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Netflix is a well-known streaming platform for all things relating to shows and movies. Grabbing one of the most affordable Android phones allows you to watch your favorite content without spending a lot. Your internet speed is essential for a smooth experience.
What's the difference between throttling and network prioritization?
Providers can throttle or prioritize data. Here's how each affects you
No one likes it when their iPhone or Android phone data slows down. Provider decisions typically cause this. It's usually because some part of your plan or activity triggers a response that slows down your data speeds. That means downloads take longer, websites don't load as well, and some apps or online games may become unplayable. That's not great, and it can happen in any unlimited plan, regardless of how promising the language is.
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SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet now averages more than 100 Mbps
It might be faster than your wired internet
Until recently, satellite internet was a last resort for people in rural areas, but you might actually want satellite internet if Starlink keeps up like this. The service, which was in beta until just a few months ago, now averages more than 100 Mbps down in 15 countries, according to Speedtest.net operator Ookla.
Wi-Fi feeling a little sluggish? Latest Google Home update lets you quantify per-device speeds
One of the last features to make its way from the defunct Wifi app
Google has spent the last year transitioning its smart home controls from dedicated software to its Home app, creating a central hub for most of its gadgets. This method isn't always perfect — the app is cluttered as it is, and it's getting more so by the day — but in general, having your robot vacuums, smart speakers, and Chromecasts all in one place feels very user-friendly. If you're a Google Wifi or Nest Wifi user, a new speed test option makes it easy to check connections between devices.
Check your carrier's real-world 5G coverage with this new feature on Opensignal's apps
Time to compare network maps
There are plenty of internet speed testing apps out there, but Opensignal and its sister app Meteor have just received important updates that allow their users to see how their carrier's own 5G network coverage map stacks up against reports from the crowd. You know, in real life.
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It could only be a PhoneBuff video if you find a robotic arm flicking through a smartphone. The latest video on the YouTube channel pits the Google Pixel 4 XL against the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max in a performance test. To nobody’s surprise, the Apple flagship took the lead while the Pixel 4 XL did show some signs of improvement over its predecessor. Even if you don’t approve of such speed tests, they do bring out some crucial points on how a phone handles demanding conditions.
Verizon is celebrating the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G today with a new round of speed trials — some even breaking past the 1Gbps mark — and the announcement of 20 cities that will get 5G service by the end of the year. The carrier is also pushing customer incentives to defray the massive cost of its first integrated 5G smartphone.
5G is in the earliest stages of rolling out to consumers — unless you ask AT&T, anyway. If raw numbers can't give you an idea about how fast your internet connection is, the Android app for Speedtest.net can now adjust the dial graphic for gigabit speeds.
Netflix's Fast.com internet speed test is pretty much the defacto way to check download throughput. Since it uses Netflix's servers to test, you can easily check if your ISP is throttling your video. And it's more likely to reflect the sort of speeds you'll actually see in the real world compared to things like speedtest.net, which often reports unrealistic or inflated numbers. Now Netflix has added some extra info to its test, including latency and upload speeds.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
So you want to know how fast your internet connection is? There are plenty of apps to do that, and today there's one more. It's called Meteor, the latest thing from OpenSignal. Not only does it tell you how fast your connection is, it looks good doing it.
Fast, smooth data download speed is kind of important to mobile video, especially now that even mid-range Android phones are rocking 1080p screens. That's part of the reason that Netflix created FAST.com, its own branded alternative to web speed tests like Ookla's SpeedTest.net, back in May. The idea is to make sure you're getting an accurate test across multiple services (there's even a SpeedTest.net link right on the page) and your internet service provider isn't throttling your connection.
Google wants as many people to use the web as possible, because at this point it can reliably count on more or less every internet user earning the company revenue. Having a decent connection is a big part of that, and while there are plenty of adequate speed tests available, apparently Google wants one right in the search interface. To that end, they're testing an integrated speed test created with the help of Measurement Lab.
The Federal Communications Commission has been taking some quite visible actions to keep American carriers in line. Chairman Tom Wheeler took Verizon to task about its plans to throttle unlimited data users, which it then scrapped. The FCC assisted the Federal Trade Commission in its case against AT&T for throttling "unlimited" customers. Today the FCC announced that T-Mobile will report more accurate data speeds to customers who are being actively slowed down.
We're all spending a lot on mobile data, but are we getting our money's worth? That's the question the FCC hopes to help answer with the new FCC Speed Test app. It's exclusive to Android right now and provides you (and the FCC) with data on mobile network performance.
Begun, the camera shutter wars have. Ever since Samsung and Google debuted the Galaxy Nexus' zero shutter lag feature, handset makers have been cranking up their camera apps. Sony's Xperia S is a 12MP monster camera with a fast shutter, but the real speed demon here is the HTC One X. In the video below, the only area the One X loses is in not having a dedicated camera button. As a side note, manufacturers, why don't your phones with amazing cameras have dedicated camera buttons?
Over the past week, I've been in contact with Sprint about the demise of their network's data speeds, especially in the 3G department. As many of you were also in the same boat, we saw quite a bit of interest and started collecting information on the situation, which resulted in this knowledge dump on Sunday - read it if you haven't yet done so.
Sprint has network problems. Major problems. And they've gotten a lot worse lately. Really, really bad. Not all areas are affected - and in fact some have improved already, but more and more areas are getting so bad that Sprint's 3G data is completely unusable there, especially since the introduction of the iPhone. Troubleshooting and update my phone's "profile" and PRL didn't help, as evident from the screenshot #2 you see below.
When it comes to testing bandwidth throughput of your Android device, the Speedtest.net app is considered a de facto standard - it's functional, the UI is gorgeous, and there is a good chance they have a server pretty close to your location. I've tried all the speed testing programs in the Market, and always kept coming back to this one. For a long time the app has remained unchanged on the Market, lagging behind its iOS counterpart and its shiny new user interface. Well, no more.
Today is finally the day. The Thunderbolt has arrived and you have your shiny new toys in your hands. You just might be enjoying data speeds that some Wi-Fi connections would envy. We went poking around a little and found some impressive results floating around the web already (and we also want to know what kinds of speeds you are getting).