Cities affected by EDGE upgrade! 200kbps!

[Dermot81]

Based on data from HowardForums:

New York City: 184kb/s
Queens, NY: 186kb/s-230kb/s
Chicago suburbs: 160kb/s
S. Florida: 176kb/s-204kb/s
Washington DC: 196kb/s-207kb/s
Philly: 191kb/s-264kb/s
Marion, Indiana: 186kb/s-196kb/s
North Seattle: 190kb/s
Dallas: 160kb/s
Half hour north of Boston: 50kb/s
West of East Orange, New Jersey: 365kb/s

This isn't a full list, just data I've collected so far from users who have posted their results.

Amazing! Edge used to be under 100kb/s. Looks like AT&T flipped the switch on fine EDGE

[growinglogic]

Chicago suburbs: 160kb/s

That's me! :D

Oh, tomorrow is going to be a happy day.

I wish I was living in North Seattle though...

[TaylorB]

where is conway arkansas? :confused:

in my dreams..

[kevinwiz]

North Seattle: 337kb/s


is that even possible?

[coolosxapps]

Darn, no Dallas... :(

coolosxapps

[chriswheat]

Yes, max speed is 384kbps.

[Dermot81]

is that even possible?

According to Wikipedia:

EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 kbit/s for 4 timeslots (theoretical maximum is 473.6 kbit/s for 8 timeslots).

It is possible, though likely an error...probably had the page in the cache.

[basicfiend]

There were some reports at the beginning of June about the upgrade. Interesting that they just flipped the switch now....

http://weblog.infoworld.com/techwatch/archives/012272.html

[chrisgeleven]

This should make the YouTube feature usable (buffering time should be acceptable).

[cmschmidt]

Darn, no Dallas... :(

coolosxapps

i just got 160kb in Dallas.

[coolosxapps]

i just got 160kb in Dallas.

Ah, that's not bad at all then!

coolosxapps

[cmschmidt]

Ah, that's not bad at all then!

coolosxapps

only cost me about $15 to find that out too! (see other thread on this subject if you wanna know why)

[mikeymoves]

Went from 112kb to 39! Nice!

NYC

[Dippo]

Are we sure these are EDGE speeds and not 3G.
I would test EDGE here in Charlotte, but my phone will only do 3G here.

[cmschmidt]

Are we sure these are EDGE speeds and not 3G.
I would test EDGE here in Charlotte, but my phone will only do 3G here.

my phone is not 3G, so yes these are edge speeds.

[Dermot81]

Are we sure these are EDGE speeds and not 3G.
I would test EDGE here in Charlotte, but my phone will only do 3G here.

Yes these are all EDGE speeds, apparently AT&T enabled more time slots on their network.

[cmschmidt]

one more kick in the groin for the haters...

[powerbook911]

The iphone wil take over the world now :) I knew it!!! :)

Just a few years ago I was using 50k on my computer!! Now these amazing speeds will be available on our iphones!

[Steve1496]

If anyone wants a 3G comparison, my 3G smartphone is getting about 1.6MBPS.

[Dermot81]

If anyone wants a 3G comparison, my 3G smartphone is getting about 1.6MBPS.

I'm not greedy. I'll take 200-300kbps, if those speeds hold up tomorrow :)

[iRx7fani]

If anyone wants a 3G comparison, my 3G smartphone is getting about 1.6MBPS.


I don't know why any non business person would need this type of speed. I pay $19 a month for DSL at home and I download at 300kps; which is fine for me even when I play online games. If the iPhone can get half of that (150kps), it think it's great, because will never ever play games, browse the web, or even download on the phone for a very long time on it. That's what my Macbook Pro, xbox 360 is for. And the data plan for the iPhone is roughly $20, add that on to my current plan with ATT, i would end up at $60, before my education discount. (Teachers get 15% off of their phone bill)

[appleii2mac]

I don't know why any non business person would need this type of speed. I pay $19 a month for DSL at home and I download at 300kps; which is fine for me even when I play online games. If the iPhone can get half of that (150kps), it think it's great, because will never ever play games, browse the web, or even download on the phone for a very long time on it. That's what my Macbook Pro, xbox 360 is for. And the data plan for the iPhone is roughly $20, add that on to my current plan with ATT, i would end up at $60, before my education discount. (Teachers get 15% off of their phone bill)

Supposedly you won't be able to get a discount on the iphone plans.

[eddietr]

I've tried this three times here in Northern Virginia and I'm getting 250-255kbps. (EDGE on a Blackjack.)

I definitely can live with that, especially for email and maps which is what I'll use most often on the road. Anytime that I have to sit down and actually surf the web, I'm almost always around WiFi anyway.

Great little iDay eve upgrade, AT&T!

[mattscott306]

Can you throw on a link to the howard forums?

[infobhan]

Based on data from HowardForums:

New York City: 184kb/s
Queens, NY: 186kb/s-230kb/s
Chicago suburbs: 160kb/s
S. Florida: 176kb/s-204kb/s
Washington DC: 196kb/s-207kb/s
Philly: 191kb/s-264kb/s
Marion, Indiana: 186kb/s-196kb/s
North Seattle: 190kb/s
Dallas: 160kb/s
Half hour north of Boston: 50kb/s
West of East Orange, New Jersey: 365kb/s

Crap. Of course I'm stuck in Boston. :confused:

[Dermot81]

Can you throw on a link to the howard forums?

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1189862&page=1&pp=15

[clevin]

Based on data from HowardForums:

New York City: 184kb/s
Queens, NY: 186kb/s-230kb/s
Chicago suburbs: 160kb/s
S. Florida: 176kb/s-204kb/s
Washington DC: 196kb/s-207kb/s
Philly: 191kb/s-264kb/s
Marion, Indiana: 186kb/s-196kb/s
North Seattle: 190kb/s
Dallas: 160kb/s
Half hour north of Boston: 50kb/s
West of East Orange, New Jersey: 365kb/s

This isn't a full list, just data I've collected so far from users who have posted their results.

Amazing! Edge used to be under 100kb/s. Looks like AT&T flipped the switch on fine EDGE
better change title to be accurate, its

200kbps, i.e. 25kb/s, not 200kb/s, don't give ppl the false impression that the EDGE suddenly is 20 times faster.

[cmschmidt]

better change title to be accurate, its

200kbps, i.e. 25kb/s, not 200kb/s, don't give ppl the false impression that the EDGE suddenly is 20 times faster.

maybe you should learn what you're talking about before you come in here screaming.

kb = kilobits

kB or KB = kilobytes

pretty standard...:rolleyes: the titles is fine the way it is.

[PoitNarf]

kb = kilobits

kB or KB = kilobytes

Yes, lowercase b for bits and uppercase B for bytes. The thread title is fine.

[mustang_dvs]

According to Wikipedia:

EDGE can carry data speeds up to 236.8 kbit/s for 4 timeslots (theoretical maximum is 473.6 kbit/s for 8 timeslots).

It is possible, though likely an error...probably had the page in the cache.

Just because it's on Wikipedia, doesn't mean it's true -- see: Stephen Colbert's efforts to 'triple' the number of African Elephants in the wild.

Yes, max speed is 384kbps.

You are correct. (And I can take an educated guess when you ilearned that.)

[yg17]

one more kick in the groin for the haters...

no, because I can get 190-200kbps all the time on my phone using EDGE. Didn't require some stupid phone to force the carrier to upgrade their network to what it should be :rolleyes:

[chriswheat]

When did I iLearn that? Cause I honestly can't remember.

[alexh516]

ITS TRUE!!!

i just tested it and got 187 kbps!

im in nassau county, ny

[cdewitt]

you think that dallas speed will leak to fort worth?? damn i hope so

[cdewitt]

P.S. Rejoice that the one major drawback has been fixed!!!!

