My observation of PM 3G vs LTE

[A328]

I have iPhone 6S.  I have tried both 3G and LTE options for two weeks each.  I have noticed following:

3G:  When I had turned off LTE, I found the data speed one 3G was about 15Mb/second almost all time.  However I have also noticed no data coverage or choppy data coverage in basement, in back side of Walmart or other big stores and occasionally drop calls. 

LTE: With LTE option turned on, the data speed reduced to 3Mb/second but it is consistent even in basement/inside big stores and improved call quality i.e. no drop calls. 

Have you had similar observations?  Please share your experience to help future customers. 

[srlawren]

---

@RobertQc wrote:

---

---

@srlawrendon't you mean 3.0Mbps or 3000Kbps? or 3,000,000bps? 😉 lol sorry couldn't resist

---

@RobertQc you sir, are 100% correct.  Ooops!!!

[TK123]

---

@srlawren wrote:

---

@stonechucker wrote:

@turboron, Public Mobile does not offer a 3G only package.  If you're on the 3G Speed plan, it is an LTE plan, and the speeds have been throttled to 3G 'maximum' speeds of approximate 3000mbps.

---

@stonechucker don't you mean 3.0Mbps or 3000bps?  

FYI, @turboron didn't say "3G only" they said they only have the 3G package.

---

In the settings on most phones, you can force your phone to use ONLY the 3G network - it will use that network and NOT connect to an LTE network.

[RobertQc]

---

@srlawren wrote:

---

@stonechucker wrote:

@turboron, Public Mobile does not offer a 3G only package.  If you're on the 3G Speed plan, it is an LTE plan, and the speeds have been throttled to 3G 'maximum' speeds of approximate 3000mbps.

---

@stonechucker don't you mean 3.0Mbps or 3000bps?  

FYI, @turboron didn't say "3G only" they said they only have the 3G package.

---

@srlawrendon't you mean 3.0Mbps or 3000Kbps? or 3,000,000bps? 😉 lol sorry couldn't resist

[stonechucker]

@srlawren, to be honest, there are so many different short forms I get them all confused, and frankly, it doesn't matter to me.  I understand the throttled speed to be the theoretical maximum of 3G but I may be wrong on that too.

All I know is, selecting a forced 3G connection can get better overall speeds for download but suffers from a larger latency than the 4G/LTE.

As for not saying anything but 3G, I'm assuming the poster was saying 3G as in Network, as they didn't say anything about throttled nor capped speeds, and thus the confusion for many folks who still do not understand the throttled speed plans of the LTE network implemented by Public Mobile to compete with the other carriers. 

[TK123]

Great discussion!

In my first three weeks with Public Mobile on LTE, I had three missed calls that did not ring while I was in a good reception area (downtown Vancouver).  I googled this issue and have set my phone to 3G only.

Because Public Mobile has only LTE but NOT VoLTE, sometimes you will NOT be notified of an incoming call (the phone won't ring, you won't see a "missed call" notification and you won't know that someone tried to call you UNLESS a voice mail was left) (this happens about 1-2% of the time I think - when an incoming phone call comes in, the phone has to switch to 3G and the switch fails 1-2% of the time. The solution is for Public Mobile is to enable VoLTE but until they do that (and they say they have no plans to do that), the solution is to turn off LTE and use only 3G.

On an iPhone, click "Settings" "Cellular" "Cellular Data Options" and turn OFF "Enable LTE".

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3g-4g-voice-calls-lte-network-implementation-richie-sam-oommen/

[srlawren]

---

@stonechucker wrote:

@turboron, Public Mobile does not offer a 3G only package.  If you're on the 3G Speed plan, it is an LTE plan, and the speeds have been throttled to 3G 'maximum' speeds of approximate 3000mbps.

---

@stonechucker don't you mean 3.0Mbps or 3000Kbps?  

FYI, @turboron didn't say "3G only" they said they only have the 3G package.

