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Why does my LTE suck so bad?

B

bhigh8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 23, 2012
421
3
now let me get this out of the way, its still faster than 3G but why does my LTE so slow compared to everyone else. I live about 2hrs south of Chicago and we have had LTE for about a year or so. I have Verizon and have yet to get higher than 10mbps for download so far. I have taken the speed test about 10 times in various parts and its always close to the same. What could be the reason? do i call verizon or will they not care or be able to do anything about it? my home wifi is just as fast.

Thanks for your help.
 

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tymaster50

tymaster50

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Oct 3, 2012
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bhigh8 said:
now let me get this out of the way, its still faster than 3G but why does my LTE so slow compared to everyone else. I live about 2hrs south of Chicago and we have had LTE for about a year or so. I have Verizon and have yet to get higher than 10mbps for download so far. I have taken the speed test about 10 times in various parts and its always close to the same. What could be the reason? do i call verizon or will they not care or be able to do anything about it? my home wifi is just as fast.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

2 bars of reception.... and tower congestion. You're not going to get super fast speeds on Verizon 2 hours away from Chicago, just be glad you have LTE anyway, verizon won't do anything about it.
 
B

bhigh8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 23, 2012
421
3
tymaster50 said:
2 bars of reception.... and tower congestion. You're not going to get super fast speeds on Verizon 2 hours away from Chicago, just be glad you have LTE anyway, verizon won't do anything about it.
Click to expand...

i can move around and get 4 or 5 bars of reception. it wont make a difference there. however, you think being far from chicago makes a difference? i dont understand how LTE works but thought it might be better since out here its not as congested. just wasnt sure.
 
nsayer

nsayer

macrumors 65816
Jan 23, 2003
1,249
775
Silicon Valley
I think it's just you.

Here in Silicon Valley, Verizon LTE is phenomenal. At the local mall, I can get 40-50 MB/sec down, and most other places I get at least 20.
 
tymaster50

tymaster50

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Oct 3, 2012
2,833
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bhigh8 said:
i can move around and get 4 or 5 bars of reception. it wont make a difference there. however, you think being far from chicago makes a difference? i dont understand how LTE works but thought it might be better since out here its not as congested. just wasnt sure.
Click to expand...

lte works on tower congestion, distance from tower, and signal strength, it is the next step for GSM devices but Verizon put it on CDMA too. Pretty much kept them in the game lol. So you might be a little far from a tower, Verizon would be focusing their efforts on chicago and immediate surrounding areas, you're just lucky you can get a LTE signal.
 
B

bhigh8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 23, 2012
421
3
tymaster50 said:
lte works on tower congestion, distance from tower, and signal strength, it is the next step for GSM devices but Verizon put it on CDMA too. Pretty much kept them in the game lol. So you might be a little far from a tower, Verizon would be focusing their efforts on chicago and immediate surrounding areas, you're just lucky you can get a LTE signal.
Click to expand...

no, they put LTE in Bloomington where i live. so it shouldnt matter what chicago has, should it.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/verizon-wireless-brings-its-4g-lte-network-to-five-markets-in-illinois-tomorrow-129802488.html

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2409958,00.asp
 
tymaster50

tymaster50

Suspended
Oct 3, 2012
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oh well they're not really lying when they say they can deliver speeds up to 10 times faster. They just put less of a focus in your area.
 
B

bhigh8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 23, 2012
421
3
I called verizon and they had me turn on data roaming under cellular in settings. not sure if that will matter. it was same at my house but will try it in other places also. as long as videos dont buffer and games run smooth, not sure if it will really matter.

what benefits will there be if you have 50mbps? just curious.
 
tymaster50

tymaster50

Suspended
Oct 3, 2012
2,833
58
Oregon
bhigh8 said:
I called verizon and they had me turn on data roaming under cellular in settings. not sure if that will matter. it was same at my house but will try it in other places also. as long as videos dont buffer and games run smooth, not sure if it will really matter.

what benefits will there be if you have 50mbps? just curious.
Click to expand...

it's just a number. Once you reach 2mbps all basic tasks like watching videos, streaming music, instagram, twitter , etc... are all the same. But it would be nice to tether a 50mbps connection.
 
B

bhigh8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 23, 2012
421
3
what does turning data roaming actually do for my phone? will that speed anything up? will it use more battery? it was originally set to "off"

Thanks
 
thenumbersrbad

thenumbersrbad

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2008
421
30
I'm getting way less bars with LTE on compared to 4G (I'm on AT&T btw)

Could this be killing battery?
Is it worth keeping LTE on if I'm getting close to same download speeds on LTE vs 4G but my uploads are much better.

I'm in the Twin Cities
 
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JakeT85

JakeT85

macrumors regular
Jan 19, 2012
185
92
I am in Bloomington too and actually left Verizon. They have overloaded towers here and they are spaced far apart.......bad combination. Went to AT&T and get 8 Mbps on Hspa+ at my house and way stronger signal on average. Hopefully they will add some towers soon, but like others have said, 5mbps is plenty for a phone.
 

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Beeplance

Beeplance

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2012
1,564
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bhigh8 said:
now let me get this out of the way, its still faster than 3G but why does my LTE so slow compared to everyone else. I live about 2hrs south of Chicago and we have had LTE for about a year or so. I have Verizon and have yet to get higher than 10mbps for download so far. I have taken the speed test about 10 times in various parts and its always close to the same. What could be the reason? do i call verizon or will they not care or be able to do anything about it? my home wifi is just as fast.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

That LTE may look slow, but do you honestly face any difficulty in Internet speeds when using it? From what I know, 6mbps is more than enough for anything you do on the phone.

20-60mbps for LTE speeds is only relevant when you're using your iPhone 5 as a personal hotspot.

----------
JakeT85 said:
I am in Bloomington too and actually left Verizon. They have overloaded towers here and they are spaced far apart.......bad combination. Went to AT&T and get 8 Mbps on Hspa+ at my house and way stronger signal on average. Hopefully they will add some towers soon, but like others have said, 5mbps is plenty for a phone.
Click to expand...

If it was me, I'll be happy with that speed for the rest of my life. That's very decent HSPA+ speeds.
 
tymaster50

tymaster50

Suspended
Oct 3, 2012
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Oregon
bhigh8 said:
thanks. you got all the answers. since you know everything i will ask another. my iphone 5 is way whiter and clearer than my wifes 4. hers is yellow and not as clear. but i had heard the iphone 5 is "warmer". any reason to think something is wrong with hers. mine looks beautiful. hers looks stained.
Click to expand...

Hers is probably dirty from regular use and they're talking about the screen when they mean warmer, go to settings and compare it to hers, does yours have warmer colors?
 
B

bhigh8

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 23, 2012
421
3
tymaster50 said:
Hers is probably dirty from regular use and they're talking about the screen when they mean warmer, go to settings and compare it to hers, does yours have warmer colors?
Click to expand...

sorry, not the phone, was referring to the screen. my screen is awesome and perfectly white and hers is kind of yellow. hers is a 4 though. hers looks like it has the warmer colors. seems like the 4 has the problems.
 
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