Slow speeds during peak evening hours (overloaded tower?)

[dmc271]

OK, since tech support never called me back, I decided to call in. What a frustrating experience. Long story short...

1.5 Mbps and 200-400+ ms pings are to be expected 4G speeds during peak times since they have no control over how many users may be connecting to the tower.

So much for the Evolution in LTE.

[Merrick]

Thats terrible. I'm getting better than those speeds with and outdated Alltel wireless data card on 3G.

[Ann154]

"1.5 Mbps and 200-400+ ms pings are to be expected 4G speeds during peak times since they have no control over how many users may be connecting to the tower."

At 9 pm at night is considered "peak" times? Not in my mind. Were you definitely talking with tech support under option 3 or still the front line support (option 1)? Just wondering if you were in the more knowledgeable area of customer service during the phone call.

This wasn't last night, but the results were done around the 9 o'clock hour a few nights ago on my Tbolt. http://www.speedtest.net/android/98520305.png

[dmc271]

Merrick: Thx for the confirmation. I thought I was going insane when they told me the speeds were expected.

Ann154: I believe I was talking to Level-2 tech support. I first used Option 3, talked to someone, and then was transferred to another tech department.

The most frustrating part was this: When I mentioned that my speeds are 3G speeds, not 4G speeds, the VZW representative replied: "Well, it's the same price whether you get 3G or 4G."

[Ann154]

Dmc271 wrote: The most frustrating part was this: When I mentioned that my speeds are 3G speeds, not 4G speeds, the VZW representative replied: "Well, it's the same price whether you get 3G or 4G."

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That would definitely be frustrating! I don't have any other ideas other than to keep calling it in. Maybe an VZW employee here will offer to help...

[dmc271]

Ann154: Thx--I took your suggestion and contacted VZW support online (both here and via Twitter). They confirmed that my issue was examined by network engineers and the problem is due to limited cell site capacity.

I actually switched to VZW after using a WISP service (long-range WiFi) for three years. Their service became so slow during peak evening hours that the connection was near unusable--ping times over 500 ms and 25% or more packet loss. The owner of that WISP never admitted that the problem was due to oversubscription, but some of their workers told me that their backhaul wasn't enough for all the Netflix streaming.

Now, I'm back in the same boat. All I can do is wait until the end of 2013, approximately 800 days from now, until they light up a new 4G tower to alleviate the oversubscription. As much as I hate it, at least VZW was honest about the fact that the 4G LTE service is oversubscribed in the Stillwater, OK area.

Maybe I'll keep updating this thread with my speed tests to serve as a friendly reminder.

[dmc271]

These pings remind me of dialup.

[Tigon]

http://speedtest.net/result/1581976172.png

"There are no additional support tickets for your area."

Funny how Verizon's EVDO speeds took a dive when the LTE network launched in my area.  Their "data optimization" doesn't help either.

[dmc271]

Tigon: That's just crazy! Can't you connect to the 4G network? (Actually, your pings are lower than mine.)

[Tigon]

I'm about one block away from Verizon's "Extended LTE Coverage."

I've been connecting to Verizon's 3G network with a Wilson amplifier/repeater for just under two years.

My speeds went from .60Mb-1.5Mb to an average of .20Mb shortly after Verizon started "optimizing" mobile broadband.

Verizon's support staff outright denied that any "throttling" was taking place on my 10GB plan.