speedtest gets different results on phone compared to laptop on same wifi connection

[dan pudwell]

Hello, I have a Google Nexus 4 with Android 4.2.2.
I've just tried a speed test on it using the Android app (speedtest.net) and it says over wifi I'm getting about 1mps down/upload. I've also tried it on my laptop using the same wifi connection but through the browser using thier website Speedtest.net - The Global Broadband Speed Test and it says im getting about 15 mps down and almost 1 upload.
Any reasons for the massive difference?
Another unrelated question is that when I go into Chrome and search for speedtest it goes to the play store with thier app, any way I can access thier site on my phone browser? the desktop site doesnt seem to work?

 

[zkSharks]

The first thing I would double-check is that you're using the same server to test against on the laptop and in the app on the phone. If you're sure that the tests done in the Speedtest app were done over WiFi, and on the same server, then having such a high discrepancy between the two results is surprising.

 

[dan pudwell]

set both servers to skipton (I'm in Durham), and get same result...massive discrepancy???

 

[zkSharks]

set both servers to skipton (I'm in Durham), and get same result...massive discrepancy???

With such a significant difference, it sounds to me like the phone is actually running them over the cellular network instead of WiFi as it should be.

Try putting the phone in airplane mode, then turning WiFi on, and run the test again at that point. We'll know for sure that it's running over WiFi.

 

[xlDeMoNiClx]

Maybe phones can't access the speeds of a Wifi connection as well as a computer can. That's probably wrong though.

 

[zkSharks]

Maybe phones can't access the speeds of a Wifi connection as well as a computer can. That's probably wrong though.

That is true, but it's not too significant. Not nearly to the degree he seems to be experiencing.

 

[xlDeMoNiClx]

That is true, but it's not too significant. Not nearly to the degree he seems to be experiencing.

I would have thought it'd be more of a difference than what you say it is. Just cause of the limited space in a phone's body, but I guess that's not as true with phone's becoming bigger so they can fit bigger, more powerful hardware for that sort of thing.

 

[zkSharks]

I would have thought it'd be more of a difference than what you say it is. Just cause of the limited space in a phone's body, but I guess that's not as true with phone's becoming bigger so they can fit bigger, more powerful hardware for that sort of thing.

At much higher data speeds, it will indeed be more noticeable, but with speed tests and current non-fiber internet sources the limiting factor is still the source internet connection's speed.

 

[dan pudwell]

Same result....I'll try on work WiFi today and see what kind of result I get

 

[rakeshmukundan]

The speed you see depends on many factors including but not limited to processor capability, free memory etc. Those may be the bottleneck for you in case of the Nexus.Try a tool like iperf and see how much max speed you can achieve. See this link.

 

[DenverRalphy]

Disclaimer... I have no actual hands-on experience with the N4.

From what I understand (from reading several similar threads across the interwebz), the N4 is finicky depending on what particular router you're connected to. Particularly Belkin or Netgear routers tend to give the N4 a difficult time. I've heard that often it's because the N4 WiFi radio doesn't play nicely with the router if the router is set to automatically select the b/g/n protocols (router may use the term mixed mode) to use for a connection. So if you can config your router to force an N connection (assuming all your other WiFi devices connected also support the N protocol), try that and see if it helps.

The N4 also tends to suffer if it's connected to a WiFi network that's using a channel close or similar to several other WiFi networks in the area. Check to see if there are other WiFi networks in the area, and config your router to use a channel significantly different from other WiFi networks in the area. ie... if 2-3 WiFi networks nearby are using channels 1-4, set your router to use channel 10.