Why are 3G speed tests so slow?

[Palmetto Fellow]

Holy Thread Bump Batman...


For the record, I usually can't get more than 1 megabit down on 3G. 350kbps is the low average, but I can usually get around 500kbps.

On 4G, I have seen 9 megabit download, and it seems the upload is capped at 1 megabit. I almost ALWAYS get 1 megabit upload regardless of the d/l rate.

 

[toomuchgame441]

Holy Thread Bump Batman...


For the record, I usually can't get more than 1 megabit down on 3G. 350kbps is the low average, but I can usually get around 500kbps.

On 4G, I have seen 9 megabit download, and it seems the upload is capped at 1 megabit. I almost ALWAYS get 1 megabit upload regardless of the d/l rate.

Yea, theres definitely something wrong with the download speeds on the Evo... they have been better lately but I tested just now at home (where my speeds usually suck but not as bad) and I got a measly .11 Mbps down... when I should be getting .40-.50 Mbps down on average in this area.

 

[K4KAI]

Try turning on GPS then opening the App again.

I have found that having GPS on at the same time as running Speedtest decreases my 3g by a factor of almost 10. With GPS on, I get from 90Kb/s-100Kb/s download speed. When I turn GPS off, my download speed goes to more than 1Mb/s. I believe that may be due to the GPS and G3 functions using the same radio in the EVO.

 

[Droidone]

Holy Thread Bump Batman...


For the record, I usually can't get more than 1 megabit down on 3G. 350kbps is the low average, but I can usually get around 500kbps.

On 4G, I have seen 9 megabit download, and it seems the upload is capped at 1 megabit. I almost ALWAYS get 1 megabit upload regardless of the d/l rate.

Same here. I get awesome 4g speeds in my apartment. 10mb down and at least 1mb up and 3g I am usually at 1500 down and 800 up. Now when I had my old Evo, it would not ever get that good. The highest I saw on the old one was 4mb down with 4g. Now that could be the service in this area is growing or just coincedance. I just got 4g about 2 months back. Which is sad because I am in Atlanta and we were first for 4g. Weird

 

[Mr. Ed]

i get no 4g unless I am right under a tower or literally in the middle of a major intersection in DFW.

at work 300 kbps-500kbps dload typically the lower 150-300 up

at home (40+ miles away) for some reason I get 1100 down and 700-1100 up

 

[BillyODU]

Im in Virginia Beach, no 4g except in Richmond VA, and even there my phone couldn't find it. I get about 300-400 Kbps down on 3g and I just tested at .06kbps upload, but I know upload is faster then that.

 

[xefe]

hmm intresting issue here....

rooted EVO version 003 running most current radios
running myns rls5 stock kernel.

Inside my house I have 5/6 signal bars
download 117kbps
upload 253kbps

my samsun epic
non-rooted
3/6 signal bars
most updated radios
download 560kbps
upload 400kbps

There is definately something fishy going on .... would love, if someone could offer some advice ...

 

[NSXLA]

I am getting good download speeds on 3G and 4G - in LA

 

[Droid_Genius]

Yea i used to complain about Speeds being so slow, then one day I said to myself "Hey dummy go outside and test the speeds" and behold outside I get 7 to 9MB down, after several repeated tests but in my house it sucks real bad like 0.70-0.99MB and it used to tick me off and made me think 4G was a hoax almost, then I also realized so many things cause interference.

 

[dajeepman]

South Dallas im getting between 150 and 400k down...and 100 to 300k up

 

[SamuraiBigEd]

Not sure if this has been posted or not, but I was getting horrible figures with Speedtest.net, below 100 up and down!. It had me on a local server, I changed to a city about 60 miles away and it went up quite a bit, still didn't top 1m but I am in a bad area.

 

[toomuchgame441]

My speeds are still questionable here in the ATL area. I typically get 5/6 bars here at work. Been running a few speed tests, I'd get anywhere between .20 Mbps & .90 Mbps DL, its ridiculous. I use to average 1.5 to 2.2 DL speeds. Something is definitely wrong...

 

[natedogg305]

it may be the speedtest app...have u noticed slow speeds on the internet?

I agree with this. my internet seems perfect. but the speedtest doesnt reflect that...

 

[EarlyMon]

Not sure if this has been posted or not, but I was getting horrible figures with Speedtest.net, below 100 up and down!. It had me on a local server, I changed to a city about 60 miles away and it went up quite a bit, still didn't top 1m but I am in a bad area.

That's my gripe with Speedtest ratings. When I use that on my desktop, I don't care how St. Louis servers respond when I'm accessing San Francisco. Also the desktop / web version will show the server load (therefore, when it's pointless to try to use that server).

Remember, Speedtest doesn't show merely your 3G speed - it shows the speed to transact with a specific server on a specific path that includes 3G.

If you've checked servers and wifi is having no issue, then it's likely a case of the net bottlenecking over 3G in your neighborhood - either by being in a kinda fringe-y spot or having too much activity at the towers.

On my wifi, I can track just after 5:30 that everyone is home from work and checking things (response goes down), about 6:30 to 7:30 everything settles down (dinnertime), then a slight bump down while whomever is downloading Netflix or whatever.

