Help Seeing poor wifi speeds.

[MikeCzipri]

Not sure if the problem is my phone or not...but I am getting TERRIBLE wifi speeds.

I get around 1 mbps when my internet is 25 mbps.

But, when I conntect to a server far away, like on the west coast, I get a solid 8 mbps.

Any ideas?

 

[Panthro]

Not sure if the problem is my phone or not...but I am getting TERRIBLE wifi speeds.

I get around 1 mbps when my internet is 25 mbps.

But, when I conntect to a server far away, like on the west coast, I get a solid 8 mbps.

Any ideas?

Did you try a different WiFi source? Do you have too many devices connected to one WiFi source at home?

 

[EarlyMon]

Not sure if the problem is my phone or not...but I am getting TERRIBLE wifi speeds.

I get around 1 mbps when my internet is 25 mbps.

But, when I conntect to a server far away, like on the west coast, I get a solid 8 mbps.

Any ideas?

I'm not following you. When you say you get 1 Mbps - is that on the same net as where you get 8 Mbps - your home wifi?

 

[jerofld]

You're using Speedtest.net, yes? And your slow connection is to a server near you and the fast connection is a server on the other side of the country?

 

[EarlyMon]

You're using Speedtest.net, yes? And your slow connection is to a server near you and the fast connection is a server on the other side of the country?

If it's that, it's as I said the other day in the 3G thread on this - it's not the phone, it's not the wifi - it's the local Speedtest server. They are not the same and they are not accurate.

I also read this as - maybe Mike travels and noticed the home wifi is lacking. In that case - try Wifi Analyzer, the router is likely using a crowded channel.

 

[MikeCzipri]

Ok I will try to answer all questions here...

I have not tried any other wifi sources, and the only other device connected to my wifi at home is my computer.

Yes I amusing speedtest.net, and the slow connections are any server in the eastern US from Florida to NY....and the fast ones are on the west coast.

I don't think it's my phone. I called Verizon Fios last night (they are my cable/ internet provider) and I think the problem is with them, but they can't figure it out.

 

[EarlyMon]

OK - it's not your phone and it's not your FiOS - it's speedtest. The method is far from accurate and the servers themselves don't respond the same and the path between any device (PC or phone) to a server is stochastic - - meaning: two computers in your house can and will have different paths from point A to point B over the internet - it's all about dynamic routing.

To reduce the variables - just a tiny bit - run this from your PC browser or from your phone browser - Speakeasy - Speedtest

If you do it from a freshly-rebooted (restart on power menu) phone, it'll show your phone at its best.

It ought come quite close to your home system - in my case, the phone actually beats PC using the same servers.


Bottom line - you cannot get all of the speedtest servers to give the same results, or get same results every day from a single server or same results thoughout the day on a single server.

Speedtest does not work that way.

 

[RiverOfIce]

As earymon says, speed test requires flash to work. Flash is never a great way to test internet speed.

Just did a speedtest.net test. Results, 3.07 Mbps down, ping 78, for the closest server over wimax connection.

Downloaded a 2.5GB test file from a server 1000 miles away.. Download speed, 16.8 mbps using the same device and connection, ping 53.

This using a test wimax tablet, over a real wimax tower.

Flash is never really a good way to test internet speed. The best way to test internet speed, is by downloading files. There will be two speeds, slow and fast enough.

 

[MikeCzipri]

OK - it's not your phone and it's not your FiOS - it's speedtest. The method is far from accurate and the servers themselves don't respond the same and the path between any device (PC or phone) to a server is stochastic - - meaning: two computers in your house can and will have different paths from point A to point B over the internet - it's all about dynamic routing.

To reduce the variables - just a tiny bit - run this from your PC browser or from your phone browser - Speakeasy - Speedtest

If you do it from a freshly-rebooted (restart on power menu) phone, it'll show your phone at its best.

It ought come quite close to your home system - in my case, the phone actually beats PC using the same servers.


Bottom line - you cannot get all of the speedtest servers to give the same results, or get same results every day from a single server or same results thoughout the day on a single server.

Speedtest does not work that way.

I did the speakeasy one and the results are the same. Poor speeds in the southeast US (I am in Tampa) and great speeds in Los Angeles.

Another thing I noticed....when I am on wifi on my phone, it thinks I am in some town called Westminster. I have no clue where that is, but it's certainly not in FL. The stock weather app forecasted a high temp of 75 and low of 52....DEFINATELY not in FL...and it always seems to do this. Whenever I turn my wifi on it thinks I am in this mythical "Westminster" town.

I think maybe my internet thinks I am somewhere I'm not? Web pages are definately loading slowly.

 

[EarlyMon]

Geez, Mike, you get all the luck. I've been dreading this report.

OK - that Westminster thing - that's the famous and pervasive HTC/Accuweather bug. We've had at least guy try to engage HTC on this, here are two of his posts:

http://androidforums.com/htc-thunde...get-wrong-location-problem-2.html#post2535440

http://androidforums.com/htc-thunde...get-wrong-location-problem-2.html#post2539634

Every single HTC phone on our forums has shown that one - and it's completely random when it strikes. I know - I've been there on my Evo. It sometimes just goes away on its own, others find that removing the widget from the homescreen, replacing it with just a clock for a day and then putting it back on the homescreen helps, clearing the Accuweather cache - battery pull. Give any of those things a try, if your luck improves, the problem will go away and not come back.

Not sure what we can do about slow web loading, but there are a few option, depending on the sites you visit (the ones with lots of background analytics, trying to ferret data out of your surfing habits will always be slow).

So - in your browser, menu, more, Settings - let's see if a few config changes will be acceptable to you.

Personally, I don't use mobile view, but that's a personal choice.

Block pop-ups.

Scroll down - you can turn off cookies (you may or may not need them, depends on your web habits) - you can turn off location data in your browser.

Also, that thing on plugins - that's referring to Flash. You can change that from always on to "On demand." When you do that, Flash content like videos will still be accessible, but they won't pre-load - they give you an icon in their place that you'll tap to watch the vids. May not be ideal or may be a big help, it definitely tends to help speed web loading in many cases.

After making config changes, be sure to clear your browser cache from within its settings.

 

[MikeCzipri]

I assumed that it was a bug at first also....but when I run speed test on my phone when connected to wifi it picks a server in Los Angeles? I am in Florida! Speeds are better, I am seeing consistent 6 mb down now, but it's really weird that my phone thinks I am in Westminster and speedtest thinks I am in los angeles...I am so confused.

 

[MikeCzipri]

But when I run speed test on my computer, connected to the same wireless internet, it picks a server in Tampa....where I am. So weird.

 

[EarlyMon]

Speedtest might choose your closest server - or it might choose the one that it thinks will do a good job. They have user load limits - half of the bad speeds are too many users for the test server - they can only handle like - (trying to remember accurately) - like 30 or 50 people at a time, after that, they go bonkers.

I think that's all separate from the HTC thing saying you're in Westminster. I've seen it put people in the wrong hemisphere (I had one of those cases while on travel).

The HTC weather bug isn't the biggest, but it's the most pernicious in many ways.