Tethering data works 100% better....WHY???

[Garry]

My wife and I are both on PM Fall promos--Same plans.

My wife has a Moto G Play.

I have an LG G5.

We live out in the country, so signal strength is somewhat comprimised but still within LTE zones and reliable when needed. Data is somewhat slow (2-8mbps generally) compared to more populated areas but acceptable.

Here's the kicker.....I'm getting low on my data, so I tethered to her data a few times over the past week.(for the first time).

So..........Why is it that when I tether to her Moto G Play data through my LG G5(with my PM data turned off), my phone works/downloads so much faster (probably 3-5x faster) compared to being on my own data? It makes absolutely no sense. Webpages just pop up and open when tethered, but open slow as mud when using my own data not tethered???

Can anyone explain why this is, because I'm getting frustrated.......

Fwiw....I do not have wifi at home. I'm stuck using a Bell stick for HS internet where I live as HS connections are not available through anyone. If I connect my phone via wifi while out somewhere(malls, restaurants,etc), I easily get 50-135mbps download speeds through speedtest app on my phone.

What should I do? 

[Garry]

I wish I had an answer for everyone about this. I've swapped sims in both phones and done tests over and over. The results are almost always exactly the same which eliminates the phones from the equation.

Both phones with either sim card in them perform twice as fast when tethered at my location. Perhaps it has to do with the poor signal or the bandwidth here.....I don't know. All I can say is that it is very strange how this occurs. 

After doing dozens and dozens of speedtests............

Each phone on it own data constantly gets 3.5down and 1.5 up. 

When tethered together with using either sim card.......... Moto >> G5 or G5 >> Moto the results are constantly twice the speed averaging 7-8 down and 2.5-4.0 up tethered.

It would be great if someone else could try tethering to their friend or family and see what they get. I'm sure there's somebody reading this that can do it.......

The only issue I had doing these test and using the faster speed tethered was that I have all my settings to update using wifi (when I go to Tims etc) but when I tethered the phone.....It didn't know any different and used up 1+GB of my wifes data updating my phone which pissed me off. My own fault, but hey.....lesson learned.

Going to need other peoples solo/tethered tests/input to go any further on this topic to further define this strange issue.

None the less......Still a happy Public Mobile client.

[MEU_21]

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@Garry wrote:

Just an FYI: We are both on the original Fall Promo 12GB LTE. 

On a side note......I'm going to add my old Moto G 1st gen to the mix and see what happens! (when my data plan renews this Friday)

That'll make things interesting.......Stay tuned!

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So Garry, were you able to nail down the cause of the speed difference?

[pakmode]

*chews popcorn*

*stares at screen in suspense*

Great thread. Really interesting stuff @Garry @srlawren

[Garry]

Just an FYI: We are both on the original Fall Promo 12GB LTE. 

On a side note......I'm going to add my old Moto G 1st gen to the mix and see what happens! (when my data plan renews this Friday)

That'll make things interesting.......Stay tuned!

[srlawren]

As a side note, I definitely prefer my home internet connection!!  (Shaw Cable, Internet 75 plan):

[srlawren]

@Garry It seems that the throttling issue only kicks in when forcing the phone down to 3G HSPA, whereas if I set it back to full LTE on my "3G" data plan, I get the throttled rates.

I tethered my laptop to my phone, switched my phone's data over to my "3G" data plan test SIM, and experimented with forcing the phone down to 3G (HSPA+) vs 4G (LTE). 

When I let it connect to LTE, this is the best I can get after a few trials:

Yet when I force it down to HSPA+, I get much faster download, clearly not tethered.  It does seem to be at the expense of some upload speed, however:

[srlawren]

@Garry actually, this might be making some sense.  Are you both on one of the "3G" data plans?  (You can check in self-serve like this.)  It sounds like you are, based on the 2.5 down and 2.0ish up that you're seeing on both phones under non-tethered conditions.  I'm guessing that there is a bug preventing the throttling when using tethering.  There is a semi-well-known issue with throttling on the "3G" data plans, where if you set your phone to 3G only (force it not to use the LTE connection), you get a non-tethered HSPA+ connection that generally far exceeds the throttled LTE with a "3G" data plan.  I'll bet that same throttling bug affects tethering, though I've never thought of testing that. 