[alexh516]

update to my previous post..i stepped outside and received 231 kbits/sec

att you sly sly devil you....

[yayaba]

Anywhere Northern California is around 200-250kbps. It's been that way for awhile :)

[Schmoe0013]

Any word on Minneapolis?

[TheAnswer]

no, because I can get 190-200kbps all the time on my phone using EDGE. Didn't require some stupid phone to force the carrier to upgrade their network to what it should be :rolleyes:

What you and I (and every other one of the 22-25 million T-Mo subscribers) need to be looking at is which service we're gonna move to once AT&T makes Deutsche Telekom an offer they can't refuse for their T-Mo USA subsidiary. I think that's the big cloud looming on the horizon.

[plumbingandtech]

What you and I (and every other one of the 22-25 million T-Mo subscribers) need to be looking at is which service we're gonna move to once AT&T makes Deutsche Telekom an offer they can't refuse for their T-Mo USA subsidiary. I think that's the big cloud looming on the horizon.

Forgot about that.

It seems TMobile is always up for sale...

Prob. a another reason they could not meet apple's reqs.

They still buy leftover bandwidth from ATT?

(I just checked my tmobile bill. Looks like I will only have 2 days of charges till the move to the iphone. nice.)

[yg17]

What you and I (and every other one of the 22-25 million T-Mo subscribers) need to be looking at is which service we're gonna move to once AT&T makes Deutsche Telekom an offer they can't refuse for their T-Mo USA. I think that's the big cloud looming on the horizon.

Not gonna happen. For one, I don't think the FTC would even allow AT&T to have a monopoly on GSM here, and Deutsche Telekom has stated before that they're commited to T-Mobile USA. I think if anything happens (and that's a huge if), Vodafone will sell of their stake in Verizon Wireless and buy up T-Mobile, I'm sure they want their own GSM network in the US, rather than 45% ownership of a CDMA one that their customers can't even use when they come over here.

But, if it did happen, and we're left with AT&T, VZW and Sprint, I think I'd choose Sprint. They seem to be the lesser of the 3 evils.

[nickspohn]

keep in mind the network might be bogged down tommorow night.


so just because EDGE is slow don't get pissed at your baby :D

-nickspohn

[yg17]

Not gonna happen. For one, I don't think the FTC would even allow AT&T to have a monopoly on GSM here, and Deutsche Telekom has stated before that they're commited to T-Mobile USA. I think if anything happens (and that's a huge if), Vodafone will sell of their stake in Verizon Wireless and buy up T-Mobile, I'm sure they want their own GSM network in the US, rather than 45% ownership of a CDMA one that their customers can't even use when they come over here.

But, if it did happen, and we're left with AT&T, VZW and Sprint, I think I'd choose Sprint. They seem to be the lesser of the 3 evils.


It seems TMobile is always up for sale...
T-Mobile's not up for sale. They've never been up for sale.

They probably couldn't meet Apple's reqs, because they told Apple to piss off when Apple wanted complete control over everything.

keep in mind the network might be bogged down tommorow night.


so just because EDGE is slow don't get pissed at your baby :D

-nickspohn

EDGE will always be slow :rolleyes:

[yayaba]

Here's my results from tethering my phone to my Macbook:

http://www.speedtest.net/result/147149522.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

[kcroy]

I believe it really could be faster. I just don't see Apple allowing their iPhone to be hindered by ATT's network. Apple will be pressing for continued improvements in ATT's network just as they will be providing updates for the iPhone.

I believe I read recently that ATT was one of the lowest ranked networks. (Maybe not...) Regardless they are going to be making some major advances in their network (and apparently they already have) to be No.1 or No.2.

I'm excited. Can't wait to get an iPhone, can't wait to try ATT. I'm with Alltel right now and I couldn't have a worse product or carrier. Alltel has been the worst. Their customer service is also rotten.

Hello iPhone!:apple:

[mac jones]

Based on data from HowardForums:


West of East Orange, New Jersey: 365kb/s




Gosh I wish I was in......New Jersey?

[yg17]

I'm excited. Can't wait to get an iPhone, can't wait to try ATT. I'm with Alltel right now and I couldn't have a worse product or carrier. Alltel has been the worst. Their customer service is also rotten.

Looks like you'll quickly get used to ATT then

[nickspohn]

I have this funny feeling that the average speed for iPhone on a EDGE network will be 300kbps.


You know, those wierd feelings you get?

-nickspohn

[StealthRider]

I've tried this three times here in Northern Virginia and I'm getting 250-255kbps. (EDGE on a Blackjack.)


I thought the BlackJack was a 3G handset...or did you have it disabled?

[yg17]

I have this funny feeling that the average speed for iPhone on a EDGE network will be 300kbps.


You know, those wierd feelings you get?

-nickspohn

Funny feeling indeed since the max for EDGE is around 230kbps :rolleyes:

[mickeymikey]

186 twenty minutes west of Fort Worth, TX.

[BRussell]

They finally removed the debug code from EDGE.

[Rocketman]

Here is one speed test from last week:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=320130&page=7

Post 169

Rocketman

[nickspohn]

Funny feeling indeed since the max for EDGE is around 230kbps :rolleyes:

Isn't it 384?

[NewSc2]

Nice speeds, almost bearable, but I'd like something faster.

Oh and to that poster that had the $19 DSL for 300kbps... I'm sure you meant 300kB/s. 300kbps is pretty slow.

Still, very nice to see the updated speeds. It just might convince me to get one :)

[Ampidire]

YES! Seattle WOOT!

[ajhill]

Well, that's a little more encouraging, until we all jump on the network this weekend. Those speeds, while still not what I would call fast, are good enough. Hey, what do you want for $20/month. How much do you pay for unlimited downloads on your 3G network phone???

I'd like to hear what people are paying...

[plumbingandtech]

They probably couldn't meet Apple's reqs, because they told Apple to piss off when Apple wanted complete control over everything.

Yep. You are correct.

That's why you see the magic that is screen after screen of the iphone...visual voicemail and a first of its kind sign up system.

Enjoy Sidekick-ville.

(and yes they have been rumored to be up for sale for a while...don't come crying to me when ATT buys them... ha! the irony...will you switch to sprint at the point?)

[Flyinace2000]

Iam getting steady 200 kbit/sec in 07436 (north jersey) on my nokia 5700

[eddietr]

Well, that's a little more encouraging, until we all jump on the network this weekend. Those speeds, while still not what I would call fast, are good enough. Hey, what do you want for $20/month. How much do you pay for unlimited downloads on your 3G network phone???

I'd like to hear what people are paying...

I pay $30 per month for truly unlimited 3G on my phone. (But it hardly ever works and the real cost to me is having to recharge the thing soon after I use the 3G)

And then I pay $60/month unlimited on my MBP.

[Rocketman]

I have 3 megabit Verizon DSL at home with only 2 computers on it, and evenings after 4pm it drops to about modem speeds due to local usage on the loop. They guarantee bandwidth but NOT ISP capacity. You can do as many simultaneous phone calls as you want but two computers run at modem speeds and even occasionally time out!

One of the "internets" are broken :) .

Rocketman

Edit: raw data:
http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=23555

[xckid87]

YES! Seattle WOOT!

Seattle?? what about Seattle?

