ATT vs Verizon speed tests with DirecTV Now???

[rbertalotto]

i have a AT&T Mobley SIm in a Unite Explore hotspot and my Moto4E phone as a hotspot on Verizon. I’m currently about ten miles north of Clarksville Tx. In the middle of a field at a shooting event.

My AT&T service is showing on a speed test 27.9 down and 8.12 up......my Verizon is showing 17.4 down and 10.1 up

the AT&T is on a WeBoost and the Verizon phone is just sitting here on the table in an aluminum travel trailer.

with AT&T I get terrible buffering about every minute or two. Unwatchable

the verizon is near perfect. No buffering.

both streaming DirectTV Now....

seems both services should be performing about the same since speeds seem good. What am I missing here?

is there something other than simple speed that dictates how streaming will perform?

thanks

[docj]

AT&T has something it calls "StreamSaver" which is intended to reduce data usage when streaming (and it limits resolution to 480i).  I think that all AT&T accounts come with StreamSaver active by default.  That may be what's causing your buffering problems.  Check your AT&T account online and you will be able to turn it off,  look for the link to "manage streamsaver"

[rynosback]

10 hours ago, rbertalotto said:

i have a AT&T Mobley SIm in a Unite Explore hotspot and my Moto4E phone as a hotspot on Verizon. I’m currently about ten miles north of Clarksville Tx. In the middle of a field at a shooting event.

My AT&T service is showing on a speed test 27.9 down and 8.12 up......my Verizon is showing 17.4 down and 10.1 up

the AT&T is on a WeBoost and the Verizon phone is just sitting here on the table in an aluminum travel trailer.

with AT&T I get terrible buffering about every minute or two. Unwatchable

the verizon is near perfect. No buffering.

both streaming DirectTV Now....

seems both services should be performing about the same since speeds seem good. What am I missing here?

is there something other than simple speed that dictates how streaming will perform?

thanks

What was the ping?  A high ping will cause lagging. And of coarse this is just in the spot that you are in right now.  It will change when you move.  My ATT , Mobley has overall gotten better WiFi then my Verizon IPhone.

 

How long have you been using your Unite Explore?  I have one and only change the sim out if I have a lagging signal in the Mobley.  I just worry about ATT saying sorry your account is closed as you used data outside of the approved Mobley, Car Connect contract.  

[rbertalotto]

I’ve been using the Unite Explore for over a year. It actually shows up as the hotspot on my account. I don’t think they care where the sim is.

[rbertalotto]

So this morning I’m experimenting with various devices to stream DirecTV Now (DTVN).....

my Roku is buffering every 5 minutes.......my Motoe4 phone is perfect, no buffering at all. Both on at same time. Both on same DTVN channel.

both devices are connected to my Unite Explore with AT&T service using 5g WiFi.

MotoE4 is in Airplane mode so isn’t using Verizon service.

it appears all this buffering issue is streaming device related.

 

[docj]

6 hours ago, rbertalotto said:

my Roku is buffering every 5 minutes

How old is your Roku?  The newer ones appear to use a faster and more powerful processor than those of a couple of years ago.  My Roku Premier performs well even with slow data streams.

[rynosback]

18 hours ago, rbertalotto said:

I’ve been using the Unite Explore for over a year. It actually shows up as the hotspot on my account. I don’t think they care where the sim is.

If you look at your account details it will show up as an Explore Elite when your sim is in it and if it was in your Mobley it shows up as your Mobley.  It is good to hear that you have not been shut down or gotten any notice from them.

[rbertalotto]

TheRoku is three weeks old. It replaced an Amazon fire stick that I thought might be the issue. Both perform the same.

still interesting that my phone, using the same Hot Spot via WiFi performs so well.

unfortunatly, my Moto E4 phone does not allow casting for DTVNow. Not sure if this is an E4 thing or a DTVnow issue that prohibits casting.

[Smitty77_7]

Besides the age of the Roku, what specific unit did you get? For example, Amazon has sellers that still sell two, three model back units of Roku's. So even though new, it could be and older version. Some are 802.11N vs 802.11AC, and have smaller memory. 

Our Roku Ultra was our fastest streaming device in our RV. Beating Samsung Smart TV or Oppo BDP-95 - as a streaming device to the TV. (We currently have the Roku Ultra CAT6 cabled into our WiFi Ranger GOac, to avoid one more WiFi hop. But I went 7-8 months with it running off or 802.11AC.)

If you bought an older Stick Roku, like Roku Premier +, it's 802.11N - and also has lees memory. 

So that could be the difference in why the Moto is doing better then the Roku(?). 

