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Is double speed EE/BT capped speed or do you actually get more spectrum


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Old 03-12-2016, 08:24
Ben_Fisher
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Does double speed allow you access to more spectrum or on single speed do you get access but your speed is capped to 30mbps?
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Old 03-12-2016, 08:45
Ben_Fisher
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The reason I ask is because my speeds have only improved in areas where I hit the 30mbps cap.
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Old 03-12-2016, 08:49
moox
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My phone reports LTE CA ("4G+") in some places even though I'm on "single speed" BT Mobile.

I suspect it's just a traffic shaping policy imposed in the core network. That would be a more efficient way to do it.
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Old 03-12-2016, 11:19
jchamier
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Does double speed allow you access to more spectrum or on single speed do you get access but your speed is capped to 30mbps?
Its speed capping in the network; not related to the signal you receive (or the backhaul of the mast). In theory you could be connected to a 3CA mast and have sufficient spectrum but due to other users the backhaul is nearly saturated.

This is why many people think the new (BT inspired?) price plans from EE that sell by speed are complete garbage, and open EE up to sale of goods act lawsuits for selling product that cannot be delivered.
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Old 03-12-2016, 23:37
plymouthbloke1974
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It's a speed cap product on the EE accounts for example. You'll still connect to CA or a double speed site but the plan you're on may have a speed cap product on it to slow it down.
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Old 04-12-2016, 12:48
Thine Wonk
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It's a speed cap product on the EE accounts for example. You'll still connect to CA or a double speed site but the plan you're on may have a speed cap product on it to slow it down.
So that'll have to come to an end in 6 months then? or is it only roaming caps that are no longer allowed to be capped? EE is unique in the mobile industry with this double speed thing.
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Old 04-12-2016, 13:03
d123
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EE is unique in the mobile industry with this double speed thing.
Probably because the other networks can't give a consistent enough high speed to make having such a system work .
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Old 04-12-2016, 13:03
plymouthbloke1974
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The speed caps only apply in the UK anyway...
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Old 04-12-2016, 14:02
omnidirectional
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Just out of interest, is RootMetrics subject to these speed caps? Allowing full speed for tests would boost EE's average speed results..
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Old 04-12-2016, 14:14
hammy_y
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Probably because the other networks can't give a consistent enough high speed to make having such a system work .
The system doesn't work very well here unfortunately.
http://i.imgur.com/BdyqZET.png
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Old 04-12-2016, 16:34
jchamier
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Just out of interest, is RootMetrics subject to these speed caps? Allowing full speed for tests would boost EE's average speed results..
It is subject. My PAYG SIM shows 30mbps, my contract SIM shows faster, depending where I am.
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Old 04-12-2016, 17:16
Ben_Fisher
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It's weird because the mast near my house the speed test is ALWAYS exactly 30mbps. Never less and never more.

It's like that one mast has a 30mbps cap. Where as other masts I can be as much as 60 but usually fluctuates below.
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Old 04-12-2016, 17:33
d123
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The system doesn't work very well here unfortunately.
http://i.imgur.com/BdyqZET.png
How does your one speed test prove a national system used by millions of subscribers doesn't work?
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Old 04-12-2016, 17:50
_m
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How does your one speed test prove a national system used by millions of subscribers doesn't work?
If you re-read the post I think you'll find that he never said it proves that "a national system used by millions of subscribers doesn't work", he just said "the system doesn't work very well here" so unless 'here'='national' for you I can't see where you're coming from...
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Old 04-12-2016, 17:54
_m
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Just out of interest, is RootMetrics subject to these speed caps? Allowing full speed for tests would boost EE's average speed results..
The speed caps are set on an account level so they can't go and make certain traffic unthrottled. IMO, it would be unethical for them to do this anyway as users would think they are getting faster speeds than they actually are like with Three throttling everything but speedtest.net to 80Mbps.
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:19
jchamier
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It's weird because the mast near my house the speed test is ALWAYS exactly 30mbps. Never less and never more.
That is quite possible. There was a town centre mast in a neighbouring town to mine which was the same for about 20 months. Maxed out at 30; but given it was in a busy shopping centre was often 22 to 30. Yesterday I saw 68 in the same location.

