Why Is GNex Getting Such Bad 4G LTE Speeds Compared to iPhone 5?!?!?!?!

[androidluvr2]

So I got my Mom an iPhone 5 for Christmas. Just now got around to doing a speed test on it. I just assumed that I lived in an area where the 4G LTE speeds weren't good because I wasn't getting good speeds on my GNex and I called and called and called again and they sent out a tech to actually investigate/measure signal and they said the problem was the tower arrangement and sent me a network extender for free (because of dropped calls on my GNex which btw haven't stopped with the network extender). Then I tested her iPhone 5 using the same speedtest app connecting to the same server side-by-side and her iPhone consistently gets superior speeds.

How can this be? I have tested it all over the house and it is consistent. My dBm and asu signal strength have always been crap on my GNex but this is the first time I could run 4G LTE speed tests side-by-side in my home with another 4G LTE device. I can't see on an iPhone 5 how to get dBms and asu to compare but by speedtest, her iPhone wins hands down.

Damn, I love my GNex but that is unacceptable.

 

[androidluvr2]

I guess what I want to know is do I have a defective device or is this some inherent radio problem with the GNex?

Anyone else with a GNex and 4G LTE test against an iPhone 5? Anyone know how to find out dBm and asu info on an iPhone 5?

 

[smokie11]

You don't provide numbers so is difficult to gauge what you call good and bad. I drive for a living within a 3 county area and my average speeds are 9 mbps down and 2 mbps up. high numbers are 25 mbps down 15 mbps up. I go from excellent to poor reception areas and over 95% of the time I can stream Slingplayer, once in a great while I hit a no data spot but in most cases moving one block down the road solves that problem. I have no idea what an Iphone does... but you could tell us.

 

[dmmarck]

I guess what I want to know is do I have a defective device or is this some inherent radio problem with the GNex?

Anyone else with a GNex and 4G LTE test against an iPhone 5? Anyone know how to find out dBm and asu info on an iPhone 5?

Considering the iPhone has a much newer radio, why wouldn't it?

 

[androidluvr2]

Considering the iPhone has a much newer radio, why wouldn't it?

If it is a general hardware issue with all GNexes, I am OK with it. I am mainly trying to make sure that it isn't my device in particular.

 

[androidluvr2]

You don't provide numbers so is difficult to gauge what you call good and bad. I drive for a living within a 3 county area and my average speeds are 9 mbps down and 2 mbps up. high numbers are 25 mbps down 15 mbps up. I go from excellent to poor reception areas and over 95% of the time I can stream Slingplayer, once in a great while I hit a no data spot but in most cases moving one block down the road solves that problem. I have no idea what an Iphone does... but you could tell us.

The speeds vary in my house and by time of day. I presume that is due to indoor signal issues as well as tower congestion. But the best iPhone speed download was 16Mbps and the best download GNex speed was 6.5Mbps. Best iPhone upload speed was 5Mbps and best GNex upload speed was 4.5Mbps. That doesn't seem to make sense to me.

I will give you some outdoor numbers soon.

 

[Jnorton2724]

iPhone is magical and the old Galaxy Nexus can't keep up sadly

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[androidluvr2]

I will give you some outdoor numbers soon.

Outside ran 2 tests side-by-side simultaneously connecting to the same server located in my town.

Download
iPhone 11 and 11.5
GNex 8.5 and 10.5

Upload
iPhone 6 and 7.5
GNex 2 and 2.5

Ping
iPhone 44 and 48
GNex 45 and 42

There is less of a difference between the iPhone and the GNex outdoors than indoors.

 

[lets_go_android]

A little while ago I had compared speeds (using Speedtest App, indoors) with a VZW S3 and it beat my GNex by a couple/few Mbps also (I don't remember the exact numbers). I just figured the difference was due to newer/better hardware.

 

[androidluvr2]

A little while ago I had compared speeds (using Speedtest App, indoors) with a VZW S3 and it beat my GNex by a couple/few Mbps also (I don't remember the exact numbers). I just figured the difference was due to newer/better hardware.

It seems like the hardware should be able to handle all the speed the network can deliver, though.

What I need to be able to do is compare my GNex to another GNex, but I don't know anyone with one. I also don't know anyone with an android 4G LTE phone otherwise I would do that comparison.

 

[dmmarck]

It seems like the hardware should be able to handle all the speed the network can deliver, though.

What I need to be able to do is compare my GNex to another GNex, but I don't know anyone with one. I also don't know anyone with an android 4G LTE phone otherwise I would do that comparison.

