Forum Discussion
slow streming
I only stream to watch tv (Netflix, appleTV, HBOmax etc.). Will my internet slow once I stream so much?
Your experience with the content delivery could be dependent upon the level of the service your plan is and load upon the uplink equipment. Also the quality of the cellular signals will be a factor. If your gateway receives at least 3-4 bars and the signals are clean service delivery should be good. There are some locations where users seem to experience delivery problems but not all users have service problems. Only time will tell if you are fortunate to be in a good place for service. If the cell tower equipment and upstream routers are all provisioned to carry the subscriber load it could be just fine. If there are periods of the day/night when bandwidth is more limited just keep in mind you can plan ahead and download some content during off peak hours for offline viewing.
If the gateway is a cylinder it is the Nokia. If it is a squarish box with rounded corners with the LED display on the front it is the Arcadyan gateway. Another tool to use for speed testing is fast.com that Netflix runs. There are other speed testing tools but those are the two I tend to use most. I like to run a test or two with both and compare results. Another handy tool, if you have an iPhone, is to put the iPhone into "Field Test Mode". Easy to do just dial *3001#12345#* and you can see what the phone reports for cellular metrics for the cellular connection it has.
Another great source of information is from CellMapper.net which will allow you to find 4G and 5G towers around you and determine which your cellular connection is with. There is the PCI value which is the physical cell identifier and with that you can confirm the cell ID and location of the tower your home internet gateway is using for 4G and 5G. There are filters that you can use to look at only 4G or only 5G which help to reduce the clutter. CellMapper.net is roughly 80-85% complete for information as the database is updated by people using the site. With the CellMapper Android application installed findings can be uploaded to the server to be in the database. This is really more of a geek thing but still handy to know when trying to get a gateway positioned to improve communication.