[stonechucker]

@turboron, Public Mobile does not offer a 3G only package.  If you're on the 3G Speed plan, it is an LTE plan, and the speeds have been throttled to 3G 'maximum' speeds of approximate 3000mbps.

The plan is delivered on the 4G/LTE network.  You can set your phone to only use the 3G network, and you may well experience faster speeds overall, but the latency is longer on 3G vs LTE.  All voice calls are performed on the 3G network.

[turboron]

I only have the 3G plan and the data is plenty fast enough for me. Webpages load up quickly and I don't do much downloading at all unless I'm on WI-FI anyway. I did notice that when I first started with Public Mobile, I had accidentally left the phone set to LTE first and data was quite a bit slower (because of the throttled LTE).

[luke11992]

---

@computergeek541 wrote:

---

@luke11992 wrote:

People are saying keeping LTE on improves reliability, but as far as for my personal anecdotal evidence, I can't tell a difference ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

---

Are customers really saying that or is that carrier marketing spin?  LTE is available in the 700MHz range so should be able to works in slightly more places than the 3g network. But, this is for data use only.

For phone calls, it can't possibly improve reliability, and in theory, could actually make things worse (problems switching networks).

In addition, K.I.S.S. principles sometimes apply.

---

In my thread it seems that customers were saying in terms of data use, keeping LTE on improves reliability and there is usually a shorter latency/ping. Although in my tests, there was virtually no difference in latency between using 3g vs LTE. Just faster speeds with 3g.

[luke11992]

---

@kdsharma1 wrote:

I followed Luke's thread and made the switch to 3G. I get so much more data for so much less and I have no seen any difference. I use alot of data since my work doesn't have wifi. I also use Data in the car for my Waze app and to stream music and podcasts. I have never had any buffering provlems. Luke11992 had a great thread. I suggest reading it. Unless you're gonna be dowloading alot of movies or doing alot of video calls. There's no point of (full) LTE data.

---

Thanks you! It seems there's more and more anecdotal evidence that using the 3g setting is in fact faster.

[mathsz]

Exact same thing for me. 

3g is faster 

[computergeek541]

---

@luke11992 wrote:

People are saying keeping LTE on improves reliability, but as far as for my personal anecdotal evidence, I can't tell a difference ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

---

Are customers really saying that or is that carrier marketing spin?  LTE is available in the 700MHz range so should be able to works in slightly more places than the 3g network. But, this is for data use only.

For phone calls, it can't possibly improve reliability, and in theory, could actually make things worse (problems switching networks).

In addition, K.I.S.S. principles sometimes apply.

[kdsharma1]

I followed Luke's thread and made the switch to 3G. I get so much more data for so much less and I have no seen any difference. I use alot of data since my work doesn't have wifi. I also use Data in the car for my Waze app and to stream music and podcasts. I have never had any buffering provlems. Luke11992 had a great thread. I suggest reading it. Unless you're gonna be dowloading alot of movies or doing alot of video calls. There's no point of (full) LTE data.

[luke11992]

People are saying keeping LTE on improves reliability, but as far as for my personal anecdotal evidence, I can't tell a difference ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[computergeek541 · Accepted solution]

---

@luke11992 wrote:

I just made a post about this exact topic this week: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Phones-Hardware/iPhone-quot-Enable-LTE-quot-Question/...

For me, the ping was almost identical between the 3g and LTE, which leads me to believe there isn't much advantage to keeping LTE on when 3g gives me much faster speeds. Also I never had any issues with lost calls or bad service when using 3g vs LTE.

---

 At times, I also noticed almost no difference in ping times between the HSPA and LTE networks.  The LTE pings were usually better, but when they were, that would sometimes only be by as little as 5ms.  Honestly, even if the ping difference was 50ms, I'm not certain that humans can even perceive such a split-second difference in time.

