4G/LTE slower than 3G

Oggyo

Today I noticed that streaming on 4G/LTE on my P6a constantly buffering but not such an issue if I switch to 3G.
I'm trying to find out if carrier-related or HW/SW.
Running the last version of Graphene OS, already restarted my device. Had good signal reception (outside). Tested all modes LTE, LTE Only, 5G - no difference, but noticeable if I set it to 3G. Tested and confirmed the same behaviour on two different areas about 40 km apart.

I have no other carrier SIM card to test and will try to open a support ticket with it.
In the meantime - anybody with a similar experience?

Panda-na

Oggyo

Try also at different times in the day, and test at night as well. Many areas can be very congested and the capacity for 4G may be low at many times during the day.

Oggyo

I've read about similar problems when the network is set on 5G.
My issue is most probably caused by the cell operator intentionally capping my data at a lower speed. I use cell services rarely and use an old, cheap 3G plan. It's a budget plan and initially, I thought they might prioritize the traffic based on tower saturation giving me lower speed.
Still need to confirm and do more tests. I'll update when have more info.

de0u

Oggyo I'll update when have more info.

That would be good - I, at least, am curious.

Oggyo

de0u
Today I got a chance to test with SIM on another operator and I can say it's operator related.
Looks like on my old plan, the data is throttled down to 3 Mbps if you are on 4G/LTE/LTE+ but if I connect on 3G/HSPA/UMTS they are not enforcing the throttling and this explains I can get higher speed on 3G.

de0u

Oggyo Thanks for reporting back! This information may be useful to others later.