Database Users

Nexus One and Tmobile Data speeds?

Hello, I heard T-Mobile launched their new HSDPA network yesterday. I had a mytouch on the old 3G network and after doign a speed test i was getting ~110KB/s (thats kiloBYTES). On the about phone page in settings it showed me that my mytouch was on UMTS. (I live in NYC btw)
Now I have a Nexus One and T-Mobile has rolled out their new network. On my Nexus One about phone page it shows that my network type is now indeed HSDPA and no longer UMTS. HOWEVER im still getting the EXACT SAME SPEEDS as I did before on UMTS. What is up with this?

Ouch. Hopefully they'll work out the kinks in NYC. I almost always get around 3mbit in Philadelphia since they rolled out their new network.

melterx12 said:
Hello, I heard T-Mobile launched their new HSDPA network yesterday. I had a mytouch on the old 3G network and after doign a speed test i was getting ~110KB/s (thats kiloBYTES). On the about phone page in settings it showed me that my mytouch was on UMTS. (I live in NYC btw)
Now I have a Nexus One and T-Mobile has rolled out their new network. On my Nexus One about phone page it shows that my network type is now indeed HSDPA and no longer UMTS. HOWEVER im still getting the EXACT SAME SPEEDS as I did before on UMTS. What is up with this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also did not notice an increase in speed in Des Moines, IA. I think they need to increase the backend support of the network. I am pretty sure the towers are enabled for HSDPA around here...

They didn't launch any HSDPA network, you we're all misled by some moron that completely mistook a tweet from TMOUSA.

except my settings > about phone > status > network type is showing that im on HSDPA now...

melterx12 said:
except my settings > about phone > status > network type is showing that im on HSDPA now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Their network has been mostly HSDPA for a while now. It's still not 7.2mbps HSDPA. Any UMTS ("3G") are going to HSDPA (3.5G). Those are fairly hard to find, most of the network is already HSDPA.

I tested by navigating to www.mobilespeedtest.com. Using the app or a small test file doesn't show an accurate speed. At that site, I was able to choose a 5mb test file, and my peak speed was close to 4100kbps.
In a nutshell, I think that most tests use too small of a test file and the speed is still accelerating when the test ends.

my mytouch showed me 2 weeks ago that i was on UMTS, it literally said UMTS on that field. now it is showing HSDPA.

uansari1 said:
I tested by navigating to www.mobilespeedtest.com. Using the app or a small test file doesn't show an accurate speed. At that site, I was able to choose a 5mb test file, and my peak speed was close to 4100kbps.
In a nutshell, I think that most tests use too small of a test file and the speed is still accelerating when the test ends.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That site isn't accurate in the slightest, why people keep using it is beyond me. Use the speedtest app in the market. Some parts of Philly and NYC have 7.2Mbps HSPA already, maybe a few other places but it is NOT on a nationwide or even widespread scale.

heygrl said:
That site isn't accurate in the slightest, why people keep using it is beyond me. Use the speedtest app in the market. Some parts of Philly and NYC have 7.2Mbps HSPA already, maybe a few other places but it is NOT on a nationwide or even widespread scale.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... well I guess I'm wrong then. But why would there be such a large disparity? With the speed test app from the Market, I'd get up to 700ish kbps... That's a HUGE difference, and I don't think that mobilespeedtest.com would be off by that much, would it?

I'm in Philly. I used to get around 400kbps on average and never more than 800kbps. About a month ago it dramatically increased. I generally see anywhere from 2.5Mbps to 3.2Mbps download speeds using the speedtest.net application from the market. I just ran the test and got a 103ms ping, 3.74Mbps down, and 1.08Mbps up (a bit faster than usual). I'd post a screenshot but am unable to upload from the android browser.
Strangely enough in the settings it shows I am on UMTS, not HSDPA. Not sure why my speeds would have increased so dramatically if I'm still on UMTS, but they have. I'm sure other users in Philadelphia have had a similar experience.

mhaedo said:
I'm in Philly. I used to get around 400kbps on average and never more than 800kbps. About a month ago it dramatically increased. I generally see anywhere from 2.5Mbps to 3.2Mbps download speeds using the speedtest.net application from the market. I just ran the test and got a 103ms ping, 3.74Mbps down, and 1.08Mbps up (a bit faster than usual). I'd post a screenshot but am unable to upload from the android browser.
Strangely enough in the settings it shows I am on UMTS, not HSDPA. Not sure why my speeds would have increased so dramatically if I'm still on UMTS, but they have. I'm sure other users in Philadelphia have had a similar experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UMTS has a max speed of 3.6Mbps, so they probably have all of the backhaul in place for HSPA (Fiber) but it hasn't been switched up yet..

