PCWorld ranks AT&T tops in 3G performance test
By Tim Stevens 
posted February 23rd 2010 12:10PM
posted February 23rd 2010 12:10PM
[Thanks, A. Dewan]
posted February 23rd 2010 12:10PM
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@mingkee - "it may be area dependent"? Uh.... duh. The entire chart is organized by CITY, therefore it's obviously entirely "area dependent."
I have had an iPhone 3GS for 6 months now with zero problems and zero dropped calls here in Central FL. My friend has the same phone and he drops a few calls a week. So who knows, but it's been amazing for me and I use this phone nonstop
It's so funny how the article is about how AT&T 3G speed has gotten faster, yet most of you shift your comments to how you dislike the iPhone. I know most of you hate success. It is what it is. If you find a better product buy it. Other then that, the iPhone is the phone to beat and AT&T is the network that it's own.
@iRun \
And to that I say, I had an iPhone on AT&T in Chicago, hated the phone and the service, so I switched. Not bashing anyone that loves it, but I genuinely was miserable. I'm now on Sprint with the Hero and have never been happier hardware or service or signal wise.
By the way, AT&T subscribers, please stop defending AT&T's network. I know it's great and you know it's the best. It seems like we are always on defense and we have to constantly prove how good the network is to a bunch of doubting Thomases. I personally don't care how good another carrier is or isn't. The device I want is on the carrier I love.
Some key elements of this survey
1. we removed testing artifact by not using browser based tests
2. we tested laptop cards AND phones ...
3. we tested a statistically significant number of locations (260 in 13 cities) and test repetitions (51,000) so that with some confidence we can feel that we are within 5% on any given day of the actual network performance.
4. we repeated the tests in the same locations, with the same tests as our April/May 2009 tests so we have a real idea how performance is changing .. not just who wins. It is VERY interesting to see how Verizon performance is decreasing over this time while Sprint has maintained its performance, in addition to the dramatic increase in AT&T's performance.
How much did AT&T pay PCWorld for that?
Funny, let's see them run that nonsense in Dallas. I did the old speedtest on my iPhone 3G the other day and got a whopping 50Kbps, in full on super-bar mode of 3G ... AT&T of course.
I hear everyone talking about how fast AT&T is and man, I've got to tell you, I just don't see it. I've been with them since iPhone 1.0 and no matter what part of Dallas I travel through I'm very much feeling the GPRS with a 3G badge the whole time.
Whenever I see Luke Wilson (the fat version) I just want to punch him in the face.
@grgcombs - anecdotal evidence like yours is meaningless. That's why it's great that someone did a study like this - to inject some FACT into such a silly discussion filled with people saying an entire network sucks based solely on the fact that it doesn't work at their house/office/etc. People, it's not about YOU; it's about the entire NETWORK.
@grgcombs - YOU are calling Luke Wilson fat??? Do you not have mirrors in Dallas?
Forgot to add ... I know, extenuating circumstances and all, but I tried to use any network-y feature of the iPhone at a Cowboys game during the regular season and I literally couldn't do ANYTHING... no facebook logins, no SMS, almost no signal period. I was sitting about 100 feet from AT&T's fancy club house.
Naturally, I thought I should bring this to the attention of AT&T (in case all of their corporate execs in the suite were texting their mistresses from Verizon phones) given the number of people who might like to use their services at the stadium ... so I whip out the AT&T complain-y application ... naturally, it can't actually get a connection to let me complain about my lack of connection.
The irony was not lost on me. But I did manage to burn down an entire battery charge in my attempts, over the course of a single football game.
Yay Luke Wilson. (Wait, did I say Luke? He is the one with the broken nose, right?)
I already knew AT&T sucked in Denver by the fact that all I could ever hear over their headsets was static and then the eventual dropped call
Top 13 cities in size, in the US:
(1) New York (2) Los Angeles (3) Chicago (4) Houston (5) Philadelphia (6) Phoenix (7) San Antonio (8) San Diego (9) Dallas (10) Detroit (11) San Jose (12) Indianapolis (13) Jacksonville
Represented in survey:
(Yes) New York (No) Los Angeles (Yes) Chicago (No) Houston (No) Philadelphia (Yes) Phoenix (No) San Antonio (Yes) San Diego (No) Dallas (No) Detroit (Yes) San Jose (No) Indianapolis (No) Jacksonville
No cities from Texas (2nd largest state), and only two of the top-5. cities. Orlando? Guess they overlooked Greensboro, NC; Anchorage, AK; or fabulous Witchita, KS; and magical Lincoln, NE (I suppose "where the west ends" to paraphrase).
I checked metropolitan statistical areas, and again the survey simply ignores the major urban centers e.g. Los Angeles (2), Dallas (4), Philadelphia (5), Houston (6) Miami (7) Atlanta (8) Detroit (11)
Same for the largest states by population. Majority not in survey.
