Hello everyone. First post here.
I just had some questions about my 4G speeds in Austin.
I live at the intersection of Lamar and Parmer, and I am literally in the middle of thee towers - each no farther than a few thousand feet from my door, yet my signal strength drops out to as low as 2-3
kbps....and that's several times a day too, whether i am in my apartment or on the sidewalk. My low for the day is usually around 10-15 kbps.
This is not all the time though, since I have actually seen speeds of almost 3Mbps even with my apartment at my desk. These short bursts of speed usually last around 10 - 12 minutes, and then plummet down to 250- 300 kbps or slower.
What i found strange is that when I ran several tests near two of these towers, I couldn't break 3Mbps.
At one of the three towers surrounding where i live, I ran a series of 3 tests and came up with less than 2 Mbps, even though I was within two hundred yards of the tower( s )
( There are actually two small towers side by side near Westview Middle Schools football field. )
I took back my first Evo, thinking something was wrong with the phone, but now my replacement Evo gives the same results.
I have seen
short bursts of speeds of over 4+ Mbps with an average of no lower than 2.5 Mbps on my phone while in the parking lot of the Parmer / I-35 H.E.B. , but I ran a series 12 tests on the same tower from the North and West side of the tower and couldn't break 3 Mbps. ( Avg. of around 1.7 Mbps )
This was done within 200 yards of the tower in an open field on a clear day.
Just curious if this sort of signal variation is normal, or if there is something screwwy with the towers ?
One more thing I found odd is that despite having full bars and two rings, i see around 600 kbps on 4G. Other times i can have two bars and no rings with speeds of over 2Mbps.
Do the strength bars and rings really mean anything, or is there some other factor that varies the strength ?
I hope I don't come off as whining about any of this. I mainly curious
Thanks everyone !
I forgot to mention : I'm using a EVO 4G.
As far as updates and such, I'm currently updating, so we'll see if Frodo 2.2 will help any.
Update : Well I just did a test with 2.2 and first results gave a reading of 0.03 Mbps .... however
I just got 4G signal.
My first reading
5.27 Mbps !
Signal fluctuates between 1.25 - over 3.5 Mbps on 4G now, but still really drops once 3G kicks in .
-- he was mean and didn't seem amused and said that would probably violate the NDA...jerk)