[yg17]

Isn't it 384?
I think theoretically, it's 4-something, but NO devices out there support enough EDGE timeslots to go above 230whatever. And ATT certainly wouldn't allow such a device to use that many timeslots since it would decrease capacity

[arn]

Here is one speed test from last week:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=320130&page=7

Post 163

Rocketman

So those speeds were also 200kb/s or so. So this isn't brand new, but is it better than before?

arn

[Flyinace2000]

I was windering why youtube videos were loading SOOOO fast today!
186kbit/sec

[imacdaddy]

Like broadband, there will be many bottleneck points in a mobile network, worse for mobile. It all depends on the individual cell site you are connected to and your distance from it and if the cell site has enough capacity (T1 lines) leading back to the switches at the exchanges. Bare in mind the T1 lines support both voice and data. From the exchanges, it depends on the metro network back to the headend and from the headend to the internet gateway and then the connection to the WWW. 3G may have faster transmission speeds from cell site to your phone, but that's not always the case. It's good that ATT added more capacity, but we shall see tomorrow when the utilisation increases. It's a win win situation for all EDGE users, iPhone or non-iPhone users.

I agree Jobs. For basic emailing and messaging, EDGE is good enough. Wifi is there if you want a faster connection.

[smccostlin]

I am stoked EDGE has increased. That will teach all of those bloggers in the major news forums to shut up before things are actually presented to the world. Apple would not let their beloved creation sell short just because of some stupid benchmarks... Hooray for Apple, and Hooray for ATT.

:-D

[3badjacksfan]

keep in mind the network might be bogged down tommorow night.


so just because EDGE is slow don't get pissed at your baby :D

-nickspohn

I'm bogged down NOW! I've had ATT since they took over Cingular, and haven't had any complaints, until TODAY! My "bars" have been yo-yo up and down all day! I had to finally give up on using my cell phone since all (and I do mean "ALL") my calls got cut off. Wondering, could this be ATT doing some last minute upgrades to ensure the iPhone goes off without a hitch?

[fluidinclusion]

I am stoked EDGE has increased. That will teach all of those bloggers in the major news forums to shut up before things are actually presented to the world. Apple would not let their beloved creation sell short just because of some stupid benchmarks... Hooray for Apple, and Hooray for ATT.

:-D

Are you a Red Stripe Salesman? :)

[geoffy]

I'm sure Steve Jobs had a lot to do with this, or at least the timing.

[eddietr]

Nice speeds, almost bearable, but I'd like something faster.

Oh and to that poster that had the $19 DSL for 300kbps... I'm sure you meant 300kB/s. 300kbps is pretty slow.

Still, very nice to see the updated speeds. It just might convince me to get one :)

Actually, he's probably right. 300kbps for $20 DSL sounds about right. I think around here they have a 384kbps DSL option.

300kB/s would be 3mbps, which is actually quite fast for DSL, isn't it? Especially at $20.

EDIT: Never mind what I just said. I see now that $20-$30 will get you 3mbps speeds on DSL. Shows you how much I kept up with DSL rates over the years. Of course, I'll stick to my 30mbps FIOS. :)

[smccostlin]

Are you a Red Stripe Salesman? :)

I may not be a Red Stripe salesman, but I am in advertising, which by the way, the iPhone ads are choice. Can't wait to get mine tomorrow and access these forums with the increased EDGE benchmarks... :-D

[Rocketman]

So those speeds were also 200kb/s or so. So this isn't brand new, but is it better than before?

arn

Arn. It is "insanely great".

Rocketman

"The literalist".

Edit: Since I am outside of the NDA loop and the reality distortion field (it tweaks me quite a bit) I will point out that the reviews in the last week or so are taking into consideration the increased EDGE speeds. What they do not address is the VASTLY increased EDGE CAPACITY. We'll see. iPhone (ATN) V1.0 will be sweet even at near modem speeds. It's IN YOUR HAND!! (oops, RDF influence)

[alexmarchuk]

West of East Orange, New Jersey: 365kb/s


Yes!!! I'm proud to be living in New Jersey, haha.
I will also be getting the iPhone, and we get it here first!

[Romanesq]

Gosh I wish I was in......New Jersey?

... you do. Home of bad TV series endings, massive one party control and corruption, and the home of the hardest working Senators (Menendez/Lautenberg) on behalf of illegal aliens (the bill is turned over to both local and national taxpayers). :eek:

[jphaberman]

Any word on Minneapolis?

I just ran a couple dozen tests from my Treo 680, and most came back at around 150 kbit/sec. The lowest was 91, and the highest was 173.

Test site: http://www.dslreports.com/mspeed?jisok=1

However, I hadn't done this before, so I don't have anything to compare this to.

[alansky]

YouTube videos work great on Wi-Fi, but can display in a lower quality when you’re not at a hotspot and are using AT&T’s EDGE network.

My experience is that most YouTube videos look like crap even over the fastest broadband connection. Why would they need to be any lower in quality than they already are?

[dante@sisna.com]

I could not run speedtest due to lack of Flash, but my pearl is defintely faster loading sites tonight.

I am going to sell this pearl on ebay after I make an attempt to get my iPhone tomorrow.

I was going to wait, but while watching the Apple 20 minute video, I saw an image of the Blessed Mother/Virgin Mary appear in one frame and that just iced the deal.

:D

[kresh]

Vodafone will sell of their stake in Verizon Wireless and buy up T-Mobile, I'm sure they want their own GSM network in the US, rather than 45% ownership of a CDMA one that their customers can't even use when they come over here.

Sorry to go off topic, but your post reminded me of the story a few years ago when the Vodafone executive team visited the Verizon offices. For some of the top Vodafone brass it was their first trip.

The biggest headline of the meeting was that the Vodafone top brass was pissed because their personal phones were roaming on Cingular, or AT&T (can't remember).

Sorry, but I still chuckle when it comes to mind.

[mustang_dvs]

I think theoretically, it's 4-something, but NO devices out there support enough EDGE timeslots to go above 230whatever. And ATT certainly wouldn't allow such a device to use that many timeslots since it would decrease capacity

Trust me on this... AT&T's EDGE network has/will have a maximum throughput of 384kbps.

I have a very accurate source of that info, and it isn't AT&T.

[kresh]

T-Mobile's not up for sale. They've never been up for sale.

They probably couldn't meet Apple's reqs, because they told Apple to piss off when Apple wanted complete control over everything.



For Apple I think it has more to do with the fact that TMobile is not really a national carrier. Sure you can roam all over the US, but they don't have local numbers nationwide.

For example. you can't start service (or port your number) with TMobile in the state of North Carolina, they don't have local numbers. You can roam there with no additional charges on one of their partners, just not buy service.

I think there are some other glaring holes as well, I just can't remember the states.


edit: On a side note, with all the roaming agreements that the national and region providers have signed with each other, it's really tough to know just how big the network is for your service provider.

One of the best ways to tell the actual size of the network (that they actually own) for your provider is to look at their pre-paid service map. Most companies' prepaid service only works on their "owned" network and charge for roaming on others. So when you look at the prepaid map, the service area is where they actually own the network.

I work for a national carrier now, but I used to work for Alltel and it's real telling when you look at their pre-paid map (not the Simple Freedom phone at Wal-Mart though).



2nd edit: I appologize for getting so far off topic. Mods, please delete if this post is too far OT.

[cyberone]

44-55 kbps ... but am in bangkok, thailand, we still have a long way to go ...

and they pretend here to have edge ...

[AHDuke99]

For Apple I think it has more to do with the fact that TMobile is not really a national carrier. Sure you can roam all over the US, but they don't have local numbers nationwide.

For example. you can't start service (or port your number) with TMobile in the state of North Carolina, they don't have local numbers. You can roam there with no additional charges on one of their partners, just not buy service.

I think there are some other glaring holes as well, I just can't remember the states.

many states has maybe one T-mobile store and many dont have any at all. apple couldn't chose them or most of the US would have no access to it. they basicaly had 2 choices, cingular and verizon .. verizon said no, cingular said yes. sprint would be choice #3, and they are far behind at&t and verizon when it comes to subscribers.

