Iphone 5 - 3g very slow

[stewie248]

Hi

Just a quick question, i have upgraded to an Iphone 5 from my old iphone 3gs but the internet speed when using a 3g connection is so much slower.

I use the iphone 5 in the exact same location as i did with my iphone 3gs but it is much slower, and i use the Skygo app alot and the picture is crystal clear on my old 3gs but can barely use it with my iphone 5.

On wifi connection it is rapid and perfect but struggles when just 3g, any suggestions why?

thanks for help

Adam

 

[scifan57]

Hi

Just a quick question, i have upgraded to an Iphone 5 from my old iphone 3gs but the internet speed when using a 3g connection is so much slower.

I use the iphone 5 in the exact same location as i did with my iphone 3gs but it is much slower, and i use the Skygo app alot and the picture is crystal clear on my old 3gs but can barely use it with my iphone 5.

On wifi connection it is rapid and perfect but struggles when just 3g, any suggestions why?

thanks for help

Adam

With millions if iPhone 5's already produced it's possible that yours may have a defective wifi antenna or circuitry. Call the toll free tech support number and ask Apple.

 

[hookbill]

OP if you don't mind my asking how often have you tried it? Sometimes the network gets overloaded with people using it. I'd say try it different times of the day before coming to that conclusion. Also what network are you on?

scifan57 if it works on 4G why wouldn't it on 3G. If there was a defect wouldn't it show up on 4G as well?

 

[scifan57]

OP if you don't mind my asking how often have you tried it? Sometimes the network gets overloaded with people using it. I'd say try it different times of the day before coming to that conclusion. Also what network are you on?

scifan57 if it works on 4G why wouldn't it on 3G. If there was a defect wouldn't it show up on 4G as well?

Is it possible that 4g service needs a stronger connection to work properly?

 

[Skull One]

Hi

Just a quick question, i have upgraded to an Iphone 5 from my old iphone 3gs but the internet speed when using a 3g connection is so much slower.

I use the iphone 5 in the exact same location as i did with my iphone 3gs but it is much slower, and i use the Skygo app alot and the picture is crystal clear on my old 3gs but can barely use it with my iphone 5.

On wifi connection it is rapid and perfect but struggles when just 3g, any suggestions why?

thanks for help

Adam

I have good news and bad news for you. First the good news so we can put the bad news into the perspective.

Good news: There is nothing wrong with your iPhone 5 on the 3G connection. It is probably working exactly the same way as your iPhone 3GS used to.

Bad news: Your iPhone 5 is a high resolution display compared to your 3GS and it needs 4.7 times more data to display the same clear picture.

Lets do the math so you can see what is going on.
3GS is 480 x 320 pixels (153600 total pixels).
iPhone 5 is 1136 x 640 (727040 total pixels).

So if your 3G cellular connection tops out at say 1.5 megabits per second download, then your 3GS is going to look perfect. But at that data speed, the iPhone 5 is going to look very blotchy due to the lack of information to fill in all the pixels. When you switch to you WiFi, I am going to guess you probably have a 3 megabit or better connection which is about what you need for a clear picture on the iPhone 5.

Hope that clears things up for you.

 

[hookbill]

Skull, is there anything you don't know?

For anyone else who reads this, Skull has been amazing me for a few years now. When we rooting our Droids Skull wrote what I would consider a book on how to customize the speed on the processor. He certainly gets my respect and I think it's a huge plus to have him here in this Forum.

 

[Skull One]

Skull, is there anything you don't know?

For anyone else who reads this, Skull has been amazing me for a few years now. When we rooting our Droids Skull wrote what I would consider a book on how to customize the speed on the processor. He certainly gets my respect and I think it's a huge plus to have him here in this Forum.

TONS of things I don't know LOL.

I do miss some of the "good ole days" of Android. Back when it was brand new and we all were learning from each other at a very rapid pace. The overclocking thread is still my longest number of hours for just pure research. I pray I never try to do that again LOL!

 

[Darkstar2007]

Skull, is there anything you don't know?

For anyone else who reads this, Skull has been amazing me for a few years now. When we rooting our Droids Skull wrote what I would consider a book on how to customize the speed on the processor. He certainly gets my respect and I think it's a huge plus to have him here in this Forum.

Oh yes! We're all definitely very happy to have him on our forums!
He blows my mind everyday with some of the things he knows.

 

[icoater]

Thanks Skull!!! That makes perfect since as my 3g sucks (all we have in south jersey) however my wi-fi is blazing fast so is LTE (Delaware visit)
Wish I new this was gonna happen as I use 3G a lot ..

 

[stewie248]

I have good news and bad news for you. First the good news so we can put the bad news into the perspective.

Good news: There is nothing wrong with your iPhone 5 on the 3G connection. It is probably working exactly the same way as your iPhone 3GS used to.

Bad news: Your iPhone 5 is a high resolution display compared to your 3GS and it needs 4.7 times more data to display the same clear picture.

Lets do the math so you can see what is going on.
3GS is 480 x 320 pixels (153600 total pixels).
iPhone 5 is 1136 x 640 (727040 total pixels).

So if your 3G cellular connection tops out at say 1.5 megabits per second download, then your 3GS is going to look perfect. But at that data speed, the iPhone 5 is going to look very blotchy due to the lack of information to fill in all the pixels. When you switch to you WiFi, I am going to guess you probably have a 3 megabit or better connection which is about what you need for a clear picture on the iPhone 5.

Hope that clears things up for you.

Thanks for the reply! Makes sense when you think about it i suppose!

So is that always going to be the case? or is it something that can be rectified? is the high resolution desplay on the iphone 5 always going to cause the slow internet connection via 3G? Seems crazy how an update from an iphone 3gs to an iphone 5 can cause the internet to be slower!

If i was to send it back and go for an iphone 4s instead would the internet be much better again?

 

[Skull One]

Thanks for the reply! Makes sense when you think about it i suppose!

So is that always going to be the case? or is it something that can be rectified? is the high resolution desplay on the iphone 5 always going to cause the slow internet connection via 3G? Seems crazy how an update from an iphone 3gs to an iphone 5 can cause the internet to be slower!

If i was to send it back and go for an iphone 4s instead would the internet be much better again?

You have a slight misunderstanding. All the iPhones ever made will have just about the same connection speed to your cellular provider over the 3G connection. So nothing with the 3G connection has changed. The issue is the amount of data that is required for a clear display.

All iDevices with a 480 x 320 screen display size only need around .750 Megabits per second to properly display a TV show.

All iDevices with a 960 x 640, 1136 x 640, 1024 x 768 or 2048 x 1536 require between 3 to as much as 6 megabits per second to properly display a TV show.

So the iPhone 3GS was the last iPhone ever made with the lower screen resolution that only required 1/4th the data that the newer iPhones (4, 4S and 5) need.