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AT&T Wins Gizmodo 3G Bandwidth Test

ink writes "Gizmodo has completed a 12-city test of 3G cellular bandwidth speed. Verizon won four of the twelve, however AT&T scored higher with six: 'Let's get this straight right away: We didn't test dropped voice calls, we didn't test customer service, and we didn't test map coverage by wandering around in the boonies. We tested the ability of the networks to deliver 3G data in and around cities, including both concrete canyons and picket-fenced 'burbs. And while every 3G network gave us troubles on occasion, AT&T's wasn't measurably more or less reliable than Verizon's.'"

21 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Look at the latency by mdm-adph · · Score: 3, Insightful

    From what I can see, the latency on the Verizon lines is much better. That's more important to me, at least, considering the amount of VoiP I do on my cell phone.

    I mean, uh, browsing I do on mobile networks.

    --
    It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
    1. Re:Look at the latency by Otterley · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I agree, and this is why I have nothing but contempt for typical "best provider performance" conclusions that are driven solely by single-connection TCP transfer tests (e.g. speedtest.net).

      In most cases, latency matters more than bandwidth (where bandwidth is roughly the same within an order of magnitude or so). This is why there's a very strong correlation between the provider that had the lowest measured latency and the provider that had the lowest page retrieval time. In the end, real-world page loading is precisely what we use smartphones for, and so we need to know how that application performs, instead of what raw transfer rates are.

      I still think the Gizmodo tests are deficient, though, as they are unclear as to whether they repeated the tests at regular intervals over a 24-hour period. Network congestion varies throughout the day, and at any given moment one path may be more congested than another. A valid test, IMO, would take the average (or median) of each metric over a 24-hour period (or even longer, covering both a weekday and a weekend, since usage varies among them).

    2. Re:Look at the latency by blargster · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No wonder AT&T is complaining about Verizon's "we have 5x more 3G" campaign when Verizon's 3G is the same as AT&T's 2G (which does have more coverage than Verizon's 3G).

      The truth is that the provider's definition of "*G" is what ever their marketing departments say it is. There is no absolute standard of comparison on the marketing front. You have to dig into the actual specs to do so.

  2. They all suck. by aussersterne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Having been through Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T over the years (never tried Sprint), my conclusion is they're all way oversold with shitty reliability and doubly shitty and uneven customer service. Typical megacorporations to whom any individual customer matters NOT AT ALL.

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    STOP . AMERICA . NOW
  3. Re:Better Sample Size by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Exactly, and also they completely left out the midwest. Well, thanks Gizmodo, if I move to the coasts I'll know what service to get, but since there weren't any tests done even close to where I live the data is totally useless.

    They also failed to give a price to service ratio, that would have made things a lot more fair. Yeah, you might get a faster network but if the price difference is $15 a month, many people might reconsider.

    This test the way it is, is akin to someone comparing an Intel Atom to a Pentium 4 to a Core i7 based on pure speed and saying that the Core i7 is the better bet, all the while ignoring the fact that a Pentium 4 box is much cheaper and an Intel Atom CPU is going to give you better battery life.

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  4. Piss off, 3G by girlintraining · · Score: 4, Insightful

    3G is a joke, but it's not a funny one. The FCC promised that we'd start to see high speed wireless internet now that the spectrum's been auctioned off. But like everything else, they seem to have lied -- shoving costs down the consumer's throat in the middle of a recession, raking in the money with a smile from the auctions... Everything about the so-called digital transition was a scam. Price fixing of LCD TV prices, running out of converter boxes -- and charging twice as much as they were worth in the store to soak up the free money those vouchers gave them... hmph.

    Where's the alternatives here? They all have bandwidth caps. None of them are investing in the backhaul infrastructure. The network coverage is a joke, the handsets have disabled tethering, locked in the search engines... I mean, hell -- a pringles can and a wifi card does better than every other solution we have here in the United States for mobile internet. What the hell happened?

    --
    #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    1. Re:Piss off, 3G by Burdell · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A 16:9 image on a 4:3 screen leaves 25% (not 33%) black, and 16:9 digital TVs were available for under $300 (not over $500). 3G spectrum was allocated years ago, long before the analog TV cut-off; it takes time (and a lot of money) to roll out new services in new frequency bands. Since Congress kept changing the analog cut-off date, nobody was going to spend a dime buying and building out equipment to utilize the old high-UHF frequency until it was actually available. You might start seeing some of it in use next year.

  5. Re:It's not the 12 that counts, it's the rest... by aristotle-dude · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I travel all over (in the US). I usually consult in city that are not the major metropolitan centers (in the US). If you are NOT in the major metros (in the US), Verizon wins 9 times out of 10. Once I got back on Verizon, covered (in the US).

    If you don't travel, get the best signal provider in your area. If you travel (only in the US), Verizon is best.

    There, I fixed that for you. A CDMA phone is going to be useless outside of the US unless you have a "world" phone which also includes a SIM and GSM radio for the rest of the world outside of the US. If you travel internationally, you are better off with a GSM/HSPA phone.

