phone itself. Of course nothing above 5 or 6Mbps is relevant for hotspot use. I get the same hotspot speed when the phone tests at 5Mbps as when it tests at 60Mbps.

 

[mikedt]

FWIW when I'm tethering a laptop or just using the phone itself on 5G, I'm seeing about 90-120Mbps download, and 60-70Mbps upload speeds, in the middle of the day.

 

[AndyHaf]

I would like to test downloading some other files, not from Amazon, that are 400MB or larger (single file, not a series of smaller files) but I don't know where to find any.

FWIW when I'm tethering a laptop or just using the phone itself on 5G, I'm seeing about 90-120Mbps download, and 60-70Mbps upload speeds, in the middle of the day.

And, I bet your cellphone provider doesn't limit your mobil hotspot speed to 5Mbps. Without that contract provision I could get up to 60 some Mbps based on test on the phone (4G signal only)

 

[mikedt]

I would like to test downloading some other files, not from Amazon, that are 400MB or larger (single file, not a series of smaller files) but I don't know where to find any.

Try downloading a large Android APK file from APKpure.com or APKmirror.com. That should prove if it is your carrier throttling your Amazon Prime. A fix for that would be to either change provider, or to use a VPN so they can't see(packet sniff) and determine the content you're downloading.

And, I bet your cellphone provider doesn't limit your mobil hotspot speed to 5Mbps. Without that contract provision I could get up to 60 some Mbps based on test on the phone (4G signal only)

I guess you're in the US. Because that's the only country I've read on AF where carriers do things like that, like throttling tethering speeds or make you pay extra to use your phone's hotspot to connect a laptop.

I have 40GB month on my contract with China Unicom 5G service, and can use it with with phone or laptop, and it's always fast.

 

[nickdalzell]

That DRM stuff can really mess things up. I bought a movie off Google (full price $19.99) and downloaded it. Wife and I were camping in area with no service.I tried to play the movie I bought, but it wouldn't let me start it with no internet, due to DRM.

I used to download Play Movies and TV content to bring to my camper where I'd screen cast it to a Samsung Smart TV (that supported Screen Mirroring that was integrated into many older Samsung phones at the time, not related to Chromecast) because my camper had no internet and DTV sucked ass (as in it'd be great if pixels and robotic sound fx were your thing, analog was better, thanks for nothing, Obama!).

That TV ultimately died. The replacement only supported Chromecast, and Play Movies would say 'you must remove your download before you can cast to this screen' which meant I could only watch the movie/TV show offline if I wanted to view it through a 4.8" Samsung SIII Screen and kill my eyes. I hated that so much!

 

[AndyHaf]

Here is what I’ve found so far. Remember, this entire discussion is ONLY about when there are no major restrictions (high traffic, signal interference, etc) on the basic cell phone signal

At best, my phone tests above 60Mbps, at worse, less than 1Mbps. I learned very early not to bother with video downloads unless the tests recorded above the 5Mbps that the carrier contract allows for mobil hotspot. Usually this is 20 to 50Mbps on the phone. When the phone tests high, the computer, with Firefox, using the mobil hotspot, tests above 5Mbps, almost always at 5.7Mbps. The carrier’s contract speed limit for mobil hotspot use is 5Mbps.

The Windows Task Manager is very useful for gaining insight to internet interaction on the computer. One view produces a graph of total download rate for the last 60 seconds, updated every second. The other view provides a numerical value of internet throughput for each application using the internet, also updated very frequently.

I recently found, never having tested this before, that while Amazon video downloads are running at a steady 2Mbps, I can simultaneously download files from other sources through my browser, Firefox, at almost 5Mbps, which is the carrier’s mobil hotspot speed limit. The Task Manager Performance tab show 6.5Mbps and the Process tab shows a division of 2Mbps to Amazon Prime and the rest to Firefox.

Is there any way to get moment to moment download rate information on an Android device? I would like to prepare a tablet in case I can manage to find some higher speed WiFi connection (not through my phone or its carrier) to run a test. If the Amazon Prime download rate is still 2Mbps, then Amazon must be responsible, giving me special treatment that is unlike other Amazon Prime users. If the rate is as high as the WiFi connection allows, my carrier must be the one restricting my Amazon Prime downloads to 2Mbps.

Until I switched to the new “improved” 4G/5G network and new 5G phone, under constant urging from the carrier, video downloads ran at 5Mbps according to Windows Task Manage. Now they are always at 2Mbps, with occasional variation up or down of 0.1 or 0.2 Mbps. Somebody, either the carrier or Amazon, is lying because they both tell me they aren’t responsible for the slow speed.

While my sample poll of other Amazon Prime users is small, and do not involve any mobil hotspot users, much higher Amazon Prime video download speeds were consistently reported ro me from each of them, up to 150Mbps. Thus my carrier is the 1st suspect since no other user has restrictions from Amazon, but I cannot separate the two on my computer because my computer’s only internet connection is the phone’s mobil hotspot.