Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
It's possible... I walked a couple blocks to a community event at the park with my wife and kids to watch fireworks on July 4th. It was crowded at the event... and speeds were at .50Mbps... but everyone around me had slow speeds. Even my Verizon portable mifi was slow. Walked back to my house after the firework show, and wasn't throttled anymore. I expected congestion at the event... so I can understand the slow speeds. That was only time and location I had issues with slow speeds.

That's not throttling.
That's an overcrowded cell tower with thousands of users connected at once bringing it's performance down to its knees.
That happens at stadiums, events and such occasions where overcrowded places cause towers to get slammed like that.
 
I had the same problem while at a race track this past weekend. It was painfully slow. I tried to do a speed test at one point but that timed out. Everything was fine later.
 
I received that message when I was approaching 5 GB a days ago. I'm in the MA/RI area. Forgot to see what kind of speeds I'm seeing while I was out yesterday. I'll check that today. Currently at 20GB so I don't think I'm being throttled.

I'm also in the MA/RI area and received the message today while at work. I haven't received one of these in a LONG time.
 
I had the same problem while at a race track this past weekend. It was painfully slow. I tried to do a speed test at one point but that timed out. Everything was fine later.

I wonder how they do it for those towers near the stadiums, do they give them more bandwidth than the ones in non crowded areas.
 
I wonder how they do it for those towers near the stadiums, do they give them more bandwidth than the ones in non crowded areas.
Bandwidth is allocated based on usage, so yes those high crowded areas do get more bandwidth than rural, less used towers. However, bandwidth usually isn't the problem for very low speeds, it's usually due to too many people being connected to the tower and using data. There is only so much spectrum that can be utilized, and even with 10Gbps backhaul to the tower, there is a limit to how many users a tower can serve.

Stadiums tend to have multiple DAS installed to increase capacity.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Applejuiced
Bandwidth is allocated based on usage, so yes those high crowded areas do get more bandwidth than rural, less used towers. However, bandwidth usually isn't the problem for very low speeds, it's usually due to too many people being connected to the tower and using data. There is only so much spectrum that can be utilized, and even with 10Gbps backhaul to the tower, there is a limit to how many users a tower can serve.

Stadiums tend to have multiple DAS installed to increase capacity.

I was at an older race track (Seekonk Speedway for the locals). It doesn't have the technology that the new stadiums do. There was probably 8-10K people there. You know more than half were probably staring at their phones while waiting for the races to start :)

I'll be in the Providence area today. Speeds are usually good out there so I'll check to see what I'm getting. Currently at 62GB for the month.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Applejuiced
Right, I believe it's also only in high usage areas too. It's not a cap, just slowed speeds.

You might be right. Seems like I'm experiencing slower speeds where I work. Not hard throttled speeds of .50Mbps like it used to be but slower speeds like 4-5Mbps when I would usually get 12-15Mbps.

I'm NOT complaining though. If this is the network management it's better than previous hard throttled speeds

I'm now a little over 10GB with 10 days left.
 
Last edited:
Is there any relation between bars (bubbles) and speed? I was doing a few speed tests while in Providence yesterday. Was showing 4-5 bubbles with LTE signal but my speed was all over the place. Tests were done within 2-3 minutes.

4 bubbles - 8.38 Download / 15.32 Upload
5 bubbles - 40.53 Download / 12.82 Upload
4 bubbles - 8.11 Download / 2.93 Upload
4 bubbles - 23.83 Download / 9.15 Upload

I've seen close to 70 Mpbs download speeds in that area. That was around 11AM on a Sunday morning if it matters. 5 bubbles that day.

I usually have 2 bubbles LTE at home. That jumps up to 5 a mile from there.
 
You thought right OP!

Man I love my AT&T now!

They done right by me!

Im happier than ever!!! Thank you AT&T!
 