    --
    Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
  6. Wha? by Itninja · · Score: 3, Insightful

    AT&T's wasn't measurably more or less reliable than Verizon's

    So how is this a 'win' exactly? Sounds more like a tie to me.

    --
    I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
    1. Re:Wha? by Bill,+Shooter+of+Bul · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Title of article "AT&T Wins Gizmodo 3G Bandwidth Test".
      Not Article Title "AT&T Wins Gizmodo 3G Reliability Test".

      Notice any difference in the two?

      --
      Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
  7. That isn't the problem with AT&T by dynamo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Someone should go do a test of the dropped call quantity and voice quality when in these same areas. That is where AT&T is so difficult to have to use as a primary phone line. The data service is actually much more reliable, and ironically makes Skype average much higher in quality / reliability from the same phone in the same place.

    At least, in my experience.

    1. Re:That isn't the problem with AT&T by amohat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree. Who cares about data speeds when you can't rely on your PHONE to make calls?

      "dang, this is taking a little longer to download."

      "WTF?!? HELLO? HELLO? ARRGH!!! I was on hold for a hour to talk to that rep!!!"

      One of these scenarios irritates me, the other makes me want to murder death kill.

  8. Re:Honest question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Simple answer. The congress is owned by corporate interests in this country.

  9. Average speeds are meaningless. by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What matters to me is the performance I get from the tower I'm connected to at the moment I'm trying to use it. I don't give two shits if the tower five miles up the road is giving 1700/350kbps when the one I'm using is doing 100/300. And I don't care if the one that was giving me 100/300 on Friday afternoon is able to do 1500/320 on Saturday morning because I'm not there Saturday morning. I need their network to function wherever I happen to be at whatever time I need to use it.

  10. I use AT&T, by aussersterne · · Score: 1, Insightful

    specifically because of the iPhone and iPhone upgrades. Yes, I like the iPhone. It's the first smartphone (having used Palm for a long time, then Blackberry for a while) that I really use to its potential, and that really simply transparently works for me for all of my calendaring, contacts, email, etc. in a way that doesn't feel "phone-ish."

    Of the three, Verizon is the one I would absolutely refuse to go back to no matter what, for two reasons: 1) GSM [lack of], and 2) Verizon is the one of the three that caused the biggest billing cock-ups, which took months to clear up in each case and led to my determination to leave them ASAP.

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    STOP . AMERICA . NOW
    1. Re:I use AT&T, by mjwx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, I like the iPhone. It's the first smartphone (having used Palm for a long time, then Blackberry for a while) that I really use to its potential

      That's easy to do when the potential of a device is so limited.

      I on the other hand will say that I will never use the full potential of my Android phone and that is not through lack of trying. I have a phone that sync's my Gmail, ISP mail and work mail into separate programs that can be open at the same time each with different notification settings, can be turned on and off independent of each other and programmed to operate on different schedules (I.E. I want my personal mail on Saturday, not my work mail).

      Saying that you use the full potential of anything is not good, this means that you will reach the limitations of the device leaving no room for growth. The Iphone is a closed ecosystem, a completely controlled environment where there is little variation, thus little change (mutation, the iphone is akin to monoculture farming, which tends to degrades the species over time) where as Android is an entirely open ecosystem where new variables can enter easily leading to new functions or enhancements of existing ones.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  11. Because any state of affairs by aussersterne · · Score: 3, Insightful

    in which we do not agree to be raped every hour on the hour by corporations is in fact socialism, and socialism we leave for the "evildoers."

    Same reason we prefer the poor to starve and the sick to have no medical care.

    --
    STOP . AMERICA . NOW
    1. Re:Because any state of affairs by trickyD1ck · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Same reason we prefer the poor to starve and the sick to have no medical care."

      As if anyone is preventing you from donating to charities who feed the poor and provide medical care. Unless you want to donate other people's money, of course.

  12. Re:What about sustained transfers? by babblefrog · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Actually, it's surprising that nobody else has noticed that this discussion is really about aviation, not telecommunications. Slashdotters are really slipping.

  13. Re:Honest question by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The thing that Europeans always forget is that the U.S. is more like the E.U. than it is like Finland. Actually, many Americans make the same mistake. When Europe becomes a single cellular market the way that the U.S. is, we will be able to compare the business practices of the providers.

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    The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
  14. Milestone vs. Droid by tepples · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why do you, Americans, put up with your mobile operators specifically disabling features (like tethering or bluetooth) on phones being sold via contracts?

    Because we get such a deep "discount" on the handset. Ideally, a 24-month plan with a $175 ETF would have a $7.50 per month discount if I bring my own phone, but the carriers offer no such discount. Besides, the CDMA carriers (Verizon and Sprint) don't use CSIM cards.

    the operator would be advertising a specific phone model, while in reality, the phone model being advertised in reality has more or better features than the one sold to you under it's name by the operator.

    Not necessarily. The standard unlocked GSM phone is sold under one name, and the carrier's version carries a slightly different name. For example, Motorola Droid is Verizon's customized version of Motorola Milestone.