mhaedo said:
Ouch. Hopefully they'll work out the kinks in NYC. I almost always get around 3mbit in Philadelphia since they rolled out their new network.
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Click to collapse
This is different. Philadelphia is currently the only test market that has HSDPA+. The rest of the country got HSDPA which is much slower.

jimbo831 said:
This is different. Philadelphia is currently the only test market that has HSDPA+. The rest of the country got HSDPA which is much slower.
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Click to collapse
Didn't realize we were the only market getting HSDPA+ so far. Strange that my cliq still tells me UMTS, but I guess as heygrl noted it's in place but hasn't been switched on yet. Can't wait until they do, because by then my Nexus One will have arrived

All of philly isn't HSPA+, only certain areas. The phone should be showing HSPA regardless, and if it isn't the tower is still UMTS (limited to 3.6mbps)

In Seattle, Fremont specifically, my Nexus One shows HSDPA in the status. Once I head a bit north outside Seattle proper, it shows UMTS.
Cheers,
Kermee

used to average 600 kbps in austin on my mytouch 3g using the speed test app... with my nexus one and the upgraded network i'm averaging 1 mbps, or roughly 1000 kbps downstream

Everyone,
T-Mobile is running HSPA in the entire network. Why your phone states UMTS versus HSPA is beyond me. Now, Philidalphia is the current TEST market for HSPA+, not to be confused with HSPA. HSPA + is capable of much much faster speeds.
Also, like the previous preson stated, only parts of Philidalphia have HSPA+ launched.
To add to all of that, in order for your phone to recieve faster speeds the cell site requires more bandwidth. As T-Mobile is continuing to expand their 3G netowrk, they slowly adding more bandwidth (more T-1's) to the 3G sites so some area's will see higher speeds and again, Philidalphia is a HSPA+ test market so those sites that have that enabled will surely have more bandwidth ran to it.
Lastly for clerification:
HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) capable of 14Mbps download
HSPA+ (Evolved High Speed Packet Access) capable of 54Mbps download
HSDPA just adds a D for Download (High Speed Download Packet Access)
HSUPA just adds a U for Upload (High Speed Upload Packet Access)

Weird.
In areas where I have a strong signal (Max Bars) and the Nexus One shows "HSDPA" I get about 2.2-2.5 Mbps down using the Ookla App.
When I'm in areas where I have a strong signal (Max Bars) and the Nexus One shows "UMTS" I get about 1.2 Mbps down using the Ookla App.
All tested using the same test server.
*Shrug*
Cheers,
Kermee

Uhg! Okay maybe its me but I think people are not understanding Kb KB Mb MB. Kilobits, KiloBytes, Megabit, MegaByte.
If your Tmobile data connection is a 7.2Mb connection, you should be downloading at 921.6KB(KiloBytes) a second, if you go by kb(kilobits) it should be going 7372.8kb a second. So speed test is wrong or tmobile is jipping us the speed we should be going.

T-Mobile HSDPA 7.2

Can any Nexus One owners confirm that this is in fact true? I've heard mixed reports. PC Mag announced that T-Mobile rolled out the service Jan 5th, right before the Nexus One release http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/185916/tmobile_usa_finishes_upgrade_to_hspa_72.html
If you do have anything above 3.6M bps (the current ceiling) please state your speed and city. You can use the speedtest.net app from the market to verify.

I saw that too from a few different sources, I've tried on all 3 of my phones and haven't got over 1mbps yet, I saw people posting on the Nokia forums that they were getting 6mbps, I didn't see pictures to verify though. I'm in Folsom, CA with 3 bars and I'm getting 824kbps down and 205 kbps up right now on my Nexus.

I don't break 800kbits

Yeah my G1 is not getting it either, I thought maybe Nexus One would have it before they enable it for other phones...

People are confusing HSDPA with HSDPA+. HSDPA will get you up to around 700-800kbps. HSDPA+ will get you up to 3Mbps or so. T-Mobile just upgrade nationally from UMTS to HSDPA which goes from like 400 to 800 kbps, a decent improvement. Currently, only Philadelphia has HSDPA+ as the test market. Hopefully the rest of it will get it soon. All T-Mobile 3G smart phones have the hardware to do HSDPA and I think HSDPA+ as well, so you won't need a new phone when T-Mobile activates it on the towers.

