[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note I717] Jamesyboy:
Ultimate Modem and APN Megathread. Settings & Performance Cmpared. UCLC5 UCLD3 UCLE2.

Edited in January 2014: sharpened and proof-read. The testing here was done in the hay-days of ATT's 4g-LTE Network, which had just been birthed. The behavior and results incurred do the use of APN flags still applies.

This is The Ultimate Modem and APN Performance & Behavior Analysis and Anecdotal Judgment Thread (how's THAT!)

The goal here is to analyse the performance of different modems, APN profiles, APN flags, and other Network configurations and tweaks for the Samsung SGH-i717* series phablet ( also known as the AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note in the US).

What this thread is about:

I feel that i should start out by thanking

Wish777

for originally bringing up the APN settings tweaks, which motivated the testing I've done. I posted some of this information (but little of the analysis), in a different discussion, but i feel that the size of the bag of worms that I've opened is too large to be placed in another mere mortal's thread, so I decided to create this thread for reference purposes. Previous discussion was disparate, convoluted, stuffed to the gills with purely anecdotal evidence, and spread throughout a dozen or so threads. Here the implications of using different flags in our APN profiles can be discussed, and the results of our testing can be posted. This thread is here to discuss the above ideas, and to compile and publish a more comprehensive scientific-and-data-based approached for normally subjective speed testing. It should also serve to motivate others who either enjoy long-form in-depth articles to submit their own results, or merely enjoying reading this.

If there are 2 other people that post the same data, i'm willing to spend some more time on the subject. I can create a spreadsheet, post graphs, and/or other forms of data. As new modems and tweaks are released, i'll test those as well, and submit the results in for editing.

APN Configurations:

The settings which will be discussed here (MMS currently does not work with these settings. MMS includes picture messages, audio message, and other messages with attached files. Text messages work fine. Tune in later for instructions on getting these settings working with stock ROMs.):

Lets start with the default settings:

Name: ATT PTA*

APN: pta*

MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net*

MMS Proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net*

MMS port: 80*

MCC: 310*

MNC: 410*

Auth: none*

APN type: default,mms,supl,hipri

And finish with one that achieved higher average speeds and lower latencies (with most modems):

Name: ATT pta

APN: pta

MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net

MMS Proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net

MMS Port: 80

MCC: 310

MNC: 410

Authentication type: none

APN type:default,admin,fota,mms,supl,hipri,internet*

___________________________

Methodology:

All testing was done on the Greater Chicagoland Area's 5x5 AT&T LTE Network. All testing was done in LTE Mode with 4 bars of service. Discussion and judgment of an AT&T 5x5 network can be found below. The tests were conducted in a suburban area with an as-close-to-zero load on the node as possibly can be done in the wild**.

The device was placed on a flat, pull-out surface protruding from a desk, and was placed 6" from the window, with LOS to the tower.

The tools used: Mainly, the Speedtest.net app was used.

--Each modem was flashed 3 times for good measures. Last night, after my first flash and first test, the results were screwey and it turns out the flash didn't stick. I completed testing yesterday, but after getting the idea to post something comprehensive, i decided to rerun them. The results of yesterday's test were in agreement with the result from today's.

**During the UCLE2 tests, there was a break of a few minutes while i made an emergency phone call.

It's important to realize that the largest Delta in the data occured on the UCLC5 Modem....there was actually a point where i dropped into HSPA and had to wait a minute of so to start another test. This outlier was omitted. The speeds for the stock PTA settings were horrid, and my day-to-day use of this modem tells me that it's unstable. Again, some people have suggested using this modem (i found that it was the APN settings (or the extra profile) that made the real difference in daily usage. To some, this modem might have felt faster--especially because of the huge disparity when it came to the default PTA settings versus the Wish777's settings, but it isn't the fastest...and the real difference wasn't the modem.

UCLE2 with the OP's PTA had the highest average.

We can reconsider calculating the averages, taking out the outliers...for instance, the UCLE2 modem with the default AT&T PTA settings recorded: the fastest download of the night, at 10+ MBps.

