IMPORTANT - O2 limit 3g speed to 128Kb/s.

[danma7_200]

I created a new thread so it would be easier for users to see.

O2 limit the speed of there 3g network to edge speeds. You will not be able to get more than 128Kb/s unless you have a business contract. They forget to tell you this on there website. So if this is important to you, I advise you not to go with O2.

Dan

[aquafortis]

Originally Posted by danma7_200

I created a new thread so it would be easier for users to see.

O2 limit the speed of there 3g network to edge speeds. You will not be able to get more than 128Kb/s unless you have a business contract. They forget to tell you this on there website. So if this is important to you, I advise you not to go with O2.

Dan

If this is true about the speeds no point in O2 ever getting a 3g version of the i-phone, hmmm seems suicidal for the network if they try this stunt on their customers

[PeteMc]

On the plus side activating HSDPA but throttling the speed should provide plenty of capacity in the airwaves then there are lots of people caning a cell.

Are they throttling the £30 /month data tariff too?

[evil Homer]

I know that it is frustrating, but I only see this as a blip at the moment whilst O2 are upgrading their network.

Once they have sufficient coverage, I'm sure we'll see the speeds go up.

Time will tell...

[themakh]

Originally Posted by danma7_200

I created a new thread so it would be easier for users to see.

O2 limit the speed of there 3g network to edge speeds. You will not be able to get more than 128Kb/s unless you have a business contract. They forget to tell you this on there website. So if this is important to you, I advise you not to go with O2.

Dan

Can i ask where you got this information from? It would make sense as i can never seem to get more then 120kb/s on my xda trion.

[philh]

Where do you get this info from?

Are you waiting for a letter through your door asking you to prove this in court?

[PeteMc]

Speed tests from www.dslreports.com/mspeed using the 100k option give me:

GPRS 44kbit/sec
EDGE 145kbit/sec
3G 112kbit/sec
HSDPA 124kbit/sec

I tried the tests a few times and posted the fastest. The 3G and HSDPA speeds are consistently around the times posted. The EDGE speeds were more variable, from 90 to 145kbit/sec I assume depending on cell traffic at the time.

[umtsboi]

every network must be guilty of this in one way or another, o2 isnt exactly known for its fabulous data tarriffs either.

[Planner]

ok, lets go through this again...

O2 DO NOT limit their speed.

if you are the only user on a cell, stood right next to it, you will get full speed for whatever access capability you have. ie, R99, HSDPA etc.

this will reduce depending on how many people are on the cell, how many E1's are on it and how far away from it you are.

so, once more for posterity ,the physical limitations of the cell are in no way related to O2 limiting the service.

[E61DRC]

Since joining O2, dslreports.com speedtests with 3G data connections have never exceeded 128kbps whereas when I was with T-Mobile I often got speeds of 300kbps. That seems to be consistent with O2 limiting the speed. Although, as a customer, I am not really concerned about why the speed is low but only about the low speed.

[Planner]

well using highly expensive test equipment guarentees me that this isnt so (I have yet to test HSDPA)

location location location..... I just ran the dslreports.com file on a phone (not hsdpa) and got 'unstable/too fast a result (2.96s) please choose a larger file, so i did... then got 344Kb per second, 0.514s latency.

as i said before.. where was the financial incentive to upgrade their 3G passed 1 E1 and into HSDPA?? you qoute T-mobile.. so thats the number 4 operator.. the other one people normally quote is 3, which is the 5th place operator.

my point is, if data was so important to the masses, t-mobile and 3 would be number 1 & 2, they arent.. they have invested heavily to grab market share and sell their data at a rate where they cant make a profit..

my advice would be if you require data and these other networks give you better throughput, then go with them..

[E61DRC]

My observations were based on several locations and the results are just too consistent for it to be congestion etc. Are you using the £7-50 web bolt-on? This may be speed limited and other products not.

My advice would also be to use T-Mobile for data and I would do so now if it was not for the discount on O2 Broadband.

