Disappointing

[TechnologicallyChallenged]

While sitting in a room with a friend who has an HTC phone (don't remember which one specifically) we decided to run speed tests and compare just for fun. While his phone consistently pulled down 40 Mbps, my Bionic was only reaching download speeds of 20 Mbps. WTH, Motorola!

 

[TechnologicallyChallenged]

Both on the Verizon network.

 

[Joshison]

Same destination on speed test?

 

[TechnologicallyChallenged]

Both using the same speed test app, which is supposed to connect to the tower with the strongest signal, so I assume so. We also ran like six or seven tests.

 

[94lt1]

Power off your device, remove the back, and the sim, power it back on.

Power it back off and replace the sim and the SD card and the battery back. Power the device back on.

This is called re-seating the sim. It will typically make a difference.

In this situation, you should also have considered power cycling the device. This re-registers the device with the towers. And will often times result in a better connection.

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

 

[aaf709]

Power off your device, remove the back, and the sim, power it back on.

Power it back off and replace the sim and the SD card and the battery back. Power the device back on.

This is called re-seating the sim. It will typically make a difference.

I've done this and it's worked fine. But from experience, if you put the sim card in wrong, it'll get fried. This happened to me and afterwards all I could get was 3G. I went the Verizon store, explained what I did and they put a new sim card in for free.

 

[bbtkd]

Power off your device, remove the back, and the sim, power it back on. Power it back off and replace the sim and the SD card and the battery back. Power the device back on. This is called re-seating the sim. It will typically make a difference. In this situation, you should also have considered power cycling the device. This re-registers the device with the towers. And will often times result in a better connection. DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

So we have to go through these gymnastics when we want decent transfer rates, vs. the Samsung which just gets those speeds without risking burning up a SIM card? Perhaps Moto and VZW could just fix the problem?

 

[aaf709]

While it's surprising to have such wide differences in data speeds on the same network, I don't treat Speed Test as conclusive. To me it's like Bonneville, a good flat stretch to go wide open. But what's it like in the real world? Maybe try loading the New York Times non-mobile site and see what happens.

I also have speeds in the high 20s on Speed Test but it doesn't bother me. I've found when I'm downloading from the <gag> Play Store the speeds are closer to 1 Mbps with an occasional burst to 5 Mbps. It's like having a fast sports car on the LA freeway during rush hour. Doesn't matter what your top speed is if you can't use it. I can stream a movie from Netflix to my parents TV without a problem.

 

[94lt1]

So we have to go through these gymnastics when we want decent transfer rates, vs. the Samsung which just gets those speeds without risking burning up a SIM card? Perhaps Moto and VZW could just fix the problem?

That's a great idea, and its something you may tell them I personally can only tell you what I've found that makes the situation a little more tolerable.

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

 

[94lt1]

I've done this and it's worked fine. But from experience, if you put the sim card in wrong, it'll get fried. This happened to me and afterwards all I could get was 3G. I went the Verizon store, explained what I did and they put a new sim card in for free.

Lol, yes its very important to be careful with the sim. I wouldn't like that situation. Thankfully Sims are free

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

 

[Fokkerdmr]

I have had the problem before where my data connection seems slow. Like molasses slow. I run speedtest, get .16 mb/s down and 3.5 mb/s up. Yep, .16 mb/s!!! Pull the battery, put it back in, re-run the test, and voila - in the 20's or 30's mb/s. But, now this seems to be happening daily. I'm hoping there's something in the upcoming update that addresses this issue.

 

[94lt1]

I have had the problem before where my data connection seems slow. Like molasses slow. I run speedtest, get .16 mb/s down and 3.5 mb/s up. Yep, .16 mb/s!!! Pull the battery, put it back in, re-run the test, and voila - in the 20's or 30's mb/s. But, now this seems to be happening daily. I'm hoping there's something in the upcoming update that addresses this issue.

I too wonder if vzw hasn't changed how the device needs to communicate with their network, so most of our devices are slowing down until our next ota.

Its possible I guess.

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

 

[Fokkerdmr]

I doubt its something deliberate on VZW's part. My guess is there are still some problems with the 3G/4G switching code, and possibly with the code that deals with very low signal strength. My phone seems to lose data signal a few times a day, and it takes almost a full minute for it to recover. I don't know whether its occuring while my phone is off, but I have noticed it once or twice a day while using the phone. Its possible that a bug exists where this data signal loss also triggers this ultra-slow communication. Before 902, I had the same problem, but my data speed was very consistenly either 300 kb/s or 600 kb/s. That sounded a bit more 'mathematical' to me, (e.g. a software bug). I don't know whether its a problem with their network or the phone. Maybe a little of both. I hope they have telemetry reporting back from phones on this condition, and are working to solve it. Although most of us on the boards are pretty tech-savvy, we probably represent < 1% of the Android user population - so there would be lots of people scratching their heads at the abysmal performance of their phone (assuming this happens to other phones as well).

 

[hookbill]

I have had the problem before where my data connection seems slow. Like molasses slow. I run speedtest, get .16 mb/s down and 3.5 mb/s up. Yep, .16 mb/s!!! Pull the battery, put it back in, re-run the test, and voila - in the 20's or 30's mb/s. But, now this seems to be happening daily. I'm hoping there's something in the upcoming update that addresses this issue.

I Live in a sort of rural area in Ohio and I know that 4G is faster then 3G, it's obvious. I just ran speed test on my Bionic and I came up with 7.22Mbps down and 1.55 Mbps up. This would appear to be normal at least to me for 4G and let me explain why.

I get my house internet from Crime Warner, I pay for their "Turbo" and that, according to them, promises me 13mps down and supposedly 1.0 up. Now if I reboot my router or hook it up directly to my computer I can get 28 to 32 mps down and almost always .97 up. That's it.

So I really question people who are claiming to get 20 mps down using 4G. It just can't possible. I also tested my bionic on CMDA only and I got .24mbps down and .52 mbps up. This is the only way it can possibly work, 4G simply is not as fast as Cable.

So I don't know how you can possibly claim these speeds. It doesn't make sense.

 

[94lt1]

Nice macaw.. I have a scarlet.

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!