[Garry]

Did some speed tests side by side 5am Sunday morning. All connections were around 24-36ms except one time when it was 800ms on my phone. Both phones performed similar at around 3.5mbps down and 2.0mbps up. Swapped sims and performed tests again. No significant difference in speeds, until I tethered them together. That's when the speeds went from those posted above to a consistant doubling in speed. Tethered together getting 5-6-7-8-11mbps down 4-5mbps up on both phones. 

Still mystified by this....... but my data is almost used up for now. Will look into it more next week when I have a new 12gb cycle to play with.

My neighbour has satellite H/S internet at his house. I'm going to try and tether to that system and see what happens.

For those old enough to appreciate this TV expression>>>>> ........to be continued! 🙂

[Garry]

I'll play with sims,etc this weekend. Should have an update posted by Monday.

Cheers, 

[sheytoon]

There's lots of good suggestions already! It's either the Moto's superior RF performance, or possibly the LG is not a Canadian version and only supports few LTE bands / CA combos?

Swapping SIM cards should definitely narrow things down.

[srlawren]

The G5 with Snapdragon 820 has X12 LTE support, while the Moto X Play based on the older Snapdragon 615 only has X5 LTE.  On paper, the G5 should get you the bits quicker.

Paging @sheytoon to see if he (or she? sorry, hard to tell genders here sometimes!) can be of any help unravelling this mystery....

[Garry]

Thaks for the insights. I definitely have lte enabled. (Just to get that out of the way for now).

Ill run a speed test on both phones tonight, then swap sims and run it again and see where things stand.....

Once i have more info, ill update the thread.

[pakmode]

Yes, this is very interesting. Please keep us posted on your findings OP.

[Michael77]

Interesting topic.  I would be curious to know the solution.

[will13am]

@Garry, check that your phone is set to LTE preferred mode.  When you experience slow data, does the phone actually have a LTE connection?  When you compare the signal strength readings on the two phones at the same location, are they about the same.  Some phones have better cell radios than others. 

[closng]

Can you perform a speedtest (fast.com / speedtest.net) using your wife's phone? 

I am thinking there might be something to do with your phone's LTE capabilities (could be software/hardware) that is hindering your speed when connected to Public's towers.

Is your phone's LTE option turned on?

[MEU_21]

-There are Speedtest apps and network aps that can help you to see what you are locking onto and at what speed - they will help troubleshoot

-You may not have LTE enabled on your phone. Check Network settings.

-The receiver and transmitter in your G5 may no longer work properly. Compare the two phones in another location.

-If problem still persists, swap SIMs. Check your wife's SIM in your phone - if faster then you may have an older SIM. If same, it is probably a phone issue. Swap SIM and test your SIM in your wife's phone, if her phone is now slower, it is definitely an older/bad SIM. Replace SIM.

Compared to the Moto, the G5 is missing 3, 8, and 13, but they aren't bands really used in Canada - so that wouldn't be a problem.

[xCameron94x]

One real difference in speed I can think of, is the phone. All phones are made differently, two phones in the same location, could potientialy have different download speeds. So the motorla can have a better connection than your LG. 

[smp99]

Interesting. You forgot to mention what speeds your wife gets on her phone when she browses. Do the pages load quickly on her phone like they do on your phone when you are tethered?

If they are both quick, then the phone could be the difference. Maybe the MotoG has a better signal (antenna) or maybe the MotoG is better the the LG G5 when signal is low. Or maybe you have a lot of background apps running on your LG. 

You could try swapping sims to see what happens with speed.