[kgarchar]

to everyone reading

200 kbits/s is like 33 kilobytes/sec

[JellyFish]

many states has maybe one T-mobile store and many dont have any at all. apple couldn't chose them or most of the US would have no access to it. they basicaly had 2 choices, cingular and verizon .. verizon said no, cingular said yes. sprint would be choice #3, and they are far behind at&t and verizon when it comes to subscribers.

I have Verizon and they are about to get a rude awakening when I get my iphone. I will enjoy giving them the finger as I leave their service. :D

[bigdawgm]

I am in Kansas City, Mo and have tested it 3 times with my phone.

Lowest was 369 kbs
Highest was 462 kbs
The other one was 426 kbs

This will be awesome!!!

[jphaberman]

to everyone reading

200 kbits/s is like 33 kilobytes/sec

And 56 kbit/s is like 7 kilobytes/s.

Four times faster than basic dial-up is four times faster regardless of the unit of measure.

[kresh]

many states has maybe one T-mobile store and many dont have any at all. apple couldn't chose them or most of the US would have no access to it. they basicaly had 2 choices, cingular and verizon .. verizon said no, cingular said yes. sprint would be choice #3, and they are far behind at&t and verizon when it comes to subscribers.

I agree, but I feel that Sprint could have handled it as well on the logistics side. Sprint is in all the RadioShack stores, plus Sprint has a joint venture with RadioShack called 'Kiosk Operations Inc.' (The kiosks with the yellow halo ring around the top of the kiosk - yep those are RadioShack employees) that have about 300 kiosks in Major US Shopping Malls, in addition to distribution at BestBuy.

However, If AT&T can live up to the service commitment then I think Apple has made a great choice.

[RnSK]

...between GPRS and EDGE, right?

I mean, I've been using EDGE for a looooong time and its always been at least 20Kbytes/sec...

I think a lot of the problem may have been crap phones (I do not buy crap phones) that didn't hop right or could use at least four slots/slices because you guys are acting like this is all...new :)

I've been saying all along that EDGE is a LOT faster than dialup, and on ATT, slightly less than than half their WCDMA 3G speed...but noooo...

:)

Keep in mind tho that webpages are multiple round trips, and there is latency...so don't let yer speedtests get you *too* happy; you'll want to surf around on the web for a more accurate feel for what its going to be like.

Most of where I go I get to in about 15-22seconds on average

[gauchogolfer]

to everyone reading

200 kbits/s is like 33 kilobytes/sec

Thank you for attempting to divide by 8 on our behalf. 200/8 = 25, btw.

[McCarron]

I was getting 200-250kbps on EDGE earlier in the week with a 8525.

My test results, comparing Blackjack's 3G to 8525's EDGE/3G
http://www.iphonefanclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=61

I thought they were about normal, but I hadn't done EDGE speed tests in a while.

This is in Hoffman Estates, IL btw.

[RnSK]

I thought they were about normal, but I hadn't done EDGE speed tests in a while.

This is in Hoffman Estates, IL btw.

I dunno wha people have been "on" and "using"...but from what it sounds like, folks were on GPRS on an "EDGE" phone.

Or maybe the more spendy phones have better radios in them because getting under 100kbits down on EDGE is just not normal anywhere i've used it in over a couple of years.

[powerbook911]

And 56 kbit/s is like 7 kilobytes/s.

Four times faster than basic dial-up is four times faster regardless of the unit of measure.

Exactly. I think this is a good point cause everyone says it's worst than dial-up, but it sounds to be much faster.

[ryanw]

...between GPRS and EDGE, right?

I mean, I've been using EDGE for a looooong time and its always been at least 20Kbytes/sec...

I think a lot of the problem may have been crap phones (I do not buy crap phones) that didn't hop right or could use at least four slots/slices because you guys are acting like this is all...new :)

I've been saying all along that EDGE is a LOT faster than dialup, and on ATT, slightly less than than half their WCDMA 3G speed...but noooo...

:)

Keep in mind tho that webpages are multiple round trips, and there is latency...so don't let yer speedtests get you *too* happy; you'll want to surf around on the web for a more accurate feel for what its going to be like.

Most of where I go I get to in about 15-22seconds on average

This is a good point. People are thinking that all of a sudden AT&T fixed everything. EDGE is EDGE. It's not a cable modem nor WiFi ..... The iPhone is going to enable you to be able to use the REAL internet in places where you weren't using it before. Not a bastardised version of a browser, not some crappy email ... the real stuff. BUT you're still going to want to use your cable modem and desktop whenever you can because the internet will be SLOW on your iPhone.

Accept the fact that it'll be slow, get your iphone, use it in places you weren't using the internet before, enjoy.

[McCarron]

I dunno wha people have been "on" and "using"...but from what it sounds like, folks were on GPRS on an "EDGE" phone.

Or maybe the more spendy phones have better radios in them because getting under 100kbits down on EDGE is just not normal anywhere i've used it in over a couple of years.

Yeah, also got to keep in mind they may have lower class devices. The lower the class #, the less pipes it has for transfer.

iPhone is class 10, so class 10 devices are the best to compare for data rates. Not to mention a good processor is also needed, because that alone allows the phone to transfer data that much faster. So many aspects goes into the speed of all wireless phones.

We'll get closer to the max of 384, but I doubt we'll see more than 280 anytime soon.

[onawire]

The iPhone will be my first EDGE phone, so I'm curious about Atlanta. Anyone able to check and post results?

[Splooshie]

just tested twice in Miami looks like we're still waiting on the upgrade love. =(

67.7 kilobits per second
Communications 67.7 kilobits per second
Storage 8.3 kilobytes per second
1MB file download 2.1 minutes
Subjective rating Slow


Info
Date & time Friday, June 29, 12:00AM*
Test type IDT4 Free
Connection type Wireless: EDGE
Region Florida
Data size 1024KB
IP address 32.132.81.99
Provider

[Apple!Fre@k]

JUST RAN THE NUMBERS:

This is good news, albeit it's still stupidly slow unless you're on WiFi. I ran the numbers and EDGE compared to the Internet connection I have here at home from Bright House Networks is 280X slower. The good news is that it's still about 4X faster than Dial-Up. And while I was at it I figured out that my Internet connection at home is 950X faster than the Dial-Up we were using several years ago. :)

[KniVideo]

I did my first mobile speed test about a week ago. Max then was about 170kbit/s.

Tonight in SW FL on Palm Treo 680:
207 kbit/sec
1.495s latency
40.977s download time for 1MB data

EDGE is very inconsistent.. the try before was 99kbit/s, also 166kbit/s.

[mac jones]

I'm sorry but this looks to me like mass hysteria.

Mind you, Mass Hysteria usually afflicts schoolgirls.

A fascinating phenomenon often attributed to the Salem Witch trials.

[slimsakus]

I just did the test and I got 1113kbit/sec...roughly 139kbyte/s!!!

Sad EDGE is that damn slow for yall....and yall pay so much more for it. Why? I just don't get it. I pay 15 bucks for my sweet EVDO on sprint. That score was with 3 of 4 bars. I guess I just don't understand why people pay more for something so slow. AT&T should not be charging what they do for EDGE access. Yall are getting 200-300kbit/s tops? 25-38kbytes/s? Man....thats rough.

The iPhone still looks like a kick ass phone, just delivered through a half ____ medium.

[neven]

I'm sorry but this looks to me like mass hysteria.

Mind you, Mass Hysteria usually afflics schoolgirls.

A fascinating phenomena often attributed to the Salem Witch trials.

"Afflic" is not a word.
"Phenomena" is plural.
Mass hysteria is not "attributed" to an example of it.

