A new study shows that - despite recent negative publicity and consumer ratings to the contrary - AT&T's 3G network actually has better performance than Verizon's. The tests, carried out by start-up performance monitoring company Root Wireless, were done using non-Apple smartphones, though, and a New York Times writer quotes a consultant who claims there are problems with the iPhone's wireless interface.
Root Wireless did testing of 3G network performance in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Washington, DC, and its results were conclusive: AT&T's 3G downloads were faster than Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile's in each of those seven cities. Network World summarizes the results:
Overall, AT&T's average 3G data speeds ranged from a low of 246Kbps in New York and a high of 428Kbps in Dallas. Verizon, meanwhile, had average 3G speeds ranging from 195Kbps in Seattle to 259Kbps in Chicago. The study also found that both carriers had comparably low rates of 3G connectivity failure, as each carrier's connection failure averaged between 1% and 3% for all seven cities. Sprint fared poorly in this particular category, as the carrier experienced data connection failures of 11% or higher in all seven markets.
A New York Times article, meanwhile, points a finger at the iPhone's hardware as a reason why performance on AT&T's network, especially in the major cities, is so bad. Roger Entner, senior vice president for telecommunications research at Nielsen, said the iPhone's "air interface," the hardware and firmware in the phone that handle the connection to the 3G network, had problems that "affect both voice and data." He said - echoing a recent study that claimed iPhone users will defend their phone against all reason -that "the iPhone has the nimbus of infallibility, ergo, it's AT&T's fault."
AT&T has recently acknowledged that service in some major U.S. cities have been performing below standards and claim that they are making infrastructure improvements to deal with it. At no time has AT&T publicly blamed Apple for any issues. AT&T will never criticize Apple under any circumstances, Entner claimed.
John Gruber, who writes the Daring Fireball blog, points out some deficiencies in the New York Times article.
If it’s the iPhone’s fault, not AT&T’s, why aren’t iPhone users around the world having the same problems as those here in the U.S.? How come iPhone carriers in Europe turned on tethering support as soon as iPhone OS 3.0 was released, and AT&T still, seven months later, has not? I’ve brought this up before and readers have argued that the U.S. is a far bigger country than those in Europe, so of course U.S. carriers have a harder job than those in Europe. But that argument doesn’t make sense to me. It’s not there’s one single AT&T cell tower providing service for the whole country. When it comes to providing coverage for a large city like New York or London or Paris, what difference does it make how big the rest of the country is?
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