Does Straight Talk Throttle Data?

**Grateful4Advice** · 02-20-2011, 03:56 PM

I am a new customer using the E71. The internet works fine for web browsing and my speedtest.net averages 1100 down / 100 up but I get slow dial up speed EVERY time I download a file. Change of location does not improve my speed downloading files although it changes my speedtest.net results. I am not downloading movies or even audio just Symbian applications to use on the phone. I am not a heavy data user and don't download everyday but I would like 3g speed when I need it. Does Straight Talk throttle data for downloads? If so, is there a remedy? My phone says I am using Trac Phone Internet. Could I use one of ATT gateways and avoid throttling? Thank you.

**MrRomeo** · 02-20-2011, 04:03 PM

I havent noticed any throttling, and they use AT&T internet, not tracfone. I have dont multiple speedtest.net tests and they are very consistent. I think you (or your customer) is n a bad coverage area.

**kalinrs** · 02-20-2011, 08:44 PM

I actually have the same problem downloading over the OVI store. The store itself seems to be super slow. My speeds are just fine with speedtest or wifi tethering.

**oscar786** · 02-20-2011, 09:01 PM

Nokia E71 shows quick downloads for me in Michigan....I uses Dell streak, and Samsung captivate...both are really fast even on 2 bars of signal...some areas show slow speeds but 90% of the time its good to good+..

**Michael Goff** · 05-12-2011, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by oscar786

Nokia E71 shows quick downloads for me in Michigan....I uses Dell streak, and Samsung captivate...both are really fast even on 2 bars of signal...some areas show slow speeds but 90% of the time its good to good+..

I also have the captivate and streak, when I do a speedtest with the captivate using the ST sim it works fine, when I do the ST with the streak it turns off my data. Can you do a speedtest with the streak?

**MrBooMY** · 05-12-2011, 05:54 PM

I get about 400k/sec max dl and about 150k/sec ul with good signal in Jacksonville, FL and surrounding areas.

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**DDDerek** · 02-25-2012, 09:14 PM

So i got a call from "Sprint" who i guess is who's towers my straight talk phone uses.. Anyways they said that i would be throttled or even shut off of my 3g! I called to see how much data i had actually used and they refused to tell me. Then he proceeded to tell me I couldn't use the following apps... Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, or any other app that streams music or movies..

**Jeff0575** · 02-26-2012, 08:44 AM

Would sprint be the one to call or. Straight talk.? I find it hard to believe sprint would call if your paying straight talk.

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**W2PMX** · 02-26-2012, 01:16 PM

There's a scam going around, where someone who's not Straight Talk calls and scolds you for using too much data. It's best to just block that number. As far as high speedtest.net/slow file, what speedtest does is send you a file (for downloading, then gets it from you to check the upload speed). The difference is that if you accept the default speedtest server, you're downloading from a server that's very close to you, so you get the full speed (or very close to it). If you download a file from halfway around the world it'll crawl. That's the internet, not Straight Talk. The more routers a file has to pass through to get to you, the slower it's going to be. (That's what mirror download sites are all about - so you can download from a server that's reasonably close to you.)

**maestroteague** · 02-26-2012, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by W2PMX

The difference is that if you accept the default speedtest server, you're downloading from a server that's very close to you, so you get the full speed (or very close to it). If you download a file from halfway around the world it'll crawl. That's the internet, not Straight Talk. The more routers a file has to pass through to get to you, the slower it's going to be. (That's what mirror download sites are all about - so you can download from a server that's reasonably close to you.)

You're absolutely correct, but didn't I read that all ST data goes through servers in Chicago area so that they get our data count? In that case, I'd get a better speed if I chose a speedtest server near Chicago, wouldn't I? (BTW, I do choose the closest server to me, just a questions I had; heard similar things with I was with Virgin Mobile, that they route all their traffic through somewhere in Iowa or Kansas or something like that).

**W2PMX** · 02-27-2012, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by maestroteague

You're absolutely correct, but didn't I read that all ST data goes through servers in Chicago area so that they get our data count? In that case, I'd get a better speed if I chose a speedtest server near Chicago, wouldn't I?

I haven't used the speedtest app on the phone yet (I do almost all of my downloading on wifi, so I don't care what my phone's data speed is as long as it gets the data it needs, like Mapquest traffic), but the speedtest website that you use with a PC chooses the nearest server to the POP location, which would be Chicago if that's where ST enters the internet. IOW, just let speedtest use the server it chooses. That tells you the speed from your phone to the internet. ST has nothing to do with how long it takes data to get from Amazon or "Joe's Server" to Chicago. If you have a specific need, you choose a server. (I regularly test the path from me [New York] to San Jose, CA, because that speedtest server is near a server I want to know my speed to. And it's nothing like my speed to my local speedtest server.)

Want to see real speed? Download the speedtest server program and run it on your computer. Then connect your phone to that server via wifi. That'll tell you how fast your phone's hardware can go. (You'll never actually get that speed in r/l.)

(BTW, I do choose the closest server to me, just a questions I had; heard similar things with I was with Virgin Mobile, that they route all their traffic through somewhere in Iowa or Kansas or something like that).

Everyone enters the internet somewhere. I stayed at a motel in the DC area - their free wifi entered the internet in Missouri. I've learned to not worry about the price of rice on Jupiter, and other things over which I have no control. It is what it is, and if it works I'm a happy camper.

With ST I'm not paying any more than I'd pay anyone else, and I can yak for hours and send as many texts as I want and get a reasonable amount of internet data. For now the coverage is all I need. (I may be relocating, so we'll see then.) There are more important things for me to spend my time worrying about, like my LDL levels. (As long as I don't have to call CS.)

**DDDerek** · 02-27-2012, 09:04 PM

Thought it said sprint was prerecorded but when i did a reverse check on the phone number this came up....The number you provided (800) 989-1506 is a toll-free number.
There is no additional information in our records.

**neftv** · 03-15-2012, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by clockcycle

But here in this case, did you at least take note of when Grateful4Advice posted his initial question?

02-20-2011, 04:56 PM - A year ago.

That almost flew by me as well haha! Amazing what automated systems will do but not recoginize time. Hey maybe the OP never got the answer he/she was looking atleast there is appearance of follow up. Have to give cudos to ST for follow up.