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3G data speeds

Asher2
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

When I first joined public mobile, I have used LTE and knew that it was throttled to 3mbps. One day I decided to experiment, I switched to 3G, I did a speedtest and found that 3G was faster. 

LTE: 2.56mbps download. 2.79mbps upload

 

3G: 20.32 mbps download. 5.45mbps upload

 

I find this great and and now I can have faster data, but I am wondering why the 3G connectivity is faster then LTE. (Knowing that speeds are throttled to 3mbps)

10 REPLIES 10

ruckuschica
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen
Thanks, @Anonymous

I didn't know that lol. But I'm not so worried about data usage honestly. My plan just renewed overnight so I'm back up to the full amount. Even though I don't have huge amounts of data on my plan, I still haven't been able to use it all up. And I tend to save videos for watching at home when there's wifi.

Anonymous
Not applicable

 @ruckuschica : 3G speed is kind of a misnomer. We like to call it LTE-Lite around here. When on LTE it will throttle your speed to 3Mbps. When on HSDPA (actual "3G") then you'll see faster speeds. But it's alleged that there could be some latency for videos and such. Most people don't really notice any difference on the phone.

It's suggested not to do too many speedtests as they eat data in a hurry. But everybody does it at least once 🙂

ruckuschica
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

Very interesting! I usually just keep my phone set to autoswitch 4G/LTE as available. I ran the speedtest for both 3G and 4G (no option on my phone for LTE?) and the 3G topped out at 7mbps DL whereas the 4G was 3mbps. I always thought that the higher the "G" factor, the faster the DL speeds would be. 

 

I'm up in Northern Ontario so coverage isn't as great as it is in bigger cities, but the cell tower is relatively close so...

Asher2
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Battery life isn’t a problem as I only have a 250MB data limit and I dont use much. I would recommend everyone to test to see if their 3G connection is better then the LTE connection.

 

NOTE: Do NOT do this if you don’t want to use much of your data because speedtests often take long and use data.

 

20mbps speeds is really surprising to me as I live in Brampton and my old provider “freedom mobile” had very bad connections here.

 

And who knows, with the introduction of 5G, we might be getting a faster speed cap or maybe even 4G LTE data. I doubt this will happen but it is a possibilty 🤷‍♂️

23mb that's a fast HSPA connection! I only average 12mb/1.5mb in my area

 

@Asher2 Thank you! BUT when i do speedtests the latency is somehow better on 3G. 117ms ping on LTE and 73ms ping on 3G. I don’t know why this is happening but I am glad that 3G is lower

 

this also means that you will have much better battery life on the 3g network. I've also made the switch to 3g. my LTE connection has been very spotty. if my battery life is the same or better I'm going to stay on 3g

 

*update 3g is using more battery... back to LTE 🙂. not sure why, but it's heating up my phone 


@popping wrote:

In Canada, mobile data is still more expensive than the landline Internet connection.


Wireless will always cost more than wired. Anywhere in the world, not just Canada.

 

Because wired has an installation cost (wires and stuff). But wireless has a higher installation cost (radio towers and stuff). Wireless also has ongoing costs (fair amount of electrical wattage to sustain signal coverage over large areas) plus FCC/CRTC spectrum license costs (which the industry unsurprisingly describes as greedy and excessive).

 

And properly installed wire/optic can just carry far more signal density over far longer distances. It's always possible to install more wired when you want more bandwidth, it's impossible to install more spectrum when you want more bandwidth (plus it has to be shared between all users in range). It is possible to install more antenna coverage (every pole, every corner, every building, every room) for greater cell density - basically bring "last mile" service at any given location to the closest tall object you can attach wired service onto - but more equipment means more cost. The business doesn't deploy more network unless there's demand for more network, revenue-negative costs are avoided.

mm80
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@Asher2 wrote:

Thank you! BUT when i do speedtests the latency is somehow better on 3G. 117ms ping on LTE and 73ms ping on 3G. I don’t know why this is happening but I am glad that 3G is lower


It's usually other way around. LTE is known to be more responsive even if the speed is slower. 

Asher2
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Thank you! BUT when i do speedtests the latency is somehow better on 3G. 117ms ping on LTE and 73ms ping on 3G. I don’t know why this is happening but I am glad that 3G is lower

popping
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Asher2 

Yes. You are allowed to configure your phone to use 3G or LTE or auto-switch between 3G and LTE depending the signal strength of each signal.  I usually set my phone to use auto-switch between them.

 

3G maximum speed is higher than 3 Mbps.  But with higher data latency.

PM offers LTE capped to 3Mbps with low LTE latency.

 

Low LTE latency means user experience is better as user does not have too long before the download starts going or video starts showing,  3Mbps is great for watching 720p video with good video quality and do not use too much bandwidth of your data allotment.  In Canada, mobile data is still more expensive than the landline Internet connection.

mm80
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@Asher2 wrote:

When I first joined public mobile, I have used LTE and knew that it was throttled to 3mbps. One day I decided to experiment, I switched to 3G, I did a speedtest and found that 3G was faster. 

LTE: 2.56mbps download. 2.79mbps upload

 

3G: 20.32 mbps download. 5.45mbps upload

 

I find this great and and now I can have faster data, but I am wondering why the 3G connectivity is faster then LTE. (Knowing that speeds are throttled to 3mbps)


This is well known but Public doesn't advertise it. Latency is worse on 3g and it doesn't handle capacities as good.

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