Forum Discussion

jrs1871's avatar
jrs1871
Explorer
Feb 21, 2018

Verizon slowing down wifi?

Does anyone have an idea if Verizon is slowing down wifi reception on your cell phone? I have a Moto 5G and for the past few months my wifi reception is slower than molasses even though I have a very strong wifi signal. And I am not talking for downloading videos; I am talking about opening news articles that I want to read. If I try to open one my phone times out but if I turn wifi off, it opens right away. As a consequence of this my data usage has gone way up. So far I haven't gone over my 4Gb limit but it has been very close. I do have the data saver option turned on. I have cleaned my cache and make sure I keep open apps to a minimum. Suggestions?
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Feb 21, 2018
    I have the same phone and haven't experienced any problems. You may have to do a factory reset to scrub the phone clean if nothing else works. Good luck!
  • coolmom42's avatar
    coolmom42
    Explorer II
    Feb 21, 2018
    What wifi are you using?

    Verizon doesn't control the wifi speed anywhere except off their hotspots. Wifi is a function of the phone and the router where you are. And Verizon doesn't control the operating system of your phone.

    Check for system updates for your phone---many brands do them automatically but don't know about yours.

    Verizon will throttle your data rate over their network if you are using a LOT of data--like streaming video--are in a high use area, and have already used over about 20GB. But that doesn't affect wifi.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Feb 21, 2018
    Ductape wrote:
    Use another device and test the WiFi connection speed using one of the many testing websites such as:
    http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest

    Then you'll know if it's your phone or the WiFi.


    I just did the test myself and these are the results:

    Laptop on a wireless connection: 74/down 11/up

    Moto 5G cell: 41/down 9/up

    I don't know if cell phones are designed with the same speeds as computers, but I find my phone speeds to be very decent.
  • kerrlakeRoo's avatar
    kerrlakeRoo
    Explorer
    Feb 21, 2018
    Who's wifi are you running off of? Are you in a campground or running off a restaurant's system?
    You can check speed by going to
    www.fast.com
    but you will have to go to the wifi controls in your phone under settings to see what wifi server you are tapping.
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    Feb 21, 2018
    gemsworld wrote:
    Ductape wrote:
    Use another device and test the WiFi connection speed using one of the many testing websites such as:
    http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest

    Then you'll know if it's your phone or the WiFi.


    I just did the test myself and these are the results:

    Laptop on a wireless connection: 74/down 11/up

    Moto 5G cell: 41/down 9/up

    I don't know if cell phones are designed with the same speeds as computers, but I find my phone speeds to be very decent.


    Phones probably don't give WiFi as much priority as a laptop would. But those results aren't that bad.

    My HTC U11+ also gets a slower wifi speed test than my laptop, which is noticably lower than my desktop which is wired.

    Just ran the speed test app on my phone... 65 down 8 up

    Laptop 70 down 8 up

    I'm supposed to have 100 down 10 up but I've never seen that.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Feb 21, 2018
    Defending Verizon is not something I like doing. but.....

    First: Not all towers are "Full speed" some have limited bandwidth TO THE TOWER. and this is shared by all subscribers.. Just like park Wi-Fi, if you have some big users you might run out of tower.

    Second. Something may need adjustment on your phone. this happened to me a couple years ago .. I caed 6-1-1 (note I do not use Verizon) and they talked me through a setting change and WOW, full speed ahead. Just about as fast as I typed this post.
  • Bill_Satellite's avatar
    Bill_Satellite
    Explorer II
    Feb 21, 2018
    jrs1871 wrote:
    Does anyone have an idea if Verizon is slowing down wifi reception on your cell phone? I have a Moto 5G and for the past few months my wifi reception is slower than molasses even though I have a very strong wifi signal. And I am not talking for downloading videos; I am talking about opening news articles that I want to read. If I try to open one my phone times out but if I turn wifi off, it opens right away. As a consequence of this my data usage has gone way up. So far I haven't gone over my 4Gb limit but it has been very close. I do have the data saver option turned on. I have cleaned my cache and make sure I keep open apps to a minimum. Suggestions?


    Cellular signals have nothing at all to do with WiFi. You say when you turn WiFi off your page will open. If you are using WiFi on your phone then you are not using Verizon cellular signal. Of course your data usage goes up when you are not using WiFi as that is the only time you are using Verizon's cellular signal. Whose WiFi connection are you using when you have WiFi turned on?
  • Chuck_thehammer's avatar
    Chuck_thehammer
    Explorer
    Feb 21, 2018
    south Texas.. everything IS SLOW... old towers...

    and near the right coast.. no coverage...

    All Companies.
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Feb 21, 2018
    GordonThree wrote:

    I'm supposed to have 100 down 10 up but I've never seen that.


    Same here. And yet the local ISP wants me to sign up for a faster plan for more money when I'm not even getting what I pay for right now. :R

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