Voice over IP. (e.g. Skype). If your voice call is handled as data you wouldn't be on a call.
B
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AT&T throttling all customers?! WTF
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Voice over IP. (e.g. Skype). If your voice call is handled as data you wouldn't be on a call.
B
In the video I did a test with the GSM Galaxy Nexus with a Tmobile sim and an AT&T sim. With the T-Mobile sim my speeds didn't change much at all, with the AT&T sim the throttling was quite obvious. Also considering that AT&T hasn't always been this way, I'd say this is definitely a deliberate change. For example, back when they were pushing the talk and surf advertisements, on call data speeds were just fine, then there was a sudden change later on.
I don't really think it's a design issue as T-Mobile is hspa also and they don't have this issue. Also, AT&T hasn't always had this issue. In the past their data speeds on-call were just fine. Up until somewhere around perhaps a year ago I noticed this change. It seems to be quite deliberate.
Just out of curiosity...
For those that have posted screenshots to show their results on call/off call, are you actively talking/listening to something while on the call, or is it just an open line with dead air?
I read an article once that talked a lot about how GSM's voice compression algorithms work when sending data packets. Basically, dead air is not compressed the same way audio air is. They don't send packets of "dead air" as its stripped from the datastream in real-time.
I'll see if I can find that article, but I wonder if this has any results on those who see throttling and those that don't during a call? Even "dead air" can simply be synthesized by the wireless provider so it is optimized for data transport. If you are talking live, there is more to carry on the pipe. If you aren't doing anything, or even just listening to on-hold music, there is less/no voice compression happening and no compressed voice data to shuttle around.
**Edit**
Article I read: http://www.arcx.com/sites/cdmavstdma.htm
For those that have posted screenshots to show their results on call/off call, are you actively talking/listening to something while on the call, or is it just an open line with dead air?
I read an article once that talked a lot about how GSM's voice compression algorithms work when sending data packets. Basically, dead air is not compressed the same way audio air is. They don't send packets of "dead air" as its stripped from the datastream in real-time.
I'll see if I can find that article, but I wonder if this has any results on those who see throttling and those that don't during a call? Even "dead air" can simply be synthesized by the wireless provider so it is optimized for data transport. If you are talking live, there is more to carry on the pipe. If you aren't doing anything, or even just listening to on-hold music, there is less/no voice compression happening and no compressed voice data to shuttle around.
**Edit**
Article I read: http://www.arcx.com/sites/cdmavstdma.htm
The latter. This is normal for HSPA/UMTS.
Think about it: you are using the same channels or voice and data. There will be some reduction in speed when you're on a call. how pronounced it is depends on where you are and how fast (or slow) the speed was to begin with. If you're in an erratic or congested area, then it's only going to compound an already crummy data situation. On the other hand, if you're in a less congested are with great data, then the slowdown won't be felt as much.
This isn't "throttling," it's just what HSPA does.
strange
he's getting better speed, while on call
but i'm same: 0.20 while on call, 2.5 without.
however, to be honest i think it always has been this way - edge while on call (i travel a lot by car & remember my stream radio breaking up, when on call for few min)
ps: it would be interesting if their system is messing up & see what's the speed on call, after you get throttled
he's getting better speed, while on call
but i'm same: 0.20 while on call, 2.5 without.
however, to be honest i think it always has been this way - edge while on call (i travel a lot by car & remember my stream radio breaking up, when on call for few min)
ps: it would be interesting if their system is messing up & see what's the speed on call, after you get throttled
I lean this way. Even on a PC as you download more files at once it gets slower as you fill the pipe. My test is a 4S on AT&T in livingroom, not JB, and not speaking the whole time but doing a frequent "test test test" after getting to the recording part of voicemail.
Edit: Now that I look at the speed graph while on the phone, that last bump up may be one of those times where I stopped talking to myself.
Hi Wichita! I grew up in Hutchinson. Glad the storms passed you by the other night.
Just grabbed a colleagues 4S to run a test while we were waiting on our plane. Once without, once with phone call in progress (just had him call my phone and we left it open while running the test and talking).
He got 12mbs up/down both times. No difference. This is at the O'Hare airport near Chicago.
He got 12mbs up/down both times. No difference. This is at the O'Hare airport near Chicago.
Looking at PNutts' results where the on-call download speeds are still well above 1 Mbps this still seems quite situational. It may just be that the load on the AT&T cell sites changed a year ago. (iPad 2 3G release?).
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DOH! LOL, good catch. Even I was sitting here after posting thinking "Damn that's fast!"
OK, here's the new results (see screenies...I had him send them to me).
Throttled when talking, like others have pointed out.
Huge speed decrease when on call versus off call.
Attachments
Not really. Voice doesn't require a large amount of bandwidth. If you have an 8Mbps connection, your voice call isn't using 7Mbps of bandwidth. If you have 2Mbps of upload, your voice call shouldn't use 99% of that bandwidth. That is bandwidth being managed by the network, that isn't bandwidth being in use. Take T-Mobile for example, they are HSPA/UMTS and they don't have anything close to this issue going on. AT&T didn't always have this issue either. I believe this is something that was instituted to make customers use less bandwidth. The same way they instituted throttling on unlimited accounts for the same reason. I think it's the same thing, except this time they didn't tell us about it. This started happening right around the same time. I don't think that's a coincidence.