Best to you,

Smitty

 

 

[rbertalotto]

Thanks Smitty, that could be the issue. I’ll check it out. I did find a hidden menu that allowed me to control the data rate that greatly improved performance.

But I still believe most of the issue is on DirecTV’s plate as the excessive buffering only happens from around 5-10pm when most folks are using it.

At those same times, other streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Curiosity Stream, etc work great with no buffering on the same Roku device.

Streaming is the future, but still in its infancy........

[jerryneal]

Maybe some type of handshake between DirecTV and the Mobley not seen when using Verizon?  I've been using a new FireStick, my Mobley and Prime Video for 6 months all over the east coast, some in heavy congested areas and no buffer issues.  

[Dutch_12078]

We've been using our FireTVstick with our AT&T/Netgear Unite with the Mobley SIM in it for most of the year now with minimal buffering only when we have a weak signal. Our AT&T account lists the device as "Netgear Unite". As far as I've seen, the only folks that have gotten in trouble with AT&T for SIM swapping have been those that put their Mobley SIM in a phone instead of just a different hotspot.

[Zulu]

On 9/26/2018 at 5:19 AM, rbertalotto said:

My AT&T service is showing on a speed test 27.9 down and 8.12 up......my Verizon is showing 17.4 down and 10.1 up

Sorry I didn't notice this thread earlier.

I'm guessing you're using just a single Internet speed test application. Speed testers can yield wildly different results. At least that's what I found is my HughesNET Gen 5 speed tests.

Anyway, I suggest you try using at least three HTML 5 speed testers like Speedof.me, Testmy.net, and Bandwidthplace.com. Then average the results.

[RvScot]

Hi. I am so confused! Here in Scotland we make do with speeds we get good or bad mainly due to poor copper lines and high mobile data costs but looks like I will be spoilt for choice in the US . Still need some help choosing though.

I have a 2002 Class A with a Roof mounted Satellite dish attached to a Direct TV box. I don't have a Direct TV account or card and I have no real interest in watching TV using this and would much prefer to steam.

Late last year we traveled from NC to FL over 2 months using the inconsistent Wi -Fi  available in RV parks. In some cases it worked fine for the most part however in some together with State and National parks where Wi-Fi is limited to the front porch of the office we used hot spots on our AT&T phone. That used a lot of data and worked out quite expensive.

This year we plan to travel from Florida to Indy 500 (super excited after booking tickets yesterday) to Calgary Stampede then north until it starts snowing before turning south and heading for winter in Baja Mexico through Arizona and New Mexico. Looking to do as much wild camping as possible so could be a distance away from connectivity.

 Costs are obviously a feature but I would be prepared to spend on hard ware and get low cost data rather than on going data cost.

I would appreciate your advise.

[docj]

This year you are in luck!  Verizon Wireless (one of the two largest carriers) has a truly unlimited pre-paid (as opposed to post-paid) data plan for Jetpacks (hotspots) only that doesn't require any kind of credit check which means that one no longer needs to be a US resident to get one. The plan was first announced in early November and a number of us here now have it.  The plan costs $70/mo minus a $5 discount if you have arranged for automatic payment.

Data usage doesn't have a cap and is only subject to slowdowns because of "network congestion."  I've occasionally noticed brief (several minute) slowdowns where my download speed might drop to 1-2Mbps from its usual 15-25Mbps, but I've never had a problem streaming in the two months we've had it.  We use ~150GB/mo.

Getting the plan will require that you purchase a Verizon-compatible hotspot.  We have the 7730L, the nesest model is the 8800.  Verizon customer service personnel, even in Verizon stores are singularly uninformed about this plan but just keep repeating to them:  

"Please look up Plan #28366 on your list of pre-paid plans."

Good luck!

Joel (AKA docj)

 

[edatlanta]

I'm just into my second month with the new Verizon pre-paid unlimited plan and love it.  I have the new jetpack 8800L and it work great.  I'm a bit of a rank amateur on usage since I used a paltry 80gb my first month.  As was stated previously I have noticed slight slow downs a time of two in late afternoon-early evening, but absolutely nothing would cause a major problem.

[rbertalotto]

You really still need at least two options for service provider while RVing across America. I’m currently in an RV Park north of Deming NM. Absolutely zero Verizon or TMobile service. Even with a yogi antenna on a 16’ mast through my WeBoost.

But AT&T is working great.

using a cell tower finder app confirms there are no Verizon or TMobile cells within range.

in 90% of the cases where I find myself, it is either Verizon or AT&T....TMobile only near cities or major highways

but TMobile is easily the best deal for streaming as most streaming sites do not count against your data use.

where AT&Tonly allows DirecTV Now to not count against data use

and Verizon has all streaming apply against data use...this might not matter with the recent $70 “true” unlimited plan