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Is there a way to mask my desktop computer so it appears to be a mobile phone when connecting to a network device?

fnanfne

Casual Member
Perhaps a utility to spoof the MAC address of the NIC on my PC, or WMIC/WMI? I want to test a theory that my mobile broadband provider is shaping, or rate-limiting the down-/upload speeds depending on what type of device is connecting, even though they proudly and explicitly exclaim "No restrictions, no limits" with regards to their broadband packages.
 
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If you are using your tethered phone as a router then you will want to set the TTL at 65, as the "router" will decrement it by 1, so it will be 64 - matching the phone native one (Linux/IOS have ttl set to 64).
 
Thank you both for the info. I downloaded a utility which changed the TTL of my PC's NIC but it made little difference.

I'm using Three's 5G router, and get 450Mb/s from my phone (iPhone SE 2020) connected via WiFi but only around 100Mb's from my PC, via a CAT6 cable, using a 5Gb ethernet NIC called Marvell AQC111C.

Does anyone know if Three rate-limits speeds on desktops? Or am I erroneously thinking I should get around the same speed of 450Mb/s on my PC?
 
@fnanfne I'd put a unmanaged network switch between the router and the pc before messing with TTL, and if your iPhone is getting 450 it's unlikely to be TTL.
 
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Thanks @meritez I suppose I could try that, I have a small 4 port Netgear in the drawer. However, my PC also has a built-in wireless card (Intel(R) Wi-Fi AX201) and I get the same 100Mb/s speeds as the NIC, almost to a tee.

When I lived at a different address a couple of years ago, I was blessed with having Hyperoptic and got 800Mb/s using the LAN NIC and 400Mb/s using the wireless NIC so I know the gear I have is more than capable of delivering speeds greater than 100.

Why would my phone get 450Mb/s but my PC only 100Mb/s?
 
@Pheasant When plugged into the bottom NIC of the 5G router, it's 1000/1000 (Mbps). When plugged into the top NIC of the 5G router, it's 2500/2500 (Mbps). I now have my PC plugged into the top (faster) NIC directly and permanently but still get the same 100Mb/s speed regardless. NOTE I have updated the driver for this NIC to 3.1.7.0. The screenshot is from before the driver update, but still having the same 100Mb/s speeds.

PC_Ethernet2.png
 
@Pheasant When plugged into the bottom NIC of the 5G router, it's 1000/1000 (Mbps). When plugged into the top NIC of the 5G router, it's 2500/2500 (Mbps). I now have my PC plugged into the top (faster) NIC directly and permanently but still get the same 100Mb/s speed regardless. NOTE I have updated the driver for this NIC to 3.1.7.0. The screenshot is from before the driver update, but still having the same 100Mb/s speeds.

View attachment 4890
How are you measuring the 100 Mbps number? Have multiple online speed test services been tried? Have different tests been tried simultaneously to try to get over that in aggregate?

The service provider's consumer grade router is unlikely to have the smarts to cripple the performance for a certain category of devices and it would be a waste of their time to do so.

You could use a USB stick to boot into a Linux live environment if you want to test the hardware with an alternative operating system.
 
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I simply use speedtest.net. I've run countless tests. So many tests in fact, that I'm now using their Windows Store app. My phone consistently gets around 450Mb/s and any desktop/laptop I throw at it, consistently gets the same 100Mb/s.
 
I simply use speedtest.net. I've run countless tests. So many tests in fact, that I'm now using their Windows Store app. My phone consistently gets around 450Mb/s and any desktop/laptop I throw at it, consistently gets the same 100Mb/s.
It's worth selecting a few other target servers that look trustworthy, and to try a few other online services even if they are a bit noddy, such as fast.com which could be unreliable at the high end, but you won't have that problem. Run two different tests simultaneously to see if they sum to 100 Mbps.

You could also test the PC via WiFi hotspot to the mobile. The results of which will be interesting to interpret.

The most recent such report seen suggested it was a Windows issue that disappears testing with Linux.

A search online for a Windows 100 Mbps issue gets a fair number of hits, e.g.
Most forum users probably run their tests by browser or mobile app, and very few by the Windows app.

Presumably you've set multi-threaded test to maximize bandwidth usage and not single threaded to mimic a single file download?
 
@mikeliuk it shouldn't really matter, since I'm using the same measuring-stick (speedtest.net) for all the devices but I can give it a try. I actually got a 5G mobile phone first, and noticed the seemingly limited speeds I got on my PC while tethering, again, around the 100Mb/s mark. Three's customer support assured me this is 'normal', that nothing can be done to increase the speed, and that I shouldn't expect anything faster. It's hard to be lieve them. I then decided to get their 5G router, and I'm experiencing the same thing.

@meritez I get the same speeds; ~450Mb/s using my mobile ph9one, and only ~100Mb/s using my PC.

NovoServe.webp
 
@Pheasant When plugged into the bottom NIC of the 5G router, it's 1000/1000 (Mbps). When plugged into the top NIC of the 5G router, it's 2500/2500 (Mbps). I now have my PC plugged into the top (faster) NIC directly and permanently but still get the same 100Mb/s speed regardless. NOTE I have updated the driver for this NIC to 3.1.7.0. The screenshot is from before the driver update, but still having the same 100Mb/s speeds.

View attachment 4890
Change the speed / duplex setting for the NIC/dongle from Auto-negotiate to a manual setting which matches the port speed capability on the router.
 
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Change the speed / duplex setting for the NIC/dongle from Auto-negotiate to a manual setting which matches the port speed capability on the router.

Good idea, alas, tried that already a few days ago. Manually set it to 2.5g, and then 5g, all to no avail.

Marvell_Properties.webp


Failing that install a decent operating system?

I have a few linux distros I can test with actually. I really don't think that'll make any difference at all, but I'll give it a quick go and report back.
 
It's worth selecting a few other target servers that look trustworthy, and to try a few other online services even if they are a bit noddy, such as fast.com which could be unreliable at the high end, but you won't have that problem. Run two different tests simultaneously to see if they sum to 100 Mbps.

You could also test the PC via WiFi hotspot to the mobile. The results of which will be interesting to interpret.

The most recent such report seen suggested it was a Windows issue that disappears testing with Linux.

A search online for a Windows 100 Mbps issue gets a fair number of hits, e.g.
Most forum users probably run their tests by browser or mobile app, and very few by the Windows app.

Presumably you've set multi-threaded test to maximize bandwidth usage and not single threaded to mimic a single file download?

Interesting! However, like I mentioned a few posts earlier, I used to have Hyperoptic, and got ~800Mb/s consistently and never had any troubles. If the above applied to my system, I would not have had such fast speeds eith Hyperoptic.
 
Interesting! However, like I mentioned a few posts earlier, I used to have Hyperoptic, and got ~800Mb/s consistently and never had any troubles. If the above applied to my system, I would not have had such fast speeds eith Hyperoptic.
I honestly think you have a chipset incompatibility between the Marvell nic and the 5g router.
 
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