If he's able to pull that, I'd like to see it done consistently. As for what you were saying about cell site load, we gave that some thought but eliminated it as a possibility due to the consistency of the numbers we got. If the speeds were due to cell site load, we'd see numbers all over the place all the time, especially in different areas. However, no matter where we went, no matter what time of day, we got numbers in the same general range. This tells me the connection is being managed. They do the same thing on DSL (I used to be a field tech for them). If you sign up for 3Mbs service, sometimes you'll get faster, and sometimes you'll get lower, but they will stay in a particular range because the connection is "managed" (throttled). It would seem the same is true here (not the same technology obviously, but a similar concept). The connection management is most obvious in the upload as it often times will wind up at the same speed down to the kilobyte. There's no way I can go to rural Alabama late at night, and pull a 9Mbps down and 2Mbps off call, then go on call and get 900k down and 24kup and it be because of site load. Especially when I get almost the exact same numbers in Atlanta, Savannah, Macon, Raleigh, Nashville, Tallahassee, Birmingham, and several other cities. After several hundred tests in several different places at different times of day (we've been checking on this for several months), we eliminated cell site load to be the culprit. This definitely seems to be done intentionally on the part of AT&T. My guess is it has to do with trying to limit customer's use of the network, similar to how they "manage" the connections of unlimited customers. The difference here is this affects everyone and they never said anything about it. I know it's not a technological limitation as this wasn't always the case. Also, considering AT&T propensity for shady dealings, this doesn't really come as a shock to me at all.
Hey! This will throw us for a loop, I actually am nowhere NEAR close to Wichita, KS lol. I actually am located in Louisiana. Just a lil ways away from you. But I appreciate your shout out! haha I wonder why my phone connected to that in the first place? SURELY theres a closer one to me lol
nbo, but it is using a significant amount of your upload bandwidth, which is required to send back ACK packets in order to get those high download speeds. It's also using significant resources on the phone hardware itself.
The data connection is only as fast as the weakest link. That's not just the network, but the hardware in your hand.
Ah, conspiracy theories. Gotta love 'em.
If that's the case, then I guess this means AT&T hasv been throttling people since October:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1264785/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1293349/
Or, since the 3GS:
http://forums.att.com/t5/Apple-iPho...ta-connection-during-phone-calls/td-p/2007979
Oh my god! AT&T even throttles people in India! And they've been doing it since June!
http://forums.techarena.in/portable-devices/1411458.htm
This is not a new phenomenon. It's just something people are paying more attention to because AT&T is screwing some of us, and because the rest of us don't like to be left out, we'd like to find a reason to believe that they are screwing all of us more than they actually are.
AT&T is now officially throttling all people with Unlimited when they reach 3GB of data. I also heard this on a podcast. The first time you go over 3GB, you will get a text that you are being throttled. The 2nd time and each time after that, you won't get a text.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/03/att-throttling-adjustment/
And here is info directly from AT&T
http://www.att.com/esupport/datausage.jsp?source=IZDUel1160000000U
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/03/att-throttling-adjustment/
And here is info directly from AT&T
http://www.att.com/esupport/datausage.jsp?source=IZDUel1160000000U
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Hey! This will throw us for a loop, I actually am nowhere NEAR close to Wichita, KS lol. I actually am located in Louisiana. Just a lil ways away from you. But I appreciate your shout out! haha I wonder why my phone connected to that in the first place? SURELY theres a closer one to me lol
Louisiana represent!!!!!!!
No it isn't hardware. Tested it with a pentaband Galaxy Nexus. On T-Mobile I got great speeds while on call, while on AT&T it was great speeds only when not on call (when on call it was throttled down).
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Not really. If that were the case then how do you explain this not occurring on T-Mobile? Also you mean to tell me that talking on the phone would take up about 99% of a 2-2.5Mbps upload?! That's a bit far fetched. Also if what you were saying was true, then you wouldn't be able to talk on your phone when you were in places that didn't have signals that provided high bandwidth. Think about it, according to you I'd need all my upload bandwidth just to talk. So if I needed that much upload bandwidth and I have 2-2.5Mbps of bandwidth, then how am I able to talk on the phone when I'm in an area with only 300k of upload bandwidth? You see what I'm saying here? Bear in mind that even when I'm in an area with such horrible uploads, I still wind up with the same speeds on call. So that pretty much debunks the needing bandwidth theory.
ACTUALLY this was not occurring more than a year ago. I know because I was working in the field as an AT&T DSL Tech, and we used our phone's data while surfing every day. So when things, changed it was VERY noticeable for us. Again, this isn't something we just threw together on a whim. This is something we have been checking and testing for quite some time now. You can believe what you want, but the proof is right in front of you.
So am I understanding this correct, it is now if you go over 3GB with the unlimited plan you will be throttled?? Regardless if that is in the top 5% or not?
Yes, that appears to be correct. I called AT&T a little while ago to ask what the throttled speed would be. I was given the second URL in my post above, which says nothing about the speed I would get.