1st run:down 380 up 294
2nd run:down 203 up 384
3rd run: down 360 up 295
server in dc

Just did a series of 5 speed tests of a 1MB file via a local server from different points in my downtown Seattle office. Gots download speeds of 256, 700, 768, 1119, and 1330kbps. Tried the speedtest.net app with various endpoints and got 1694kbps as my best download and 434 as my best upload.
Will try again from a different location downtown later tonight.
][

ojiikun said:
Just did a series of 5 speed tests of a 1MB file via a local server from different points in my downtown Seattle office. Gots download speeds of 256, 700, 768, 1119, and 1330kbps. Tried the speedtest.net app with various endpoints and got 1694kbps as my best download and 434 as my best upload.
Will try again from a different location downtown later tonight.
][
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where do you live? If not in Philadelphia, are you sure you turned off WiFi?

I had a good number of 1500+
kbps readings in Chicago

jimbo831 said:
Where do you live? If not in Philadelphia, are you sure you turned off WiFi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seattle, WA. Double-checked, wi-fi is off. Just had a coworker with a G1 produce similar results.
][

ojiikun said:
Seattle, WA. Double-checked, wi-fi is off. Just had a coworker with a G1 produce similar results.
][
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Click to collapse
Sweet deal then, perhaps T-Mobile is still slowly lighting it up one city at a time. Still only 600kbps here in Pittsburgh

kbps and kB/s are different. 1000kbps is 125kB/s, making it about 2/3 of your low end DSL connection.
Also, jimbo831, you're mistaken. T-Mobile has been on HSDPA/HSUPA since the rollout began, and everywhere in the nation had 3.6mbit potentially available. Realistically, no one got this. They just flipped the switch to 7.2mbit HSDPA (which is NOT HSPA+ that's in testing in Philadelphia, as that is 21mbit).
I'm seeing speeds of about 1.2mbit since the switch, compared to .5 before the switch in Atlanta, GA.

Casao said:
kbps and kB/s are different. 1000kbps is 125kB/s, making it about 2/3 of your low end DSL connection.
Also, jimbo831, you're mistaken. T-Mobile has been on HSDPA/HSUPA since the rollout began, and everywhere in the nation had 3.6mbit potentially available. Realistically, no one got this. They just flipped the switch to 7.2mbit HSDPA (which is NOT HSPA+ that's in testing in Philadelphia, as that is 21mbit).
I'm seeing speeds of about 1.2mbit since the switch, compared to .5 before the switch in Atlanta, GA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I'm just using information that has been reported by TmoNews. And I don't think HSDPA is active everywhere then, or it is just slow as molasses here in Pittsburgh because my phone is still only running at 600kbps, which is only about 100kbps faster than I remember during my last speed test a few weeks ago.
Edit: I have verified otherwise. I checked the "Status" on my G1 and it only reads UMTS. So it looks like T-Mobile has been on UMTS, and still is here in Pittsburgh. I guess once I get HSDPA, my speeds will go up.

I just checked my phone is Oklahoma City and it showed HSDPA instead of UMTS under phone info. Cool!

Can someone tell me what's wrong with my testing results?
1st test: down - 450ish, up - 45...
2nd test: down - 550ish, and wtf.. up - 6 kbps -___-
These are all in kbps btw.

aad4321 said:
I noticed in certain areas of Philadelphia where I live that speeds can be about 1 mbit a certian towers and 3.5 at others. At the slower locations it says hsdpa too. On my nexus at the locations it said hsdpa but umts on my g1. When I can see the speed differennce it clearly shows that tmobile has not completely upgraded their network. I think we Need to call and complain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this mean that the G1 doesn't support HSDPA, that it shows UMTS regardless of which 3G you're on, or if it just happened to click off HSDPA for that moment? I thought for sure when the G1 came out they said it was an HSDPA compatible phone.

Does the boost only effect 3g or Edge aswell?
Unfortunately there's no 3g in my area

Although I find PC World a reliable source, I think they meant to say AT&T. Here are three separate sources confirming AT&T with their HSDPA 7.2 rollout. And by the looks of other's speed tests, it isn't true for T-mobile.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2347725,00.asp
http://www.dailytech.com/ATT+Completes+Nationwide+3G+Tower+Software+Update+for+HSPA+72/article17308.htm
http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/17094/1/

Not actually done yet
Some cities got the green light but tmobile never actually made a press release I guess.

To clear up some misunderstandings:
For data transmissions (All speeds theoretical);
GPRS = 2G
EDGE = 2.5G
UMTS = 3G
HSUPA = A UMTS protocol/specification with speeds up to 5.76Mbit/s
HSDPA = 3.5G UMTS protocol/specification supporting speeds of 1.8, 3.6, 7.2(T-Mobile's latest upgrade) and 14.0 Mbit/s.
HSPA+ = 4G UMTS protocol/specification currently defined up to 56Mbit/s with potential of higher bandwidth. T-Mobile plans to start rolling this out mid 2010 with 21Mbit/s speeds.
byte = 8bits
Bandwidth is usually measures in Mbit/s(Megabits) where as download speed is measured in KB/s(Kilobytes). Divide your Mbit/s by 8 and you will have your download speed. So if speedtest says d/l bandwidth is 800Kbit/s then a file download would be approximately 100KB/s.
Alright now lets keep this thread on topic please and post only if your bandwidth is above 3.6Mbit/s which is the current theoretical limit in T-Mobile's network.

Data Bandwidth: 2G (GPRS), 2.75G (EDGE), 3G (UMTS), HSDPA (H/3.5G)

I've seen that there's a LOT of confusion over the different data connection speeds.
I've seen a lot of comments with people asking why they keep getting a 'H' symbol like it's a bad thing, so here's a basic run-down:
GPRS: 56Kbit/s
EDGE: 236.8 kbit/s
UMTS: 384 kbit/s
HSDPA: 14,400 kbit/s - 14.4 Mb/s (only in certain places in England, blanket 7.2 Mb/s for Three UK)
GSM isn't included because it can't be used for data transfer, this is usually when the signal bar is shown, with nothing else.
2G:
GPRS is pretty negligible, I'd know I get stuck with it all the time in my house. It can load web pages but pretty slowly. This is shown on the N1 with a G next to the signal bar.
EDGE is still 2G but is multiple 2G connections combined. Here's a definition from soul2soul from a quick Google search:
"EDGE is part of GPRS network. During idle state, you will be given 1 timeslot only which is GPRS speed. When you start to download, you will be given more timeslots, hence you notice the sudden increase of speed to EDGE. If you are have lots of data users, you might be given only 1 timeslot. THis way, you might not hit the 220kbps speed consistently. Besides, Edge ping is quite horrible around 450-550 ms at first hop.
3G on the other hand, to my experience, consistentlys hit the 384kbps. It is sort like a guarantee pipeline for you. Of course, the latency is much lower at 150ms to 200ms."
This is shown by an E next to the signal bar.
3G:
UMTS is faster than EDGE but is still nowhere near HSDPA. As explained above though, 3G is much more stable than EDGE so you will get a more reliable speed. This is shown by a 3G symbol next to the signal bar.
HSPDA Is the good one. This one supports up to 14.4MB/s. This is shown by a H symbol (on certain ROM's) next to the signal bar.
Personally, I love knowing when I get HSPDA over UMTS since there could be a whole 7Mb/s difference on Three UK, for example; 14Mb/s on Vodafone (some places).
Feel free to comment on any faults and I'll correct them. I did this very quickly
Someone care to comment on LTE?

This post triggered me to try running a speed test on my N1 out of pure curiosity. I am using the speedtest.net app from the marketplace.
N1 status shows: HSPA
Server: New York, NY
My location: Midtown west manhattan, 12th floor of an office building
Ping: 109ms
Down: 1656 kbps
Up: 1286 kbps

HSDPA can range from just faster than 3G speeds to 14.4 Mb/s. Keep in mind it depends on how many people are connected to the cell (since it's the max bandwidth distributed between how many people connect to each basestation), and also the max bandwidth of the Basestation. If no one else is connecting to your basestation then it looks like it's limited to 1.8Mb/s. But i'm not sure on the specs of other basestations aside from the UK, so I could be wrong.

I would also like to add that HSPA is JUST a data service where 3G carries both data and voice. Quite a few people on here seem to be confused when they see their phone switch back and fourth from 3G to HSPA and they ask why its going back and fourth. It is because you phone will only use the HSPA services for data and then switch back to 3G when idle and not doing data.
Oh, and lets not forget HSPA+, currently launched on T-Mobile USA in Philidalphia, which has theoretical speeds of 56Mbps down.

setzer715 said:
I would also like to add that HSPA is JUST a data service where 3G carries both data and voice. Quite a few people on here seem to be confused when they see their phone switch back and fourth from 3G to HSPA and they ask why its going back and fourth. It is because you phone will only use the HSPA services for data and then switch back to 3G when idle and not doing data.
Oh, and lets not forget HSPA+, currently launched on T-Mobile USA in Philidalphia, which has theoretical speeds of 56Mbps down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone know what happens when a call comes in if you're using HSPA, for example downloading a large file?

I've gotten speeds of around 600-700kbps on UMTS pretty consistently here in Toledo... are you sure it's max speed is only half that?

I rarley get good speeds anywhere here (California). The best i can muster up is 700k down and up. :-/

Please take note that the Nexus One, as most other mobile phones has a official maximum bandwidth of 7.2 MBps using HSDPA, not the full 14.4 MBps.
Quote:
google.com/phone
Cellular & Wireless
UMTS Band 1/4/8 (2100/AWS/900)
HSDPA 7.2Mbps
HSUPA 2Mbps
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

25th Feb in Waitrose (** a supermarket **) car-park in Wokingham, Engerland @ 10:33am [waiting for the wife] download 3922Kbps, upload 1673Kbps, (Speedtest), 'phone status switching between UMTS & HSDPA.
At home some 5 miles away usually download about 1.4Mbps: When I'm back in God's ain country (bonnie Scotland, the Highlands,..) I'll try again...
& If the 'phone was normal way up (therefore aerial at the bottom... slightly behind car dash) I got a lower speed, turn N1 upside down and she goes faster ..
Anyone??
Cheers!
Lodger

uansari1 said:
I've gotten speeds of around 600-700kbps on UMTS pretty consistently here in Toledo... are you sure it's max speed is only half that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, a correction to the previous. You see, HSPA is just an enhancement of UMTS. To say 3G is VERY broad statement because pretty much all carriers have some sort of 3rd Generation technolocy in use on thier networks. Now, T-Mobile and ATT both use UTMS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service) and to be specific they use W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access).
The quoted data speeds of 384Kbps are the theorecital max of R'99 (Revision "99). Moving on to R5 (Revision 5) incorporate HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access) with theorecial max download speeds of 14.4Mbps. Then there is R6 (Revision 6) which incorporates HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access. I'm sorry I dont know the max theoretical upload speeds. Lastly we have HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Enhanced) which has theoretical download speeds of 54Mbps.
Now on to your quesiton, if you are reaching those speeds you are more than likely on a HSPA network. If you are using an Eclair ROM your data symbol next to your signal strength will NOT switch from 3G to H. Its not built into the rom. If you are using a Desire ROM you will see this happen.
Here is another way to check, start downloading a large file (to give yoruself time) then back out and let it download in the background. Open your dialer and type *#*#4636#*#* then select phone info. Scroll down and look at network type. It will either say UMTS or HSPA. Make sure when your viewing it that there is data going in the background.
A quicker way to get to the Phone Info is to download/install Anycut and create a shortcut on your desktop for Phone Info.
Hope this helps.

You guys are incredibly knowledgeable! I have been extremely curious as to what HSPA+ was exactly, thank you for explaining it!
I do have a few questions:
1. With HSPA+ on the horizon for T-Mobile (US), what frequencies will be used to broadcast?
2. Will the freq be the same as UMTS?
3. Will devices like the HD 2 be able to utilize the new network (if not will a simple radio ROM fix that?)

Thanks for the explaination,as I was wondering what this ment as well..

My UMTS/3G speed too high?
There's a device that I'm interested in that will only do Edge. I wanted to see if I could tolerate the reduced speed and found this thread stating connection speeds. When I select "use only 2g networks" I connect at about half the max you state for Edge...which sounds about right. But, when I connect 3G (with my 3G phone), my DL speed is about 2.5Mb/s or 2500Kb/s, almost 7x as fast as the 384Kb/s stated here for max 3G. Could somebody please explain to me how I'm looking at things the wrong way? Thanks.

Because by "3G" the setting you're switching means "3G and up". To reach those speeds your phone is switching to HSDPA mode, which on Nexus One is limited to 7.2 Mbps, and you're still far below that limit.

