[Hands0n]

Hmm, my local Vodafone mast's backhaul must be getting some fairly heavy use. Although it is a 3G HSPA unit the actual speedtest results are not terribly good. They are in HSPA ranges though. That is not to say that the browser and other network activity feels slow on the Nexus One ...

On 3G/HSPA here I have had megabit speeds previously and do get these elsewhere - just my local transmitter seems to have slowed of late.

Here are the results for WiFi and 3G/HSPA

First WiFi

Test Date: Jan 16, 2010 10:34:13 am
Connection Type: Wifi

Download: 5054 kbps
Upload: 587 kbps
Ping: 41 ms

A detailed image for this result can be found here:

http://www.speedtest.net/android/1035025.png

And here is 3G/HSPA

Test Date: Jan 16, 2010 10:37:23 am
Connection Type: Gprs

Download: 613 kbps
Upload: 547 kbps
Ping: 221 ms

A detailed image for this result can be found here:

http://www.speedtest.net/android/1035052.png

[Ben]

That's not very impressive at all. Something not right there me thinks!

[Hands0n]

Well, it is definitely HSPA at those speeds and I've just got 702 Down and 605 Up. I suspect that my local transmitter has a spot of moderate use on the backhaul which is unlikely to be anything more than a classic E1 (2048Kbps) as we're rural here.

[getti]

Using the same app on a Motorola Milestone aka Droid i get:

Download: 2.6mb/s
Upload: 1.3mb/s
Ping: 131ms
Server: Milton Keynes

That is using Vodafone with full HSDPA at home. Seriously impressed with the Milestone its outstanding!

[DBMandrake]

When I tested Vodafone in my iPhone 3GS in some of the main streets in central Glasgow, the best I could get was around 300-500kbit downstream. Many streets didn't receive 3G at all even outdoors!

On Orange in the same places I had solid 3G with around 600-900kbit, and on 3 in the same areas solid 3G and I get about 1500-2000kbit.

At least up this way, I don't rate Vodafone's 3G speed or coverage that highly at all, but every area is different of course...

PS, from those speed tests, it looks like the Nexus one has HSUPA - I really wish Apple would hurry up and go to a HSUPA compatible chipset :rolleyes:

[Ben]

Just done a test on Voda using the iPhone app on my 3GS:
Download 2163kbps
Upload 307kbps

Not bad for sat on my sofa.

Maybe email them about your lackluster speeds, Hands0n, see if you can find out exactly what's going on?

[colin25]

i tried test, sitting on couch, using t-mobile.

download 1,888 kbps
upload 529 kbps
ping 130

3g srength signal at 2 bars

[colin25]

tried again, put phone at window (signal strength full bars)

download 882 kbps
upload 537 kbps
ping 138

that tells me I've been using phone correctly, sitting on couch is best lol

Tried again, download went back up to 1,657...534 upload, ping same

[miffed]

Just done a test on Voda using the iPhone app on my 3GS:
Download 2163kbps
Upload 307kbps

Not bad for sat on my sofa.



Aren't you cheating though ?

[DBMandrake]

tried again, put phone at window (signal strength full bars)

download 882 kbps
upload 537 kbps
ping 138

that tells me I've been using phone correctly, sitting on couch is best lol

Tried again, download went back up to 1,657...534 upload, ping same
By standing at a window, you may be at a window on the opposite side of the house to the cell tower that you were connecting to while at the sofa, thus causing your phone to choose a different cell tower to get a stronger signal.

Different cell towers in the same area can have vastly different speeds depending on how many customers they are serving thus you can get large differences in speed from them.

I get a similar effect at home on 3, where I usually connect to the same cell tower in most of the house and the speed stays at around 1300kbit, but in a window on one side of the house it sometimes connects to a different cell tower, and the speed is much lower at around 500kbit - slower than what I get at the sofa :D

On the iPhone you can go into the fieldtest app (*3001#12345#*) then choose UMTS Cell Environment, UMTS RR Info, and see the "Cell ID" to see which cell tower and sector on the tower you're connected to. (Just an id number) There is no doubt a way to do a fieldtest in the Nexus One as well, although it might be hidden.

[Ben]

Aren't you cheating though ?
I could never cheat on you, miffed.
:p

[Hands0n]

Email (and Tweet) sent to Vodafone - so we'll have to wait and see what happens next.

I suspect it is just local utilisation here. Some time ago when I tested it was well into the 1.8Mbps and higher. Now I get these same low speed test results on the Nexus One and my USB Stick modem.

[Ben]

Maybe they'll give BT a ring in the morning and order a regrade on their fibre thanks to your nudge ;)

[Hands0n]

Fibre? I rather think that the best we're seeing is ADSL or perhaps SDSL at the very best :D

[Hands0n]

I re-ran the tests tonight using the Nexus One and my iPhone 3GS that has just today been ported across to Vodafone. Very encouraging results received.

Nexus One - 2118 kbps Down, 1287 kbps Up

iPhone 3GS - 1879 kbps Down, 259 kbps Up (performed about hour earlier)

[Hands0n]

Hmm, anyone care to help understand what is going on here ...

Curious, I re-ran the speedtests just now... At first I ran them in parallel, but I think that caused one to defeat the other as the gap between the speeds was huge. Thinking about it both phones are accessing the same transmitter mast and so that was always going to go a bit wrong :)

Next I ran the tests (results below) using one first, then the other. This would ensure, as much as possible, that there was no contention for the local transmitter. I repeated these tests three times to normalise the result, the results below are the average of the three tests.


Nexus One 1236kbps Down / 1312kbps Up
iPhone 3GS 1798kbps Down / 295kbps Up


So, the above suggests that the iPhone 3GS is not an HSPA handset, rather that it only supports HSDPA. But that the Nexus One is a full HSPA handset supporting HSDPA and HSUPA, also that Vodafone are indeed full HSPA compliant.

[getti]

The 3GS has 7.2mb/s HSDPA
The Nexus One has 7.2mb/s HSDPA and 2.0mb/s HSUPA

Thats why you will get a faster upload speed on the Android :)

[Ben]

Gotta love the full on HSPA experience!