4 ms·

So, I'm on 4G right now, getting 45/25 Mbps, in what is considered a rural area (20km from the city). I lived in Birmingham, UK, a way more populated area, and

by bserge 6y ago

So, I'm on 4G right now, getting 45/25 Mbps, in what is considered a rural area (20km from the city). I lived in Birmingham, UK, a way more populated area, and got ~40/30 on 4G, as well. I noticed many people say they're lucky to get ~15 Mbps on 4G and I'm confused, why? Is it just congestion or is there some difference in the towers/implementation?

gamblor956 6y ago
4G is slower in the US, largely due to congestion.
- adventured 6y ago
  4G in the US often matches the parent's reference speeds, it depends on where you're at. People often make poor comparisons with the US, they context drop, comparing eg the speed across the entire US or a state versus their experience in one large city in a smaller more densely populated country (and then cherry picking based on a good outcome). Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit, NYC, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore are the best in the US, averaging at or above 30mbps across the cities in question. SF, Philly, Atlanta, Kansas City were also competitive with what the parent referenced (eg the SF avg was 27mbps, meaning people are routinely seeing the parent's ~40mbps in Birmingham). https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/31/state-mobile-network-speeds/ https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/31/state-mobile-network-speeds/
Reason077 6y ago
> "I noticed many people say they're lucky to get ~15 Mbps on 4G and I'm confused, why? Is it just congestion or is there some difference in the towers/implementation?" It can depend on the network, the device, congestion levels, and location. Some networks are notoriously bandwidth-constrained (ahem Three UK) and will always be prone to bad 4G speeds. Some networks have added capacity on more exotic 4G bands that are only supported by relatively recent devices. If you're connected to a macro site in a major city it probably has fibre backhaul with plenty of bandwidth available, but if you're connected to a small edge cell it may have radio backhaul with less capacity available. And newer devices will support things like carrier aggregation and higher levels of MIMO that get faster speeds. Interesting site showing how the UK mobile frequency is allocated here: https://pedroc.co.uk/content/uk-commercial-mobile-spectrum https://pedroc.co.uk/content/uk-commercial-mobile-spectrum Note that only fairly new devices will support the more exotic bands like 32/38/40 (and, of course, 5G).

by bserge 6y ago

gamblor956 6y ago

4G is slower in the US, largely due to congestion.

adventured 6y ago
4G in the US often matches the parent's reference speeds, it depends on where you're at. People often make poor comparisons with the US, they context drop, comparing eg the speed across the entire US or a state versus their experience in one large city in a smaller more densely populated country (and then cherry picking based on a good outcome). Cleveland, Minneapolis, Detroit, NYC, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore are the best in the US, averaging at or above 30mbps across the cities in question. SF, Philly, Atlanta, Kansas City were also competitive with what the parent referenced (eg the SF avg was 27mbps, meaning people are routinely seeing the parent's ~40mbps in Birmingham). https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/31/state-mobile-network-speeds/ https://9to5mac.com/2019/05/31/state-mobile-network-speeds/

Reason077 6y ago

> "I noticed many people say they're lucky to get ~15 Mbps on 4G and I'm confused, why? Is it just congestion or is there some difference in the towers/implementation?" It can depend on the network, the device, congestion levels, and location. Some networks are notoriously bandwidth-constrained (ahem Three UK) and will always be prone to bad 4G speeds. Some networks have added capacity on more exotic 4G bands that are only supported by relatively recent devices. If you're connected to a macro site in a major city it probably has fibre backhaul with plenty of bandwidth available, but if you're connected to a small edge cell it may have radio backhaul with less capacity available. And newer devices will support things like carrier aggregation and higher levels of MIMO that get faster speeds. Interesting site showing how the UK mobile frequency is allocated here: https://pedroc.co.uk/content/uk-commercial-mobile-spectrum https://pedroc.co.uk/content/uk-commercial-mobile-spectrum Note that only fairly new devices will support the more exotic bands like 32/38/40 (and, of course, 5G).