T-Mobile HSPA+ getting slower and slower for anyone else?

[CoMoNexus]

Considering that smartphone penetration increased from 50 percent of the population to 60 percent over the past year, these slowdowns aren't surprising.

 

[JHBThree]

That's not it. For an entire year (prior to the tower switching) I was able to average 18+mbps in NYC on TMobile. Now I'm lucky to get 1mbps.

Smartphone use has grown exponentially in that time. Additionally, T-Mobile has seen its user base increase. All of the major networks, T-Mobile included, struggle these days in big cities like new York because of the number of customers.

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[Onemoa]

HSPA/Normal 4G, has got so slow here in Hawaii it's crazy. And T-Mobile LTE is so spotty and unreliable it's not worth keeping LTE on since if I walk into my house or on another side of a building I drop back to 4G, LTE doesn't work in any buildings even if a tower is right next to you. LTE doesn't work in my home even though there is a tower right next to it.

On top of it all due to LTE never being above 2 and 3 bars max. It drains you're battery at least 2x faster then 4G, I tested it out and with LTE on I would come home with 15% battery when on HSPA/Normal 4G I would come home with 50% battery easy.

T-Mobile should have waited for there LTE network to at least be half way use able before they released it.

Now I'm stuck with Slow HSPA. I used to get about 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up. Now I don't even get 1 Mbps down or up. It really suck's.

I think they should have stuck with there old network it was better on battery by far and was fast enough and reliable.

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[Onemoa]

Considering that smartphone penetration increased from 50 percent of the population to 60 percent over the past year, these slowdowns aren't surprising.

No these slowdowns are not from more users. That's a fact.

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[Christopher Matthews Jr]

In Tulsa, it's gotten quite bad as well! Used to getting around 12 Mb HSPA+ download speeds, and now I get less than 1 Mb download.

Tapatalked from my Nexus 10

 

[CoMoNexus]

No these slowdowns are not from more users. That's a fact.

Source?

 

[IAmSixNine]

Guess Im lucky..
Im still getting fast HSDPA+ when on my Nexus 4 and on my Note 2 and HTC One solid LTE..
Im in Dallas.

 

[snookasnoo]

There is only so much tower backhaul available and I bet they are deprecating HSPA+ for LTE. Not good news for Nexus 4 owners...where is that LTE Nexus 5....

 

[Onemoa]

Source?

Because network slowdown happens over time. At least week's and more realistically it happens over month's.

Here in Hawaii on Oahu to be exact. The slow down to HSPA+ happened within days of T-Mobile switching on 4G LTE. I noticed it before it was actually turned on officially.

I would get 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up on average. Most areas that I had a good signal in, it would be more around 17-14 Mbps down and 2-3 Mbps up.

Then the talk of LTE coming to Hawaii started. HSPA was still normal. Then talk of LTE being spotted in some areas started. Once that happened with in day's HSPA went from the average from in my home 10 down 2 up, as I stated above. Went to under 2 Mbps down and under 1 Mbps up.

Now I'm not even getting 1 Mbps down or up. In my home. I can get maybe 1 or 2 Mbps down/up if I'm very close to a tower. My signal for HSPA hasn't changed, just the speeds.

As for LTE here on Oahu, it is the same as when it was first put up. Great in one area but if you walk a few feet it drops. Even when right next to a tower you're signal isn't never higher then 3 bar's. I can never seem to get a full LTE signal, if I do it's back down to 3 bars before I can blink my eyes.

I guess it would be harder to have LTE here on Oahu due to it being so open. There are no area's for the signal to relay off of. It just goes right out to sea. Then again in town it's just as bad due to that if you go into or walk/drive to another side of a building the signal drops. So maybe it as nothing to do with us being on an island.

Another thing I notice is it seems to drop to edge rather then HSPA. Then you have to wait to get HSPA again, then wait to walk or move a few feet in the right direction to pick up LTE that you'll lose again after walking another few feet.

I would like to think that T-Mobile is working on fixing this as we speak but it seems they don't think anything is wrong. At least that's what they tell me on the phone.

So now we have very slow HSPA and if you turn on LTE it's so spotty it drains you're battery. Not because LTE uses more battery but because you're phone is always looking for LTE and dropping it then reconnecting over and over.

LTE is going to drain more battery then HSPA but when it is always in and out, disconnecting and reconnecting, trying to find an LTE connection, finding it, connecting then dropping and repeating this everywhere you go. It drains 3x faster then if you just had a ok connection to LTE in the first place.

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[JHBThree]

Because network slowdown happens over time. At least week's and more realistically it happens over month's.

Here in Hawaii on Oahu to be exact. The slow down to HSPA+ happened within days of T-Mobile switching on 4G LTE. I noticed it before it was actually turned on officially.

I would get 10 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up on average. Most areas that I had a good signal in, it would be more around 17-14 Mbps down and 2-3 Mbps up.

