Very slow 4G speeds

I've had the Thunderbolt for almost 3 months, and my data speeds were normal on both 3G and 4G up until nearly a month ago. Now I'm getting this:

LTE, local server: http://speedtest.net/android/60929916.png
3G, same server: http://speedtest.net/android/60930249.png

LTE, 500mi away: http://speedtest.net/android/60930796.png
3G, same server: http://speedtest.net/android/60930373.png

(not quite sure how to embed images here)

Our area (airport and some surrounding areas) has had LTE since December. I've completely reset my phone so I don't think that's the problem, but it's possible. Websites are very slow to load, any updates download slowly, and pandora has issues streaming, so it's not just the speed test.

Accepted answers

willzzz99

You are MOST LIKELY at the edge of a cell site.

Here's a good test: Drive near a cell site and test again.

See if you have full 4G speeds 5Mbit+.

If yes that's your problem which won't be solved until VZW builds more 4G towers which takes time because every single 4G tower requires fiber back-haul.

All comments

Neander

Those numbers (at least the LTE anyway) are pretty shabby. They ought to be ashamed to call it 4G.

BTW: I've found you have to save each image on your drive first, then upload. I've learned it takes png files OK but not gif's.

Ann154

You have to reach a certain contributor rank level before the ability to add images to posts is granted.
http://community.vzw.com/t5/Announcements/Verizon-Community-Ranking-System/td-p/21291

I tried to view the linked images and got an error on three of the four links.

deloswilbur

That's not terribly wrong for Verizon 4G, what you seeing is their problem were data packets start getting lost during transfer, it's a problem they have had since December. Pings still go through so some data registers but for the most part you are hung. Disconnect and reconnect after a few reboots and you will be fine...for a few minutes to a few hours. Welcome to Verizon

willzzz99

You are MOST LIKELY at the edge of a cell site.

Here's a good test: Drive near a cell site and test again.

See if you have full 4G speeds 5Mbit+.

If yes that's your problem which won't be solved until VZW builds more 4G towers which takes time because every single 4G tower requires fiber back-haul.

mariol90

Ann154: the links didn't get posted properly, if you copy/paste the links into a web browser they load properly.

deloswilbur: that makes some sense, but i've rebooted my phone plenty of times in the past month (I believe it's actually been one month now) and I'm still getting the same results. also I just went to Orlando, FL for the day and my speeds are fine there. I get 11-25 mbit/sec down and 3-9 mbit/sec up, so it's definitely a problem in my area (Fort Myers, FL).

willzzz99: My home is at the edge of a cell site, but when I drive to and from school/work I can test it on the way, where there is decent LTE coverage, but I get the same exact results. The thing is everything was working fine up until a month or so ago, so something happened here.

here are two tests, first is in orlando, second is in fort myers, both on LTE using atlanta, GA server:
http://www.speedtest.net/android/61306669.png
http://www.speedtest.net/android/61455456.png

Ann154

I'm sure there are others, but this is one that I have used in the past.

http://www.antennasearch.com/

deloswilbur

I have used that one before was hoping there was a different one :-) Verizon is often hosted on Crown Castle towers right? I am 1.4 miles from one, but not sure that is a 4G tower as I dont' think I would show as on the fringe then.

mariol90

My problem was not solved, not sure why it says it was... I called VZW support and they filed a ticket, said I'd hear back within 5-7 days. My area's coverage is for the airport, and the problem occurs there. It's not an issue of being far away from a cell site since the problem occurs anywhere my phone says "4G", whether it's close to the airport/center of coverage, or far from coverage.

Once I hear back from support I'll post my real solution since the problem may not be solved within the next week according to the tech.

whatsupdoc

I've had a ticket open for this issue in Hudson, Ohio since Saturday, June 18, 2011 and was now told there is ANOTHER nationwide 4G outage. It's also affecting a friend who has a 4G Thunderbolt at the same place.

ArnettH_VZW

Hello whatsupdoc,

I think I may have responded to a similar post about this concern but just in case, I will chime in on this one. The good news is that there is NOT a 4G outage in Ohio. Since you had a ticket opened, I would like to check the status of the work order first to check the progress. That way, I can give you a definitive answer on your issue. May I ask that you send me a private message with you mobile number, contact number, & the open ticket number so I can properly investigate. In the message, please refer to this posting as I do quite a few of these in a day.

