[tamakin]

Japan has blazing fast download speeds on their cell phones. But we're so far behind them. Too bad we're busy over here spending trillions of dollars on missions to take pictures on Mars. What a joke. Absolutely no benefit to us. *sigh* Now check this:

http://macenstein.com/default/archives/1325

Well, MacRumors has found the above a video of a comparison made between the current EDGE-enabled iPhone, and a simulated 3G iPhone made by sharing an iMac’s 3G internet connection with an iPhone. The results? 3G is just under twice as fast as EDGE.
Hmmm… So, is that really that great? For months now I have been hearing 3G will bring “broadband speeds” to the iPhone. This seems more like the jump from a 28.8 kbs modem to a 56 kbs modem - nothing that will dramatically change the way I surf the web on the iPhone. Don’t get me wrong, if you told me the next MacBook was going to be TWICE as fast as the current one, I would certainly think it was a worthy upgrade, and I am not saying I won’t upgrade my EDGE iPhone to a 3G model when they come out, but these speeds seem somewhat disappointing. Sure, I am still hungry for the 3G iPhone, but I certainly am not in the “openly salivating” mode I was in originally. I actually have said from day one that I am pretty impressed with EDGE’s speed – YouTube videos play after about 5 seconds, web pages load decently fast, and mail is not a problem.
This video (if accurate) brings me back to my question of whether AT&T will attempt to charge more for the data plan of a 3G iPhone, and more importantly, will consumers pay more for it? Even before seeing that video I was leaning heavily towards the “No” camp, and now I am more or less definite. While I like the convenience of being able to surf the web while stuck in a line or waiting room, I still do 98% of my internet browsing on a computer with a fast connection and a real screen/keyboard. To me the bigger selling point might be if the processor inside the iPhone 2.0 is faster than the current one, as I find the slight interface delays more annoying than waiting for a web page to load via EDGE – plus it might increase page rendering speeds almost as much as the 3G bump itself (and maybe drain the battery as much too).
What are your thoughts? Will 3G make that big a difference? If 3G speed is the only difference between the current iPhone and the next Gen, would you still plunk down $399 to upgrade?

[rusty778]

Yeahhhh, thats not an iPhone 3G so im not expecting the speeds to be the same. Plus speed is more dependent on cell tower bandwidth. Not the actual phone. I believe the infineon chipset the 3G iPhone has is capable of 7.2mb/s down. If you actually read the article it says a "simulated" 3G iPhone meaning its just a laptop card then a wifi network set up from it. No way thats going to be as fast as a plain 3G phone without any rerouting

[tamakin]

Originally Posted by rusty778

Yeahhhh, thats not an iPhone 3G so im not expecting the speeds to be the same. Plus speed is more dependent on cell tower bandwidth. Not the actual phone. I believe the infineon chipset the 3G iPhone has is capable of 7.2mb/s down. If you actually read the article it says a "simulated" 3G iPhone meaning its just a laptop card then a wifi network set up from it. No way thats going to be as fast as a plain 3G phone without any rerouting

The iphone hardware may be capable of getting 7mbps download. But we're talking about the pathetic AT&T here. Understand that their 3G network speeds are embarassing. Just like their DSL service and their biggest disappointment, U-verse. AT&T is crap.

[rusty778]

Better than the competition, at&t has the fastest 3G network in the US so you dont really have a lot of options over here anyways

[jaymo]

hey, there's benefit to taking pictures of mars, someday, when we've destroyed our planet, we'll need somewhere else to settle!

[bhz1]

I find that EDGE loads pages faster than when in a very weak wifi signal area, a web page seems to get lost in limbo. When I'm up in my bedroom, I have a fairly weak wifi signal and end up turning off wifi to use edge because it works better. If I'm anywhere else in my house, wifi rocks. Dont know if its entirely because of the weak signal or if my next door neighbors wifi conflicts (even though we both have encrypted networks). i will often see their network before my own when upstairs. I know they have their router upstairs in theri house on the side that faces our house. Regardless, EDGE is a satisfactory substitute for those insomniac nights where I play with the iPhone as to not turn on a light and disturb my spouse.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

Originally Posted by jaymo

hey, there's benefit to taking pictures of mars, someday, when we've destroyed our planet, we'll need somewhere else to settle!

Man can't really destroy the planet. We can destroy the ecosystem necessary for us to live on it (possibly), but the planet will be fine and will adapt or heal itself in time.