I had a similar experience today doing a web chat with AT&T tech support. I don't think I've ever seen more than 6 down anywhere I've tested in Chicago. Can rarely get 1 in Skokie.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AT&T Really Slow LTE Speeds in Chicago Area or is it my iPhone?
- Thread starter KevBuckeye
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I had a similar experience today doing a web chat with AT&T tech support. I don't think I've ever seen more than 6 down anywhere I've tested in Chicago. Can rarely get 1 in Skokie.
Really? What type of data is supported by your phone? I'm on the Galaxy S3. When I was on the iPhone 4, I would get between 4-6 down usually.
Same issue here.
I just received my iPhone 5 yesterday. Once I got it setup I was looking forward to speed testing it. All of my LTE tests were .3-.7mbit down. Between 5 and 10mbit up. I'm in the gurnee area. I've tested at least 20 times and its always slow. I hope someone figures this out.
I just received my iPhone 5 yesterday. Once I got it setup I was looking forward to speed testing it. All of my LTE tests were .3-.7mbit down. Between 5 and 10mbit up. I'm in the gurnee area. I've tested at least 20 times and its always slow. I hope someone figures this out.
Drive test
Today I drove around gurnee testing as I went. Always very low download speeds, have yet to break 1mbit. Upload is fine between 3 and 9. On the hspa+ I get between 3 and 9 down and about 1 up. As of now I have disabled LTE. anyone that is very close to the gurnee area please let me know how your iPhone 5 LTE speeds are. Also, went to att store and swapped SIM card, confirm that I am not throttled, still slow...
Today I drove around gurnee testing as I went. Always very low download speeds, have yet to break 1mbit. Upload is fine between 3 and 9. On the hspa+ I get between 3 and 9 down and about 1 up. As of now I have disabled LTE. anyone that is very close to the gurnee area please let me know how your iPhone 5 LTE speeds are. Also, went to att store and swapped SIM card, confirm that I am not throttled, still slow...
Call AT&T and open a case with them. They still are not publicly acknowledging that there is an issue in the area. I believe the only way this issue will receive any attention is if they have enough support tickets opened.
Over the last week, I've been in Birmingham, AL, St. Louis, MO, Chicago, IL, and New York, NY. By far, Chicago had the slowest LTE speeds on LTE. I was getting 5Mbps speeds at best. Even in Manhattan I get twice that. That's about what you can get on T-Mobile's HSPA+ network.
It's AT&T's lack of spectrum. They have only one LTE channel in Chicago.
It's AT&T's lack of spectrum. They have only one LTE channel in Chicago.
Our problem is not related to AT&T's 5X5 LTE implementation in Chicago due to their lack of available spectrum. While that is certainly an issue of its own to contend with in the greater sense it does nothing to explain why we are getting .5 Mbps in the northern suburbs when we were getting 20+ Mbps just 2 weeks ago. Something is currently configured to throttle our connections down and AT&T has made no announcements to their support people to explain why this is happening and when it may return to normal.
More testing
Last night I used my neighbors ip5 to test. Same slow speed. As for suggestions that I open up a ticket, I'm just not sure that would help. Yeah, the few of us in here are techies who care how fast it performs, but most people have no idea there is a problem, our few complaints ain't gonna make att move on it. Also, while I'm no expert, even with limited spectrum for LTE in Chicago we should see a lot better than .5 down. What are we left with: they are working in network or are throttling the LTE. I just don't know.
Last night I used my neighbors ip5 to test. Same slow speed. As for suggestions that I open up a ticket, I'm just not sure that would help. Yeah, the few of us in here are techies who care how fast it performs, but most people have no idea there is a problem, our few complaints ain't gonna make att move on it. Also, while I'm no expert, even with limited spectrum for LTE in Chicago we should see a lot better than .5 down. What are we left with: they are working in network or are throttling the LTE. I just don't know.
I can't speak on Highland Park since the only reason i go up there is to eat at NY slice, and haven't done so lately lol.
But i visited a friend recently in Niles on golf and dee (close to Glenview) and the speed was just stupid slow.
.5 down, 4 mbps up
I live in Norwood Park, and i get about 18-20 Mbps during the day. And then later on at night it'll go up to like 25. highest i've seen is 32 i think.
And i havent really noticed a problem per se with LTE that hasn't already been a problem area. We DO have a lot of problem areas though.
Niles area is borked for sure.
But i visited a friend recently in Niles on golf and dee (close to Glenview) and the speed was just stupid slow.
.5 down, 4 mbps up
I live in Norwood Park, and i get about 18-20 Mbps during the day. And then later on at night it'll go up to like 25. highest i've seen is 32 i think.
And i havent really noticed a problem per se with LTE that hasn't already been a problem area. We DO have a lot of problem areas though.
Niles area is borked for sure.
