wifi hotspot connecting at dial up speeds

[GoesByManyNames]

I have an optimus v(2.2.1) and used quick settings to enable the wifi hotspot. in testing the features of using the built-in AP to connect to my laptop, I usually get speeds in the 12 to 27 kB/s range..(in the wee small hours it will peak somewher in the upper 40's) , afternoons and evenings I may lag in the 8 - 15 kB/s range...iaverage about 4 bars of signal. in las vegas ..my dumbphone used as a dial up (#777, carrier's proxy, and manual connection set-up) is often faster than the wifi...

I have two questions: 1) is it normal that i cannot completely disable the data settings when using the phone as a hotspot? and 2) why does the AP hotspot speed seem to be in lockstep with the data network signal.?....when 3g drops to 1x the AP has can barely escape the single digits of kBps, and topping out in the high 40's to low 50's when 3g is active...

I have been to a mcdonalds and connected to their AP and i get normal public wifi speeds.,,,just got this phone over the weekend and like it a lot...

i

 

[watskyhotsky]

im not quite sure you understand how this works...

wifi hotspot shares your 3G connection over wifi to your laptop or other device. your laptop sees the phone as if the phone is a home wifi router.


if you have a slow 3G connection, thats your problem.

1x is basically dial up speeds, its a fall back in case there is no 3G signal.


with low signal, 3G speed drops off dramatically.

besides, Virgin is going to start throttling data. give up using your phone as a hotspot and just enjoy it as a phone. complaining wont change anything either.

probably a good idea to pay for internet access for your house and not try to use the phone as your main internet

 

[GoesByManyNames]

thanks for the explanation...much appreciated

 

[sharpe351]

im not quite sure you understand how this works...

wifi hotspot shares your 3G connection over wifi to your laptop or other device. your laptop sees the phone as if the phone is a home wifi router.


if you have a slow 3G connection, thats your problem.

1x is basically dial up speeds, its a fall back in case there is no 3G signal.


with low signal, 3G speed drops off dramatically.

besides, Virgin is going to start throttling data. give up using your phone as a hotspot and just enjoy it as a phone. complaining wont change anything either.

probably a good idea to pay for internet access for your house and not try to use the phone as your main internet

just out of curiosity. Can they still throttle if you change your prl?

Sent from my LG OP V using Tapatalk

 

[watskyhotsky]

just out of curiosity. Can they still throttle if you change your prl?

Sent from my LG OP V using Tapatalk

the only reason your on the network is becuase you have a unique ID they use to track you and your phone. thats how they know how to send phone calls to YOUR phone and texts to YOUR phone and not others.

lets say Virgin mobile sees "555-123-4567" is using 2GB halfway into his plan month. that person changes his PRL, well he can do whatever he likes. Virgin mobile is always going to see him as "555-123-4567" and that hes still using data.

and no, changing your number wont help. I was using that as an example to show that they can tell each individual phone apart from the others. thats the only reason the system works. what if it was like walkie-talkies, and every text or call you got also got intercepted by anyone nearby with the same model of phone. that would be a horrible, horrible system with no privacy and no way to track individual users

 

[vee]

If and when they begin throttling, why not just let him use his 3g as he wishes? I hardly ever use my 3g, only for MMS and gps when needed, but am I the only one that doesn't care if other people use a hot spot? I'm aware of what it means, what they do to other users, but there's a reason we're all on this "poor man's" plan. I pay $110 for cable and internet each month, I'm sure there are many people who can't afford that.

 

[Eollie]

If and when they begin throttling, why not just let him use his 3g as he wishes? I hardly ever use my 3g, only for MMS and gps when needed, but am I the only one that doesn't care if other people use a hot spot? I'm aware of what it means, what they do to other users, but there's a reason we're all on this "poor man's" plan. I pay $110 for cable and internet each month, I'm sure there are many people who can't afford that.

Nobody is stopping him from using it how he wishes. But the suggestion made was very valid and honestly something you as a poor man on a poor mans plan should be supporting. Eventually Virgin is going to jack our rates up to the same as a contract plan. Or do away with the 25/35 dollar plan totally.

Instead of advocating people clogging the network with their porn streaming cause its cheaper to buy a optimus v and wifi hotspot it, write the senators and representatives the president and start demanding we have options like they do across the pond. I seen recently comcast is offering a 10 dollar a month plan to people that havent had internet with them in the past 90 days and have to meet one of three qualifications. Which are IIRC child on reduced or free lunches, receiving food stamps, or another I cant remember.

Why do we have to be poor to get cheap internet? Yes the plan is only 1.5g but shesh that is plenty for most people and good lord it would stop all the noobs posting here cause they broke their phone.

 

[sharpe351]

I do not use my phone for 3g hot spot very often. I also don't pay for the low level plan. I'm happy to pay a little extra for more minutes. I use them too. I don't feel bad for using my phone as I do, and i'm not apologizing for it either. I use alot of 3g at work on my phone. Barely any at home.