I don't have any complaints either. We are finally getting what was advertised. I'll probably use about 125GB this month.
I've been enjoying my 6+ since the new policy change, but I can't use as much data as you use if I tried. I used over 60gb's of data last month because I streamed the NBA finals, and E3 all day long... which I wouldn't do normally. 30gb - 40gb seems to be my new average now. When my next billing cycle starts, I'll try to get to my 75% data used warning message on the 1st day, so I can enjoy the rest of my billing cycle message free... LOL :p
 
I've been enjoying my 6+ since the new policy change, but I can't use as much data as you use if I tried. I used over 60gb's of data last month because I streamed the NBA finals, and E3 all day long... which I wouldn't do normally. 30gb - 40gb seems to be my new average now. When my next billing cycle starts, I'll try to get to my 75% data used warning message on the 1st day, so I can enjoy the rest of my billing cycle message free... LOL:p

Feels so good after all those years doesnt it?:p
 
  • Like
Reactions: T0MMYBOY4
I've been enjoying my 6+ since the new policy change, but I can't use as much data as you use if I tried. I used over 60gb's of data last month because I streamed the NBA finals, and E3 all day long... which I wouldn't do normally. 30gb - 40gb seems to be my new average now. When my next billing cycle starts, I'll try to get to my 75% data used warning message on the 1st day, so I can enjoy the rest of my billing cycle message free... LOL :p

I stream music for many hours 4-5 days each week. I've been focusing on YouTube this month plus my kids have been watching Netflix while we're out. I've been giving it a good workout to see how much I can use this month. I think I'll probably settle in at around 40-50 most months. That will be using Pandora and iHeartradio more.
 
Is there any relation between bars (bubbles) and speed? I was doing a few speed tests while in Providence yesterday. Was showing 4-5 bubbles with LTE signal but my speed was all over the place. Tests were done within 2-3 minutes.

4 bubbles - 8.38 Download / 15.32 Upload
5 bubbles - 40.53 Download / 12.82 Upload
4 bubbles - 8.11 Download / 2.93 Upload
4 bubbles - 23.83 Download / 9.15 Upload

I've seen close to 70 Mpbs download speeds in that area. That was around 11AM on a Sunday morning if it matters. 5 bubbles that day.

I usually have 2 bubbles LTE at home. That jumps up to 5 a mile from there.
Yes there is, the more bars you have means the stronger signal you have, and all else being equal you can get faster speeds with more bars.

However, you won't always get the fastest speeds when comparing tests from different towers or different times of day, as each tower has different amounts of load and not all have the same back haul.
 
I'm currently getting 0.21 mps down (!!!) and 2.57 mbps up in downtown San Francisco at 1:15PM. I'm at 4.95 gigs for the period which doesn't end for another 10 days. The catch is that I only have 2 out of 5 bars.

So is my god awful speed a symptom of lack of signal or throttling?
 
I'm currently getting 0.21 mps down (!!!) and 2.57 mbps up in downtown San Francisco at 1:15PM. I'm at 4.95 gigs for the period which doesn't end for another 10 days. The catch is that I only have 2 out of 5 bars.

So is my god awful speed a symptom of lack of signal or throttling?
Possibly. What was the ping?
 
I'm currently getting 0.21 mps down (!!!) and 2.57 mbps up in downtown San Francisco at 1:15PM. I'm at 4.95 gigs for the period which doesn't end for another 10 days. The catch is that I only have 2 out of 5 bars.

So is my god awful speed a symptom of lack of signal or throttling?

That seems like throttling to me. You probably just hit the 5GB threshold since I think there is a delay on their end reporting how much data you have consumed. Also your upload speed wouldn't be that high if your signal was truly weak. Let's us know when or if it doesn't improve, and if you changed locations when it does.

I think we are still going to see throttling but it's only going to be intermittent now.
 
I really should be testing my speeds however my 6 plus is now noticeably faster over LTE since I started this thread. Last week before my cycle started over my speeds at certain times were painfully slow.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.