I assume this is down to backhaul delays. It can take AGES to get new/larger capacity backhaul installed.
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:25
_m
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It's weird because the mast near my house the speed test is ALWAYS exactly 30mbps. Never less and never more.

It's like that one mast has a 30mbps cap. Where as other masts I can be as much as 60 but usually fluctuates below.
Some sites with legacy backhaul are limited to 30Mbps.
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:32
DevonBloke
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It's weird because the mast near my house the speed test is ALWAYS exactly 30mbps. Never less and never more.

It's like that one mast has a 30mbps cap. Where as other masts I can be as much as 60 but usually fluctuates below.
Yeah as _m says, some are restricted. Mine is, has been for a year since it went live.
I think it's due to old microwave links not being fast enough and waiting for upgrading.
There can be a MW chain too so they cap the speed per site to stop that site taking all the bandwidth.
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Old 04-12-2016, 18:33
Ben_Fisher
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Some sites with legacy backhaul are limited to 30Mbps.
Fair enough. Makes sense and easily identifiable. Seems a fairly low use mast though as it's 30mbps at 1am or peak sunday times. Always perfectly 30. Not that 30 isn't enough!
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Old 04-12-2016, 19:46
d123
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If you re-read the post I think you'll find that he never said it proves that "a national system used by millions of subscribers doesn't work", he just said "the system doesn't work very well here" so unless 'here'='national' for you I can't see where you're coming from...
I think you'll find it means absolutely nothing, it doesn't even mean anything about the spot where he's standing at that second on that day.

He could have redone that test 5 minutes later and got a different result, he could have used a different handset and got a different result, he could have done a hundred things differently and got a different result,

His comment and test prove the square root of nothing when trying to decide the good or bad of the capping system by EE.
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Old 04-12-2016, 20:06
jo_m1
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Does single speed 4G mean that EE only make use of 10Mhz of spectrum? Or do these labels have to do with backhaul?

And 4G+ is LTE-CA, right?
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Old 04-12-2016, 20:42
lightspeed2398
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Does single speed 4G mean that EE only make use of 10Mhz of spectrum? Or do these labels have to do with backhaul?

And 4G+ is LTE-CA, right?
Used to be amount of spectrum, now it's generally backhaul related. Don't know any masts that broadcast a 10MHz carrier.

4G+ does indeed indicate CA
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Old 04-12-2016, 20:44
jo_m1
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Used to be amount of spectrum, now it's generally backhaul related. Don't know any masts that broadcast a 10MHz carrier.

4G+ does indeed indicate CA
Ok that makes sense, would be surprised why EE would choose to broadcast at 10Mhz voluntarily.

On a similar note I'm intrigued why EE chose to implement 3CA by using two 2600 blocks. Wouldn't 4G+ have wider coverage if they had taken away the 15Mhz from their ample 1800 spectrum?
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Old 04-12-2016, 20:51
lightspeed2398
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Ok that makes sense, would be surprised why EE would choose to broadcast at 10Mhz voluntarily.

On a similar note I'm intrigued why EE chose to implement 3CA by using two 2600 blocks. Wouldn't 4G+ have wider coverage if they had taken away the 15Mhz from their ample 1800 spectrum?
Suspect we'll see it at some point but I imagine that for the moment it's just easier to do it on the 2600. Any masts with the demand will already have 2600 for the most part so the equipment change is fairly minimal and the backhaul requirement is the same. Rather than investing resources in heavily slimming down 2G might as well just make use of the spectrum not being used anywhere.
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Old 04-12-2016, 21:05
hammy_y
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I think you'll find it means absolutely nothing, it doesn't even mean anything about the spot where he's standing at that second on that day.

He could have redone that test 5 minutes later and got a different result, he could have used a different handset and got a different result, he could have done a hundred things differently and got a different result,

His comment and test prove the square root of nothing when trying to decide the good or bad of the capping system by EE.
It's a Uni site, so very congested, and it's usually under 10Mbps throughout the day - and often under 2Mbps. Of course it doesn't represent the whole EE network - it's usually much much faster. When I made my post I wasn't intending to start an argument, just poking fun at my own crap speeds.

Having said that, I still don't really agree with the capping system if you can't guarantee the speeds. Especially for the 60Mbps+ plans where most of the time you're going to be getting under 60Mbps.
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