Speed Averages:

UCLC5

__________________________________________________

Default APN = 2.998 MBps Download and 1.616 MBps Upload

-----Average Latency = 84.8ms

Custom APN = 7.206 MBps Download and 4.098 MBps Upload

-----Average Latency = 70ms

UCLD3

__________________________________________________

Default APN = 6.434 MBps Download and 27.77 MBps Upload

-----Average Latency = 91.2ms

Custom APN = 7.666 MBps Download and 6.722 MBps Upload

-----Average Latency = 78.8ms

UCLE2

__________________________________________________

Default APN = 8.664 MBps Download and 6.346 MBps Upload

-----Average Latency = 70.4ms

Custom APN = 9.152 MBps Download and 6.282 MBps Upload

-----Average Latency = 70.2ms

Discussion:

It's important to note the difference between my node and anyone else's. The Chicagoland Area network constitutes a measly 5x5 mhz block area. Spectrum here is extremely hard to come by. Verizon appears to be the culprit--they'RehabGateway hoarding it as part of a...."strategic decision" they decided to make. The situation might change when Qualcomm's joke-of-a-service spectrum sale gets the green light. ATT will have more spectrum with which they can implement the-kind-of-LTE-we-love-the-most-- in the low(er) frequency, and more penetrative 700mhz block.

As promised, i got some time to calculate average for latency.

In the end, this is a fairly comprehensive review of the strengths and weaknesses (or lack thereof) of a 5x5 network, using a robust backbone for speedtesting, and a not-so-robust network.

I can be sure about load--the area i live in is on the edge of the Fermilab National Laboratory-- the closest string of housing exists a couple miles east of here, and the housing at fermilab, while dense, doesn't start until after a designated wildlife zone with 0 human beings living in it. The tests were conducted late at night and showed no signs of improving or degrading. Population in other direction includes a retirement home (no Galaxy Notes or One X's there) and an area that's largely a retirement community. Tests were done on a friday night thru saturday morning, the time that should be least strenuous. Results were consistent with what i experience daily-- and i've had extensive exprience with each of these modems.

This is about as good as it gets in the wild, without being in a radio-secure room, with my own tower in it.

Conclusions:

UCLE2 Provided the best speeds--period. UCLE2 with the OP's APN settings provided the most stable speeds, and latency consistent with the lowest i've seen in the area. The results were extremely stable.

UCLD3 Provided unremarkable results, and they were consistent with the trend.

UCLC5 Provided the largest delta between the OP's settings and the default PTA settings provided by AT&T. This modem was the least stable. This is the first time i've ever seen a phone sitting untouched drop into a lower performing network mode.

I fell i've thoroughly explored all possibilities here, and the results suggest that we NOT flash the UCLC5 modem...it's both unstable, and unnecessary. I'm convinced the APN settings were what made the difference.

The consequences of defining our APN profiles with imaginitive (saying it nicely) flags: ARE UNKNOWN. No, seriously. We need more information in this area in order to understand what's going on here.

While we gain speed (and possibly lower our latency) , the consequences of using these flags are unclear. The few flags that could be researched weren't encouraging at all in their description...from a security point of view. Only two flags aren't present in the stock PTA: Admin and FOTA. The first flag stands for...duh. And the second flag stands for Firmware over the air. While these flags don't tell me much, it's not obvious why these flags would improve performance on the network side of things. I think the results have to do with some arbitrary event on the phone side of things.

Flags liks SUPL (Secure User Plane) and HIPRI (High Priority) and DEFAULT (Asks the phone to use this connection as a priority), should make a difference.

The bottom line, is that we could be using flags that are used to **flag** devices in some kind of test mode, or the flags could be requesting some type of priority over other devices for network or other organizational purposes (federal communications have priority over civilian purposes). This could be used to send or flag data as test data, mark the for deep packet inspection, or alter the security of our communications in unintended ways. In short-- if you enjoy even a sliver of privacy, until we know more-- until we understand why these flags, or the presence of a 2nd APN profile would improve performance at all, we should stay away from them. While results on a 10x10 or 20x20 network could be even more pronounced, due to the increased throughput of the contained nodes, performance deltas could also be less pronounced.

Wish is in the process of testing additional flags. I'll ask him to post the results here.

If you appreciate my testing, please hit the thanks button. I probably used 1/2 to 2/3 of my monthly data allowance, and upwards of 8 hours on these tests, and yesterdays tests.

APN Configuration Screenshots Coming: