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Fido LTE speed is around 5 mbps, central Burnaby BC

dankutnenko
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Hello,

 

I live in Central Burnaby, BC, according to my shallow reseach my download speed should be around 15 - 30 mbps. My area is fully covered according to Fido's coverage map.

 

Earlier this morning my download speed was between 0.98 and 1.2 mbps. Fido support helped bring the speed up to 5.8 mbps, which is still far below my expectations. I am using the top tier data plan, and it is counterproductive to use mobile data with such speed.

 

Please let me know what can affect my LTE speeds so much, and how to fix this problem. I always have 4 out of 5 bars of cellular signal, and LTE or (rarely) LTE+.

2 REPLIES 2

Cawtau
Senior MVP Senior MVP
Senior MVP

Hello Dankutnenko,

 

  Welcome to the community!

 

  Sorry to hear your LTE data speeds are not to your expectation. However, there are many things which can affect LTE speed -- strength of signal, network congestion, LTE band(s) or frequency(-ies) to which your device is connected, etc.

 

  I understand the coverage maps show your area is fully covered. However, those maps are only approximate. Depending on where you are located in Burnaby, some areas have fewer cellular towers:

Burnaby.jpg

~taken from here.

 

  I also understand your device might show fairly good cellular signal. That's where the actual bands/frequencies to which your device connects might play a part. The different bands/frequencies have different characteristics. While the lower frequencies (ie 700 MHz) are able to travel farther and penetrate deeper into structures than higher frequencies (ie 2600MHz)(see graphic here), there is a trade-off. Unfortunately, that increased travel distance and penetrability coincides with a smaller bandwidth (see table here). Smaller bandwidth would result in slower data speeds.

 

  If your location can only receive adequate signal from the lower frequencies, that could account for why your data speeds might be lower than expected (fairly good signal & low bandwidth). It could also explain why your device does not frequently avail of carrier aggregation (LTE-A or LTE+)(see here). If the area is unable to receive adequate AWS (band 4 or 1700/2100MHz) signal, it would not be available to aggregate.

 

  As well, that all assumes your device has those compatible bands/frequencies. If your device does not have compatible higher frequencies, that could also account for your lower than expected speeds. You can view the compatible bands/frequencies here.

 

  In addition, do you use a virtual private network (VPN)? Those services can reduce data speeds significantly.

 

  You might consider testing different locations to see if that might improve your data speeds. If your speeds do improve at different locations, that might strengthen the notion above. If that is the case, there is unfortunately not much to be done to improve signal. One option would be to consider signal boosters to try to improve the higher frequencies in the area. Alternatively, the other provider in the area might have cellular towers better suited to your location.

 

Hope this helps 😀

 

Cheers

 


dankutnenko
I'm a participant level 2
I'm a participant level 2

Hello Cawtau, 

 

Thank you for a comprehensive reply. I will do more research and hopefully get a better performance in Brentwood area, and Metrotown area.

 

I am using Samsung Galaxy A52, by the way, so I suppose it should be performing better than my shaw cable internet in 2017.