Slow Download Speeds on T-Mobile

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zoddfrank

Senior Member
Sep 5, 2010
59
9
*** Caution***

I may have found a bug in the 4.4 software... I am not 100% sure, but it has T-Mobile perplexed beyond belief!
So, here is the issue. Without being on Wifi try downloading any file from the app store or any large file in general that is 100MBs and up.

From what I have noticed, my HSPA+ Speeds and LTE speeds are insane. Insane enough that I can stream Netflix in HD like its nothing - Over the phone.

So, in a way that makes things look even more weird. --- Here is the issue at hand, whenever I try to download a file that is over 100MBs or more the download will start out fast
and after a few minutes of download slow down ( basically get totally reduced to Throttling-Like speeds.)-- Same case with the tethering too! ( I tested this) This does not make sense, --- Comedy Here. http://youtu.be/6Xywqv1cDH8

So, I called up T-Mobile and they tried very hard to help me... it was actually insane because the customer service was so damn good. I got all the way up to American Tech Rep... guess it was that interesting, the guy reset my connection to my phone while we ran multiple speed tests. --- End result was that he could not figure out what the hell it was, and since NEXUS 5s are so new they don't know a lot about them. The tech had to send a trouble ticket to google or what not and I won't hear from the tech for 3 days. :eek:

It doesn't make much sense because I just got on their network like on the 9th... only used less than 3 GBs... -_- and IF they throttle its after 5GBs.

So if you are with T-Mobile or with a company in America and NOT on a Grandfathered plan post a quick result or kinda verify that your unit is or is not performing the same way. This is a very annoying issue.

ALSO, I am on the Unlimited verified Post-Paid plan too... so monthly and this is supposed to give cell tower priority.. or something.:eek:

If anyone has a way for me to fix this or is having similar issues let me know!
 
Last edited:

rican408

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2010
399
39
I am getting the same great speeds that I got on 2 other phones. And I use about 5-8 gigs a month without any throttling. On T-Mobile.
 

zoddfrank

Senior Member
Sep 5, 2010
59
9

Running off Tmobile LTE on Metro PCS. Not me but same phone and location as myself.

I ran these tests, but that won't help you unless you really pay attention and watch your download slow down.

You need to try downloading an app or any file above 100 MB and see if it totally slows down within the first few minutes.

Mine does this ALL the time.. Meaning, It won't do that if I am on Wifi.

As stated, I stared my service on the 9th of this month... so its Bull DOO DOO!:mad:
 

frigidazzi

Senior Member
Apr 21, 2011
1,533
265
Nexus Player
OnePlus 5
Can anyone on T-Mobile confirm what their APN is set on ??

I've had this problem with tmobile ever since I used the LTE hack on my N4 well over 6 months a go. I noticed it when i was on the APN with fast in it. The old HSPA+ one I was using before the LTE APN didn't have these problems. I know this doesn't help, but I've just accepted it as working as intended.
 

JJsevol

Senior Member
Jan 8, 2012
417
168
big city
I might have the same issue and I'm on T-Mobile. I'm downloading a 221MB game app at 23% completion with 7 hours left to complete the download :eek:

That 23% downloaded quick and now it's slowly downloading.
 
Last edited:
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CapnBoost

Member
Jul 5, 2012
15
0
With one bar of LTE, indoors, (where my galaxy nexus couldn't get HSPA) I pulled 4.57Mbps down with two notable spikes on Ookla speedtest. I got 0.00up. I'll re-download 3d mark when I'm out and about. (It's 155mb) I also contribute background stats to Root Metrics Coverage Map. If your phone is rooted, consider playing with your TCP congestion control in Trickster mod or the like.

zoddfrank said:
Can anyone on T-Mobile confirm what their APN is set on ??:

Name : T-Mobile GPRS

APN: fast.tmobile.com

MMSC: mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc

MCC: 310

MNC: 260

APN Type: default,supl,mms

APN Protocol: ipv6

I don't believe I made any manual changes to my APN. If I did, the only thing I changed was ipv6.
 

Dan37tz

Senior Member
Apr 22, 2011
350
402
Same issue here OP so you're not alone.

Nexus 5 on T-Mobile, I have a super strong LTE signal at work but downloading anything from the playstore, like you say starts out fast 1.5-2MB/s then it goes down to a crawl after 70-100MB and basically seems to time out. I have to wait to go home to finish downloading on my WiFi connection. It's terrible and inconvenient to have to wait to go home to update a large application.
 

nazforex

Senior Member
Oct 14, 2009
612
88
I am on T-Mobile and just downloaded Dead Trigger 2. Had the same speed through out the download and completed very quickly. I am not running a stock rom and maybe that is the issue?
 

