Question Regarding throttled Data & Iphones

[indyrunr89]

My situation: I've had dozens of Android Tracfones over the years. In my area, I am quite often experiencing deprioritized data that makes the internet basically unusable on these phones. (Side note: I am in an area that has fantastic Verizon coverage so signal strength is not a problem).

A typical example is trying to pull up a menu for a local restaurant. After 2-3 minutes the menu page is still loading and I still have a blank page with the progress bar basically not moving. As you can see this is not very user friendly and kind of defeats the purpose of having a smartphone.

My question: Do Tracfone customers with Apple phones get a slightly better data speed than this? Are there any Iphone users here that get the 2-3 minute page loads like I do? I'm ok with a 30 second page load but this 2-3 minute stuff is just ridiculous! I was wondering if the Apple products might get a slightly higher data throttle as many things Apple are "premium." I appreciate any feedback you Iphone users can provide!

[Lisme]

In my opinion, it's just Verizon being Verizon. Nothing to do with what phone someone has. Everything to do with being lowly Tracfone.

I tried Tracfone Verizon a while ago and had to immediately get rid of it. Even texts were not being delivered.

But they are required to deliver phone calls, so that gives a false impression of their attitude.

[tomseys]

My situation: I've had dozens of Android Tracfones over the years. In my area, I am quite often experiencing deprioritized data that makes the internet basically unusable on these phones. (Side note: I am in an area that has fantastic Verizon coverage so signal strength is not a problem).

A typical example is trying to pull up a menu for a local restaurant. After 2-3 minutes the menu page is still loading and I still have a blank page with the progress bar basically not moving. As you can see this is not very user friendly and kind of defeats the purpose of having a smartphone.

My question: Do Tracfone customers with Apple phones get a slightly better data speed than this? Are there any Iphone users here that get the 2-3 minute page loads like I do? I'm ok with a 30 second page load but this 2-3 minute stuff is just ridiculous! I was wondering if the Apple products might get a slightly higher data throttle as many things Apple are "premium." I appreciate any feedback you Iphone users can provide!

I think it's the location (and time). I'm in NYC.

My iPhones typically get 60 mbps down and 40 up on LTE and 250 mbps down and 60 up on 5G. Pages load instantly.

My samsungs get similar maybe slightly less.

My pixel got almost 400 mbps down and 60 up on 5g. Better than my spectrum internet.

I don't bother with 5g other than speedtests... 4G LTE is more than fast enough. I keep it on Wifi if I can.

[tomseys]

Make sure your apn is set correctly. It should be VZWINTERNET.

Maybe try a network reset. That sounds way too slow.

[rpz1]

Some websites are getting so graphics intensive that they take forever depending on time of day when there's more users.

[Senkoboy]

I had problems with my BYOP ATT sim, sometimes great, sometimes couldn't even load a page. I got tired of it and went to a TMobile sim.

[loboheeler]

My situation: I've had dozens of Android Tracfones over the years. In my area, I am quite often experiencing deprioritized data that makes the internet basically unusable on these phones.

I also get really deprioritized data in my area in peak usage times. I don't use a browser much, but have to use WiFi if looking at the radar map in my weather app. Don't think this is phone model dependent.

[indyrunr89]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. My APN is correct, and cellular data works at times, so I don't think that is it. As far as speed tests go, the last one I ran a couple of months ago was so slow the test failed after trying for about 5 minutes!

I guess my area is ok for talk n text Verizon but not data (at least on Tracfone). Can't believe I've stayed with VZW for so long. The only reason I stay is I do think they have the best voice quality. That and their signal covers my house the best so at least I can make and receive calls. I don't like relying on wifi calling and stuff like that so that make me hesitant to switch carriers. The last time I tried AT&T Tracfone, about 6 months ago, at least web pages would load in about 20 seconds. But to use AT&T in my home I have to stand in certain areas of my house to make phone calls. Decisions, decisions...

[trek83]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. My APN is correct, and cellular data works at times, so I don't think that is it. As far as speed tests go, the last one I ran a couple of months ago was so slow the test failed after trying for about 5 minutes!

I guess my area is ok for talk n text Verizon but not data (at least on Tracfone). Can't believe I've stayed with VZW for so long. The only reason I stay is I do think they have the best voice quality. That and their signal covers my house the best so at least I can make and receive calls. I don't like relying on wifi calling and stuff like that so that make me hesitant to switch carriers. The last time I tried AT&T Tracfone, about 6 months ago, at least web pages would load in about 20 seconds. But to use AT&T in my home I have to stand in certain areas of my house to make phone calls. Decisions, decisions...

What phone do you have ? I don’t think it’s the determining factor with download speeds, but an old phone would probably be slower .

If I missed this, I apologize.

[indyrunr89]

What phone do you have ? I don’t think it’s the determining factor with download speeds, but an old phone would probably be slower .

If I missed this, I apologize.

I've had this problem for several years and on many different Android Tracfones. Examples include the Moto E 2020, Moto E6, LG Premiere Pro Plus, Samsung A51, A01 & A12. Yes, I bought 'em all lol!

I've come to the conclusion that deprioritized data in my area is the problem. I've tested with Tracfone AT&T sims. Even though the signal appears weaker some of the time, at least with AT&T I can get relatively speedy page loads.

[rpz1]

Keep in mind it's not only de-prioritization based on plan or carrier. If every user in a low capacity area has a plan with priority data, they'll still at times see less. The under lying reason for UW5G was not for the sake of speed for users to quickly download something, but to increase capacity. More speed, more users with reliable data.

[LittleBear916]

I use data on my iPhone XR when I am on the go and only encountered one time where the loading speed was bad. I've been on it at times where data traffic from post paid users could outrank Tracfone and other prepaid users but it's been very rare. I don't see anything in Tracfone's terms about limiting data speed through busy times as that verbiage is usually reserved for their brands that offer unlimited internet.

[IsLand_BoY]

As others mentioned, it's Verizon. They have serious capacity issues in some areas. It's plenty usable for me but they're the slowest by far. Talk and text though, they are supremely reliable and it's what I'd want during a natural disaster or whatever but day to day.. I am so happy to be on T-Mobile. During the last power outage T-Mobile did very well - but I've always had a backup line on TracFone (Verizon) juuuust in case.