T-mobile data speeds, Phoenix AZ

[blarelli]

Hey guys, I just got back from visiting a T-mobile store in the Phoenix area where I asked them to DL the speedtest.net app so I could see how fast their 4g actually was. After waiting for 10 minutes for them to figure out how to take the in store locks off an S3 they got it going and came up with the lackluster numbers of about 800 kbps down and 700 kbps up.

Is that honestly what I can expect from T-mobile 4g? My Sprint 3g is that fast. I was honestly expecting at least 5 Mbps up and down. Is this typical, or is this a lousy result because they were in the mall or something like that?

 

[The Hustleman]

I hope that isn't a regular result up there.

Here in Atlanta I've gotten as high as 22mbps and a floor of about 6 on hspa+

But you go deep indoors and that reverts back to regular 3g or worse yet, EDGE

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Darrkman]

Just did this speedtest indoors in the Financial District in NYC.

Sent from my HTC One S

 

[zeth006]

It really varies based on location. Here in SF, I get 3-6mbps. But my all-time best speed so far of 8mbps was strangely enough recorded while I was underground at a BART station in Oakland.

This was while using a 21mbps phone. I hear that 42mbps phones can get as high as 25mbps speeds in my area.


If TMO's speeds are that slow in Phoenix, I'd just stick with Sprint unless you can save more money going with TMO.

 

[The Hustleman]

It really varies based on location. Here in SF, I get 3-6mbps. But my all-time best speed so far of 8mbps was strangely enough recorded while I was underground at a BART station in Oakland.

This was while using a 21mbps phone. I hear that 42mbps phones can get as high as 25mbps speeds in my area.


If TMO's speeds are that slow in Phoenix, I'd just stick with Sprint unless you can save more money going with TMO.

Why is it advertised as 42mbps but you never get anywhere near that?

Why doesn't anyone good these phone companies responsible for their claims?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ChromeJob]

... But my all-time best speed so far of 8mbps was strangely enough recorded while I was underground at a BART station in Oakland.

... Repeaters. Not very mysterious.

// Sent using the Android Central app //

 

[chunkcohen]

Why is it advertised as 42mbps but you never get anywhere near that?

Why doesn't anyone good these phone companies responsible for their claims?

I don't think that at any point T-Mobile actually guarantees HPSA+ 42 speeds to everyone. Like anything else, it's dependent on the strength of your connection to the towers and the radio capabilities of your device.

 

[The Hustleman]

I don't think that at any point T-Mobile actually guarantees HPSA+ 42 speeds to everyone. Like anything else, it's dependent on the strength of your connection to the towers and the radio capabilities of your device.

But I have yet to get over 50% of that claim.

If they said it was 21mbps hspa I'd believe it, but they say 42 and I can't even get 30 when standing under a tower with a full signal

you mean to tell me you can put a man on the moon but no one can make a smartphone battery that lasts a whole day? jeez!

 

[chunkcohen]

But I have yet to get over 50% of that claim.

If they said it was 21mbps hspa I'd believe it, but they say 42 and I can't even get 30 when standing under a tower with a full signal

you mean to tell me you can put a man on the moon but no one can make a smartphone battery that lasts a whole day? jeez!

Hehe, well I wasn't trying to defend T-Mo or sound combattive.

And besides, it could be worse. You could be on Sprint (like I currently am, but not for much longer), living in a major market that didn't get 4G and be stuck with atrocious 3G service that's barely faster than 56k dialup.

If I end up getting a GNex and jumping to T-Mo prepaid, I'd be ecstatic to get around 8 Mbps downstream. That's about what my roommate's G2X on T-Mo gets.


And regarding the battery thing, the state of Li-Ion technology (which hasn't changed too much for years) is preventing that from happening, especially when a) a manufacturer wants to make a phone super-thin and light; and b) they want to give it battery-hogging 4+ inch HD touchscreen. LTE radios are pretty notorious for battery drain, too.