RayLancer

Senior Member
Sep 24, 2011
209
22
Sacramento
I am on pre-paid. I noticed with tests it'll get to like 30Mbps at start, lag spike a few times, then finish at 4Mbps. I can't get upload to finish.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 

catpunt

Senior Member
Apr 25, 2006
508
43
Yep i have this exact issue, i can have full bars on LTE and it starts out at 30mbps then slows down to a crawl, like 2G speed. The only way i found to kick it is to switch to a wifi network then switch back to LTE, and it starts out fast again then slows down again. I'm on a postpaid plan with unlimited 4G.
 

zoddfrank

Senior Member
Sep 5, 2010
59
9
The issue isn't just the app store, but downloads in general!

Another thing you will notice is if you are watching a movie via the Netflix app you will have super high quality meaning the connection isn't loosing speed.

Still want to point out that tethered downloads have the same issues.
 

Caelrie

Senior Member
Aug 31, 2013
227
44
Testing this right now by starting a download of Dead Trigger 2.

Well that didn't take long. At the 24mb mark I got throttled down to 0.02 mb/sec.
 

c19932

Senior Member
Jun 9, 2010
1,407
152
Google Pixel 6
I have the exact same issue and am so glad you brought it up. Now I know I'm not alone.

I came from a htc one s and had similar issue. I thought it was the phone modem itself because the radio on that phone is a POS. Now with the Nexus 5,whenever I download a big file, it would start out with around 2 to 3 mb/s. And after a minute a two it would drop to low speed ranging from 15 to 150kb/s, constantly fluctuating.


Has anyone tested this on another phone? Maybe it's a t-mobile issue and not the phone itself.
 

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  • 6
    https://twitter.com/JohnLegere/status/405454376916897797

    "Very small # customers saw slower data recently and only when downloading very large files. Minor software issue; Fix going in place today"
    4
    *** Caution***

    I may have found a bug in the 4.4 software... I am not 100% sure, but it has T-Mobile perplexed beyond belief!
    So, here is the issue. Without being on Wifi try downloading any file from the app store or any large file in general that is 100MBs and up.

    From what I have noticed, my HSPA+ Speeds and LTE speeds are insane. Insane enough that I can stream Netflix in HD like its nothing - Over the phone.

    So, in a way that makes things look even more weird. --- Here is the issue at hand, whenever I try to download a file that is over 100MBs or more the download will start out fast
    and after a few minutes of download slow down ( basically get totally reduced to Throttling-Like speeds.)-- Same case with the tethering too! ( I tested this) This does not make sense, --- Comedy Here. http://youtu.be/6Xywqv1cDH8

    So, I called up T-Mobile and they tried very hard to help me... it was actually insane because the customer service was so damn good. I got all the way up to American Tech Rep... guess it was that interesting, the guy reset my connection to my phone while we ran multiple speed tests. --- End result was that he could not figure out what the hell it was, and since NEXUS 5s are so new they don't know a lot about them. The tech had to send a trouble ticket to google or what not and I won't hear from the tech for 3 days. :eek:

    It doesn't make much sense because I just got on their network like on the 9th... only used less than 3 GBs... -_- and IF they throttle its after 5GBs.

    So if you are with T-Mobile or with a company in America and NOT on a Grandfathered plan post a quick result or kinda verify that your unit is or is not performing the same way. This is a very annoying issue.

    ALSO, I am on the Unlimited verified Post-Paid plan too... so monthly and this is supposed to give cell tower priority.. or something.:eek:

    If anyone has a way for me to fix this or is having similar issues let me know!
    3
    Name : T-Mobile LTE

    APN: fast.tmobile.com

    MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc

    MMS Protocol: WAP 2.0

    MCC: 310

    MNC: 260

    APN Type: default,supl,admin,dun,mms
    3
    All I know is that it happens on my G2, Note 3 and N5 so the phone is not the problem guys. It's T-Mobile.

    I never had this problem last month, I was downloading everything at full speed.

    Now I can't even finish downloading an app from the Playstore unless I'm on wifi.

    This is totally T-Mobile's doing, they are throttling us in the most sleazy way possible. I used to love T-Mobile and have recommended and switched over many family members and friends, things like this is totally unacceptable.

    I'm postpaid on their truly unlimited $70 plan. This is WAY worse than the cap that ATT and Verizon puts on their data plans, at least with those two you can download at full speed until your capped data limit. Here you can't even finish downloading an app.

    PURE BULL.
    3
    Throttling resolved for me

    FYI All,
    So yesterday I got the throttling issue being discussed in this thread - speeds start fine, then fall off a cliff, both upload and download.

    I called Tmo yesterday and worked with their Support. They had me perform a couple of steps that completely resolved the issue for me.
    First, they had me check the Data Usage warning threshhold, and move it up from the standard 2G to something crazy - I set mine to 24G.
    Then they had me reset the APN to default - it hadnt been touched, and was still set with the standard fast.t-mobile.com settings, but they had me select Reset Defaults from the menu anyways.
    After those two things were done they had me reboot. Once the phone was back up, speeds were back to being consistently fast again.

    Dunno which of those two steps did the trick, but it worked for me.