Thank you...

whatsupdoc

I sent a PM to you thank you. The problem still exists for me.

whatsupdoc

The problem appears to be resolved for me.

whatsupdoc

I retract the last post. It worked fine for two nights then at around 2:30 AM Eastern Time June 28, 2011 until I logged off at around 7:30 AM the service experienced huge problems. I ran several speed tests the the results were all across the board, it's not consistent by any means with one test running an incredible 24.5 MB down and 6 MB up while the majority of tests were in the 1 MB or less down and 5 MB up range.

mariol90

better than here at least... vzw tech support (2nd time talking to them, for a follow up) said they tested the network here and it's working properly, and said they'd push a new hybrid PRL to me. I tested after the time period they gave me (3 hours) and got 130 kbit/sec down and 340 kbit/sec up, around there consistently. on 3G i get 2 mbit/sec down and 900 kbit/sec up.

mariol90

my phone got a new PRL, 13006. here are some new speed tests:

LTE http://www.speedtest.net/android/64292274.png
3G http://www.speedtest.net/android/64292410.png

hopefully I get another call from VZW again since the problem still exists. they said if the PRL didn't fix it they'd have to look into it more.

Ann154

Strange my Thunderbolt has a 15011 for a PRL. No LTE in the area though.

willzzz99

Mariol, the ANSWER IS SIMPLE.

You are close enough to a 3G cell site with FULL SPEEDS BUT AT A VERY WEAK SIGNAL STRENGTH FOR A 4G SIGNAL!

Therefore you are getting worse 4G speeds than 3G (it happens).

See how if you drove into town into a 4G area you got full speeds earlier? We already proved the point.

There's no fixing this until VZW adds 4G to your local tower which may take another few months until the fiber is done to the tower.

mariol90

no... not even close. I live 3 hours away from orlando, that is not "into town". the airport is a 11 mile drive from my house, this is where the main LTE coverage is for my city, and the download speeds are just as slow there (upload is a bit better). download speeds around the airport are 140-150 kbit/sec. so when I drive into town, i do not get 4G speeds. hope this clears any confusion.

the reason i compare orlando is so i can show my phone is working properly when i go there, and when i'm back home in the fort myers, FL area, the speeds greatly drop on 4G compared to orlando.

also our airport is covered in case there was any question about it: http://news.vzw.com/news/2011/06/pr2011-06-22d.html
"Sarasota and Bradenton will join Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Tampa Bay, Orlando, Jacksonville, Tallahassee and Gainesville as well as along Duval Street in Key West and in the Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, as Florida markets that offer Verizon Wireless 4G LTE services."

Ann154: VZW tech support pushed a new PRL to my phone in an attempt to fix the slow LTE speeds, that may be why mine is different now. it used to be the same as yours before they pushed it.

mariol90

Here's a test right next to the airport: http://speedtest.net/android/66050403.png

willzzz99: there should be an excellent signal in this area seeing as verizon advertises our airport as having 4G, so this is what you'd consider "into town".

whatsupdoc

The problem is resolved! Averaging 20-22 MB down and 5 MB up! Very nice work Verizon!!! :smileyhappy:

mariol90

That looks good! what in general did you ask verizon and what did you say to them before they ended up fixing it?

I went to two verizon stores (one verizon, one wireless city) today, at the wireless city store another customer was having general data problems (the data just stops working and the 3G icon disappears) with her thunderbolt, so verizon is shipping her a new phone. I asked if I could test 4G, so I did and her phone got the same speed mine did. Between this and one of the verizon wireless employees saying "if it works outside of this area in other 4G areas, it's the network here", it doesn't seem to be my phone. All he could say is because our city's LTE coverage is small (airport only), there may be problems with it. which means it doesn't work properly anywhere, including at the airport.

I also had the verizon employee check the ticket I submitted, and the verizon "network engineer" only checked 3G data. Maybe when the rest of our city is covered in ~3 months and everyone has 4G problems, verizon will try to fix the issue when they start losing a lot of customers. :smileyhappy:

Ann154

I will have to agree that 100-200 kbps download speed is not right. The upload speed seems to be consistent with others I have seen on here.

I don't remember seeing it earlier, what are you getting for download speeds in a 3G area?

mariol90

I usually get between 1 and 2.5 mbps for 3G download speeds. I don't really think it's ever dropped much below 1 mbps while I was running any actual tests.

mariol90

I'm out today and the 3G speeds in central areas (interstate/airport) are between 100-700 kbps and it shows, web pages load slow and pictures in apps take a long time to load compared to when 3G was working properly. upload is 900-1100 kbps and pings are around 150 ms.

Pmpdx

My 2 cents... I live in sw Portland suburbs, during the 4g roll out this month, dozens of times a day I run speed test on my thunderbolt. I monitored the progress from 5kbps and 100+ ping times then the thing kicked in hitting 10-20-30 kbps with sub 100 ping, then the pings went back over 100... Then Sunday the 23rd 4g took a crap.

4g in and out, w/200+ ping times and 5 kbps then down to 1x, while 3g works normally. Ccr's refused to acknowledge these issues.

Sprint has better price plans and will convert to lte. Vzw has me considering...