# Verizon 4g speed test Nexus vs Iphone. Not good for my Nexus.



## jpennin217 (Nov 2, 2011)

This was a very interesting speed test that I did between my Galaxy Nexus and my wife's new Iphone 5. I performed multiple tests in different areas and each time the Iphone's LTE speed was faster. In an area where we both had great 4g service the Nexus received 12 mbps and the Iphone was over 15 Mbps. In another area the Nexus was averaging 2.8 Mbps and the Iphone was at 10 Mbps. Then in one area where it happens to be my work I am consistently on 3g the Nexus was on LTE. Nexus .4Mbps and the Iphone 5 Mbps.

I do not plan on changing my phone because Android is way superior and Nexus is a great phone but how can the Iphone get better 4G reception. Is the antennae/radio that much better in the Iphone? Any ideas how to get better reception in the Nexus?

Thanks for any replies!

my baseband is fco4 / fco5

build # JR003R-4.1.1-r6


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## imperivm (Jan 26, 2012)

jpennin217 said:


> Is the antennae/radio that much better in the Iphone?


Yes.


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## skinien (Jun 30, 2011)

That's odd. I consistently get better speeds on my nexus that my wife's iPhone 5. The biggest discrepancy is the Nexus got 37 down while the iPhone got 10. It does seem that the iPhones LTE radio is far less power hungry. Her phone lasts for two to three days.

I noticed I'm using different radios than you:

FF02/FG02


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## Schoat333 (Jun 14, 2011)

jpennin217 said:


> This was a very interesting speed test that I did between my Galaxy Nexus and my wife's new Iphone 5. I performed multiple tests in different areas and each time the Iphone's LTE speed was faster. In an area where we both had great 4g service the Nexus received 12 mbps and the Iphone was over 15 Mbps. In another area the Nexus was averaging 2.8 Mbps and the Iphone was at 10 Mbps. Then in one area where it happens to be my work I am consistently on 3g the Nexus was on LTE. Nexus .4Mbps and the Iphone 5 Mbps.
> 
> I do not plan on changing my phone because Android is way superior and Nexus is a great phone but how can the Iphone get better 4G reception. Is the antennae/radio that much better in the Iphone? Any ideas how to get better reception in the Nexus?
> 
> ...


The only thing I see is you're using ICS radios with JB. I don't think it would make that much of a difference, but its worth a try to upgrade them.


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## nunyazz (Jun 6, 2011)

In my area it is just the opposite. I get much better speed with my nexus, but it depends on your signal. In good coverage areas I get close to 60 mbps.


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## jpennin217 (Nov 2, 2011)

I will try changing the radios and see what happens.


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## cstrife999 (Aug 8, 2011)

I think it's area to area. My girl's iphone 5 gets about 12-15 down my Gnex gets about 15-27 down. Uploads are really weird though. I think her Iphone may have a problem it only gets about 2 up while my nexus gets about 11 up.


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## skinien (Jun 30, 2011)

cstrife999 said:


> I think it's area to area. My girl's iphone 5 gets about 12-15 down my Gnex gets about 15-27 down. Uploads are really weird though. I think her Iphone may have a problem it only gets about 2 up while my nexus gets about 11 up.


I don't think that's a mistake. When I saw that my nexus has much faster dn/up speeds than my wifes iPhone 5, I figured they are purposely throttling speeds on the iPhone 5. I believe the speeds can be limited via the radio software.


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## irvine32 (Jul 14, 2011)

jpennin217 said:


> This was a very interesting speed test that I did between my Galaxy Nexus and my wife's new Iphone 5. I performed multiple tests in different areas and each time the Iphone's LTE speed was faster. In an area where we both had great 4g service the Nexus received 12 mbps and the Iphone was over 15 Mbps. In another area the Nexus was averaging 2.8 Mbps and the Iphone was at 10 Mbps. Then in one area where it happens to be my work I am consistently on 3g the Nexus was on LTE. Nexus .4Mbps and the Iphone 5 Mbps.
> 
> I do not plan on changing my phone because Android is way superior and Nexus is a great phone but how can the Iphone get better 4G reception. Is the antennae/radio that much better in the Iphone? Any ideas how to get better reception in the Nexus?
> 
> ...


I have both phones and my Gnex is definitely slower almost 100% of the time upload and download.


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## jpennin217 (Nov 2, 2011)

I updated the radios and it is still almost 10Mbps slower and have a good 4g signal. Could be worse I could still be on 1x..


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## nunyazz (Jun 6, 2011)




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## mrrifleman (Nov 20, 2011)

that's just showing off.


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## cstrife999 (Aug 8, 2011)

nunyazz said:


>


 I just pulled a scared turtle... :-( Ha ha


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## nunyazz (Jun 6, 2011)

Haha..


