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Why is my wife's Android faster than my 4S on 3G? (Sprint)

J

JagNL

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 11, 2011
42
0
So I (like so many here) have been having problems with slow speeds on my iPhone 4S.

In doing speedtests, I noticed that my wife's Android phone is significantly and consistently out performing my iPhone 4S in 3G speed tests. I made a video a below comparing the two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw2EQUZx5Wg

Is anyone else experiencing this, should I return my iPhone and exchange for another?
 
Which android phone is that? If its the Nexus 4g, then its using Wimax and will be faster than traditional Sprint 3G. However, based on my informal tests using friends w/ iPhones, Androids usually beat out iPhones on network speed (3G phones with same technology or HSPA+) Its not talked about often but one of the only advantages of Androids over iPhones.
 
macinnv said:
Which android phone is that? If its the Nexus 4g, then its using Wimax and will be faster than traditional Sprint 3G. However, based on my informal tests using friends w/ iPhones, Androids usually beat out iPhones on network speed (3G phones with same technology or HSPA+) Its not talked about often but one of the only advantages of Androids over iPhones.
Click to expand...

That is the Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint's original Galaxy S). I am was running it in 3G at the time (4G radio was turned off/not using wimax).
 
7c0f7dea.jpg


My results were pretty consistent. Both Epic 4G and iPhone 4S scored about the same on 3G, each time. I'd check with Sprint.
 
wow those are incredible speeds for sprint.

i was seeing those speeds with my motorola photon (on 3G) but don't get close to that on my iPhone
 
MisterDisney said:
My results were pretty consistent. Both Epic 4G and iPhone 4S scored about the same on 3G, each time. I'd check with Sprint.
Click to expand...

Wow those are some good speeds, it still looks like your Galaxy S is outperforming the iPhone, have you seen your iPhone register a faster speed than the Android (I tried all night and this morning - my wife's Android had beat my iPhone everytime!).
 
Let me guess, you're wife's android battery lasts longer than your 4S too right? Lol
 
JagNL said:
Wow those are some good speeds, it still looks like your Galaxy S is outperforming the iPhone, have you seen your iPhone register a faster speed than the Android (I tried all night and this morning - my wife's Android had beat my iPhone everytime!).
Click to expand...

Um if anything it's the other way around but regardless, the point of the photograph is that they are almost identical (you need to understand what the numbers mean). You're the kind of person that thinks a 1.2GHz processor of one architecture performs better than a 800MHz processor of another architecture just because the clock speed is faster right?
 
So from this picture, your iphone is 97% as fast on download speeds, but you have higher upload speeds and - crucially - a better ping.

Your download speeds at any given time of day are likely to fluctuate by more than that 3%.

All in all, even though it's a number whose difference you can see "on paper" you're likely not to suffer from worse real-world performance that you would actually notice.

EDIT: Oops, I looked at the picture posted by MisterDisney and responded as if he were the OP.
 
JagNL said:
So I (like so many here) have been having problems with slow speeds on my iPhone 4S.

In doing speedtests, I noticed that my wife's Android phone is significantly and consistently out performing my iPhone 4S in 3G speed tests. I made a video a below comparing the two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw2EQUZx5Wg

Is anyone else experiencing this, should I return my iPhone and exchange for another?
Click to expand...

Look at that graph dude. You hit a peak speed on the iPhone, then settled at a speed 1/2 of what it was. Sprint's got your iPhone bandwidth throttled.
 
is that what it means? my iPhone does the exact same thing when i do a speed test (although it doesn't go as high as his goes)
 
It is an indication of bandwidth sculpting. If you were getting a small amount of data (a "burst") it's best for the network for that to get to you quickly, and makes small things like web pages seem faster. If you are getting a large amount of data, it's best for the network to dial back the speed so your traffic doesn't interfere with other peoples'.

All modern networks sculpt bandwidth to some degree and most users would want them to -- small packets like texts, emails, voip packets and html being more interesting to get quickly. (As an aside, this is a major problem with most net neutrality legislation, as desired bandwidth sculpting by content is not distinguished from UN desired sculpting by provider)

To me it looks like Sprint played it safe, knowing that there were going to be a bunch of new iPhones on its network, and slowed them down. Not ideal if they're your packets being slowed...but I've been on networks crippled by iPhones (ex: SXSW 2009, where the AT&T network wouldn't return any packets due to over saturation and I couldn't download my ******** itinerary) and it's much, much worse.

Things will ease up over time.
 
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