Learn to ride your high horse before you straddle it.

[mac jones]

"Afflic" is not a word.
"Phenomena" is plural.
Mass hysteria is not "attributed" to an example of it.

Learn to ride your high horse before you straddle it.

Oh thanks for the heads up!

Haste makes waste : )

[bubbalwz]

This is all well and great, but unless AAPL enables tethering of your computer to the phone, you only get to enjoy those speeds on the iPhone itself?

[GulGnu]

I'm sorry but this looks to me like mass hysteria.

Mind you, Mass Hysteria usually afflicts schoolgirls.

A fascinating phenomenon often attributed to the Salem Witch trials.

More like mass enthusiasm :) Hell, I'm sitting in Yurop, and I'm still enthusiastic about the iPhone despite not getting it for... well, I dunno ;)

[iWizzard]

feel a bit sorry for you guys that liver in an 3rd world country like the US, here i Sweden we will be able to surf in 7.2Mbits, when the Iphone arrives (3.6Mbits for now)

But good that you will be able to load webpages without 1-2 minutes loading time.

[dfnj123]

Could someone please tell me how to test Edge speed, please.

[yayaba]

...between GPRS and EDGE, right?

I mean, I've been using EDGE for a looooong time and its always been at least 20Kbytes/sec...

I think a lot of the problem may have been crap phones (I do not buy crap phones) that didn't hop right or could use at least four slots/slices because you guys are acting like this is all...new :)

I've been saying all along that EDGE is a LOT faster than dialup, and on ATT, slightly less than than half their WCDMA 3G speed...but noooo...

:)

Keep in mind tho that webpages are multiple round trips, and there is latency...so don't let yer speedtests get you *too* happy; you'll want to surf around on the web for a more accurate feel for what its going to be like.

Most of where I go I get to in about 15-22seconds on average

This man needs his post stickied. Seriously, I think a lot of the problems are that people have lower class EDGE devices that aren't capable of high speeds. So they're actually on GPRS when they think they're on EDGE.

But I guess we'll know for sure tomorrow night when the first reports come in of EDGE speed.

[rob@robburns.co]

For Apple I think it has more to do with the fact that TMobile is not really a national carrier. Sure you can roam all over the US, but they don't have local numbers nationwide.



That would probably be a deal breaker for Apple, however one thing T-Mobile brings is WiFi hotspots (I know AT&T's probably working on this, but nothing has been mentioned in terms of bundling). T-Mobile has around 10,000 WiFi hotspots in the US. So it would have been a good fit for the iPhone to provide a combined cellular/WiFi service package.

[princigalli]

is it just me or there's really no information about the iphone on ATT website? I knew their site is ugly, but can they be so stupid?

[Justinerator]

Could someone please tell me how to test Edge speed, please.

yeah, me too. I'm pretty sure I know how to, I just want to double check.;)

[kresh]

is it just me or there's really no information about the iphone on ATT website? I knew their site is ugly, but can they be so stupid?

They have an iPhone section, but you're right. It's ugly, and it's well hidden:

http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/specials/iPhone.jsp?

[bignumbers]

Tonight, many forum members here and at Howard forums have reported that their EDGE network speeds may have been boosted substantially -- with benchmarks around 200kbps (25 Kilobytes/second).

This is a huge pet peeve of mine. All internet transfer methods that I'm aware of (and probably all common network methods) are serial. Serial means one bit is transfered, then the next, then the next. So the only proper way to count internet transfer speed is in bits per time period. kilobits, megabits, etc, are all fine as multipliers of the bit. But any conversion to bytes is confusing and misleading for many technical and non-technical reasons. Bytes are not transferred over serial protocols. Bits are. Same is true for USB, Firewire, ethernet, SATA... all serial protocols.

Parallel protocols, on the other hand, are a different story. They transfer by the byte (all bits of that byte in parallel, thus the name). One byte, then the next byte, then the next byte. IDE hard drive interfaces are parallel, so bytes only please (or kilo, mega...). Old Centronics parallel printer connections, same thing.

You can't simply divide bits by 8 to get bytes in transmission speeds. In most serial data transmissions there are overhead bits for error checking and other purposes. In parallel methods, sometimes those extra bits come as part of the same transmission byte, sometimes in a separate periodic byte.

To get smaller numbers, you denominate the bits - kilobits, megabits, gigabits... Or if bytes, then kilobytes, megabytes... Or if standards warrant, denominate the time period - milliseconds, minutes, etc.

And to make sure this isn't deemed totally off-topic, I'd love to see a web site that tracked data transfer speeds for iPhone users in different parts of the country. Run a test, then enter your zip code (or even street address, as larger zip codes can have multiple towers). Some fancy math could then be used to determine both real-world throughbit (in bits, ahem) along with areas that are in need of AT&T upgrades.

[Chosenbydestiny]

Gawd, they had to somewhat fix one of my biggest reasons for not getting one right after I decide to spend my extra money on something else. Which I don't feel THAT bad for I guess.... but damn it, having an iPhone wouldn't seem so bad now, lol.

[odHbo]

I love living in The Dirty Jersey :)

iPhone @ 6p Short Hills!

[dfnj123]

I love living in The Dirty Jersey :)

iPhone @ 6p Short Hills!Your getting ur iphone at short hill?? I thing about getting mine their

[princigalli]

feel a bit sorry for you guys that liver in an 3rd world country like the US, here i Sweden we will be able to surf in 7.2Mbits, when the Ip, phone arrives (3.6Mbits for now)

But good that you will be able to load webpages without 1-2 minutes loading time.

I think we should avoid this kind of language. We all know that the cell phone market in the US is about 10 years behind and overall horrible. But I would by no means call the US a 3rd world country.

Here in Europe you go shopping in the supermarket and they treat you with kicks in the butt from the very moment you walk inn. You can't even use a cart without leaving a coin deposit. Does that make us a 3rd world union? Not quite, but more so than having primitive cell phones.

But those examples are beyond the point. I am an European using Apple computers which are designed in California. I am grateful to them for that. Fortunately, they don't export their phone companies and we only have to deal with them if we go as tourists.

[Lepton]

Not only did my connection get faster last night, but the phone itself finally switched from saying "Cingular" to "AT&T"!

[ncbill]

I'm paying $10/month for 768 DSL (AT&T)

The new reported speeds are about half of what I'm seeing so in the upgraded areas EDGE can be roughly as fast as 384 DSL.

And as for Wi-Fi hotspots, $2/month gets AT&T DSL customers access to Wi-Fi in over 6000 McDonalds nationwide.

Wonder if any such add-ons will be available for iPhone customers?

Somebody needs to figure out how to tether the iPhone (via USB or Bluetooth)

Actually, he's probably right. 300kbps for $20 DSL sounds about right. I think around here they have a 384kbps DSL option.

300kB/s would be 3mbps, which is actually quite fast for DSL, isn't it? Especially at $20.

EDIT: Never mind what I just said. I see now that $20-$30 will get you 3mbps speeds on DSL. Shows you how much I kept up with DSL rates over the years. Of course, I'll stick to my 30mbps FIOS. :)

[Romanesq]

I just did the test and I got 1113kbit/sec...roughly 139kbyte/s!!!

Sad EDGE is that damn slow for yall....and yall pay so much more for it. Why? I just don't get it. I pay 15 bucks for my sweet EVDO on sprint. That score was with 3 of 4 bars. I guess I just don't understand why people pay more for something so slow. AT&T should not be charging what they do for EDGE access. Yall are getting 200-300kbit/s tops? 25-38kbytes/s? Man....thats rough.

The iPhone still looks like a kick ass phone, just delivered through a half ____ medium.

