topic Re: 3G data speeds in Get Support

3G data speeds

efp — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 15:07:01 GMT

Do the plans offering 3G data speeds operate on a 3G network, or a 4G network at throttled speed?

Re: 3G data speeds

Triguy — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 11:11:25 GMT

PM uses Telus and Bell towers which are 4G but speeds are throttled to 3G.

Re: 3G data speeds

Starshoot — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 16:41:44 GMT

4G but throttled to 3G. You will see LTE icon on phone.

Re: 3G data speeds

Nezgar — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 16:49:36 GMT

Public Mobile allows you to use both the "3G" HSPA/WCDMA network for calls and data, and the "4G" LTE network for data only, but throttled to 3.0Mbps.

Here is the result of speed tests you will see with your phone on LTE using fast.com: - 3.0Mbps up and down:

Here is the result of speed tests you will see with your phone on HSPA/WCDMA using fast.com is 3.0Mbps up and down. You are more likely going to more variance in maximum speed and latency with this depending on area and shared load though.

Overall, it's best to leave your phone in the automatic 3G+4G or HSPA/WCDMA/LTE modes to let it automatically select the best network. Usually this means being on LTE most of the time, except for phone calls it will temporarily switch to 3G/HSPA/WCDMA.

Re: 3G data speeds

computergeek541 — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 05:26:46 GMT

@Nezgar

The LTE network can also be used for text messaging.

Re: 3G data speeds

superjohn140 — Sun, 07 Jun 2020 16:44:42 GMT

Yes 4G throttled

I have done some tests over the past month and i find the best thing to do is NOT have 4G LTE in my phone's preferred network types settings.

I notice a significant difference when I test this at different times.

3G performances better when 4G is not in the preferred network

3G preferred on average 5 Mbps consistently up to 9 Mbps sometimes (i don’t get this when 4G is involved)

With 4G preferred on average 2-3 Mbps consistently

I have tested with both google speed test and fast.com (powered by Netflix)

On android in general this will get you to the place to change this:

Open the Settings app
Tap Network & Internet
Tap Mobile Network
Tap Advanced (if shown)
Tap Preferred network type
Tap your preferred selection

Hope this helps

Re: 3G data speeds

Nezgar — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 20:45:50 GMT

@superjohn140 wrote:
I notice a significant difference when I test this at different times. 3G performance is better when 4G is not in the preferred network

For speed-tests, yes this is true. For everyday use, maybe not so true. By forcing your phone to only using the 3G network, you are limiting the network connectivity options and potentially coverage. 3G can also have more unpredictable latency under load, which is much less of a factor on the LTE network, even if it is throttled to 3Mbps.

A benchmark that times loading sites with many small resources that spawn multiple requests may perform better with the lower latency LTE network, compared to the faster-throughput but higher latency 3G/HSPA network...