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.
iTinkeralot wrote:
Well, in some ways that is good. You can get a network scanner application from the play store and there are a number of them that run on Android phones and they are quite good. The Apple phones don't allow the network scanners access so that is why I suggested Field Test Mode. I know CellMapper.net has an application that runs on Android. It is commonly used to find the cellular tower information and also with an account on cellmapper.net data from the findings can be uploaded to the database. That should provide metrics, assuming you have a 5G cell phone. If you only use a 4G LTE cell phone then it would only help for 4G information.
My phone is only 4G. My next one will be 5G. I'm waiting for a good sale price. :)
According to the play store the 2.9 version of the T-Mobile internet application provides cellular metrics and detailed information. I can't say for sure as it does not play nice on my phone. I can be connected to the wireless but it does not seem to want to recognize that. Once in a while it does work but more often than not it tends to refuse to do much more than try to set up what has already been done.
Well, in some ways that is good. You can get a network scanner application from the play store and there are a number of them that run on Android phones and they are quite good. The Apple phones don't allow the network scanners access so that is why I suggested Field Test Mode. I know CellMapper.net has an application that runs on Android. It is commonly used to find the cellular tower information and also with an account on cellmapper.net data from the findings can be uploaded to the database. That should provide metrics, assuming you have a 5G cell phone. If you only use a 4G LTE cell phone then it would only help for 4G information.
iTinkeralot wrote:
I would guess your gateway connects to a cell with the n41 frequency given the speeds. If you have an iPhone you with 5G you could put it into Field Test Mode and confirm what it reports for cellular connection. It is probable that both would connect to the same tower. Here both my gateway and my iPhone 12 Pro do connect to the same cell. With the PCI values you could probably still confirm tower location through CellMapper.net. I don't know if the mobile application provides the cellular metrics for the Arcadyan gateway or not. I thought I had seen some posts where users had gathered the info with the mobile app. I seldom use it as it does not play nice on my iPhone. It tends to crash or just refuse to do anything but try to set up the gateway.
According to the information on the app store version 2.9 of the T-Mobile HI application is supposed to provide more information on the cellular metrics. That appears to have posted 2 weeks ago to the Apple app store. It only gets 2.8 stars so I don't expect great things. Maybe if all the settings are default it might work. If you have turned off the wireless radios on the gateway it for sure will not work.
Sorry, no iPhone ever. I have never seen the point of spending so much for a cell phone. I buy one Moto or other when one is on sale at Amazon or Motorola.
I would guess your gateway connects to a cell with the n41 frequency given the speeds. If you have an iPhone you with 5G you could put it into Field Test Mode and confirm what it reports for cellular connection. It is probable that both would connect to the same tower. Here both my gateway and my iPhone 12 Pro do connect to the same cell. With the PCI values you could probably still confirm tower location through CellMapper.net. I don't know if the mobile application provides the cellular metrics for the Arcadyan gateway or not. I thought I had seen some posts where users had gathered the info with the mobile app. I seldom use it as it does not play nice on my iPhone. It tends to crash or just refuse to do anything but try to set up the gateway.
According to the information on the app store version 2.9 of the T-Mobile HI application is supposed to provide more information on the cellular metrics. That appears to have posted 2 weeks ago to the Apple app store. It only gets 2.8 stars so I don't expect great things. Maybe if all the settings are default it might work. If you have turned off the wireless radios on the gateway it for sure will not work.
iTinkeralot wrote:
So with the Nokia gateway you have the cellular metrics available to you via the web browser interface and you can easily manage it. That is great. Those Sprint towers are probably upgraded and serving both subscribers.
Sorry, correction . . . I have the Arcadyan gateway.
So with the Nokia gateway you have the cellular metrics available to you via the web browser interface and you can easily manage it. That is great. Those Sprint towers are probably upgraded and serving both subscribers.
Mine is the cylinder. Fast.com showed my speed at 240 just now, while Ookla showed it as 306. This morning the eero app showed it as 362! There are no T-Mobile towers in my city, but there are two Sprint towers.
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.
If you use your phone like I do just copy the info into notes and it is handy when you have your phone. Easy to share that way too.