Okay, tell us how your EVDO compares on your phone to when you use WIFI. You use it more with WIFI right? :p

[bravedeer]

Thanks for your maturity and common sense. Bashing other countries is only done to elevate our own. Nobody a nowhere is perfect :)

I think we should avoid this kind of language. We all know that the cell phone market in the US is about 10 years behind and overall horrible. But I would by no means call the US a 3rd world country.

Here in Europe you go shopping in the supermarket and they treat you with kicks in the butt from the very moment you walk inn. You can't even use a cart without leaving a coin deposit. Does that make us a 3rd world union? Not quite, but more so than having primitive cell phones.

But those examples are beyond the point. I am an European using Apple computers which are designed in California. I am grateful to them for that. Fortunately, they don't export their phone companies and we only have to deal with them if we go as tourists.

[grimmace]

50kb/s in boston... Sucks

[puuukeey]

any idea what the onslaught of iPhone traffic will do to these numbers?

[Zadillo]

I just did the test and I got 1113kbit/sec...roughly 139kbyte/s!!!

Sad EDGE is that damn slow for yall....and yall pay so much more for it. Why? I just don't get it. I pay 15 bucks for my sweet EVDO on sprint. That score was with 3 of 4 bars. I guess I just don't understand why people pay more for something so slow. AT&T should not be charging what they do for EDGE access. Yall are getting 200-300kbit/s tops? 25-38kbytes/s? Man....thats rough.

The iPhone still looks like a kick ass phone, just delivered through a half ____ medium.

You make it sound like EDGE is all AT&T has; AT&T also does have a 3G network (UMTS/HSPDA).

When they release iPhones with 3G, it will be able to use those.

Either way, in case you haven't been paying attention, Sprint has been draining customers left and right, and the Nextel acquisition has been disastrous for them; cheap data plans is one of the few things they seem to be getting right.

-Zadillo

[Zadillo]

Btw, I ran the dslreports/mspeed tests, and am not noticing any specific increases in speed. It's ranged from 50kbps to 87kbps or so, the same numbers I've generally always gotten. This is on a Treo 650 in Northern Virginia.

[thestaton]

So, if you don't live in an edge area the iPhone is basically a waste of time?

[PhatBoyG]

In Tulsa, OK my Blackberry is faster than I have ever seen it before. I think the edge rates are definitely tuned today for the iPhone launch.

Grats for all with the nice boost in performance (and shame on all you losers trying to make voice calls on your phone with shift in timeslot allocation!).

[aswitcher]

I wonder how the speeds are going to be when you have thousands of iPhones on all Friday evening!

[Zadillo]

So, if you don't live in an edge area the iPhone is basically a waste of time?

If your area wasn't even covered by EDGE, and you planned to use the phone's Internet data connection a lot, then yes, probably. That would be true of most any phone though as far as Internet stuff goes.

[pale9]

re: suddenly increased edge speed

Yes these are all EDGE speeds, apparently AT&T enabled more time slots on their network.

are there an infinite number of time slots?

if not, what happens when hundres of thousands of iphones get released into the wild? is it possible that that could create a systemwide meltdown>>>?

[Lazernet]

re: suddenly increased edge speed



are there an infinite number of time slots?

if not, what happens when hundres of thousands of iphones get released into the wild? is it possible that that could create a systemwide meltdown>>>?


I think that is exactly what we will find out this evening! I'm glad to hear of these speed increases as I will be ditching Verizon (and I'm rather accustomed to my EVDO network speeds on my Treo 700p)... but the iPhone is worth it!

- Eric

[bytethese]

to everyone reading

200 kbits/s is like 33 kilobytes/sec

Last I checked, there were 8bits in a byte so 200kbps should be closer to 25KB/s. :)

[dopeytree]

Kilobits vs. Kilobytes

When looking at DSL speeds, be aware that the speeds are listed in Kilobits per second (Kbps) and not Kilobytes per second (KB/s). This is important to understand the speed you will actually receive when your DSL circuit is up and running and you begin downloading or uploading information over the Internet or your network. Below is a comparison table of the differences between a Kilobit and a Kilobyte.


Kilobits (Kb) Kilobytes Download or Upload Time*
144 Kbps 18 KB/s 1 minute
384 Kbps 48 KB/s 21 seconds
768 Kbps 96 KB/s 11 seconds
1,100 Kbps (1.1Mbps) 138 KB/s 7.5 seconds
1,500 Kbps (1.5Mbps) 187.5 KB/s 5 seconds

*Based on transferring a 1 MB file over a network with no congestion. Times are approximate.


Translations:
1 Kilobyte (KB) = 8 Kilobits (Kb)
1 Megabyte (MB) = 1024 Kilobytes

[QCassidy352]

I have Verizon and they are about to get a rude awakening when I get my iphone. I will enjoy giving them the finger as I leave their service. :D

ditto. :) I love what apple and at&t have done with these little announcements the last 2 weeks. This is a great one. Those speeds are more than sufficient for my, and most people's, purposes. And if 3G would have cost us in size and battery life, then this really was the better option, especially with this speed bump to the network.

Come on 6 pm! :)

[Zadillo]

Just as an update; I ran the mobile speed test on my Treo 650 in my car driving through Northern Virginia (from McLean to Annandale to Alexandria, primarily). Mostly still got 50-80kbps........ highest I got was in Annandale, at 127kbps. Here at work in Alexandria I'm getting around 86kbps.

Hope these EDGE speed improvements will come to this area soon too.

-Zadillo

[ReMaDi]

How long does the batteries last on a EVDO device?

10 days standby time or 7 hours of constant internet use seems pretty sweet for me.

[Zadillo]

How long does the batteries last on a EVDO device?

10 days standby time or 7 hours of constant internet use seems pretty sweet for me.

That would be one issue. Not sure about typical EVDO devices, but taking the 3G Samsung BlackJack for example (which uses AT&T's 3G network), and is also a very thin device, although with a much smaller non-touch screen..... it is notorious for pretty terrible battery life.

-Zadillo

[SiliconAddict]

If its snappier its simply due to ATT strengthening its foundation before lowering the bandwidth sucking behemoth onto it that is the iPhone.

I bet if you listen really carefully you can actually hear ATT's network groan as more and more iPhones show up.

[Romanesq]

I wonder how the speeds are going to be when you have thousands of iPhones on all Friday evening!

They'll be pretty good as the vast majority will be surfing via wifi. :cool:

[manhattanboy]

I've tried this three times here in Northern Virginia and I'm getting 250-255kbps. (EDGE on a Blackjack.)

I definitely can live with that, especially for email and maps which is what I'll use most often on the road. Anytime that I have to sit down and actually surf the web, I'm almost always around WiFi anyway.

Great little iDay eve upgrade, AT&T!
The blackjack is"
"Quad-band world phone with dual-band UMTS/HSDPA"
So those speeds are actually on the faster 3G network and not the slower EDGE.

[cmschmidt]

The blackjack is"
"Quad-band world phone with dual-band UMTS/HSDPA"
So those speeds are actually on the faster 3G network and not the slower EDGE.

i believe you can probably turn of the hsdpa radio and force it to use edge.

[gwaereth]

I grabbed my buddies Samsung Blackjack on the Cingular/ATT network.
Ran a few 1MB download tests from:
www.dslreports.com/mspeed

Here's what I got, all in kbit/sec

461
779
844
571
845
819
779
752
891
720

All at around ~.3-.6 latency

This is in downtown Chicago (Madison & Dearborn)
Seems pretty promising, dunno if they flipped a switch this morning, or if these readings are off, looking for confirmation.

