Very Slow Data

[aubreygodman]

I am getting 0.37 mbps download.  My data is set to LTE.  I'm not sure which plan I have but it's over $40 a month.  

I knew my phone was slow but my friend said it should be way faster.  I have been over paying for slow data for years now, not happy at all.  Why is this so slow?

I have an iphone now but it was slow with my Samsung as well.  Any help would be appreciated.  I'm very close to cancelling this service, it's very frustrating.  

[MADUSER1]

I've been with them over 5yrs....yesterday my LTE registred 75mbps....today it's 1.4

I'm shopping 

[hogdog44mag]

I wish

[hTideGnow]

hi @hogdog44mag 

could be an incompatible phone without the proper 4G bands

what phone you have? is that an imported phone?

[dust2dust]

@hogdog44mag- What's the make and model of the phone? Maybe it isn't LTE-compatible with here.

[hogdog44mag]

I just changed to the 4g sub and when i go into settings it only allows 3g and lte the LTE has no signal and the 3 G is at 1 abs  just submitted a ticket the 3g I have before seemed faster ?????

[DennyCrane]

Something seems really off with that. I would definitely open a ticket and see if they can tweak some settings. There shouldn't be any throttle getting in your way.

I'm on the 15gb plan as well and this is my speed right now. 

 

[jeremyguay85]

I'm skeptical but I will give that a try, thanks for your help

[softech]

@jeremyguay85   open ticket with PM support first, they can refresh your account and would help

[jeremyguay85]

No I updated the plan a couple of months ago it's been slow ever since

[softech]

@jeremyguay85 if you just updated the plan, that is the reason.  It takes 48 hours for the new speed to come. Maybe wait the 2 full days and try again 

[jeremyguay85]

10 megs per second is on a very good day, normally I'm around 3 or 4, which is not acceptable for the 4G plan. But what pisses me off is that I was getting 100 megs per second and I switched plans and literally the next day my speeds dropped drastically even though I switched from a 4G plan to a 4G plan I just upgraded the amount of data.  I've tried speeds at different locations and stuff like that it doesn't change. But that's irrelevant because I did the test when I was at work before I change my plan and then after I change my plan while I was at work and I had lost all the speed. I can't even watch YouTube properly, I have to drop the resolution down to 144 p to be able to watch anything without buffering where before I can watch 4K no problem

[softech]

@jeremyguay85 While 10Mpbs is far from the best 100Mpbs, it's not bad, better than the regular 3Mbps for 3G speed plan

So, you have changed to 4G speed plan for long time?

What kind of phone do you have? brand and model?

you tried the speed test in different area and same speed of around 10Mpbs?

Before you decide to leave, I suggest you to open ticket with PM support first.  They can re-provision your account and you could see difference

[jeremyguay85]

I had a 4G plan before they stopped offering them for a while there and I was getting sometimes between 80 and 100 mb a second. When I saw they were offering them again I decided to upgrade to a 15 GB plan since I didn't want to before because I would have to go down to 3g speeds. As soon as I started my new plan I was getting speeds no faster than 10 mb per second. I'm on the exact same phone and the exact same location when I'm doing the test. The speed change was pretty much as soon as I started with the other plan. Unless there's some sort of drastic solution between that and their absolutely terrible new website that they have now, I'm going to be switching providers and I'm going to suggest to anyone possible that you do too!

[aubreygodman]

The speed I am getting now is WELL below 3G speeds.  It's true that I can upgrade service but that doesn't answer why it is so slow now. And what if I have the same problem with 4G?

[DennyCrane]

How much are you paying per month now? You may not need to pay anything more, and still get better service. 

[aubreygodman]

So they slow it down so I upgrade my service, seems pretty manipulative.  

[wetcoaster]

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@DennyCrane wrote:

Sounds like you're on a 3G plan. You're paying $40 anyway, so you may as well switch to the promo $40/15GB of 4G data. It'll take a couple days after you switch plans for the increased speed to kick in, but it'll be worth it once it does. 

I agree that changing to 3G signal is not a good long term solution. 

---

I might miss something here (and I admit that I have not tracked all the available plans for at least 3 years), but $40/10.5GB plan does not ring a bell.

There was, however, a $50/10.5GB - IIRC it also included calls to the US.

It would be really great if we had more information so that we're not just guessing around here... The reason I brought up the above:

If the later is the plan the OP is on (and rewards are bringing it down to $40?) there might be the additional question on how much they use the US calling feature.

If it's only the occasional call to the US (if my math works out, less than 660 minutes / 11 hours per month?) it's a no-brainer to change to the $40/15GB and supplement it with the not expiring add-on ($15/1000minutes to US). (the holiday give aways also include calls to the US, if you don't use them for calling international destinations that'd a way to use those)

If those US calls are very frequent one has to decide what one considers the higher priority - data speed or US calls.

[computergeek541]

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@will13am wrote:

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@aubreygodman wrote:

I have done tests all over the city.

I have had slow service for years.  

I never really had data before so I didn't understand the speeds until a friend told me how slow my phone was.

I'd say for at least 2 years my data has been this slow, through 3 different phones.  Since I just changed it now, this is the fastest I've ever seen it.  