Samsung radios, in general, suck. For Android phones, Motorola makes the best radios, hands down. Unfortunately, battery and radios aside, Moto phones are severely lacking.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

 

[androidluvr2]

Samsung radios, in general, suck.

And I think they didn't particularly care about the GNex since it was not really their brand so they didn't even try hard. It is too bad because it has soured me on Samsung phones. I did really want a GNote3 when it came out because of its size but now I am rethinking it.

For Android phones, Motorola makes the best radios, hands down. Unfortunately, battery and radios aside, Moto phones are severely lacking.

in what departments, display and camera?

If moto and sammie both have serious downsides, does that leave HTC as the best choice?

 

[Mellimel22]

I get this in the westside of Chicago.

Sent from my Sprint Galaxy Nexus rockin 4.2.2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[androidluvr2]

I get this in the westside of Chicago.

Wow, that is awesome. So the Samsung radio can handle the speeds.

I need to do some speed tests in areas where the 4G LTE signal is strong. It's not that strong at my home but still, the iPhone 5 can get good speeds.

 

[dmmarck]

And I think they didn't particularly care about the GNex since it was not really their brand so they didn't even try hard. It is too bad because it has soured me on Samsung phones. I did really want a GNote3 when it came out because of its size but now I am rethinking it.

in what departments, display and camera?

If moto and sammie both have serious downsides, does that leave HTC as the best choice?

Design, software, display, etc etc

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

 

[dpham00]

Samsung radios, in general, suck. For Android phones, Motorola makes the best radios, hands down. Unfortunately, battery and radios aside, Moto phones are severely lacking.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2

I would disagree that Samsung radios suck especially any phone released recently.

The note 2 radio is imo better than the radio on my RAZR maxx. The Maxx is slightly better than my gs3 and Rezound, but not by much. All those phones blow my HTC thunderbolt out of the water in terms of radio.

Talking of peak speeds, I have seen 68mbps on my note 2. On my RAZR maxx, gs3, and Rezound, I have seen around 61mbps max. On my thunderbolt, I never saw over 30 Mbps

The galaxy Nexus I personally don't blame Samsung that much since Google specd out the phone and Google is doing the software. But based on what I neve read, the galaxy Nexus gets sub par radio compared to other phones.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[dpham00]

I guess what I want to know is do I have a defective device or is this some inherent radio problem with the GNex?

Anyone else with a GNex and 4G LTE test against an iPhone 5? Anyone know how to find out dBm and asu info on an iPhone 5?

Probably more of an issue with the gnex itself. You can call Verizon, they should send you a warranty replacement device to check. After a few gnex, they may change you to another device, i would imagine that the razr would be a comparable replacement, but ymmv of course.

My thunderbolt was replaced under warranty with the Rezound which was replaced under warranty with the razr maxx.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[androidluvr2]

You can call Verizon, they should send you a warranty replacement device to check. After a few gnex, they may change you to another device, i would imagine that the razr would be a comparable replacement, but ymmv of course.

When I was under warranty, they offered me a Rezound or a Razr, but I said no to either. I don't like those phones. They sent me a free network extender instead so I considered it a fair deal. I am over a year since purchase now so I don't know how that would work to get a different phone, but regardless, I wouldn't like any of the phones they would offer to me.

So I am sticking with a GNex, but I have Asurion and if there is something wrong with my particular GNex, I can pay the deductible and get a refurbished one.

 

[dpham00]

When I was under warranty, they offered me a Rezound or a Razr, but I said no to either. I don't like those phones. They sent me a free network extender instead so I considered it a fair deal. I am over a year since purchase now so I don't know how that would work to get a different phone, but regardless, I wouldn't like any of the phones they would offer to me.

So I am sticking with a GNex, but I have Asurion and if there is something wrong with my particular GNex, I can pay the deductible and get a refurbished one.

Warranty is only a year, unless you opt for the extended warranty or TEC, which includes the extended warranty and insurance.

Is the network extender that you got 4GLTE capable?

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[lets_go_android]

It may be hard to convince them that your GNex is defective unless you can compare side-by-side with another GNex.

The GNex is capable of higher speeds, sure. One day I saw it blazing along at an incredible 46Mbps down. Honestly, while speed is nice, I'd rather have a consistent, reliable 5Mbps everywhere than the once in a blue moon up to 20Mbps, usually anywhere from 3-10Mbps, and sometimes only 3G, that I currently get.