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ozsmacd Author

Level 1

26 points

iPhone 5 + Issues downloading Podcasts over WIFI networks

Hi All, reading the interwebs I can see many people with the same issue as me, very slow downloading of some some Podcasts using Apples Podcast app, downcast, instacast or icatcher (ie any client) over WIFI only. Just to confirm this is repeatable over quite a number of different podcasts, basically WIFI download is shockingly slow whilst 3G or LTE is super quick.

If I disable WFI and head over to 3G/LTE everything is better, back to any WIFI network and it's advising me approx 1 hour to download the ~50MB audio version of the podcast. Oddly I don't have this issue with the Video vergecast, it downloads solidly over WIFI or 3G/LTE.

This has been driving me nuts for a few months now, I've tried everything I can think of, including open access points, static IP, google dns (rather than local DNS), 6.0.1, 6.0.2, 6.1 (beta), 6.1.1....nothing seems to make a difference.

Does anyone have any suggestions, here are some screen grabs to put things into context:

1 - Connected to strong 5.0GHz or 2.5GHz wifi network (timecapsule) with a 116Mbps / 2.4Mbps cable internet link (speeds tested on desktop and iPhone confirm fast speeds), very slow download.

2 - Test same download with WIFI disabled, falling back to 3G network with a reasonable signal, speed is far far better

3 - Just to confirm download speed, run a speedtest.net test over wifi network, application maxes out at this speeds and won't report any additional bandwidth

4 - Test WIFI download again to confirm speed issue

6 - Test Video version of theverge cast, super quick download & throughput (same wifi connection), reaches to head and starts scratching

6 - Test original audio download with iCatcher over WIFI, same slow download speed

This just doesn't make any sense to me......am I alone? What am I missing?

Issue is with Podcast hosting service = Nope, if so would have slow download over both WIFI and 3G/LTE

Issue is with local WIFI network = Nope, tested a few different networks same issue & confirmed speed is available by downloading other podcasts & running speedtest.net app

Issue is with specific app = Nope, can get same result using four different podcast apps

Help!

iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.1

Posted on Feb 18, 2013 4:11 PM

82 replies

May 3, 2013 8:11 AM in response to themenace60

I was hoping 6.1.4 would help but I guess not,,, why is apple not fixing this issue,,,they are getting more annoying by the day

igorm

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2013 8:30 AM in response to ozsmacd

Hi guys

After installing the latest iOS update (6.1.4) the issue was fixed for me

The in-app downloads in Podcasts app are now flying :-)

Will check from home but seems it is solved - thanks apple

igorm

Level 1

4 points

May 3, 2013 8:33 AM in response to ozsmacd

After installing 6.1.4 the downloads are fast over wifi

Seems this is it!!

May 4, 2013 5:20 AM in response to igorm

Didn't work for me,,, still slow,, wifi only faster when downloading something in background

May 4, 2013 10:38 PM in response to berniefl34

Agreed - no change here.

ozsmacd Author

Level 1

26 points

May 5, 2013 3:29 AM in response to ozsmacd

Dear Apple (yes I know that you don't monitor these discussions, but my interaction with Apple support & Genius bars has yeilded no positive results, this is all I have left),

It is time that someone started to take this issue seriously, what is the point at all of a premium phone that can't accomodate the most basic of tasks, downloading a 20MB file in less than 30 minutes over a WIFI connection that is over 100Mbps!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I hope that someone stumbles over this thread who can actually do something about this long standing and verry frustrating issue. If not, and because Podcasts are key to me, I have no choice than to move elsewhere for my next phone for the first time since the iPhone 3G.

Here is some fresh screen shots that show the issue continuing with 6.1.4 (10B350).

Please don't make me have to switch over to a HTC One or wrose!!!!!

May 5, 2013 6:38 AM in response to ozsmacd

Yea,,, this is a really bad wifi bug,, I think it maybe hardware related that's why they haven't fixed it,, unless iOS 7 will fix it,,, no idea,, but its very frustrating,,,I can't watch any live video streams without buffering either

May 5, 2013 4:53 PM in response to ozsmacd

I'm with you ozsmacd... I've been watching this thread for months waiting for a fix... Nothing. I've replaced my phone twice. I've tried all the tweaks and DNS settings with no success. Podcasts download at a decent speed, but video buffering is still terrible. I decided a few weeks ago that this will be the last iPhone I buy for a long time. I think Apple has gotten complacent. Pretty designs only get you so far.

May 7, 2013 11:18 AM in response to akdemmitt

I don't think it will be fixed until iOS 7 or Until the new iPhone comes out,, sadly

igorm

Level 1

4 points

May 7, 2013 11:30 AM in response to ozsmacd

Hi it does work for me on both work and home WIFI - iPhone 5 - after latest iOS update

However I did notice that there is sometimes a big difference between podcasts - e.g NPR podcasts tend to download a bit slower than others - in any case much faster now and much nicer UX - I can update episodes before leaving the house in a few minutes -

May 7, 2013 1:33 PM in response to igorm

I think your problem may be different to ours,,, our problem is that the wifi is slow but when you are downloading an AppStore app in the background the wifi flies/ blazes but when it's done downloading the wifi goes back to normal and crawls ,,,

ozsmacd Author

Level 1

26 points

May 7, 2013 5:13 PM in response to igorm

Yeah I also wondered if it was a problem with specific Podcast sources, however if I run the same download on my wifes iPhone 4 or my iPad3 (or iPad2) I don't have the issue, the downloads fly.

As all other people are finding, if I have another download running (either an App store download or using the multiple Podcast download feature in Downcast or iCatcher) my speeds are back to normal and just fine.

This wouldn't be quite such a problem if I could rely upon iTunes wifi syncing to work even 20% of the time, sadly it doesn't (ath.exe 50% cpu utilisation bug), so I'm forced to remember to plug my iPhone into my computer to sync podcasts. Somewhat odd in this wireless and mobile world to be so tethered.

This is also my 3rd iPhone 5, having had mine replaced twice by apple, one for a broken power button and the other due to dust behind camera lense (two things I'm sure they could have fixed in 5 seconds in the shop, but hey).

May 8, 2013 7:27 AM in response to ozsmacd

The whole thing is so frustrating its almost unbelievable at times,, very strange there hasn't been another fix by another user or apple,,,

ozsmacd Author

Level 1

26 points

May 16, 2013 9:26 PM in response to ozsmacd

So a bit more information, decided to so some network sniffing, on the next hop device up from my iPhone. As far as I can make out the issue I'm facing is massive amounts of TCP Retranmissions, resulting in a ever shrinking TCP Window (down to 136 bytes, I think normal window size is 16384).

I've completed this testing with iPhone 5, iPhone 4.0, iPad 2 and iPad 3.....only the iPhone 5 shows this issue (I also tested with both iCatcher and Downcast, with multiple podcast sources).

So something appears broken in the iPhone 5 network stack, something that is causing TCP Retransmissions that are well excess of normal, this results in a decrease in the TCP window size, causing slow downloads.

Anyone else agree with my largely un-informed explination above...........

Here is a screen shot of the network capture, 205.234.175.175 is the podcast source, twit cachefly cache server & 192.168.252.64 is my iPhone 5.

May 16, 2013 11:39 PM in response to ozsmacd

Nice work ozsmacd, I've done something similar and am working a little down the track.

I've now thrown my WLAN into a bridge arrangement and look at packet size which is now 1510 and I can get a consistent download. Whilst I've had this cronic problem for a while, my current situation is that I cannot replicate the fault !!!

I think you are on to something.

I'm seeing the retransmissions too, looking further into it, they appear to be related to Null Function Packets where the STA (iPhone) is telling the AP it's going to sleep (it's doing this LOTS), this, by design, causes the AP to buffer / queue packets and make them available when the STA reports back that it's online again.

Thoughts ?

iPhone 5 + Issues downloading Podcasts over WIFI networks