4G/LTE slower than 3G

[_O_]

Hello,

Today I noticed that streaming on 4G/LTE on my Pixel 6a it's constantly buffering and not such an issue if I switch to 3G.

Already did restart my device. Had good signal reception (outside). Tested setting it on other network modes - LTE and  5G - no difference, but noticeable if I set it to 3G. Tested and confirmed the same behaviour on two different areas about 40 km apart, so not a specific tower related.

I'm on a 3G plan and I understand the data is capped on 3G speed despite I connect on 4G/LTE but I can't understand why on 4G/LTE I'm experiencing the issue described above. At least the speed should be the same, not lower.

Thanks.

[gpixel]

@_O_ 

unfortunately the throttle speed is not static... the "max" bandwidth is 3mbps. this means your connection is not always receiving this speed.. if you're a data user I suggest upgrading to a 4g plan

[_O_]

Thanks for your reply. I haven't run an explicit speed test, just simply observed the streaming issue. I don't know what its requirements were speed-wise. I plan to do that, also trying SIM from another carrier on my phone. I don't have such around.

Yeah, I'm not using 5G, I fixed it on 3G and recently fixed it on 4G only after I got the "migration complete" SMS.

Haven't noticed it since yesterday. Honestly, my understandings were that 3G plans are capped on 3G speed, not at 3Mbps.

I'll update when I have more information.

[_O_]

@nathujar 

This is not my question or what I'm looking for.

If you have nothing to say, please do not flood the thread.

[nathujar]

try upgrading to the 4g speed plan. 

[Nezgar]

"3G Speed" plans throttle the data service when connected to the LTE network to 3Mbps.

If you manually force your phone to use the "actual" 3G/HSPA/WCDMA network, no explicit throttling is enforced, and you will get up to whatever the 3G/HSPA/WCDMAnetwork can support, often up to 10Mbps or so.

[softech]

@_O_ 

first, do not set to 5G for sure.  Some confirmed that it could have problem with 5G set

You mentioned you tested 4G and 3G in different area, did you run a speed test for both settings? What upload and download speed you got?  As you said, 3G plan using 4G network is capped at 3Mbps but it can be as fast as 15Mbps on 3G network m. So, it is true that you could have better speed and less buffering using 3G network.  But it is best to run speed tests on both networks for comparison 

If your 4G network still performing poorly, way under 3Mbps, I think it would worth to try Reset All Networks first and also test your PM sim in another phone to see if it is a device issue or not