why is my hotspot so slow

T-Mobile's regular hotspot is only 70kbps and really does NOT qualify to even being labeled a hotspot.  The old dialup was faster on a modem.  I have a hotspot on Straight Talk that measures over 30 Mbps.  That's really embarrassing, T-Mobile.

Hi Chris:

I have the Samsung Galaxy Note8 and I have full-strength signal bars sitting in my home.  There is no way I can even think about using it to run my computer or even my iPad.  I have the 55+ plan with standard hotspot.  It won't work with Firefox or Chrome.  In my opinion, the standard hotspot should not even be called a hotspot as it does not function.  I am in Thousand Oak, California and the phone and data work fine.

I still have my Straight Talk hotspot and I guess I'll need to keep it.  Occasionally I need it to stay connected while sitting an open house that is vacant with no Internet. I am really disappointed.  I just switched to T-Mobile last week in anticipation of a trip to Rome, Italy in July.

Hi Chris:

I am aware of the One Plus availability.  However, if T-Mobile is advertising that a hotspot is included with the 55+ plan, be real about it.  The highest that would register on the speed test is a lot closer to zero than 512 kbps.  I was not able to accomplish anything with 70 kbps.  T-Mobile should not offer it as it might as well NOT be available.  That is shamefully low and worthless.

hi chris,

were you and doug able to identify the specific issue?

since upgrading from a samsung note4 to a google pixel2, i've had the exact same issue. i've chatted with both google support and t-mobile support to no resolution. each party has laid blame on the other, leaving me in the gutter--overall, a frustrating experience.

thus far i've confirmed with both google and t-mobile support

• my tethering speeds are significantly underperforming

thus far i've gone through;

• google recommendation: phone wipe and os reinstallation
  • test if device software is the issue
  • did not resolve the issue
• t-mobile recommendation: new sim card
  • test if issue is related to old sim card
  • did not resolve the issue
• t-mobile recommendation: temporary upgrade of plan
  • test if speeds are still slow and if so, then the device is the issue
  • resolved the issue

i have the t-mobile one plan and am located in the main los angeles metro area, so coverage has otherwise been no issue.

hey chris, thanks so much for responding to my query.

my current plan is the T-Mobile One and the upgrade the rep and i performed (i believe) was to the One Plus. as mentioned, they wanted to test whether i would still get a throttled speed, which would indicate that the device itself was the root of the issue. during the time i had the upgrade in-place, the speed improved but after the upgrade was removed the speed returned to its original slow slow rate.

i found the screenshots i took at the time and the captured speeds were;

(down/up)

0.5mbps/0.5mbps - T-Mobile One

54.9mbps/24.7mbps - T-Mobile One Plus

hey chris, that's really interesting!

my data usage has been as follows:

APR: not reported yet

MAR 2.5gb

FEB 5.4gb

JAN 6.4gb

DEC 10.1gb

NOV 7.9gb

OCT 8.5gb

nope, i am on the One plan and i'm still experiencing really slow speeds.

When I first signed up with t-mobile, tethering was provided at full speed.  Since maybe 4 months ago, it seems that t-mobile has made it slow to sometimes unusable. 

My phone can achieve 71.8 Mbps while tethering is limited to .5 Mbps.  I have only used 1GB this month (which is hard to believe given how slow the tethering connection is and I use no data on the phone itself).

Also, lately when I do go over the "unlimited" data allotment, t-mobile actually shuts off my data, even though they call it "throttling".  This is not throttling, it is stopping. 

All this is very deceiving and is not something that I experienced when I first signed up.  I guess that is the down side to no contract.  t-mobile can make changes on the fly.  These changed, in my case, ruined the plan I though I had.

I have the same speed. I am on the original ONE Plan with unlimited Hotspot. I don’t recall there being any speed restrictions.  Please verify why I am getting below 520kbps speed on a work horse like my Samsung S9 plus phone tethering off the hotspot of my One8Plus 5G phone. My hotspot speed was better on Sprint and Visible plans before 5G service.  Thank you in advance. 

T-mobile’s terhered speeds are abysmal. I am having the same issue. I hardly use it, but now that I need it, it’s useless. SMH.

It should be easier. Add a button to the phone to boost speeds for a price if it comes to that. But when a crisis presents itself and the speeds are slower than a turtle climbing a tree, it adds to the frustration to have to troubleshoot something that should be readily available.