It's like they throttled the tower or something. If it was over congested there would be some times, say in the middle of night, when I should see a decent speed. Is always around .5mbit down. Also, this happens constant with 4 or 5 bars. Field test showed a -76dBm signal. Not bad but still slow speed. Maybe the massive influx of ip5 users caused them to limit it for awhile? Maybe they are doing more fiber back haul upgrades? Just throwing out ideas here, no idea if they are correct thou...
Fyi
I was driving thru the Chicago area last week on a trip and got this:
Best coverage was North of the city center and south of the city proper. In the city I'd get LTE but not as fast speeds (I can't only imagine all the smartphones connected in that area - in rush hour nearly everyone had a cell phone in their hands doing SOMETHING while waiting for traffic to speed up).
I realize this isn't really comparable since Sprint's LTE coverage even in Chicago isn't as widespread as AT&T or Verizon but that speed blew me away. The 3G isn't even in the same galaxy.
We're not slated to get LTE on that network until March/April 2013 timeframe in the Twin Cities. Grumble.
I was driving thru the Chicago area last week on a trip and got this:
Best coverage was North of the city center and south of the city proper. In the city I'd get LTE but not as fast speeds (I can't only imagine all the smartphones connected in that area - in rush hour nearly everyone had a cell phone in their hands doing SOMETHING while waiting for traffic to speed up).
I realize this isn't really comparable since Sprint's LTE coverage even in Chicago isn't as widespread as AT&T or Verizon but that speed blew me away. The 3G isn't even in the same galaxy.
We're not slated to get LTE on that network until March/April 2013 timeframe in the Twin Cities. Grumble.
Last edited:
ha, ha, ha - i've been getting 2-6gb down on h2o's 4g (mvno that uses attFail)
i'm mostly in the south and downtown
i red an interesting article that att only has 5x5 lte variation in chicago, where the speeds go up to 10gb down. which coincidentally happen to be the same speeds as t-mobile's "3g"
get a verizon 5 (they come ulocked) and use either mvno, like straight talk (unlimited all, 2gb data - $45/m) or t-mobile $50/m
i'm mostly in the south and downtown
i red an interesting article that att only has 5x5 lte variation in chicago, where the speeds go up to 10gb down. which coincidentally happen to be the same speeds as t-mobile's "3g"
get a verizon 5 (they come ulocked) and use either mvno, like straight talk (unlimited all, 2gb data - $45/m) or t-mobile $50/m
Last edited:
<face palm> No one in this thread cares what you are getting with Sprint or mvno that uses 4G. We all read the 5x5 article that everyone keeps citing if you'd actually read this thread instead of bragging about your speeds you'd realize this problem has nothing to do with that. Can we please just keep this thread on topic, I really want to see if this gets resolved and like seeing the updates people in the area provide.
talked to att today and they said there has been degraded service in my area.... thats all i got. but at least its something.
AT&T buying up more 700MHz spectrum
Cross your fingers!!
http://www.androidcentral.com/att-buying-more-700mhz-spectrum?
The FCC has just released information detailing a deal between AT&T and a company called Broadband Wireless Unlimited for 700MHz spectrum in several markets around the country. Concerned parties have until November 14th to submit complaints on the deal, but if it were to be approved as it stands, AT&T would receive license to more spectrum in the B Block of the 700MHz band -- right where it currently operates its LTE network -- in specific markets where additional bandwidth is needed.
The markets in question where this spectrum would be applicable are Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Depending on the market, AT&T would have anywhere between 70 and 125MHz of spectrum available for use post-acquisition.
.
Cross your fingers!!
http://www.androidcentral.com/att-buying-more-700mhz-spectrum?
The FCC has just released information detailing a deal between AT&T and a company called Broadband Wireless Unlimited for 700MHz spectrum in several markets around the country. Concerned parties have until November 14th to submit complaints on the deal, but if it were to be approved as it stands, AT&T would receive license to more spectrum in the B Block of the 700MHz band -- right where it currently operates its LTE network -- in specific markets where additional bandwidth is needed.
The markets in question where this spectrum would be applicable are Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Depending on the market, AT&T would have anywhere between 70 and 125MHz of spectrum available for use post-acquisition.
.
i decided to check again. LTE is working for me in gurnee now. ran 4 tests in a row. downlink speeds: 11.3 9.6 11.4 10.8 uplink speeds: 9.9 9.9 7.3 10.2
I originally had fast download speeds around 20 when I got my iphone 5 launch day in the Northbrook area. Then I noticed the past couple weeks almost no internet connection even with full bars and LTE. My speeds were down to less than 0.5 Mbps. I've been following this thread and happy, for now, to report that my test just now was 32 down/10 up. Fastest I've ever had. I hope it stays good from now on.
It appears that sometime over the weekend the degraded service that many of us were experiencing in the northern suburbs of Chicago seems to have been resolved. A few speed tests taken over the weekend in various areas shows that LTE service is now functioning correctly for me.
Here is a screenshot of a speed test from an area that a few days ago would have been lucky to break .5 Mpbs.
Attachments
Improved for me today in Skokie. Got 7.5 instead of .5. So happy it's actually working.