[PeteMc]

It seems strange that in different areas and with different kit people are consistently getting around 128kbps on O2 3G and with other networks we get higher speeds. I even get higher speeds on O2's 2.75G network occasionally!!!

[Planner]

distance from cell, amount of other users on the network are the single biggest causes for low speed.

it is no secret that O2 have less sites than any of the others.

to get 128 kbps, you would need to be over 1km from the cell or, there are already too many 384 users on there (thats 4 btw)

I would pretty much say that once your outside of greater london there would only be a handfull of sites in the rest of hte country that would cause a capacity problem. I personnaly am right in the middle of glasgow city centre running @ 344, so dont have this problem.

as with voice, network are horses for courses... if your not getting what you need, PAC out and get what you do need...

[Planner]

however... same location on Orange is 1800Kbs, latency 0.283

but i filp between 2G and 3G here... so I either get 60Kbs Edge, or 1.8M HSDPA without getting up from my desk. go figure..

[danma7_200]

o2 eventually confirmed it over the phone. Planner has a problem admitting o2 limit. I think he may have a soft spot for them.

heres the forum and proof.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...=370086&page=5

and

http://forum.xda-developers.com/arch.../t-248989.html

[Planner]

OK, here we go..

the web page doesnt work btw..

I know they dont because I am a network engineer for an operator and part of my job is to analyse log files (Voice & Data) of all the operators to see how they compare with my network. all SIM's are bought from standard shops.. and guess what... in Non HSDPA phones, all operators vary between 280 and 344Kbps in the area's i deal in, which is physically over half of the UK..

I can actually 'see' the 384 bearer from the stats that are fed back including the blocking (which would reduce the bearer) and downgrades (when the cell is busy)

no offence to call centre staff, BUT do you really think they have any idea how the network works or what it does?? there is no way they would be given that sort of information at their level..not with the turn over in call centres so they could bad mouth people.. think about it..

oh.. and just in case you think the person posting this on xda developers got through to the techies.... NO.. it was just another CS... NO customer ever get through to us engineers... EVER.

[PeteMc]

For what ever reason the O2 network is just slow compared to the rest. I use it every day for browsing on my phone and for that it is absolutely fine. If I had a laptop data card I think I would be looking else where.

[danma7_200]

The web pages work fine.

Make up your own mind people.

Dan

[umtsboi]

damn right, its all here say and the guy on that forum might not even have him sim card provsioned for hsdpa or indeed 3g.

The limits for the technology itself 3g/hsdpa are only theoretical maximums and people who tell you they get 7.2mbits out of a vodafone datacard (for example) are talking ****e!

[danma7_200]

I'm well clued up UTMSboi of the limitations of each technology. Get an o2 sim card, stick it in your phone, travel round the country, do some speed tests and then you might be qualified to make some posts in regards to this topic.

The swearing in your posts is not appreciated.

[DaveC]

Guys - I've deleted a couple of post that are personal comments and likely to start a flame war.
Please keep things on topic

[Planner]

ok, i have them working now....

firstly, on the first link, the guy who says he has tested o2's hsdpa in glasgow preston leeds and manchester? O2 dont have HSDPA in glasgow, mainly due to it being Nortel and not Nokia... so, is his testimony acceptable?? I achieved 344 in glasgow city centre yesterday, so its obviously rubbish.

as for the second link, its 3 years old.... and at that time, o2 didnt provide 384 data, only 128.

[pctech]

Just as a matter of interest, are there two classes of backhaul from a BTS? 1 for voice and one for data or is the connection shared?


if the connection is shared then its not really a great surprise that you wont get the absolute maximum speed notwithstanding the issues with RF bandwidth contention.

[Planner]

its shared.. you just keep adding another 2Mb link.

priority for allowing users onto a cell and allocating resources are:-

1. Voice
2. R99 (384,128,64) top rate will be given where service demands it, radio conditions allow it and capacity is available.
3.HSDPA. lowest priority.

this set up can be changed, for instance with a second frequency set up purely for HSDPA use. F1 is used purely as an access layer for hsdpa.