Jack_R1 said:
Because by "3G" the setting you're switching means "3G and up". To reach those speeds your phone is switching to HSDPA mode, which on Nexus One is limited to 7.2 Mbps, and you're still far below that limit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that. But bear w/me for just one more sec; I'm a relative newby. Let me see if I understand. With my 3G Huawei Comet in hotspot mode and a netbook connected to Speedtest.net thru the hotspot, I'm getting a download thruput of 7X 3G speed and 1/3 4G speed. If this is right, since I don't think I could expect to reach the maximum 4G speed with an actual 4G phone but maybe more like 1/2 4G speed, since I'm getting close to that (1/3 4G) miraculously I think, (especially since that was at 2 of 4 bars), I think I shouldn't waste my time and money ever upgrading to a 4G phone; I should stick w/my miraculous little 3G Comet. Please let me know; is all this right? Thanks for any more help.

Is my connection way faster than my device is supposed to be capable of?
Sorry for repeating myself but I didn't get a reply and I really need an answer.
With my 3G Huawei Comet in hotspot mode and a netbook connected to Speedtest.net thru the hotspot, my DL speed is about 2.5Mb/s which is almost 7 times as fast as the 384Kb/s I read is supposed to be the max for 3G. My signal indicator does show the H for HSDPA (2 bars) so since my connection is SO much faster than the max for 3G, and squarely in the realm of 4G speeds considering 2 bars (about 1/3 the max for 4G), is my Ideos/Comet somehow doing 4G? Thanks for clarifying for me.

Get rid off that H icon

Hey, guys i have tmousa HD2. And I love this ROM CleanEX UDT HQ 3.00 Without FSS.. It's the best rom for me. The only problem.. that H icon signal. I want a 3G speed icon signal. it just looks better. Could i change that with a Cap. file? Thanks guys.

if im not wrong, H means your getting a faster speed. you want that

i was told that it's just a H icon but i'm still getting 3G speed. i really would love to have the 3G speed.

i read
H is 3.5 pretty much 4g speeds, your fine dont worry about it i wish i had that, im jus getin 3g where are you ?? im in nj pretty good tmobile service in the metro nyc area

rkjgn
id love to get H SPEEDS kinda been hoping to get it and see it on my fone lol... no luck yet i wonder what in your rom is letting you ? maybe it had the wifi N band ... i havent turned that on cuz i heard/read it sucks the juice "battery"

jiggahj said:
id love to get H SPEEDS kinda been hoping to get it and see it on my fone lol... no luck yet i wonder what in your rom is letting you ? maybe it had the wifi N band ... i havent turned that on cuz i heard/read it sucks the juice "battery"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its your reception in your area and or availability.
and H is much faster than plain ol' 3G.

Look for Advanced connections there you can enable or disable HSDPA (H)

The HSDPA Icon can be disabled in the Advanced Config (link on post #4) program at:
Data Connections->HSDPA icon: Enabled (default)
Now for a lesson in speeds:
Code:
3g: (Third-Generation) 14Mbit/s downlink.
HSDPA: (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) 1.8, 3.6, 7.2 and 14.0 Mbit/s.
HSDPA+: (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access: Plus) 42 Mbit/s downlink
and 84 Mbit/s with release 9.
4G: (Fourth Generation) 100MBits/s downlink for mobile, 1GBit/s downlink
for fixed lines.
I like to think for HSDPA as sort of like the HOV (or carpool) lane. You can't really legally go faster, but the traffic there is routed with much more precision and thus is likely to travel faster over a long period of time.
You can not (of course) disable HSDPA without also killing 3G, but that wasn't what you were asking anyway.
Hope that helps!

I get all three (H, 3G, and E) icons using kumars 1.6 rom... but when there's a H above my bars, it still says 3G T-Mobile in the top left hand corner so I dont know if thats actually 3G speed or H speed...

Funkyrocemz said:
I get all three (H, 3G, and E) icons using kumars 1.6 rom... but when there's a H above my bars, it still says 3G T-Mobile in the top left hand corner so I dont know if thats actually 3G speed or H speed...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HSPA is faster 3G, so it's still 3G. I just like to think that the "H" is an indication that T-Mobile is testing HSPA in my area . All the coverage maps say we don't have HSPA in my area yet. I'm using EnergyROM and I've noticed when I see the H, that if I actually use the data connection the icon will quickly switch to 3G. But it's really faster than when I start a data connection with the icon earlier just showing 3G instead of H.

