"Drastic Makeover:" AT&T Now Tops in Download Speed

[Paul Daniel Ash]

Just under a year after coming in dead last in PCWorld's 3G Wireless Performance Test, AT&T's network is now winning handily with an average of 67% faster download speeds than its competitors. Coming after the CEO of AT&T Wireless's promise that the company was investing in improved infrastructure after years of dismal reviews, the result - what the testers refer to as a "drastic makeover" - is bound to give a boost to AT&T's battered public image. Analysts and US regulators have been predicting that the iPad's launch would bring the carrier's troubled network to a standstill.

For the comparison, PCWorld testers went to 13 US cities and recorded upload and download speeds from 20 individual locations situated in a grid in the downtown area of each city, running more than 51,000 tests in December and January. AT&T's average download speed was 1,410 kbps and upload of 773 kbps, far ahead of all other competitors and an improvement of 84% over last year's results. AT&T's commitment to address poor performance in New York and San Francisco markets has apparently borne fruit, with three times faster download speeds as compared to last spring in New York City and 40% faster downloads in San Francisco since the previous survey.

In addition, the survey also looked at reliability, with the tester checking to see how often they were able to establish an uninterrupted connection while doing the speed tests. In this area the carriers all performed roughly equally, with reliable connections coming 92% of the time for both T-Mobile and Verizon, and AT&T and Sprint both somewhat more reliable with 94% of all connections being solid. 8 months ago, AT&T’s reliability rate was coming in at just 64% in PCWorld's tests.

In addition, in Baltimore, Boston, and New York - cities where the advanced HSPA 7.2 Mbps networks have been deployed - PCWorld measured burst speeds exceeding 4000 kbps. By the end of the year, AT&T says they plan to have HSPA in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Memphis, Baltimore, Fort Worth, Charlotte, El Paso, Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston, and Denver.

image via PCWorld

[k.nitsua]

I'm not in a major city, but I, too, have noticed a drastic increase in my 3G speed on not only my iPhone 3Gs but also my Nokia Booklet 3G.

I can see why Apple might stick with AT&T only afterall.

[Ticko]

anyone else super impressed with T-Mobile?? hell ya allstars keeping it consistent

[lolcats1]

phone companies are all a bunch of fools. they only give you enough to keep the money going.

[Melech518]

anyone else super impressed with T-Mobile??

Unfortunately we do not see those speeds on T-Mobile using an iPhone. We are stuck with EDGE

[jschmall]

I find this interesting considering I've noticed a DECLINE in my 3g speeds lately...

[punjabi212]

I'm in Manhattan and it did seem like 3G was goin faster

[Antman217]

This is what ive been telling all my friends, verizon may have more 3g in more areas but it doesnt compare to the 3g experience on at&t.

[NSXrebel]

I've noticed speed increases as well, and I'm in Arkansas at the moment.

[n00neimp0rtant]

So the verdict is in: AT&T if you live in NYC or LA, Verizon if you live in Hicktown, USA. (T-Mobile for everyone else.)

[SnowLeo]

For the first time in my whole life I went into some random store near where I live and INSIDE the store I had FULL reception on my AT&T while my dad had NO reception in his VERIZON blackberry. Call me crazy but At&t might just be trying to get their act together... that is... until about 2-3 months after the 3g ipad obliterates their entire 3g service once more. lol gotta love Apple and their crazy power hungry users. Im sure there will even be a huge 3g usage surge after the wifi ipad with those "top 10%" of iphone data users using mywi and tethering their iphone to their ipad. lol it just amazes me to the fact the at&t are oblivious to the fact that every single one of their "top 20% that take up 60% of their data" are all people with jailbroken iphones that use 3g unrestrictor and download full movies over 3g or just tether their laptop to download 8gb torrents while streaming high def youtube. And this is exactly why I will stick with at&t and WONT be the verizon iphone... cause verizon has enough common sense to set a 5gb/month limit (that I once went over in one day tethering to me and my brothers laptop and ipod touches in a 10 hour car ride to canada)

[rickybobby]

i'm in michigan and i never really had slow speeds but i noticed last night that websites that i never went to on my iphone loaded in like 2.5 maybe 3 sec

[wiltok]

I work in downtown Chicago and ATT service is not reliable at all. Maybe in the suburbs, but in the city forget it. Constantly dropping from 3g to edge to nothing - and dropping calls like crazy. Really blows....

[pyromcr]

wow. att dosnt suck anymore. it must be the end of the world...

[matthew1111]

This probably doesnt relate, but my AT&T Service to my house (wifi, etc...) SUCKS. I lag all the time when im playing xbox, and i currently live in texas...Though I do have 3 other computers, a printer, and a Jailbroken iTouch on it...

[Conas]

The 3G in Amarillo (Hickville) Texas is top-notch. I doubt it's as fast as what it being used in the major cities, but maybe someday they'll make it even faster. I rarely lose bars, I never drop calls, and download speeds always make me giddy. I use 3G Unrestrictor, and my Youtube videos (on 3G) are clear as day and don't take but a few seconds to start streaming. I love the difference between Youtube that thinks it's on Wifi and Youtube on 3G.

Anyways, I'm happy AT&T is making life more bearable for the big city folk.

I'm real curious about what iPad will do to network reliability. Personally, I'll be purchasing the cheaper Wifi version and tethering w/ my phone because I am not paying for 2 dang "Unlimited data" plans.

[adsonjustin]

I get full bars at home. but at school I have one bar all day. the only place I get service is near the parking lot.

[steve-z17]

I'm quite surprised at T-Mobile's numbers, better than I'd have thought. I wonder why Verizon's reliability is lower? That just seems weird to me.

[sziklassy]

Awesome! Now I can get faster 3G speeds in areas I never visit. Meanwhile I am still waiting for 3G where I live. Did I mention Verizon and Sprint both offer 3G in my area?

[glendoor]

I think my speeds have been slower. Normal at best. I'm in Flordia but not in Hicksville