MTS iPhone 3G: Actual Bandwidth? - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

BrownBullhead · 2012-07-16, 05:36 PM

To those with MTS iPhone plans, what "real world" speeds are you achieving while on celluar/3G service?

My download tends to max at about 2.0Mbps (or 250 kB/s)
My upload tends to max at about 0.2Mbps (or 30 kB/s)

MTS advertises the plan being "up to 21Mbps" if I recall correctly?

What speed are you guys getting???

Macman · 2012-07-16, 08:32 PM

Mine is all over the place. More often than not, it's really slow, like less than 1 Mbps. But the most I've achieved is 6 Mbps.

21 Mbps would be if you were sitting on top of the tower and the only one on the network.

I'm not one for the latest and greatest, so I won't jump on the LTE bandwagon when it launches (or has it already?) but I've seen some other people say they've actually gotten 75 Mbps once or twice, with screenshots.

TorontoColin · 2012-07-17, 01:19 AM

The iPhone 3G itself is only capable of 3.6 Mbps.

Macman · 2012-07-17, 07:58 AM

Silly me, I'm on "4G". Which I hear many people say is technically only 3-1/2G and such.

Sorry, my bad.

SomeRandomGuy · 2012-07-17, 01:48 PM

There are days I am lucky to get 0.30Mb on my iPhone. Some days as low as 0.02. Mostly well below 1Mb.

BrownBullhead · 2012-07-17, 04:08 PM

To clarify ... my phone is an iPhone4 (not an iPhone3*), the one just prior to the iPhone4s (Siri).

While we were out yesterday, I ran SpeedTest.net app at various red lights on the drive. I even tried it in the basement of Polo Park Shopping Centre.

My ping times ranged from 95ms to 285ms at various locations;

My down speed ranged from 0.1Mbps to as high as 5.93Mbps;

My up speed ranged from 0.2Mbps to 1.3Mbps.

I realize that in reality, expecting 21Mbps was foolish of me considering my MTS Bolt HSI at home is 25Mbps (3.1 MB/s) downstream and 2Mbps (200 kB/s) upstream, but I guess I bought into the hype.

BrownBullhead · 2012-07-17, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TorontoColin

The iPhone 3G itself is only capable of 3.6 Mbps.

I meant that my phone was on a 3g network.

I failed to recognize that there was/is a device called iPhone3g. I was a BlackBerry guy until 15 months ago.

BrownBullhead · 2012-07-17, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macman

Silly me, I'm on "4G". Which I hear many people say is technically only 3-1/2G and such.

Sorry, my bad.

Yes, I have been told the same thing by the sales associates at the reseller where I get my MTS devices and plans. I was perplexed to say the least when I powered up my iPhone for the first time and saw "3g" in the status bar instead of "4g". I have an iPhone 4 and I am supposed on a "4g" plan, but as I explained, that's not what my device shows.

andrewpcw · 2012-07-18, 07:21 PM

4G is technially 3G (or 3.5 G). Service Providers use 4G because it sounds better.

The phones show 3G in their display.

LTE is coming this fall.

TorontoColin · 2012-07-19, 12:37 AM

The iPhone 4 (not 4S) is only capable of HSPA (7.2 Mbps max theoretical speed). It can't do HSPA+ (14.4, 21, or 42 Mbps, depending on the HSPA+ version), commonly referred to as "4G" by carriers. 5.93 Mbps is VERY good for an iPhone 4.

The iPhone 4S is capable of HSPA+ (14.4 Mbps max theoretical speed).

Some phones which are capable of the HSPA+ speeds will show "4G" when connected at HSPA+ speeds, including the iPhone 4S as of iOS 5.1.

In addition to the fact that you will pretty much never hit the theoretical speeds, cellular internet is like cable internet; the more people using the same network and tower, the slower it will go. During peak periods and in busy areas your data will be much slower.

Cham · 2012-07-23, 11:40 PM

I tried a 3g dongle on the laptop a few months ago. Didn't work at all in the house but out on the deck I could get a blistering 4Kb/s. Local phone store says we need to be closer to the tower to get it to work faster... we are about 4 miles away from the nearest MTS tower and have full view of it from the deck. Thought LOS would be enough. Maybe this LTE will work better?

binary1010 · 2012-07-28, 10:40 AM

I GET 5.0 Mbps!!!...

....at 5:00 am on Sunday...

Average speeds from this company are 2.0 Mbps and under...what they are doing is criminal...they are advertising HSPA/4g speeds and not delivering at all...obvious HSPA does NOT stand for High Speed Packet Access in the MTS world...even on the domain of the ISP of the phone they got hspaDOTsomething...what fakers...with this kind of trickery you should be able to cancel your so called "contract" anytime...dont forget contracts are just pieces of paper to be re-negotiated anytime....best to negotiate the price of the phone and pay it off then get another carrier...I get better speeds with my virgin mobile broadband2go stick and they are on the EVDO/CDMA network LOL...the MTS sales person flat out told be it could achieve 7 Mbps on their network...