Sent from my LG OP V using Tapatalk

 

[koopakid08]

Or else you got people living in rural areas where they cant get high speed internet and they have to use their phones to get proper speeds rather than basic dial-up since satellite (which is the only other choice) is to expensive especially for people making very low income.

Oh you mean the people that run they're house off they're phone and suck up all the bandwidth torrenting? That is why Virgin is putting up a cap.

Its a phone not an internet service provider.

And BTW 3g isn't that much faster than dail up so your argument is not valid.


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

 

[watskyhotsky]

Oh you mean the people that run they're house off they're phone and suck up all the bandwidth torrenting? That is why Virgin is putting up a cap.

Its a phone not an internet service provider.

And BTW 3g isn't that much faster than dail up so your argument is not valid.


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

3G at good signal strength is on par with basic or above average DSL. i get 1.5MB/s and on good signal I can get 2.5 and higher. ive never seen over 3MB/s but all of this is way, way, WAY past dial up speeds

 

[lou61166]

3G at good signal strength is on par with basic or above average DSL. i get 1.5MB/s and on good signal I can get 2.5 and higher. ive never seen over 3MB/s but all of this is way, way, WAY past dial up speeds

But some where else you have claimed getting 3+,i am really skeptical to your speed claims on VM's network,but this is the internet and anyone can claim anything they want.

 

[koopakid08]

3G at good signal strength is on par with basic or above average DSL. i get 1.5MB/s and on good signal I can get 2.5 and higher. ive never seen over 3MB/s but all of this is way, way, WAY past dial up speeds

I would very much like too see that because the highest speeds I have ever gotten are 957kbs but they're usually around 500-700. So in my experience not much faster if faster at all than dial up


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

 

[zedorda]

This is simple confusion about the difference between bits and bytes. Here is a post from dlsreports.com. I hope people learn from this because arguing about internet speed from or to any device without a clear understanding of the terms used will just make fights for no reason when both maybe right within their wrong terms.

Quote below:

It will make it easy if we all try to stick with the industry standard abbreviations.

Kilo-bytes per second = KB/s
Kilo-bits per second = kbps

Your browser reports speeds in kilobytes (or megabytes) per second when you're downloading or uploading data.

1 kbps = 1000 bps (bits per second)
1 KB/s = 1024 B/s (bytes per second)
1 KB/s = 8.192 kbps
1 kbps = .1221 KB/s

• KB/s to kbps
Take KB/s and multiply by 8.192
Example
100KB/s = 819.2kbps

• kbps to KB/s
Take kbps and divide by 8.192 (or multiply by .1221)
Example
1000kbps = 122KB/s


Your browser reports speeds in KB/s, so if you see 500KB in your browser, your speed is 4096 kbps or 4.096 Mbps (megabits per second).
.

POST QUOTED: http://www.dslreports.com/faq/1061

P.S. Also remember marketing skews these terms and number to make their service seem more appealing to the consumer.

 

[Eollie]

Oh you mean the people that run they're house off they're phone and suck up all the bandwidth torrenting? That is why Virgin is putting up a cap.

Its a phone not an internet service provider.

And BTW 3g isn't that much faster than dail up so your argument is not valid.


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

I agree with you.

Except 3G is tons and tons faster then dial up. Unless you are considering DSL dial up since it uses the phone lines. As stated 3G should be at or around 1.5Mb. Dial up will not even be close to that. NO WHERE CLOSE.

People need to stop using their phones as a ISP. It is not and will not be a ISP. The only way it should/could be considered a ISP is if you are paying for the wifi Hotspot feature. You pay for internet on your phone and only your phone. In the small print and deep inside that TOS you agreed to by activating your phone and paying them 25/35/40/45/55/60 bucks a month.

 

[koopakid08]

I was referring to kilobits not kilobytes.


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

 

[Vishwar]

Ahem..

Dial up works on a 56k modem.
3G at 500-700 kbps is way faster than dial up at 56 kbps.
Also, you NEVER hit 56k with a 56k modem. It's more like 28.8 kbps.

 

[jmt7les]

Ahem..

Dial up works on a 56k modem.
3G at 500-700 kbps is way faster than dial up at 56 kbps.
Also, you NEVER hit 56k with a 56k modem. It's more like 28.8 kbps.

56k modem is 56Kb not KB, so it maxes out at about 7KB/s. I always used to get 7KB/s on 56k back when I had that, so if you were only getting 3.5KB/s then you were getting screwed big time.

I've gotten up to 1.4Mb/s via 3G on Virgin, on both my Optiumus and my wife's Intercept. That was with full signal of course. 1.4Mb/s = ~175KB/s.

175 is a lot more than 7...

If you aren't getting speeds like others do, it's because of where you live. Signal strength isn't the only factor in the speed, if there's a lot of interference in the air then you're basically going to lose a bit of speed. But if you aren't getting full signal strength don't ever expect to see those speeds unless you get lucky.