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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

Jun 9, 2013 6:13 AM in response to berniefl34

Guys the beta comes out tomorrow lets hope it fixes this nasty wifi issue,,

Jun 10, 2013 6:51 AM in response to berniefl34

Is everybody ready to see if the iOS 7 beta fixes this wifi issue? I know I am

ozsmacd Author

Level 1

26 points

Jun 11, 2013 3:29 AM in response to ozsmacd

A "certain new version" appears to have fixed my issues, early days, will post again in a few days.

Jun 11, 2013 3:43 AM in response to ozsmacd

Please let us know of your findings everybody,, thanks

ozsmacd Author

Level 1

26 points

Jun 11, 2013 4:10 AM in response to ozsmacd

ok, after a little bit more testing, things might not be as fixed as I might like. Same podcast download, same WIFI network, same iPhone........proxy enabled = 5 minute download....proxy disabled = 15+ minute download.

NOT HAPPY, as very much hoping that the new beta would have a magic fix.

Jun 11, 2013 10:39 AM in response to ozsmacd

Mine has improved a little,,but overall I think it maybe a hardware issue or apple is still not aware of the issue,, but I think it is the former one :(

weimeanz

Level 1

0 points

Jun 25, 2013 5:39 AM in response to ozsmacd

Installing the proxy server and using the proxy server increased the speed by a lot.

Windows users, see the instructions here:

http://www.reaper-x.com/2011/10/17/how-to-install-squid-proxy-on-windows/

Jun 25, 2013 10:50 AM in response to weimeanz

The "new" software update seems to have fixed my wifi problems now,,,everything is going good now

ozsmacd Author

Level 1

26 points

Jun 26, 2013 9:06 PM in response to berniefl34

Sadly my experience with both Beta 1 and Beta 2 of the new iOS release shows no improvement at all in the slow WIFI throughput on iPhone 5.

I now have quite a lab setup with two different access points (with different chipsets) and my 4G MyFI device.

No matter what WIFI network I choose, what channel it is, if it is 5.0 or 2.4GHz, if it is just N/A/B/G, secured by WPA/WEP or open, high medium and low channels......throughput for podcast downloads (and other apps like Evernote or Dropbox) is very very slow.

The only fix I have found is if I deploy a proxy service on my local network, then configuring my iPhone to talk out via the proxy. Must be some kind of TCP window issue with longer term downloads, meaning either some kind of driver issue or a hardware issue (so bascially meaning anything).

An example of the order of magnitude, a 25MB podcast download this morning, when straight WIFI with no proxy 15 minutes, with a proxy configuration on the same network 1-2 minutes. My iPad 3 with no proxy on the same WIFI network downloaded the podcast in 1-2 minutes, as did my iPhone 4.

So this is, for me at least, an iPhone 5 specific issue that is not linked with iOS6 or 7 (b1 or b2).

Jul 3, 2013 5:42 PM in response to ozsmacd

Anybody else have any new info??? It's very quiet in here,, lol

Jul 3, 2013 6:00 PM in response to berniefl34

Nothing new that I know of. I'm kind of hopeful that the recent wifi problems with the new Macbook Air might have some flow-on effect. That seemed to be a similar problem - bad window sizes for consistent, fast data transfer.

Jul 14, 2013 2:28 PM in response to ozsmacd

Guys, I'd ask you to do a bit of an experiment for me as I've been able to rectify the situation in my case.

Yes, I did create a proxy and yes, that does work.

I have managed to solve my problem another way.

The experiment is set your WiFi to G ONLY (not G/N, not ABGN, not ABG, G ONLY)

Make sure that Short GI is on but ALSO ensure that it accepts LONG GI as well (usually set to both on your router)

My experiments show that this works and the problem may be isolated to N

Obviously you all want your WiFi to work as N to get the performance, however, this, like the proxy solution, may be another work around for some of you.

Look forward to your feeback.

Jul 15, 2013 8:12 PM in response to themenace60

I have Airport Expresses. The only option that comes close is "802.11a - 802.11b/g". This didn't seem to make any difference to my Dropbox download speed.

Aug 5, 2013 4:27 PM in response to ozsmacd

Is this an issue specific to the iphone 5? Podcasts download very quickly on my ipad(3) when connected to wifi. But on my iphone 5 they crawl. It's almost unusable, Instacast constantly stops downloading in the background.

ozsmacd Author

Level 1

26 points

Aug 5, 2013 8:11 PM in response to InSilence

InSilence, i'm afraid this issue impacts any iPhone 5 device downloading large files, you can see this by running a test with a large iTunes app install or Dropbox file and you will also see the same performance. The only reliable work around for this specific issue is to pop a proxy server on your network and run your traffic via it (see previous posts with ideas for proxy options and how to setup). A few of us are 100% certain the issue is either a driver issue, or worse a hardware issue (that would not be able to be resolved), this conclusion has been identified after a number of people have completed extensive network testing (including running packet sniffers via a few different kinds of WIFI devices), key finding is an ever reducing TCP window size is causing the issue. The same test on iPad 3, iPad 2 and iPhone 4 don't show the issue, so it's not the network or networking equipment (I've tried quite a few networks also).

Sadly as my telephone support period is over and the genius bar has proven useless on two occasions I can't see any way to get a resolution on this wide spread and highly frustrating issue.

I've given up, either a driver fix is included in a future release or Apple confirms that it's a hardware issue that can't be fixed (I doubt this would ever happen). If anyone else has another support channel that will be able to understand this more complicated problem (i.e. it's not a simple user issue or configuration related) please use it, and use it as many times as you can. If you are still within your initial enhanced support window, don't waste it. This issue, combined with the fact that WIFI sync just doesn't work (oh not to mention the ATH.exe high CPU bug in iTunes) basically means that any larger video Podcasts are almost impossible to download (either directly or via iTunes, unless I remember to plug in iPhone in a few times a day). If Podcasts are a big deal for you, as they are for me, I would honestly consider taking a newly purchased phone back and waiting to see if they fix in the next iPhone release. Another option would be to use another iOS device that you might have if like me you are stuck with an iPhone 5 that is useless in terms of WIFI reliability and usability. Sad that Apple doesn't care about this (yes I understand they don't read these threads), given that many of us have gone back through support channels only to have the issue largely ignored.

(edited as I stupidly included references to a future release of iOS, I have removed all references).

iPhone 5 + Issues downloading Podcasts over WIFI networks