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## sk3litor (Oct 3, 2011)

Yeah I truley believe the nexus and android are far superior to ios and iPhones but the radios for this phone are downright atrocious. I think I could build better radios than Samsung. Rabbit ears and tin foil anyone...?

I don't need no stinking signature


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## rester555 (Jul 20, 2011)

sk3litor said:


> Yeah I truley believe the nexus and android are far superior to ios and iPhones but the radios for this phone are downright atrocious. I think I could build better radios than Samsung. Rabbit ears and tin foil anyone...?
> 
> I don't need no stinking signature


I agree, the Via 7.1 LTE radio inside the Galaxy Nexus is far inferior to the iPhone 5 Qualcomm MDM9215. I would wait for the next nexus phone since it will have Qualcomm's MDM9615 or better in it. Then it will be almost exactly the same type LTE radio as the iPhone 5.


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## jpennin217 (Nov 2, 2011)

Are you talking about the LG Nexus? All the specs are nice except for only having 8 gb of memory and no LTE chip as of right now.


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## philsfan (Dec 9, 2011)

skinien said:


> I don't think that's a mistake. When I saw that my nexus has much faster dn/up speeds than my wifes iPhone 5, I figured they are purposely throttling speeds on the iPhone 5. I believe the speeds can be limited via the radio software.


FCC law prohibits 4G LTE throttling, so that's a non issue

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## MR H3LLMAN (Oct 20, 2011)

I took it upon myself to stop by a Verizon store on my way to worm today. Side by side, my GNex scored 47 down and 43 up. iPhone 5 scored 42 down and 36 up. I'm sure there are a lot of variables though. This was in Metro Area Atlanta.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


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## Smcdo123 (Jun 7, 2011)

my iphone gets less than my gnex but my iphone beats it everytimeloading when pages.


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## skinien (Jun 30, 2011)

philsfan said:


> FCC law prohibits 4G LTE throttling, so that's a non issue
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


source? I've read many articles regarding LTE throttling and haven't seen any that say it isn't allowed. Also, there could be loopholes. For example, a carrier may not be allowed to throttle but if the OEM implements software that limits speed (which I know has been done), that could be out of the FCC's hands.


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## I Am Marino (Jul 14, 2011)

I rather have better battery with 4G on than higher data speeds, I see no real world usage difference between 15 and 30mbps.


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## Mustang302LX (Jun 28, 2011)

I Am Marino said:


> I rather have better battery with 4G on than higher data speeds, I see no real world usage difference between 15 and 30mbps.


This!!!


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## ddemlong (Aug 24, 2011)

I Am Marino said:


> I rather have better battery with 4G on than higher data speeds, I see no real world usage difference between 15 and 30mbps.


True, I am not surprised it is more battery efficient. I am not sure of the exact age of the Nexus radio, but any new hardware usually is more efficient. Expect the next round of android 4G phones to be more efficient than the last.


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## neowiz73 (Aug 1, 2011)

I Am Marino said:


> I rather have better battery with 4G on than higher data speeds, I see no real world usage difference between 15 and 30mbps.


 I agree, this is why I turn off the LTE radio completely and just run CDMA for my verizon gnexus. My battery life under 3g is superior by far and I don't download much other than a few webpages sometimes. even downloading apps its only a couple seconds difference than 4g. not worth the extra battery drain to me.


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## neowiz73 (Aug 1, 2011)

jpennin217 said:


> This was a very interesting speed test that I did between my Galaxy Nexus and my wife's new Iphone 5. I performed multiple tests in different areas and each time the Iphone's LTE speed was faster. In an area where we both had great 4g service the Nexus received 12 mbps and the Iphone was over 15 Mbps. In another area the Nexus was averaging 2.8 Mbps and the Iphone was at 10 Mbps. Then in one area where it happens to be my work I am consistently on 3g the Nexus was on LTE. Nexus .4Mbps and the Iphone 5 Mbps.
> 
> I do not plan on changing my phone because Android is way superior and Nexus is a great phone but how can the Iphone get better 4G reception. Is the antennae/radio that much better in the Iphone? Any ideas how to get better reception in the Nexus?
> 
> ...


need to flash JB radios, you are running ICS radios. I've noticed significant difference between the two. when the first few stable JB builds were out and I was still using the ICS radios I noticed how my battery life and signal quality wasn't nearly as good as being on an ICS rom, but after the release of the JB radios I flashed those and I'm doing better than I was on ICS overall. I would flash the PRIMELC03 bootloader as well, you can't use ICS roms with this bootloader but it seems to help make everything run smoother with jellybean.


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## jpennin217 (Nov 2, 2011)

Thanks Neowiz73 I changed them the same day I posted this when I found out there were different radios and it did not do anything to change my speedtest. I have been using jbsourcery since it came out and have had no issues with smoothness at all.


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