Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
dmc271
Enthusiast - Level 3

Is anyone else experiencing slow download speeds during peak evening hours?  Has been happening the last 3-4 weeks.

 

Here's what I get during the day:

 

 

Here's what I get on many (not all) nights during the last 3-4 weeks:

 

 

 

 

The UL speeds take only a minor hit. DL speeds are 1/4 of what they normally are during the day. Ping times triple. RSSI is unaffected. 

 

Same results on both my Thunderbolt and Pantech UML290, so I know it's not a device issue.

 

Tech support told me that the tower may be near its capacity. Really? Is the backhaul on a 4G tower really not enough to handle a relatively small town?

 

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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader
You're getting 20+ Mb/s during the day and only 4+ Mb/s during the night? Sounds like the opposite of what I see with my Tbolt.

I can get 20+ Mb/s DL most times during the evening or at night.

During the day at work in a large downtown area, I would be lucky if I reached over 10 Mb/s download.

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
dmc271
Enthusiast - Level 3

Ann154, thanks for the report.  What concerns me the most is that the 4G network is less than a year old, and its already slowing down to a crawl; to speeds that are below minimum stated specs. In other forums, people are reporting noticeable slowdowns as well.  Actually, nearing 3G speeds.  

 

What happens one year from now?  Maybe VZW will earn the same reputation for poor network performance as AT&T.

 

Here's what I'm getting tonight (8:30 CST)...

 

 

 

Right on schedule, it slows to a crawl. Yes, I am connected to 4G, even though the DL speed is more in line with 3G speeds.

 

The above is with the UML290. Slower speeds, and pings in the 400+ ms range on the Thunderbolt.

 

Was seeing 20+ Mbps this morning. <sigh>

 

 

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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
Ann154
Community Leader
Community Leader
This is probably what I get as an average. I have seen much better and worse.

http://www.speedtest.net/android/98805020.png

I wonder if it would be worth making contact with one of VZW employees on this community. At the very least, to report the concerns and ask if others have reported issues through CS.

I'm most definitely NOT a VZW employee. If a post answered your question, please mark it as the answer.

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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
dmc271
Enthusiast - Level 3

Ann154: Thx for the suggestion.  I actually do have a ticket open with support. They said they'd call me back in 24-72 hours. We'll see...  (Last time it took them 3 weeks to call me back, and then the engineer just said "There were no problems found in your area.")

 

I'm going to keep a log of speed tests. Perhaps I'll keep updating this thread.

 

Again, like clockwork, as we approach 11pm, speeds are beginning to return to normal...

 

 

 

 

 

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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
SeaJohn
Newbie

I have to say, I'm envious of your speeds.  I'm in Norman, using the same Bixby server for Speedtest, and I average 6Mbps d/l.  I rarely get better than 10Mbps.  My upload speeds vary wildly from 192k to 9411k.  This morning I'm running 3M down/1M up.

 

Maybe it's related to football....

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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
dmc271
Enthusiast - Level 3

SeaJohn: Your 3M DL and 1M UL are below advertised specs.  I would call to complain.

 

For me, in downtown Stillwater, my TB has seen the following top speeds...

 

(1) July-August: 30+ Mpbs DL and 15+ Mbps UL 

(2) September: 20+ Mbps DL and 10 Mbps UL

(3) October: 15+ Mbps DL and 6-8 Mbps UL (at night, speeds are cut in half)

(4) November: 6-12+ Mbps DL and 4-6 Mbps UL (at night, speeds are cut in half)

 

But, at night, the speeds tank. TB gets 4 Mbps DL and 2 Mbps UL. I hate to think how slow it will be before they upgrade the backhaul/tower.  At this rate, I'll be getting 3G speeds in January.

 

4GLTE on Verizon used to be much faster than HSPA+ on AT&T. Now, at least here, there's no longer a clear winner.

 

Speeds are back to slow as usual (these are on the UML290)...

 

 

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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
dmc271
Enthusiast - Level 3

11am this morning...

 

 

9pm this evening...

 

 


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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
dmc271
Enthusiast - Level 3

9:30pm, 11/6/2011. Lost of packet loss tonight...

 

 

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Re: Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)
dmc271
Enthusiast - Level 3

9:15pm, 11/7/2011...

 

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