Snarksneeze said:
The HSDPA Icon can be disabled in the Advanced Config (link on post #4) program at:
Data Connections->HSDPA icon: Enabled (default)
Now for a lesson in speeds:
Code:
3g: (Third-Generation) 14Mbit/s downlink.
HSDPA: (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) 1.8, 3.6, 7.2 and 14.0 Mbit/s.
HSDPA+: (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access: Plus) 42 Mbit/s downlink
and 84 Mbit/s with release 9.
4G: (Fourth Generation) 100MBits/s downlink for mobile, 1GBit/s downlink
for fixed lines.
I like to think for HSDPA as sort of like the HOV (or carpool) lane. You can't really legally go faster, but the traffic there is routed with much more precision and thus is likely to travel faster over a long period of time.
You can not (of course) disable HSDPA without also killing 3G, but that wasn't what you were asking anyway.
Hope that helps!
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I've had read that T-mobile HSDPA is technically or can be faster than Sprints 4G, but your lesson says different

I think what he's saying is that in a lot of cooked roms when it shows the H it's not really H speed. It just shows the H when it should actually be showing 3G.

I did a little research and I found that alot of cooked roms are based off of euro roms and H is cooked into them even though you are not getting "H" speeds. you can also go to mobilespeedtest.net and check your speed to see if indeed you are getting those speeds. it will tell you if you have edge 3g or H speeds. pretty cool

I live in Central Florida.....Winter Haven area to be exact and I am in Edge at home but if I travel 5 miles north of home I'm in 3G and another 3 miles north I'm in "H" all over up there. So I believe at home I am right near the edge of the high speed service in my area...
Traveling around the state I am in either 3g or "H"
Kinda crazy around here. It jumps all over depending on where your at.

CDurham221 said:
I did a little research and I found that alot of cooked roms are based off of euro roms and H is cooked into them even though you are not getting "H" speeds. you can also go to mobilespeedtest.net and check your speed to see if indeed you are getting those speeds. it will tell you if you have edge 3g or H speeds. pretty cool
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I agree that testing can help verify speed, but I thought a ROM based off the Euro HD2 would never work on a T-Mobile USA HD2?

HD2 in HSPA+ coverage areas

Does anyone here have an HD2 with stock TMO USA ROM in one of TMO's HSPA+ coverage areas? Does the signal indicator remain 3G, or does it switch to the H icon?
I'm not asking for users of cooked ROMs, since we all know the icons can differ depending on what the chef choose to use on their ROM.

i'm in the 904, and mine switches between 3g and h. if i'm in the living room, it stays on h, in the bedroom 3g.

mr8820 said:
i'm in the 904, and mine switches between 3g and h. if i'm in the living room, it stays on h, in the bedroom 3g.
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My connection icon goes back and forth between 3G and H a lot, usually flipping to H whenever I connect and am actively passing data, then back to 3G when the connection is on but idle.
I am using a stock ROM, but...I'm using aftermarket taskbar icons for notifications like that. I understand that the stock notification icons don't ever seem to switch to H, only once you have some non-stock icons there does that happen. I don't remeber mine ever switching before I added the new icons.
Honestly though I don't think it does much more right now than let you know you've got a HSPA+ capable link between you and the tower...but from what I've read T-mobile still hasn't yet flipped the switch on the backhaul elements (from the tower to the network) on most of the towers that are ready for it.
EDIT: Also, have you made sure that you have HSDPA enabled in your phone settings?

I am also in Jacksonville Florida (904) I have a cooked ROM, there is a huge difference between the two. So trust me when I say the towers around here are very much active.

Jamison904 said:
I am also in Jacksonville Florida (904) I have a cooked ROM, there is a huge difference between the two. So trust me when I say the towers around here are very much active.
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Ok awesome then. I'd heard they were still dragging their feet on it, but a small number of places were already feeling the joy

I just ran across this article, which describes a recent release from Tmo listing the markets that already have HSPA+ turned on, and those that are coming next:
http://www.tmonews.com/2010/05/hspa-update/

mr8820 said:
i'm in the 904, and mine switches between 3g and h. if i'm in the living room, it stays on h, in the bedroom 3g.
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Actually I was digging on this a little more, and saw a thread on ppcgeeks about it that you had posted in lol.
Reading that and some others, it seems that there's a bit of confusion (I was too)...what Tmo has already enabled on the network now is HSPA 7.2, which is not exactly the same thing as the HSPA+ (theoretical limits over 54Mbps). HSPA+ is what's being tested and exists in a few cities now, more coming 2nd half of this year.
I've read confirmation that the HD2 is HSPA 7.2-capable, but I've found nowhere that says for sure that it's able to use HSPA+...lot's of speculation, no hard confirmation. I have however seen several indications that no phones in Tmo's current lineup have the HSPA+ secret sauce