 

[SamuraiBigEd]

That's my gripe with Speedtest ratings. When I use that on my desktop, I don't care how St. Louis servers respond when I'm accessing San Francisco. Also the desktop / web version will show the server load (therefore, when it's pointless to try to use that server).

Remember, Speedtest doesn't show merely your 3G speed - it shows the speed to transact with a specific server on a specific path that includes 3G.

If you've checked servers and wifi is having no issue, then it's likely a case of the net bottlenecking over 3G in your neighborhood - either by being in a kinda fringe-y spot or having too much activity at the towers.

On my wifi, I can track just after 5:30 that everyone is home from work and checking things (response goes down), about 6:30 to 7:30 everything settles down (dinnertime), then a slight bump down while whomever is downloading Netflix or whatever.

My home is definitely in a fringe-y area! I live right by the airport on one side and a hilly area on the other and neighborhoods/businesses everywhere else. Almost all the towers are on the airport side and very short, some no more than 35-40 feet tall! We get great 4G at the shop (about a 1/4 mile away) because we can see the antenna out our front door but can't get 4G at all in the house.

I have noticed the issues with Speedtest as you have mentioned, but I can also attest to my Touch Pro regularly scoring over 1m, even at my house where as the Evo has yet to touch 1m regardless the time of day or location. I think it is a great tool for the PC but only so-so for mobile use.

Luckily for me, high-use slowdowns drop me to a paltry 15-20m at home!

 

[jabq]

I just switched to Sprint from Verizon. Got 3 phones, mine being the EVO. My phone was getting crap for download speeds, and according to speedtest.net nothing over .13Mbps using "3G" could be done. My wife's EVO Shift could get 1mbps+ sitting right next to me.

Downloaded "Signal Stregnth" widget because it displays the mode the radio is in (Ev/1X), and found mine was locked in 1X. Resets didn't fix. Sprint store couldn't fix. The replaced it today (my 2nd day of ownership) with another new one and all is well.

Might want to check yours this way since HTC/Sprint made the 3G icon always on even when it's 1X. This might be your problem, or might not, just an FYI.

J

 

[brownhornet]

My speeds are still questionable here in the ATL area. I typically get 5/6 bars here at work. Been running a few speed tests, I'd get anywhere between .20 Mbps & .90 Mbps DL, its ridiculous. I use to average 1.5 to 2.2 DL speeds. Something is definitely wrong...

Same here and im in Atlanta also. Yet whenever I call they tell me there arent any issues with the data here.

 

[LaFlavor]

I'm having similar issues in Greenville, SC. I took it to a repair center today, and they turned off the roaming guard. That shouldn't make a difference, but it my speeds immediately went from maybe 200kbps (tops, it was usually more like 75-150kbps) to over 500kbps. I'm going to keep an eye on it tonight, I'm thinking there might just be a better signal at the store. My speeds at work are still horrible. I'm lucky to get over 100 down.

I do get significantly better results with speakeasy's online test (210kbps down just now).

 

[LaFlavor]

OK, just a follow-up from earlier:

At work, inside the building: 80 - 150 kbps down, 50 - 70 kbps up
At work, outside the building: ~300 down, 200 up
At the gym, ouside the building: ~1400+ down, 500+ up
At gym, inside the building: 1400+ down, 500+ up
At home, inside: ~200 down, ~300 up

It looks like, around here at least, coverage just isn't that great.

 

[sdezrilov]

It's a sprint network issue, I have been tracking it in my area for over a month. For me the latency goes through the roof at night when the network gets congested. By morning my speeds are back and the network ping time normalize. Sprint won't even acknowledge the issue, I didn't expect they would as they will not put money into the 3G network anymore.

 

[LaFlavor]

It's a sprint network issue, I have been tracking it in my area for over a month. For me the latency goes through the roof at night when the network gets congested. By morning my speeds are back and the network ping time normalize. Sprint won't even acknowledge the issue, I didn't expect they would as they will not put money into the 3G network anymore.

God help us if sprint ever gets the iphone. Between the teeny boppers streaming justin bieber videos and the hipsters doing whatever it is hipsters do, we won't even be able to view text based web pages.

 

[The Duck]

Just switched. My Pre was stolen last saturday(but she left her iphone 4g with me). So I decided to try the evo. Wow it's very slow. The Pre loaded much faster. Very very surprised and disappointed. As for the system diff. It's still in the learning mode.

quack, the duck

 

[Cactus73]

My EVO has been consistenly getting 1 Mbps and as fast as 2.5 Mbps on 3G. I got 10.69 Mbps in St. Louis on 4G. This test was done from Cave Creek, Arizona.

 

[LaFlavor]

Mine seems significantly faster today. In the office I'm getting 400+ down. It's still not a particularly good 3g speed, but it's better than the 50-125 I've been getting the past few days.

Makes me think it's definitely not something wrong with the phone, and definitely something with their network.

 

[EarlyMon]

Mine went back to normal yesterday after a few very slow days. I think I'd have not noticed otherwise in my case. Web response was ok, even when measuring way low.