Help Problems with 4G in my area

[Elrynon]

*sigh* Hopefully you guys don't get as much of a headache out of this as I have. A month ago I got the LG Motion and signed up for MetroPCS(new customer). I use about 3-4 sites to test my speed (speedtest app and toast.net are the main ones) When I first got my phone I was getting 3-6 Mbps download speeds at home, 5-8Mbps out and about town. (It picks up about 10ish blocks away from my home).

Then around the 30th of Jan (going by history of speedtest app) my 4g download speeds dropped to .2-.5Mbps download speeds at home. Still the 5-8Mbps when driving around town away from my house. So I called Metro and they tried multiple *228 attempts. (Not sure if she tried different stuff or just tried to push the same stuff multiple times) However this did no good. They bumped me up to the next tier of tech support and the guy took all my information and said he would create an in-house ticket and have some people take a look at the network itself.

Later that night I decided to test it and the speed was back closer to normal (was sitting around the 3Mbps mark) I figured they had fixed it or were at least working on it. No dice, the next day it was back to normal. To top it off I got that wonderful text message saying I had gone over my limit (they had checked for this on the phone before hand and said everything looked fine). My cycle reset today so I turned my 4G back on (before this I had forced it into 3G thanks to your guy's postings) aaaaaaand still crap. Out of curiosity I switched it BACK to 3g and get about 2-3 Mbps.

So for me to get 3G speeds just fine, and for 4G to not work in my area but it does elsewhere leads me to think that it HAS to be a network issue of some sort right? Especially after it worked fine that night he said he was going to have them take a look at the network in my area. If it was my phone wouldn't it STILL have problems no matter where I went? I was thinking MAYBE i clicked/accepted something on accident in the hidden menus while looking around (damn these large hands of mine and accidently clicking instead of scrolling). However, that leads back to shouldn't I be having problems everywhere and not just here at home?

Sorry for the extremely long novel but I figured if I gave enough information it would make things easier to think about. I'm probably going to end up calling metro back tomorrow since my cycle reset and talk to them some more but thoughts/comments from you guys would be a GREAT help as well. Thanks guys!

 

[Ray305]

You're not alone man. I'm in Homestead, FL and my 4G ranges from 0.10 mbps to 0.40 mbps. When I drove to Miami, I get up to 8 mbps.

 

[Elrynon]

Yeah, I live in Winter Haven (kind of in the middle of nowhere) lol It just still smells A LOT like a network issue to me (whether it's by metro's choice or not). What I don't understand (difference in technologies maybe? I know a "little" about wireless/cell technologies but not a lot) is why I only get the .2-.5 on 4G but 2-3 on 3G?

 

[Gman9831]

Happens many places I get up to 13mbps @ my house but like a 5min drive west I only get like .14 mbps. Most times its terrible backhaul

 

[Ubercharrge]

Try refreshing your network.
Go to the dialer.
Enter ##626*
Enter 587846
Tap on NAM Programing. Tap 'edit'.
DO NOT ERASE ANYTHING!! Just press 'OK' with the menus that come up.
When you're done, press done. The phone will auto reboot.

Post results here.

 

[Elrynon]

*Update* Metro called me today and she said the engineers told her the network is just fine in my area. She tried telling me that it was because I had gone over my data limit and I told her that no it was not the case because this happened BEFORE I went over my data limit AND my cycle reset yesterday/today and it was still doing it. She told me to hang on a second while she contacted the engineers again and she told me to reboot my phone and try again so I did and I'm back at least up to the 2-3Mbps mark. Not sure what they did on their end. She didn't have me do anything before rebooting.

Granted this is MUCH better than .2-.5 but to me it's still the principle of the point. She wants me to take my phone in to a repair center so they can "run a diagnostics on the phone". Not going to do that anytime soon because the nearest corporate store is 30-45 minutes away IF the traffic is ok.

Try refreshing your network.
Go to the dialer.
Enter ##626*
Enter 587846
Tap on NAM Programing. Tap 'edit'.
DO NOT ERASE ANYTHING!! Just press 'OK' with the menus that come up.
When you're done, press done. The phone will auto reboot.

Post results here.

I had seen this before and tried it and it didn't do any good. Tried it again just now and even though my ping is lower (below 100 for once. lol) the DL speeds are still slow. What's crazy is the upload speeds are always over 5Mbps. I appreciate the offer of advice though. :thumbup:

I GUESS even though this sucks that I should be happy I get better signal away from the house. In all honesty that's where I would need data anyway. I use WIFI at home. Out away from home is where I use the GPS/checking things online/etc. Like I said, for me it's the principle of the situation. Sure as hell beats paying $60 a month with a larger company AND being locked into a contract. lol

 

[Ubercharrge]

Hmm, have you tried PRL 2032? It might expand your connection.

 

[Elrynon]

That was going to be my next plan of action. I need to DL everything first. Will have to wait until the minion is in bed and asleep before I get a chance though. It'll either be later on tonight or tomorrow before I'll get a chance to update this.

 

[Ubercharrge]

okay! it's easy to update it, though. Just download QPST and PRL 2032 and read your phone, add prl, write to phone, reboot your phone, bam! prl 2032.
if you don't like the results, dial *228 and update your roaming list, it'll take you back to 3032.

 

[Chrisbearden]

Im having simular issues, Im close to where you live Im in Mulberry Florida.. my connection shows a ev at the top tho.

 

[Elrynon]

That's the crazy thing though Chris. Mine stays in 4g all the time (unless I force it) and that's where the slow speeds are (although like I stated earlier the speeds are back up a bit). If I force it to 3g i get CONSTANT 2-3Mbps. 4g is the one that fluctuates. I'm going to try PRL 2032 later on tonight though and see how that goes.

 

[Gman9831]

Im having simular issues, Im close to where you live Im in Mulberry Florida.. my connection shows a ev at the top tho.

EV is just 3G

 

[Elrynon]

Well......I think for now I'm just going to chalk it up to wanky Metro towers. I tried pushing both 2032 and 9033 and nothing. All three give me the same results. Over the next week or so I'll try testing all three PRL's out and about town but honestly I think I'm/we're just at the mercy of metro.

The woman even told me on the phone (she lowered her voice when telling me this lol) that they have "dead zones" all over the place that just CAN'T be fixed. Shows up good in the system but they have people with problems from those same areas all the time. *shrugs* Eventually I might try driving to the corporate store and having them run a diagnostics on it (anyone know exactly what they do when they do this??) Until then I'll just use my Wifi at home and semi-decent data when I'm away from home. Appreciate the help guys!