[Zadillo]

I grabbed my buddies Samsung Blackjack on the Cingular/ATT network.
Ran a few 1MB download tests from:
www.dslreports.com/mspeed

Here's what I got, all in kbit/sec

461
779
844
571
845
819
779
752
891
720

All at around ~.3-.6 latency

This is in downtown Chicago (Madison & Dearborn)
Seems pretty promising, dunno if they flipped a switch this morning, or if these readings are off, looking for confirmation.

The Blackjack uses AT&T's 3G network.

[Project]

Last I checked, there were 8bits in a byte so 200kbps should be closer to 25KB/s. :)

For downloading, that sucks. For web browsing, it should be plenty fast enough.

[gwaereth]

The Blackjack uses AT&T's 3G network.

And that's different than the EDGE network? I honestly don't know, just wading through the insanity.
If so, that's just sad...

[psychofreak]

And that's different than the EDGE network? I honestly don't know, just wading through the insanity.
If so, that's just sad...
3G chips are larger and more power-consuming, but bring faster internet :)

[Zadillo]

And that's different than the EDGE network? I honestly don't know, just wading through the insanity.
If so, that's just sad...

Yes. EDGE was the previous technology, and is considerably slower (the tech before that was GPRS, and was even slower).

HSPDA is AT&T's 3G network, and is considerably faster.

The speeds you get on a Blackjack won't reflect speeds on an iPhone.

Having said that, the Blackjack has been highly criticized for its terrible battery life (and that's even with a much smaller non-touchscreen).

[gwaereth]

Having said that, the Blackjack has been highly criticized for its terrible battery life (and that's even with a much smaller non-touchscreen).

Yes, that is consistent with my friends experience. Thanks for the refresher gents. It's sad though, that the iPhone would be on a slower network. While I appreciate the batter life savings, given that this is meant to play videos and other media for a duration, I'd have hoped there'd be enough battery to support it.

Anyway, thanks again...

[Zadillo]

Yes, that is consistent with my friends experience. Thanks for the refresher gents. It's sad though, that the iPhone would be on a slower network. While I appreciate the batter life savings, given that this is meant to play videos and other media for a duration, I'd have hoped there'd be enough battery to support it.

Anyway, thanks again...

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. There is enough battery to support video and media playback - it's actually got much better battery life than anyone expected.

The speed of the data network won't have much to do with that (unless you're talking about youtube videos).

I think the iPhone is really optimized for the video and music you transfer to it though at this point.

If you did have streaming video (besides YouTube) and audio, and you had 3G, the battery life would be pretty bad anyway.

[slimsakus]

Okay, tell us how your EVDO compares on your phone to when you use WIFI. You use it more with WIFI right?


Yes of course, if I had to choose I would use wifi. I was simply comparing the data technologies offered by the companies themselves, not that plus what I can get from a coffee shop or home. You realize some people that are going to buy these phones are not going to be around wifi spots that often. So they WILL have to rely on a overpriced subpar technology.


You make it sound like EDGE is all AT&T has; AT&T also does have a 3G network (UMTS/HSPDA).

When they release iPhones with 3G, it will be able to use those.

Either way, in case you haven't been paying attention, Sprint has been draining customers left and right, and the Nextel acquisition has been disastrous for them; cheap data plans is one of the few things they seem to be getting right.

-Zadillo


I am making it out to be what AT&T offers. How many markets of the overall market does AT&T have UMTS/HSPDA deployed? its roughly 5-10% from the last numbers I read not to long ago. How widespread is EVDO offered from Sprint? I know its way larger than 5-10%. Pretty much everywhere I go with Sprint I have EVDO access.

It will be great when they come out with a rev 2 with HSPDA, maybe that will make it so 5-10% of AT&T customers get faster internet. But you do have to wonder why they did not make it HSPDA compatible right now? They did say they could not find a CDMA chipset that would be low power enough for what they wanted. So makes you wonder, maybe that have not found a HSPDA low power enough to do that either. I think it would be a long while before you see a rev 2 of the phone. With all the hype around it....just don't see it that soon.

So sure they have a very small market for their 3G access, but if we are talking about over all data access that is readily available to most customers, that is not even on the table.

Funny, I was just asking a question as to how AT&T can charge that much for a lesser technology and people pay it? And you fire back about the Sprint Nextel merger as if that has some relevance. Ok? Did they fumble it? Sure. Is Sprint still in a good company, in my 7 years with them, yeah really good. I worry about the service I get and the plans I have, and the Nextel merger did not effect either one of those. Not sure what that has to do with 3G technologies or AT&T's overpriced data plans on EDGE, but ok?

[AtHomeBoy_2000]

That's me! :D

Oh, tomorrow is going to be a happy day.

I wish I was living in North Seattle though...
I too am a CHicago suburbanite, but the fact that I am moving to Iowa next year is really stopping me from switching to AT&T and the iPhone :(

[Random Ping]

They finally removed the debug code from EDGE.

AT&T engineers discovered the -O option and turned off the -g option on their compilers. :p

[pacohaas]

I wonder if EDGE -> WiFi ->EDGE will be seemless.

That is, walking along the street browsing google maps with EDGE, I find a restaurant menu that I want to download that turns out to be 3MB once I start. I don't want to wait 10 minutes to see it, so I walk to the nearest starbucks hoping the download speed will boost once I'm on their WiFi network. Will I need to restart the download on the WiFi network? Then, what if I decide to leave starbucks with <1MB left hoping the EDGE will take over the download from there. Will my hopes be dashed?

[Zadillo]

Yes of course, if I had to choose I would use wifi. I was simply comparing the data technologies offered by the companies themselves, not that plus what I can get from a coffee shop or home. You realize some people that are going to buy these phones are not going to be around wifi spots that often. So they WILL have to rely on a overpriced subpar technology.



I am making it out to be what AT&T offers. How many markets of the overall market does AT&T have UMTS/HSPDA deployed? its roughly 5-10% from the last numbers I read not to long ago. How widespread is EVDO offered from Sprint? I know its way larger than 5-10%. Pretty much everywhere I go with Sprint I have EVDO access.

It will be great when they come out with a rev 2 with HSPDA, maybe that will make it so 5-10% of AT&T customers get faster internet. But you do have to wonder why they did not make it HSPDA compatible right now? They did say they could not find a CDMA chipset that would be low power enough for what they wanted. So makes you wonder, maybe that have not found a HSPDA low power enough to do that either. I think it would be a long while before you see a rev 2 of the phone. With all the hype around it....just don't see it that soon.

So sure they have a very small market for their 3G access, but if we are talking about over all data access that is readily available to most customers, that is not even on the table.

Funny, I was just asking a question as to how AT&T can charge that much for a lesser technology and people pay it? And you fire back about the Sprint Nextel merger as if that has some relevance. Ok? Did they fumble it? Sure. Is Sprint still in a good company, in my 7 years with them, yeah really good. I worry about the service I get and the plans I have, and the Nextel merger did not effect either one of those. Not sure what that has to do with 3G technologies or AT&T's overpriced data plans on EDGE, but ok?

Fair enough; I don't know the current percentage coverage areas for AT&T's 3G network vs. Sprint's. I do know that AT&T has been rolling out more 3G coverage though.

The fundamental issue with Sprint or Verizon though would be whether Apple wants to make a CDMA iPhone. Until they do, it's kind of a moot point anyway.

But yes, it seems like that's exactly the issue with an HSPDA/UTMS phone from Apple; power consumption and battery life. Doesn't do them much good to make something that is going to drain battery life so bad like a Blackjack.

You are right; it wasn't fair for me to point out the problems of Sprint as a company. I think they're only relevant to the degree that there might be other reasons to not partner with Sprint.

As for how AT&T can charge what they do for EDGE; realistically, they don't have any incentive to charge even less than they do for EDGE (nor does Sprint have an incentive to have an even cheaper data plan for people using 1xRTT or whatever it is).

