Question

upload and download speeds all over the place on 5GUC and T-Mobile Internet over 5G UC

  • 26 April 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 1156 views
S
Userlevel 1
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Now a month into T-Mobile Magenta Max and 5G Home Internet. Happy to bye-bye my cable provider. 

What I don’t understand is the minute-to-minute changes in both upload and download speeds. I normally have 3 out of 5 bars  on both my iPhone 13 and my Internet Gateway.  I am attaching a list of speeds from my computer with a wired connection to the gateway.

On my phone, I use OpenSignal app to track speeds on cellular data. I may get over 500 Mbps down and 30 up and then some time later it will be 30 down and 6 up. Bad weather/rain does degrade my service.

What is weird is that the upload and download speeds don’t consistently parallel each other.

All my measurements are made when nothing else into the house such as streaming TV is not running.

 

 

4 replies

F
Userlevel 7
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Wireless is a shared service,  and will vary  in many ways.

  • Site capacity
  • Time.of day
  • Channels being used n71 vs n41

Upload is much less used than download typically, and all things being equal,  will be more consistent

S
Userlevel 1
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@formercanuck Thanks,  Guess I better stop encouraging my neighbors to sign up to this service :)

F
Userlevel 7
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Unfortunately, its a lot easier to set bands on Samsung devices.  I.e. I can disable n71 SA/n71 NSA , which often causes performance issues where I am.  In rural communities where there aren’t many T-Mobile subscribers, n71 is a good boost (adding 15x15MHz to midband LTE).  Eg.  Northern MI T-Mobile has 15x15 n71, 5x5 LTE B4, 5x5 LTE B12. speeds would be ~20Mbps ‘at best’ in many areas on B12, and B4 has shorter range.  n71 15x15 would give … upto 150Mbps.

In urban areas, however, range can be the enemy.  In my area, there is 15x15 n71,  100MHz (TDD) n41, 15x15 B2 LTE, 20x20 B4 LTE, 5x5 MHz B12 LTE, 2x20MHz B41 LTE, 10x10 B71 LTE.

The extra piece is that midband operates 4x4 MIMO, while low band does not.

This effectively gives 15x15 n71 the same throughput as 15x15 B2.  ~150Mbps/50Mbps under ideal conditions.

 

B2 + B4 + B71 ≈ 400Mbps/50Mbps

B2 + N71 ≈ 220Mbps/50Mbps

B2 + B4 + N71 ≈ 300Mbps/50Mbps 

B2 + n41 ≈ 1200Mbps/115Mbps

B4 + n41 ≈ 1250Mbps/135Mbps

B2 + B4 + n41 ≈ +1400Mbps/140Mbps (max seen 1687Mbps/137Mbps)

 

I’ll note here, that I do not get 5G ‘at home’ except outdoors, and then its a weak n71 or n41.

As a result, I disable n71.

If you have strong n41, sites are being upgraded… it will help.  If you’re near a really busy area, and a lot of people are using it… its like an overloaded cable internet node.

S
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@formercanuck  I wish I were more fluent in 5G speak.  I am connected on bands B66 and n71.  I didn’t see B66 in your list of band combinations.

Screenshot attached from the gateway status page.   On the Overview page, I see Primary Signal fluctuating between 2 bars and 3 bars. Secondary signal is 4 bars.

Speed does get worse in the evening. I presumed that’s due to more streaming devices including 4K TVs. 

 

Right now I am getting 105Mbps down and 54 Mbps up, which is a record high for me, on my iMac connected to the gateway on an ethernet cable.  My 5G phone shows 372 down and 18 up at the same time.

 

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