Peculiar speedtest results on Telus' "NEW 4G" network using Sierra 319U

[davethebossman]

This was my post in the stickied "post speeds in new Telus network"...

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Sorry for no screenshot...

In downtown Edmonton on Whyte Ave on a Thursday evening at 8pm, a Sierra AC 319U gave these as BEST results:
***purchased stick for a 4-day trial period to evaluate "best estimate" of real-world speeds***

Speedtest.net
-33ms ping
-7.8Mbps down
-3.8Mbps up

The stick was plugged into a WinXP SP3 laptop running on battery with no firewalls or security software. I was standing in the middle of a parking lot with no other electronics within 30 or 40ft. The stick reported -49dB signal strength and a DC-HSPA+ signal. The line of sight to the tower was about 200m. This was the best of 4 tests with 3 other speedtest websites using 2 other laptops (Win7, OSX).

Yeah... that bad.
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I read that another forum member got 12down and 1.2up in Edmonton using the 319U, but either way our numbers are HORRID. And please, nobody try to offer a defense for Telus.... explanations, however, are welcome. Not trying to be rude, just a little tired of corporate promises. If i was a Telus Engineer, I'd want to kick a CEO in the pants for making me out to be some sort of magician.

As a comparison, speedtest on my 3GS inside my condo shows a best of 11.06down, 0.90up, 57ms ping. I'm sure everyone would agree those are decent numbers for an HSPA+ device. One should also note that my 3GS has a single antenna.

On the other hand, this "dual-cell" 319U is obviously rocking 2 antennas. So, without being too enthusiastic, a close-to-additive figure of ~20Mbps downlink and ~2-4Mbps uplink should be a norm. My point is made ever clearer when seeing the theoretical DC-HSPA+ speeds should be 42down and 6up.

Can someone give me an explanation for these speeds perhaps? I'm just curious. I already tried twice to submit a ticket to the RF Engineers at Telus with no reply. I will continue to pursue them because they designed the network and they will cut through the marketing clutter and put me in my place if need be.

Otherwise, I've had Telus DNA tell me "network congestion" and "ideal conditions" as determinants. I can agree with these comments to a certain extent, but my 3GS figures bring justice to those statements. Perhaps Alberta just does not have 4G integration yet? Perhaps my device was faulty even though DNA reported no issues on either side?

Any thoughts? I will not be buying a 319U (despite my excitement) until i see some speeds increase. I'm sure you all can understand. Thanks in advance for your comments and I hope to feel more assurance of future progress with this DC-HSPA+ network.

Sincerely,
Daver

[turbogeek]

As a comparison, speedtest on my 3GS inside my condo shows a best of 11.06down, 0.90up, 57ms ping. I'm sure everyone would agree those are decent numbers for an HSPA+ device. One should also note that my 3GS has a single antenna.

The 3GS chipset is not even theoretically capable of those numbers, except on wi-fi. Even i4 only supports a maximum of 7.2Mbps HSPA. This test result and any comparisons drawn from it are erroneous.

As for the aircard, your tests just happened to coincide with internet problems:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...et-in-Edmonton

All dual-cell offers is the ability to use 2 downlink channels in a supported area if the network capacity is available. Whatever download number you could pull on a 21Mbps device you potentially ~double, but a single uplink channel remains.

[davethebossman]

Wow. I feel silly about the wifi test. Sorry about that. But as for the Alberta and Edmonton internet issues, I tested it for 4 days in a row and spoke with 3 different DNA reps, but I had no news of network issues mentioned. I suppose i could see the issues causing 4 days of crappy speedtests.

But what say you regarding the other forum member's speeds of 12Mbps down and 1.2Mbps up? I still say shambles to that! I mean, it IS decent, but i've had the headquarters of Telus' largest store tell me they've hit 21down with a 306 IN STORE. And this is coming from one of their top RF repair guys. So i still contend that the 319 is capable of ~20down and ~4up.

Anyways, thanks for the comment turbogeek.

Davers

[turbogeek]

A Sierra 306 pulling 21Mbps is pretty miraculous - I don't follow the speed test thread, but I think the best I've seen in there was ~18. I generally go by the 1/3-2/3 rule of thumb for expectations: you're doing good if your device gets between one and two thirds of the quoted (theoretical, alone in an open faraday-caged lab, with a no-overhead protocol and a tailwind) 'maximum'. I would expect a 319 to pull between 14 & 28 (give or take a few) real-world Mbps down in a good area.

Your test results are definitely disappointing, and I assume the network issues had something to do with it (I was experiencing them as well). I'm not familiar with the Watcher on a 319 yet, I don't know whether it indicates/differentiates between when DC is simply supported on the tower and when it is actually functioning. Dual-cell is only used when there is channel capacity to spare, and Whyte is usually of the busiest areas of Edmonton; it may not have been enabled when you tested. Dual-channel can only ~double what you are actually able to get, so if it was being utilized presumably a 306 running in the same setup would have pulled 3.9 (7.8 test) & 6 (12 test) Mbps down with the uplinks remaining identical.

It's possible it is a faulty stick, or that there is a software issue I have not heard about. Excepting the (IMO weak-hinged) 595USB, Sierra modems have always been solid in my experience though. I haven't yet had the opportunity to really play with a 319.

Anyway, that's my (quite a bit more than) 2¢.

[jmasterfunk]

Thursday evening at 8pm isn't really the best time to squeeze out ideal throughput results. Sure you've got a very good signal strength, but you also have no idea what else that cell is trying to serve. You also have to take into consideration the number of users on the cell, what they're doing, how much noise there is in the area and if you've got coverage from another cell at near the same strength, you could be in hard handoff between the two, and that kills your downlink. If you really want to rule out any congestion, try these tests at 3 or 4am. You might also have better luck in a less populated area, but that might be hard to find around Edmonton.

[themobilekid]

Average speed on Sierra wireless 306 is about 3mbps, so if you double that you're going to get 6-7mbps on average. Telus won't even look into network speeds unless you're getting less than 3.5mbps. I'm of the mind frame that advertising 52mbps and only delivering 7 with little tiny writing saying 52 is not guaranteed is immoral, but I believe that's the standard mind frame of advertising for the wireless industry.