Then the talk of LTE coming to Hawaii started. HSPA was still normal. Then talk of LTE being spotted in some areas started. Once that happened with in day's HSPA went from the average from in my home 10 down 2 up, as I stated above. Went to under 2 Mbps down and under 1 Mbps up.

Now I'm not even getting 1 Mbps down or up. In my home. I can get maybe 1 or 2 Mbps down/up if I'm very close to a tower. My signal for HSPA hasn't changed, just the speeds.

As for LTE here on Oahu, it is the same as when it was first put up. Great in one area but if you walk a few feet it drops. Even when right next to a tower you're signal isn't never higher then 3 bar's. I can never seem to get a full LTE signal, if I do it's back down to 3 bars before I can blink my eyes.

I guess it would be harder to have LTE here on Oahu due to it being so open. There are no area's for the signal to relay off of. It just goes right out to sea. Then again in town it's just as bad due to that if you go into or walk/drive to another side of a building the signal drops. So maybe it as nothing to do with us being on an island.

Another thing I notice is it seems to drop to edge rather then HSPA. Then you have to wait to get HSPA again, then wait to walk or move a few feet in the right direction to pick up LTE that you'll lose again after walking another few feet.

I would like to think that T-Mobile is working on fixing this as we speak but it seems they don't think anything is wrong. At least that's what they tell me on the phone.

So now we have very slow HSPA and if you turn on LTE it's so spotty it drains you're battery. Not because LTE uses more battery but because you're phone is always looking for LTE and dropping it then reconnecting over and over.

LTE is going to drain more battery then HSPA but when it is always in and out, disconnecting and reconnecting, trying to find an LTE connection, finding it, connecting then dropping and repeating this everywhere you go. It drains 3x faster then if you just had a ok connection to LTE in the first place.

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Network slowdowns do not just happen. When they do it is caused by new users or environmental conditions. Given that tmobile's user base has been growing, it is caused by higher network utilization.

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[CoMoNexus]

Because network slowdown happens over time. At least week's and more realistically it happens over month's.

What you're describing is a byproduct of TMO reengineering sites as part of an LTE upgrade. That certainly can cause slowdowns. But the slowdowns that a lot of other people are reporting in markets that haven't been upgraded to LTE is due to insufficient capacity at each site, whether it's radios, spectrum or both. I no longer think backhaul is the culprit because I did some checking, and nearly a year ago, TMO had upgraded 95 percent of its sites to fiber.

 

[Onemoa]

Network slowdowns do not just happen. When they do it is caused by new users or environmental conditions. Given that tmobile's user base has been growing, it is caused by higher network utilization.

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The user base didn't double in a few days. These dramatic slowdowns seem to be because the way T-Mobile implemented it's LTE network. Is it that LTE is using HSPA bandwidth?

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[Onemoa]

What you're describing is a byproduct of TMO reengineering sites as part of an LTE upgrade. That certainly can cause slowdowns. But the slowdowns that a lot of other people are reporting in markets that haven't been upgraded to LTE is due to insufficient capacity at each site, whether it's radios, spectrum or both. I no longer think backhaul is the culprit because I did some checking, and nearly a year ago, TMO had upgraded 95 percent of its sites to fiber.

Indeed, thank you.

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[ConTejas]

There is only so much tower backhaul available and I bet they are deprecating HSPA+ for LTE. Not good news for Nexus 4 owners...where is that LTE Nexus 5....

If you're in a T-Mobile/band 4 LTE area just take a few mins to enable LTE on your N4. Works great.

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[UnlockedOnly]

I think they prioritize contract users first over pre paid when the networks are bottlenecked.

 

[JHBThree]

The user base didn't double in a few days. These dramatic slowdowns seem to be because the way T-Mobile implemented it's LTE network. Is it that LTE is using HSPA bandwidth?

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No, its not. T-Mobile just added LTE to my area, and my HSPA+ speeds got better and my signal got better too. (Keep in mind that this is a loaded suburban city with a limited number of towers available due to zoning) The network also seems to be handling the load better, as speeds don't suffer much during peak hours.

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[mr_fro2000]

I think they prioritize contract users first over pre paid when the networks are bottlenecked.

Is this true? Tmo has been awful in midtown Manhattan during the day...

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[Onemoa]

Is this true? Tmo has been awful in midtown Manhattan during the day...

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I don't think so. I've been on contract with them for over 11+ year's, back before they where even T-Mobile.

I'm pretty sure that's not the case and it's just due to the way they are setting up there LTE network. As said by me and other's.

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[JHBThree]

I don't think so. I've been on contract with them for over 11+ year's, back before they where even T-Mobile.

I'm pretty sure that's not the case and it's just due to the way they are setting up there LTE network. As said by me and other's.

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Its true. T-Mobile will prioritize contract traffic over prepaid in heavy congestion.

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[Onemoa]

Its true. T-Mobile will prioritize contract traffic over prepaid in heavy congestion.

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Then I would think I should be getting better service.

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