 

[JHBThree]

Why is it advertised as 42mbps but you never get anywhere near that?

Why doesn't anyone good these phone companies responsible for their claims?

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

When it's referred to in advertising, they're actually referencing the technology itself. Tmobile has never advertised what speeds those customers can get.

 

[vito032]

This is what I got on average in Pittsburgh, Pa

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Android Central Forums

 

[ZacHolley]

Your T-Mobile speeds at the bottom are good your wifi provider should be fired....

 

[AZSALUKI]

When it's referred to in advertising, they're actually referencing the technology itself. Tmobile has never advertised what speeds those customers can get.

True, but they do advertise "the fastest 4g network on the planet" in many of their ads. I'm in Phoenix on Verizon and 15 to 25mbps is fairly normal. Maybe tmo just isn't that solid in Phoenix because it does seem pretty fast in some of the other markets.

sent from my bolt using tapatalk

 

[anon62607]

But I have yet to get over 50% of that claim.

If they said it was 21mbps hspa I'd believe it, but they say 42 and I can't even get 30 when standing under a tower with a full signal

you mean to tell me you can put a man on the moon but no one can make a smartphone battery that lasts a whole day? jeez!

And, of course, that wouldn't be and couldn't be 42 mbps of payload, remember you have udp or tcp framing, ip framing, coding overhead and error correction and you may not even be using the highest available modulation, and all of this requiring actual transmitted bits but none of it ever showing up on speed test because there is just no way for speed test to measure just about anything other than payload.

Even on an unloaded dual carrier tower when you are in the most optimal radio conditions you are not going to get very close to the physical interface performance.

There is no way any carrier or for that matter any ISP at all can accurately advertise a guaranteed TCP payload data rate.




Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[vito032]

Your T-Mobile speeds at the bottom are good your wifi provider should be fired....

I got DSL for right now. Waiting for Verizon to put fios in my area. The cable company chargers why to much.

Sent from long long ago in a galaxy far far away!

 

[chunkcohen]

I just received my G-Nex and activated it on T-Mo prepaid. According to my last Speedtest, I'm at about 7Mbps down and 1.8Mbps up - in Tempe, AZ. This is a far cry from the 0.15/0.10 I was consistently getting on Sprint. I'm glad I "fired" them.

 

[kryptalivian]

I'm in the same boat as you. I had sprint, and was getting 0 bars outside my house.. now with my unlocked gnex on T-Mobile I get full bars and 4g inside/outside my house... Its pretty sad I live in Kansas City which is sprints head quarters I could never get service.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[CaptainMorgan#AC]

Glad to see a thread started for Phoenix, I'm jumping off the sinking ship that is sprint soon and heading to tmo, tested my friends s3 around the valley and got 7-15mb on 4g, so im satisfied with that, and ill be paying the same as sprint which gave me less that 600k all the time.

 

[jimmiekain]

I have been seriously considering a switch from Sprint to Tmobile. I have been asking everyone I run into with a tmobile phone to do a speed test and also running the tests at the tmobile stores and it seems like almost all of them have really high ping. I mean really really high like 1000 and up. Every once in a while it will be like 200 or so but I see the really high ones more often.

What causes this?
Is it common for you guys where you live?
Are there any weird side effects to having a real high ping?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[chunkcohen]

I have been seriously considering a switch from Sprint to Tmobile. I have been asking everyone I run into with a tmobile phone to do a speed test and also running the tests at the tmobile stores and it seems like almost all of them have really high ping. I mean really really high like 1000 and up. Every once in a while it will be like 200 or so but I see the really high ones more often.

What causes this?
Is it common for you guys where you live?
Are there any weird side effects to having a real high ping?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

I haven't experienced pings anywhere close to 1000 ms on my G-Nex on T-Mo.

Speedtest (log) from a few days ago (standing outside; Tempe server):



A Speedtest I just did now from inside my apartment in Tempe (for some strange reason, it chose a server in Roswell, NM for this test):