So, to interpret correctly: Primarily outside most of the _largest US cities_, outside most of the _largest US urban centers_, and outside the _largest population US states_, AT&T is generally faster.
Or, to be more pessimistic: a majority of Americans in large cities are not going to experience the results of this survey.
New Orleans? Why not, eh, Knoxville, TN. Close to Dollywood last time I checked. 3G is burning the air up in the Holler.
Here in Seattle our company's fleet of mobile devices (not iPhones) run on AT&T and I PROMISE you that reliability is no where near that 100% number they report. Dropped calls have just become a part of life for our users.
@PhuturePete - This study was about 3G, not dropped calls! Did you not read it?
@starxd Yes, I RTA. The point I was (apparently poorly) trying to make, was that reports like these imply that everything is all rainbows and gumdrops in AT&T land. Yes I know they are different, but 3G reliability and call reliability are not mutually exclusive in the eyes of consumers. This is not the only chart you should be take into account if you're looking to switch carriers.
pshtttttt......... FAIL.
I figured it out. The cities weren't chosen by general population size.
Of the top 18 cities in Gay/Lesbian population, all 13 of the sample cities are in the list (ok, I'll substitute Baltimore for Washington DC. New Orleans wasn't included but since it's basically a Party City, so I'll count it as a Major Gay Destination). For some reason they don't like the gay populations of Houston (gay mayor!), LA, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Sacramento. So if you're gay, and you are visiting friends in large urban gay areas for circuit parties, you will enjoy fabulous 3G download speeds with your iPhone while trolling GrindrX.
Problem Solved.
I know this is not true because I live in [city] and I have a [phone model] on [mobile carrier], and I get way faster data than my buddy who has [other mobile carrier] service!
Glad to see this. AT&T is by far the best speed out in my area. Best coverage as well.
Here is what I just test AT&T in my area and here is what i got http://www.speedtest.net/iphone/26460199.png and AT&T has been perfect for me except for the price and i had two drop calls back to back when i first got my iphone. But how fast the network depends on the time of day and what part of town you are on. An example of this is if you are by a place where the are a lot of people in that area like a college, sports, arena or anything like that and the service provider just has not put enough towns to handle the extra load.
So what if the network is slow it's not like we use the internet or watch videos or listin to internet radio.. no... please...
what ever happend to 3.5G?
These results seem extremely shady. I'm between Baltimore and DC all the time and those speeds for Verizon are a fluke, and 75% reliability?
Who did AT&T have to pay to get these numbers working in their favor? I sense a conspiracy.
FWIW: I live in the Dallas TX area and use a Blackberry 8310 and my wife has an iPhone 3G.
AT&T Reception is great all over the Dallas/Denton/Fort Worth area. good signal everywhere except deep inside metal framed buildings (no shock there really).
Some months ago, we went to San Fransisco and she had dropped calls on the iPhone and low signal strength all over the city until we got outside the central areas into the suburbs or out to the east across the bay. My BB had lower signal strength all over the city than I get here in Dallas but no dropped calls.
I wonder what this could mean?
Sorry guys, I use Verizon so I'm not as knowledgeable as most of you.
What exactly is this thing you keep referring to as a "dropped call?
@steel As funny as that is I would argue: What's a Verizon? AT&T sells the iPhone.
I'm sure PC world has received a generous anonymous donation and AT&T has incurred a matching loss of liquid funds. AT&T is crap. 'Fewer dropped calls' Yeah.. fewer than T-Mobile maybe.. I have 0 dropped calls with Verizon. And T-Mobile having more than 25% reliability? Absurd. They must have had line of sight to the tower they were connecting to..
These comments are painful. We get it, where you live x is better than y. This test is just showing data speeds in cities. If you do not live there, obviously it is not valid. Why are you all bickering? Verizon is better where you live, great. AT&T is better where you live, great. Shut up use your carrier, have a nice day. We all know at&t doesnt work in the boonies, and at&t is faster in cities. So pick whats right for you. One isnt better than the other, there is just options.
I honestly don't see it at all. Everyone always S***** AT&T! You sucks yadda yadda yadda, you drop calls, you have crap quality, but personallyl I have NEVER gotten a dropped call and the quality is ALWAYS crystal clear. so honestly guys I don't know what you are always whining about.
If you are some latte-sipping yuppy from one of these major cities, AT&T lame-duck coverage might be OK. However, for us normal people who aren't camped under an AT&T tower, Verizon is much faster, because we have a signal. Yes, that is very advantageous sometimes. I travel, and it's not always to NYC. In the context of this article, you might say that my house has the best mobile broadband service, because all of the tests samples were taken in my yard. This article is absurd. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the advertising dollars AT&T spends with engadget.
Interesting findings. I live in Chicago and have been on AT&T, T-Mobile, and I'm now on Sprint. According to that chart, Sprint is the worst of the 3 for the most part whereas I've found the exact opposite to be true. Matter of fact, the reason I'm on Sprint now is because the other two's ups, downs, and reliability were terrible. Hmmmmm....