Poor WiFi performance

[johnprevite]

Anyone else notice WiFi performance is weak? Ive tried 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks and I cant seem to do better than ~6mbps with 2.4ghz 802.11n and ~10mbps with 5ghz 802.11n. Ive tried 3 different wireless routers. It really isn't a big deal for daily use, but is annoying when I need to download something big.

 

[Clone9]

Mine pulls 25 at home.....which is the same as my laptop.

 

[Hubertsng]

I don't think so but are you using speedtest.com or something? I heard that doesn't calculate the speed correctly.

 

[johnprevite]

yes speedtest.net, but also downloads in general are about half as fast as my laptop, tablet, and wife's iphone.

 

[andr0idralphie]

I never tried this before. I ran this a few times and I'm averaging 18.75Mbps connected at 5GHz. My MacPro pulls in about 24Mbps with direct Ethernet.




EDIT: I decided to run the test through my browser and it states I'm getting around 19.75Mbps while as I watch Ethernet throughput using on-system and router tools I always notice a consistent (read; well over a year now) 24Mbps so I'm thinking that site/test isn't reliable for me.

 

[Small_law]

I haven't ran a speed test with the phone itself (the accuracy of apps like speedtest.net are often maligned), but have noticed the device-to-router rates which the N4 and N7 on 4.2 report vary much more than I saw with my GNex and N7 on 4.1. When I first connect to my 5.0 ghz WiFi, the N4 will show very low Mbps rates, like 6 Mbps, but will eventually top out at 72 Mbps. The GNex almost always reported 65 mbps, its top end rate, unless I was nearly out of range of my router. My router supports 450 mbps on 5 GHz. I know the N4 has a better WiFi chip than the GNex. I'm thinking it's a bit more sensitive to interference though.

 

[jeremydc]

Just got my Nexus and only have 1 bar on wifi but all full bars on my 2 year old optimus. Not tempted to return but a bit concerned

 

[cynicist]

I'm not sure why but on wifi my phone gets better performance than my desktop's wifi adapter...

 

[SportsAndTV]

Got my Nexus 4 yesterday and it was having trouble even finding my router which gets great signal throughout my whole house. It would find it and be find for a while and then would lose it. I would have to turn wifi off and on a couple of times before it would find it again. Finally I changed the settings to look for 2.4 only and it has been working great. Getting around 25 MBPS speeds through my phone.

 

[paceywitter]

My Nexus 4 constantly loses Wi-Fi connection. And when it loses connection, it can't see any networks within its range. I have to switch off Wi-Fi and turn it back on to connect. This happens daily. Since, I have unlimited data, and it's pretty fast, I don't mind as much. I wonder if it's a software issue and if Google will address it in the future.

 

[SportsAndTV]

exactly what was happening to mine till I switched it to look for only 2.4 signals.

 

[mmaestro]

I'm also seeing this. Seems like the connection is inconsistent and very susceptible to interference. Streaming video over Wi-Fi is impossible for me, and file downloads take an absurdly long time. I've tired switching to 2.4 only and turning off the battery saving Wi-Fi option. It doesn't make a difference. Reception is far worse on my Nexus 4 than my Nexus 7, and where I get consistent download speeds on the 7, speed is up and down like a yoyo on the N4.

I was going to insert screenshots here, but every time I try Chrome zooms to the text box for the link, the find "recenter" and the box to add the link moves to what it thinks is the center of the window, off screen on my phone. Grr.

 

[mmaestro]

You'll see the connection is up and down on each of those. My Nexus 7 gives a very consistent 10mbps in comparison.

 

[xstinkyx]

Finally I changed the settings to look for 2.4 only and it has been working great.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try this and see if it helps at all.

The problems you described seem similar to the ones that caused me to post this older thread:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-4/232533-poor-wifi-signal-reception-why.html

 

[mmaestro]

So apologies for the repeated posts. Just had to recharge my N4 and ran a few tests while it was plugged in. My pings were over 1000ms and I barely pulled down 200kbps. Unplugged and I'm getting normal ping times, and while my days is still inconsistent, it's far better than when plugged in. Maybe something internal is interfering with the Wi-Fi antenna? That's all I can think of.

 

[SportsAndTV]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try this and see if it helps at all.

The problems you described seem similar to the ones that caused me to post this older thread:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-4/232533-poor-wifi-signal-reception-why.html

I've also noticed a couple of times I came home and my phone didn't pick up the signal right away. I had to switch the wifi to 5.0 and then back to 2.4. Kind of a pain in the butt. I'm guessing there is some kind of bug.

 

[dobiegillis]

My wifi performance is great on my 5ghz network. I thought my GS2 was good but this thing smokes it and pulls down speeds approaching what I get on my desktop pc that is hard wired into the router. Impressive.

On a related subject I've found HSPA+ speeds to be outstanding on TMo in my area. Again faster and more consistent than my GS2 which is also 42mbps capable.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[xstinkyx]

Thanks for the tip. I'll try this and see if it helps at all.

Well it didn't seem to help much at all. I turned off 5ghz and even turned wifi off and then on again. The reported signal strengths are about the same as before.

On my home wifi, my nearly two year old Sidekick is showing about -28 to -33 dBm (via Wifi Analyzer app).
The N4 is always in the -48 to -52 dBM range (give or take a few for each device).

Tomorrow I'll be able to see what the work wifi readings on. On other devices I usually get a strong signal, on the N4 it's definitely not as strong, but I haven't used Wifi Analyzer there yet to see what the specific numbers might be.

I just want to know if my device is defective and if I need to exchange it or if this is something that can be fixed via future software udpate.

 

[Exergy]

I got 20mbps on my wifi at home. That's the max I can pull off my router. Keep in mind each device connected will lower that performance.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[cachra]

I've notice weaker wifi performance as well I'm using a Evo 4g lte from Sprint and it's getting about 10 megabytes faster download and also I notice when leaving wifi range my evo will stick to wifi longer with signal than the Nexus 4