Yeah ive also read that the radio in the HD2 is only HSPA 7.2, here's hoping that at least the the HSPA+ roll out will allow us to make full use of the 7.2 megabits it can pull down.
Question though, if TMO's tower radios are software updatable to HSPA+ then why couldn't the HD2 or any other phone's radio be software updatable to HSPA+ as well?

Jamison904 said:
I am also in Jacksonville Florida (904) I have a cooked ROM, there is a huge difference between the two. So trust me when I say the towers around here are very much active.
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is the 560kbps in your sig what you're regularly seeing on TMO up there in Jacksonville? cause i don't have much trouble hitting a megabit per second at times here in Tampa.

I hate living in Utah. We are always the last to get these fast speeds.

i live in long beach, ca. and work at the port of los angeles. in these areas, i get a mixture of edge, 3g, and HSPA.
Specifically, I get a mixture of Edge and HSPA here at home. I get mostly HSPA when I'm driving outside the house locally.
I get mostly HSPA and a little 3g mixture at work.

I get a good mix of H, 3G and E in my area....im in Jersey..less than 10 minutes from NYC

Weird thing is i was getting HSPA (The H symbol on the signal strength thingy) since a month back. I am in the 818 area (Los Angeles - The valley)

im in the philadelphia market area where it started and with the shipped rom my device was in 3g mode all the time didnt notice that it was on h mode till i put on a cooked rom now i never see the 3g icon its always in h but the 3g will come and go to h as it pleases depending on location and if the hspa covers that area

Guys there is a difference between HSPA+ and HSDPA/HSUPA..
HSDPA/HSUPA is capable of maximum speeds of 7.2 mbps, but HSPA+ is theoretically capable of maximum speeds of 56 mbps, ofcourse us end users never see anything near the maximum. Optimistically it should increase the AVERAGE throughput or download speed for us on HSDPA as the backend at the cell towers will have much more capabilities.

inf3rno1 said:
Guys there is a difference between HSPA+ and HSDPA/HSUPA..
HSDPA/HSUPA is capable of maximum speeds of 7.2 mbps, but HSPA+ is theoretically capable of maximum speeds of 56 mbps, ofcourse us end users never see anything near the maximum. Optimistically it should increase the AVERAGE throughput or download speed for us on HSDPA as the backend at the cell towers will have much more capabilities.
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Very true, and commonly confused by many.
Although HSPA7.2 is technically already available in all of T-Mobile's existing 3G markets, like inf3rno said those with compatible handsets (HD2, etc) probably won't see everything it can deliver until the HSPA+ capable backend is turned up on your local towers.

sirphunkee said:
Very true, and commonly confused by many.
Although HSPA7.2 is technically already available in all of T-Mobile's existing 3G markets, like inf3rno said those with compatible handsets (HD2, etc) probably won't see everything it can deliver until the HSPA+ capable backend is turned up on your local towers.
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I keep getting conflicting answers. Is the t-mobile HD2 HSPA+ capable? Either now or with future rom updates? I am very curious.

djdanska said:
I keep getting conflicting answers. Is the t-mobile HD2 HSPA+ capable? Either now or with future rom updates? I am very curious.
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I too am keeping my eyes open for a more solid answer to that question. The most believeable-sounding one I've seen so far indicates that NO current hardware is HSPA+ capable (including the HD2), not until certain new models are released later this year (and no, I didn't see any sign of which exact ones will have that).
So, I'm expecting to not fully benefit from HSPA+ (as opposed to HSPA7.2)....but I could certainly be wrong, and would love it if I were!

7.2 is fine with me. 21 or less would be great, but can't get everything. Besides, i would not expect to reach anywhere near 21 megs down. Or i won't believe it until i see proof or see it in person. lol.

I'm in NYC, have HD2 stock rom pluse cookies home tab.
i did mobile speed test, and speedtest . i get 1847kbps down and 650kbps up. ive never seen a H on my handset but i get faster then hspda speeds. the other night i got 9 mbps down and 4mbps up.