P.S....i have a blackberry bold 9900...and through wifi it can go up to around 7 Mbps...yay wifi...so yes this phone is capable...MTS is just incompetent/cheap to upgrade their network...

So with this so called LTE(Long Term Evolution) coming this fall will those on the fake HSPA network get to suck the tit of it?

---To test your cell phone speeds go here; http://my3gspeed.com/ on your phone and probably pick the US city closest to your home.---

"To nullify a contract is to void, or terminate, it. Upon termination, neither party must perform the duties or services previously agreed upon. By taking the appropriate action and nullifying for the correct reasons, you and the other party, or parties, that made the contract are released from legal ramifications."

TorontoColin · 2012-07-28, 01:15 PM

Such is the nature of mobile networks. The more people using a tower, the slower it will be. 2 Mbps is pretty normal for HSPA+, on any carrier. Theoretical speeds are not the same as real world speeds. Try transferring files on an 802.11g wireless network and you'll probably notice your files aren't actually transferring at 54 Mbps. The same applies to HSPA+.

LTE networks won't improve HSPA+ speeds, but you might notice a boost as customers migrate to LTE and the HSPA+ network becomes less congested.

binary1010 · 2012-07-31, 01:31 PM

So how does this HSPA network really work?...if theoretical speeds are 21Mbps then 21 people in Manitoba using the network at the same time will achieve speeds of 1 Mbps?...or 21Mbps each tower?...if its more towers to achieve the speeds i need than that is up to the company i am paying monthly to build more to get the speeds promised/advertised...I highly doubt in Romania they are having these crappy speeds...ya thats right ROMANIA has 10 times better internet speeds than Canada.

...i think Canada is not even ranked in the top 20 Countries anymore.

http://mashable.com/2011/09/21/faste...s-infographic/

JamesK · 2012-08-01, 07:42 AM

^^^^
It's not quite that simple. HSPA uses spread spectrum (W-CDMA), which means that more users mean a higher noise floor, rather than dividing up the available bandwidth. As a result, the more users there are, the lower the signal/noise ratio, which may cause the data to slow down and also reduce usable distance. This is a very general description and the actual details are more complicated than that.

2012-07-16, 05:36 PM	#1
BrownBullhead Join Date: May 2008 Location: Manitoba, Canada Posts: 56	MTS iPhone 3G: Actual Bandwidth? To those with MTS iPhone plans, what "real world" speeds are you achieving while on celluar/3G service? My download tends to max at about 2.0Mbps (or 250 kB/s) My upload tends to max at about 0.2Mbps (or 30 kB/s) MTS advertises the plan being "up to 21Mbps" if I recall correctly? What speed are you guys getting???

2012-07-16, 08:32 PM	#2
Macman Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Winnipeg, MB Posts: 468	Mine is all over the place. More often than not, it's really slow, like less than 1 Mbps. But the most I've achieved is 6 Mbps. 21 Mbps would be if you were sitting on top of the tower and the only one on the network. I'm not one for the latest and greatest, so I won't jump on the LTE bandwagon when it launches (or has it already?) but I've seen some other people say they've actually gotten 75 Mbps once or twice, with screenshots. __________________ Authorized Service Provider for MTS Allstream. Any views expressed are my own.

2012-07-17, 01:19 AM	#3
TorontoColin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Wind Mobile, Rogers Cable, Teksavvy Extreme Cable Posts: 3,229	The iPhone 3G itself is only capable of 3.6 Mbps. __________________ Rules of the Forum \| DHC Help Desk DHC now supports Tapatalk for mobile devices!

2012-07-17, 07:58 AM	#4
Macman Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Winnipeg, MB Posts: 468	Silly me, I'm on "4G". Which I hear many people say is technically only 3-1/2G and such. Sorry, my bad. __________________ Authorized Service Provider for MTS Allstream. Any views expressed are my own.

2012-07-19, 12:37 AM	#10
TorontoColin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Wind Mobile, Rogers Cable, Teksavvy Extreme Cable Posts: 3,229	The iPhone 4 (not 4S) is only capable of HSPA (7.2 Mbps max theoretical speed). It can't do HSPA+ (14.4, 21, or 42 Mbps, depending on the HSPA+ version), commonly referred to as "4G" by carriers. 5.93 Mbps is VERY good for an iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S is capable of HSPA+ (14.4 Mbps max theoretical speed). Some phones which are capable of the HSPA+ speeds will show "4G" when connected at HSPA+ speeds, including the iPhone 4S as of iOS 5.1. In addition to the fact that you will pretty much never hit the theoretical speeds, cellular internet is like cable internet; the more people using the same network and tower, the slower it will go. During peak periods and in busy areas your data will be much slower. __________________ Rules of the Forum \| DHC Help Desk DHC now supports Tapatalk for mobile devices!