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Sticking to the 3G network is not a solution.  The size of the 3G network is ever shrinking as it heads toward planned shutdown in 2025.  The 4G speed plans have a speed cap at 100 mbps.  You will get more data and a much better overall experience.  @computergeek541 can give you experience on why forcing the phone to 3G is bad idea.  One last thing, this service is on the verge of receiving VoLTE functionality.  Forcing the phone to 3G means missing out on the most exciting change to this service in a long while.  

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I know that trying different settings is done for temporary troubleshooting, but blocking out possible network types is currently a terrible idea. The 3G network has become such a poor performer that it can't be relied upon for anyting.  Things never used to be this way, but with technology, things are always changing.  It used to be that the 3G network was very good and gave pretty consistent speeds in the places that I tested. A couple of years ago, I started seeing greatly decreased network speeds, but the main problem was not with the speeds but have rather how data wouldn't work at all in some places.  In those problem places, LTE would work fine. That wasn't a signal issue. It was a capacity one (signal would be fine but just not enough bandwidth or too many people using the 3G network).  . 

Even for voice, 3G has become extremely problematic.  The concept of disabling LTE connections used to be to ensure that there wasn't a failure in LTE to HSPA fall back for phone calls.  However, becuase of the way that so much of the 3G/HSPA network has been removed, current issues may very well just as easily be caused by lack of network capacity.   The HSPA netowrk is grandually being dismantled the spectrum reassigned to other network types. it will only get worse.

Wil13am's ponts about locking into the 3G network is imporatant as it means that custoemer won't notice whenever Public Mobile is ready to do full sclae launch of VoLTE services.

[DennyCrane]

Sounds like you're on a 3G plan. You're paying $40 anyway, so you may as well switch to the promo $40/15GB of 4G data. It'll take a couple days after you switch plans for the increased speed to kick in, but it'll be worth it once it does. 

I agree that changing to 3G signal is not a good long term solution. 

[will13am]

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@aubreygodman wrote:

I have done tests all over the city.

I have had slow service for years.  

I never really had data before so I didn't understand the speeds until a friend told me how slow my phone was.

I'd say for at least 2 years my data has been this slow, through 3 different phones.  Since I just changed it now, this is the fastest I've ever seen it.  

---

Sticking to the 3G network is not a solution.  The size of the 3G network is ever shrinking as it heads toward planned shutdown in 2025.  The 4G speed plans have a speed cap at 100 mbps.  You will get more data and a much better overall experience.  @computergeek541 can give you experience on why forcing the phone to 3G is bad idea.  One last thing, this service is on the verge of receiving VoLTE functionality.  Forcing the phone to 3G means missing out on the most exciting change to this service in a long while.  

[aubreygodman]

I have done tests all over the city.

I have had slow service for years.  

I never really had data before so I didn't understand the speeds until a friend told me how slow my phone was.

I'd say for at least 2 years my data has been this slow, through 3 different phones.  Since I just changed it now, this is the fastest I've ever seen it.  

[pmbc]

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@aubreygodman wrote:

So my plan is 10.5 GB at 3G speed, if it is so slow at 3G why would I upgrade?  I want 3G speed at 3G I'm not even getting 1mgbs

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I would suggest if you're paying $40 for 10.5gb, change plan to $40/15GB 4G is a win/win.  You're paying the same price and getting faster speed/more data.

[softech · Accepted solution]

@aubreygodman   this confirmed an LTE issue where you are at

did you test LTE in another area?

and you ever get good LTE speed where you are?

If you only get bad speed on LTE for a week or so, it could be just they are working on 5G implementation in your area, sometimes it would affect the 4G or 3G, but it should come back good soon

You opened ticket with support already?  Let them know the what you found (3G vs 4G)

[aubreygodman]

OK so I just changed it to 3G and the test was 6.83 mgps that's the first time it ever tested over 1.  So I should leave it on 3G now?

Also, if that means it is a problem in my area, it is a Toronto-wide problem? 

[softech]

@aubreygodman 

Pretty sure it is fixable.  But please try it on 3G network just to confirm if it is a 4G/LTE problem in your area.  

[will13am]

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@aubreygodman wrote:

I have 3 of 4 bars.  Where can I find my plan?  

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@aubreygodman , you can determine what plan you are on by accessing the online account.  The information should be available on the plan and add-on tab.  There is a chance that you are on a so called 3G speed plan given the very slow data performance.  If so, I would suggest switching to the $40/15GB 4G speed plan.  Plan change can be done from the plan and add-on tab.  It is best to switch plans on next renewal to avoid losing the remainder of the current plan cycle.

[aubreygodman]

So my plan is 10.5 GB at 3G speed, if it is so slow at 3G why would I upgrade?  I want 3G speed at 3G I'm not even getting 1mgbs

[softech]

@aubreygodman   

0.37 Mpbs is not acceptable even for 3G speed plan

did you test the speed in the same place when you use iPhone and Samsung?

Test it in a different area and see if there is any speed improvement.

Also, for testing purpose, on both iPhone and Samsung, change the Preferred network type or network mode to 3G Only and see if you get better speed

If changing to 3G actually helps, it is a problem with your 4G/LTE in your area. 

[aubreygodman]

This is a constant problem, I submitted a ticket.  

[aubreygodman]

I have 3 of 4 bars.  Where can I find my plan?