[Random Ping]

I'm sure Steve Jobs had a lot to do with this, or at least the timing.

I think what is more amazing than the iPhone is the way it has been marketed. Apple announced many features, and then let detractors focus on a few "missing" features. Then like a series of judo moves, every few days Apple has taken each attack away from the detractors.

This roll-out should be studied in MBA programs.

[AtHomeBoy_2000]

The fundamental issue with Sprint or Verizon though would be whether Apple wants to make a CDMA iPhone. Until they do, it's kind of a moot point anyway.

I have NO doubt that if they could have worked out a deal with either one of those, we would be looking at a CDMA version of the iPhone. The problem is that those companies want to protect their own interests (specifically the music I am guessing) and want to dictate their own terms. Cingular (now AT&T was willing to bow to Apples requests. I hope iPhone is a HUGE success and Verizon/Sprint allow iPhone into their network after the 2+ year exclusivity deal with AT&T is over. 2010, bring on my iPhone! :)

[Random Ping]

I ran the mobile speed test on my Treo 650 in my car driving through Northern Virginia (from McLean to Annandale to Alexandria, primarily).

Ack! I am glad I wasn't driving on the same roads you were today. :eek:

[myawn]

where is conway arkansas?

Just down the road from Toad Suck. You can't miss it.

[Eric1285]

I have NO doubt that if they could have worked out a deal with either one of those, we would be looking at a CDMA version of the iPhone. The problem is that those companies want to protect their own interests (specifically the music I am guessing) and want to dictate their own terms. Cingular (now AT&T was willing to bow to Apples requests. I hope iPhone is a HUGE success and Verizon/Sprint allow iPhone into their network after the 2+ year exclusivity deal with AT&T is over. 2010, bring on my iPhone! :)

I think the exclusivity deal is rumored to be 5 years, so it'll be a while before we see the iPhone on Sprint/Verizon, if at all.

[AtHomeBoy_2000]

I think the exclusivity deal is rumored to be 5 years, so it'll be a while before we see the iPhone on Sprint/Verizon, if at all.
I've seen both. According to one, they cant make CDMA versions for 5 years, but nothing about GSM after 2 years. So, they MAY have the option to develop for other GSM companies. Although I think T-Mobile is the only other major American GSM carrier.

[pale9]

my guess is that the sudden bandwidth generosity of att is more related to keeping all those initial reviews on the positiv side. i cant remember seeing any official announcement that they are now offering a significantly larger edge datapath. i would like to bet that after a few weeks those edge timeslots will be cut back, even sooner maybe if it turns out that those hundreds of thousands of iphones cause a systemwide meltdown for some reason.

[cmschmidt]

my guess is that the sudden bandwidth generosity of att is more related to keeping all those initial reviews on the positiv side. i cant remember seeing any official announcement that they are now offering a significantly larger edge datapath. i would like to bet that after a few weeks those edge timeslots will be cut back, even sooner maybe if it turns out that those hundreds of thousands of iphones cause a systemwide meltdown for some reason.

it's called operation "fine edge" and yes it is an official bump up of att's edge network.

[Zadillo]

Ack! I am glad I wasn't driving on the same roads you were today. :eek:

a) I have a cradle for my Treo (since I use it also as a GPS device, and for handsfree calling).

b) I only ran the speed test while I was stopped at a stop light, not while actually driving.

[Zadillo]

my guess is that the sudden bandwidth generosity of att is more related to keeping all those initial reviews on the positiv side. i cant remember seeing any official announcement that they are now offering a significantly larger edge datapath. i would like to bet that after a few weeks those edge timeslots will be cut back, even sooner maybe if it turns out that those hundreds of thousands of iphones cause a systemwide meltdown for some reason.

That wouldn't make any logical sense though; temporarily increase speeds so initial reactions and experiences are good, and then cut them back so everyone thinks performance has gotten worse?

[pale9]

That wouldn't make any logical sense though; temporarily increase speeds so initial reactions and experiences are good, and then cut them back so everyone thinks performance has gotten worse?

i am not saying this will happen, only that it could! att can always come up with statements like "...the unprecedented popularity of the iphone stretched resources..."

"...while we work to expand bandwidth, varying performance is possible..."

marketing-speak knows no limit of creativity :-)

[CRIIM44]

reporting in from louisville, ky

getting 270 kbps on a nokia e62

cant wait to get my iphone in about two hours

[kdarling]

That wouldn't make any logical sense though; temporarily increase speeds so initial reactions and experiences are good, and then cut them back so everyone thinks performance has gotten worse?

Cable companies did it a lot at first when they were low on decent equipment.

They'd come into a neighborhood, wow everyone with fast speeds, then move the good stuff onto the next 'hood... leaving the first one high and dry for a while. Eventually all get up to speed.

The question about Fine EDGE is, how did they do it? Just allocate more data slots? If so, does that mean that there'll be more dropped voice calls when you go between cells? Or will data users be dropped down whenever a voice call tries to join?

[slimsakus]

Fair enough; I don't know the current percentage coverage areas for AT&T's 3G network vs. Sprint's. I do know that AT&T has been rolling out more 3G coverage though.

The fundamental issue with Sprint or Verizon though would be whether Apple wants to make a CDMA iPhone. Until they do, it's kind of a moot point anyway.

But yes, it seems like that's exactly the issue with an HSPDA/UTMS phone from Apple; power consumption and battery life. Doesn't do them much good to make something that is going to drain battery life so bad like a Blackjack.

You are right; it wasn't fair for me to point out the problems of Sprint as a company. I think they're only relevant to the degree that there might be other reasons to not partner with Sprint.

As for how AT&T can charge what they do for EDGE; realistically, they don't have any incentive to charge even less than they do for EDGE (nor does Sprint have an incentive to have an even cheaper data plan for people using 1xRTT or whatever it is).

You are probably right about what they are charging, they have it set for the market with their customers and people are willing to pay it then why not right? I guess coming from Sprint side of things, I am kinda dumbfounded.

I think Verizon probably turned down Apple because of wanting profits from the Carrier and maybe something down the road with iTunes being involved. Verizon would not see that money where they do their whole Vcast stuff and make profits that way...I am not sure Cingular really has much going there. Plus isn't Verizon starting a TV over the air kind of deal. Not sure. Either case power consumption is something that is a big issue when you want to have a phone that does media player and all that stuff, so probably why they didn't go with a high speed version. When battery technology gets better, it will compliment other technologies and be able to do more.

[kcmac]

I am in Kansas City, Mo and have tested it 3 times with my phone.

Lowest was 369 kbs
Highest was 462 kbs
The other one was 426 kbs

This will be awesome!!!
All right KC!!!!

I would still use WiFi as much as possible, not whinin', just sayin...:D

[kcmac]

re: suddenly increased edge speed



are there an infinite number of time slots?

if not, what happens when hundres of thousands of iphones get released into the wild? is it possible that that could create a systemwide meltdown>>>?
The more people use it the faster it gets. You know, a p2p network :D
Can't wait to know more. You lucky ba$tard$ getting yours tonight and this weekend. Share info with us peasants...:D

[Cassie]

Not gonna happen. For one, I don't think the FTC would even allow AT&T to have a monopoly on GSM here, and Deutsche Telekom has stated before that they're commited to T-Mobile USA. I think if anything happens (and that's a huge if), Vodafone will sell of their stake in Verizon Wireless and buy up T-Mobile, I'm sure they want their own GSM network in the US, rather than 45% ownership of a CDMA one that their customers can't even use when they come over here.

But, if it did happen, and we're left with AT&T, VZW and Sprint, I think I'd choose Sprint. They seem to be the lesser of the 3 evils.

Except for their outrageous phone prices.:(