2012-07-17, 01:48 PM	#5
SomeRandomGuy Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 201	There are days I am lucky to get 0.30Mb on my iPhone. Some days as low as 0.02. Mostly well below 1Mb.

2012-07-17, 04:08 PM	#6
BrownBullhead Join Date: May 2008 Location: Manitoba, Canada Posts: 56	To clarify ... my phone is an iPhone4 (not an iPhone3*), the one just prior to the iPhone4s (Siri). While we were out yesterday, I ran SpeedTest.net app at various red lights on the drive. I even tried it in the basement of Polo Park Shopping Centre. My ping times ranged from 95ms to 285ms at various locations; My down speed ranged from 0.1Mbps to as high as 5.93Mbps; My up speed ranged from 0.2Mbps to 1.3Mbps. I realize that in reality, expecting 21Mbps was foolish of me considering my MTS Bolt HSI at home is 25Mbps (3.1 MB/s) downstream and 2Mbps (200 kB/s) upstream, but I guess I bought into the hype.

2012-07-18, 07:21 PM	#9
andrewpcw Rookie Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 19	4G is technially 3G (or 3.5 G). Service Providers use 4G because it sounds better. The phones show 3G in their display. LTE is coming this fall.

2012-07-23, 11:40 PM	#11
Cham Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Southern Manitoba Posts: 191	I tried a 3g dongle on the laptop a few months ago. Didn't work at all in the house but out on the deck I could get a blistering 4Kb/s. Local phone store says we need to be closer to the tower to get it to work faster... we are about 4 miles away from the nearest MTS tower and have full view of it from the deck. Thought LOS would be enough. Maybe this LTE will work better? __________________ Winegard HD7697P, FTA C-band, & various home made projects...

2012-07-28, 10:40 AM	#12
binary1010 Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 18	I GET 5.0 Mbps!!!... ....at 5:00 am on Sunday... Average speeds from this company are 2.0 Mbps and under...what they are doing is criminal...they are advertising HSPA/4g speeds and not delivering at all...obvious HSPA does NOT stand for High Speed Packet Access in the MTS world...even on the domain of the ISP of the phone they got hspaDOTsomething...what fakers...with this kind of trickery you should be able to cancel your so called "contract" anytime...dont forget contracts are just pieces of paper to be re-negotiated anytime....best to negotiate the price of the phone and pay it off then get another carrier...I get better speeds with my virgin mobile broadband2go stick and they are on the EVDO/CDMA network LOL...the MTS sales person flat out told be it could achieve 7 Mbps on their network... P.S....i have a blackberry bold 9900...and through wifi it can go up to around 7 Mbps...yay wifi...so yes this phone is capable...MTS is just incompetent/cheap to upgrade their network... So with this so called LTE(Long Term Evolution) coming this fall will those on the fake HSPA network get to suck the tit of it? ---To test your cell phone speeds go here; http://my3gspeed.com/ on your phone and probably pick the US city closest to your home.--- "To nullify a contract is to void, or terminate, it. Upon termination, neither party must perform the duties or services previously agreed upon. By taking the appropriate action and nullifying for the correct reasons, you and the other party, or parties, that made the contract are released from legal ramifications."

2012-07-28, 01:15 PM	#13
TorontoColin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Wind Mobile, Rogers Cable, Teksavvy Extreme Cable Posts: 3,229	Such is the nature of mobile networks. The more people using a tower, the slower it will be. 2 Mbps is pretty normal for HSPA+, on any carrier. Theoretical speeds are not the same as real world speeds. Try transferring files on an 802.11g wireless network and you'll probably notice your files aren't actually transferring at 54 Mbps. The same applies to HSPA+. LTE networks won't improve HSPA+ speeds, but you might notice a boost as customers migrate to LTE and the HSPA+ network becomes less congested. __________________ Rules of the Forum \| DHC Help Desk DHC now supports Tapatalk for mobile devices!

2012-07-31, 01:31 PM	#14
binary1010 Rookie Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 18	So how does this HSPA network really work?...if theoretical speeds are 21Mbps then 21 people in Manitoba using the network at the same time will achieve speeds of 1 Mbps?...or 21Mbps each tower?...if its more towers to achieve the speeds i need than that is up to the company i am paying monthly to build more to get the speeds promised/advertised...I highly doubt in Romania they are having these crappy speeds...ya thats right ROMANIA has 10 times better internet speeds than Canada. ...i think Canada is not even ranked in the top 20 Countries anymore. http://mashable.com/2011/09/21/faste...s-infographic/

2012-08-01, 07:42 AM	#15
JamesK Veteran Join Date: May 2009 Location: Mississauga Posts: 5,037	^^^^ It's not quite that simple. HSPA uses spread spectrum (W-CDMA), which means that more users mean a higher noise floor, rather than dividing up the available bandwidth. As a result, the more users there are, the lower the signal/noise ratio, which may cause the data to slow down and also reduce usable distance. This is a very general description and the actual details are more complicated than that.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode