PCWorld: AT&T 3G 67% Faster Than Competitors

[Railgun1369]

[citation][nom]thebigt42[/nom]What about network latency???!!!! Download speed does not mean crap. I would rather have 877 kbps with low latency over 1410 kbps with high latency[/citation]

Umm...if you have 877kbps on, say, 10ms latency, and you have 1410kbps with 20ms latency, I'd take the latter. It's still faster. Look at what you're saying. Your throughput is still higher. For raw data, who cares what the latency is. Unless you're playing the market or ebaying, latency from a mobile perspective 1) is going to suck anyway and 2) isn't that important.

 

[maurath55]

wow look at all the verzion fanboys in here that cant help but wine. As long as you dont live in the boonies or NYC att has great relibility and speed, my girls storm is slow and has worse coverage everywhere we go around STL.

 

[hakesterman]

Maurath55 is talking out his backside, please forgive him for being stupid.............

 

[dimcorner]

Driving from Miami to Boston I only encountered a few pockets where it wasn't 3G. And even then it wasn't a big deal since I was using it for the maps with traffic. Around town in Boston, Miami, Gainesville, and Raleigh I have had no problem with connection.

 

[bk420]

I don't believe that chart is right. I've been using Sprint for the last 2.5 years, and it's definitely faster than 1410 kbps. Plus I would like to mention the coverage with them has been way better than tmobile's 3G.

 

[lamorpa]

People with Verizon service have terrible AT&T network coverage (It's like they have almost no coverage at all!)

 

[geminireaper]

thats wierd i run speed tests on my motorola droid all the time on my verizon network. im always pulling between 1.3 to 2.3 mbps down

 

[Guest]

I don't know about you all but i travel all over Texas in some very very remote areas. I have AT&T and I ALWAYS have service everywhere i go. I have not had a single dropped call in over 3 years and have not seen my phone without service in years. I have been in the middle of no where over 30 miles from the closest town and i still had full service.

As for AT&T speeds, they really are very fast. I have an iphone with tethering enabled, when i hook my phone up to my laptop, webpages load very quickly. Rather if I'm driving down the road in my truck, sitting my a camp fire in the middle of no where, or at my house in Houston, AT&T speeds are great and the network coverage in Texas is AMAZING. Everyone i know who doesn't have AT&T complains all the time, friends with AT&T, i never hear complaints.

I guess AT&T just hasn't covered every state yet as well as they have in Texas. If you're in Texas, AT&T is definitely the way to go.

 

[Guest]

funny. i was just testing my speed via the blackberry tour on vzw a few days ago.

http/www.speedtest.net/result/723249349.png

 

[Guest]

I was on AT&T, but even though I was in a supposed 3G coverage area, the signal was so weak it would continue to drop regular cell phone calls. My daughter had the same problem with her AT&T service (in a different part of the state - she is going to college) - she had to go outside her house to make phone calls (in the middle of a town of 60,000 population that also supposedly had 3G coverage).

We dumped AT&T for Verizon - now we both have perfect 3G coverage - internet, phone calls not a problem any more. AT&T sucks (unless you are lucky enough to live in the microscopic areas that they actually provide the advertised coverage.

 

[Guest]

i think all you at&t haters should seriously just go swallow a dick. nobody ask you to post your bullshit statments on here. in the summer when verizon was number ya'll would have been like "yes yes PC World never lies" but the minute at&t comes out on top in 3g network on test done by PC World, it's like PC world is a horrible and unreliable site. get over your fucking selves. most of you people that talk shit about at&t prolli havent even had the service and are just goin' by verizon's comercials. seriously stop hating on at&t cause they are making more money and doing better than verizon. jeezh...the company is atleast puttin in some work on their network and its like all you verizon fan bitches still have some slick shit to say about them.

 

[tethoma]

Sprint is EVDO not 3G

 

[Guest]

also i would like to add that with at&t i'm gettin' speeds over 3000 kbps! can verizon do that, huh fanboys? show me one speed test from verizon where they have gotton over 3000 kbps!

http/68.142.200.12/us.f382.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?mid=1%5f219285%5fAJZ8v9EAAH%2bOS4WC9wU3OEIWgPI&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1&cred=3NN51PiINOQfTRdleeSiDSaWs7uV_9_RslBEKlFlLhhig8zsou0GlOc_w3TQ4zmzd_o4KWEbyh7MG3_sewBkkQwWvWOcLLPlg1iXk9Mwh47PIqvM9uQ7NX0_bdunKZEwO9ATrgtptaca_ExBrE2KwNCgueA-&ts=1267041214&partner=ymail&sig=G8wW.zr6GRG9zcL9ObbLFw--


http/68.142.200.12/us.f382.mail.yahoo.com/ya/securedownload?mid=1%5f218808%5fAJZ8v9EAAHIXS4WC0QDnOyaIe%2bQ&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1&cred=tobWeFvFNOQsMm3elXWegA9ZJdlnArVfRrDHEW9wDD3RDO3jYxrGocNJJ7copLpobPVrPeixMkaoRtK5.6JIgUm45cf1HIFUMynbVrYAnogtqqwvREf_wlD6JUAPBx_ajiuNuWcoVkHX7WlgDSuFnlZ1_aM-&ts=1267041267&partner=ymail&sig=fJ3pA720cTLEp.X_k1.qsw--

 

[tracyfearson]

In order to compare, you need a consistent measurement.

As one reader indicated:

"funny. i was just testing my speed via the blackberry tour on vzw a few days ago.

http/www.speedtest.net/result/723249349.png"

I use that very same one for my PC. I cannot use it on my Palm Pre as it requires flash, which the Pre does not have.

I also did not know the Tour had flash.

Anyone know a non-flash speedtest all reeders could use with their phone?

 

[Guest]

I thought this was typical of AT&T. It depends greatly on your location on what type of 3G service you get. Because more broad polls from consumers give it low ratings consistantly. I smell a rat from PC World.

 

[Dirtman73]

[citation][nom]tracyfearson[/nom]Anyone know a non-flash speedtest all reeders could use with their phone?[/citation]

Last time I checked, dslreports.com had a couple of non-Flash-based speed tests. Don't know if they'll work with your phone though.

 

[tayb]

When my iPhone actually has 3G service it usually is quite fast. I've tested with the speedtest application and the 1.4MB/s seems completely realistic. Problem is that I drop coverage all the time and I'm constantly being juggled between 3G and Edge which terminates the call. Monday evening alone I was driving down 635 in Dallas, TX trying to have a conversation and the call dropped five times. Five times in a 30 minute drive. That's just outrageous especially considering AT&T's 3G map supposedly covers just about every square inch of the greater Dallas area.

Oh well. I won't be renewing my contract and I'm counting down the days and watching my ETF dwindle down to a point where I feel comfortable canceling out of it.

 

[tracyfearson]

I found a few that posters might care to use:

http/www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/3gstudy/

http/i.dslr.net/iphone_speedtest.html

I have used DSL reports for some time for computers.

On Sprint with Pre I am getting 759kbps

 

[daship]

PAID AD, buy a desperate company that dominated land lines and is loosing ground so fast in the digital age, it may never catch up. Especially once other networks get the iphone.

Tests were done in 13 hand picked places, lol; are you kidding me? They brag about all the coverage they supposedly have, lets run a test in every major city and then compare.

AT&T sucks, and they have my area on their orange coverage map, the only coverage they have here, is analog landlines lol.

Once they loose the exclusiveness of the iphone, their stock will fall big time.

Dear AT&T,
Quit wasting money on misleading, untruthful tests, and ads, and spend some money on your crappy, aging network.

 

[Guest]

I live in the DC area, I've had AT&T for years, my sister has Verizon and her phone doesn't even get a signal near my parents house in northern VA, about 14 miles from DC. From what I can tell, it all depends on where you are and where you go, some people have Verizon, some people hate AT&T, it is all about personal experience. Hell, in college I had a Verizon DSL and it was so bad I was a member of a class action suit against them. I think most of the AT&T bashing in blown out of proportion, at least here in DC it's fine.