Keep in mind, that there's no such thing at Public Mobile phone calls over the 3g network, so setting locking in your phone into that time of network wouldn't make any difference for phone calls.

If I were to switch to a 3g plan a Public Mobile, I would seriously consider just disabling LTE on my device since the speeds will often be faster after taking that step because of the way that Public Mobile doesn't throttle the 3g network speeds.

[luke11992]

I just made a post about this exact topic this week: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Phones-Hardware/iPhone-quot-Enable-LTE-quot-Question/...

For me, the ping was almost identical between the 3g and LTE, which leads me to believe there isn't much advantage to keeping LTE on when 3g gives me much faster speeds. Also I never had any issues with lost calls or bad service when using 3g vs LTE.

[will13am]

I am on an old LTE plan but have tested the 3G plan.  I find that apart from extra speed that may come in handy when doing large downloads, there's no advantage on reception to switching to 3G.  Back in the day when AWS was the thing for LTE, switching to 3G allowed the phone to connect to 850 MHz towers which is helpful when indoors in larger buildings.  These days a lot of the 3G spectrum has been repurposed for LTE and 700 MHz has been rolled out.  Selecting LTE preferred mean exactly that.  The phone will run on LTE and will switch to 3G when it is better to do so.  Long story short, I leave the network setting on LTE preferred. 

[srlawren]

---

@mimmo wrote:

---

@A328 wrote:

.  But I have also noticed the call quality and reception much improved with keeping LTE option on.  

---

@A328Call quality should not be affected becasue all calls go through the 3g network, your phone will switch to 3g when callings.  PM does not offer VOLTE

---

@A328 what @mimmo says is correct.  Any different in call quality you are perceiving is probably confirmation bias, or at best, coincidental.  

[A328]

I understand.  But my personal experience was different.  The phone testing area was same for both.  I do not the reason.  I just wanted to share.  Not sure anyone else had similar experience or not. 

[mimmo]

---

@A328 wrote:

.  But I have also noticed the call quality and reception much improved with keeping LTE option on.  

---

@A328Call quality should not be affected becasue all calls go through the 3g network, your phone will switch to 3g when callings.  PM does not offer VOLTE

[A328]

Agreed.  Yes I am on 3G plan.  I wanted to check the difference myself.  I knew about throttled speed while using LTE.  But I have also noticed the call quality and reception much improved with keeping LTE option on.   For me, 3Mbps is more than enough for daily use.  

[Dunkman]

@A328

I assume that you are on the 3G plan.  If you were on full Ltd plan, you speeds would be much higher.

when choosing Lte option, your speed will be throttled to 3 Mbs, but you will get the Lte latency.  When choosing 3g, your speed will not be throttled.  So, what you are experiencing is what most people on 3G data plan experience with PM.  Which option you choose depends on preference.  

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Knowledge-Base/Plans-amp-Add-Ons/ta-p/250167

[Dunkgirl]

---

@A328 wrote:

I have iPhone 6S.  I have tried both 3G and LTE options for two weeks each.  I have noticed following:

3G:  When I had turned off LTE, I found the data speed one 3G was about 15Mb/second almost all time.  However I have also noticed no data coverage or choppy data coverage in basement, in back side of Walmart or other big stores and occasionally drop calls. 

LTE: With LTE option turned on, the data speed reduced to 3Mb/second but it is consistent even in basement/inside big stores and improved call quality i.e. no drop calls. 

Have you had similar observations?  Please share your experience to help future customers. 

---

@A328You are on LTE , but its throttled LTE. You are not on a 4G/LTE plan. Even tho its throttled LTE its much better ping and technology.

When you are on throttled LTE (3mb) and you set your phone to 3G you get much faster speeds because 3G is not being throttled or at least not the same as the LTE. Some people call it an exploit. (I do not, I think its fair) LTE is a better and more advanced network. I think if you choose to use the crappier older 3G (slower latency) network its fair to get faster than 3mb throttled speeds.