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wchangch

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 25, 2013
36
8
iPhone 6 with ATT here. Typically tested at less than 6 - 7Mbps download speed around Seattle/Bellevue area, where my friend with T-Mobile would get some 40 - 50Mbps while testing side by side with me (connected to the same server). I am starting to wonder if there's an issue with my phone. Could anyone with AT&T from Seattle/Bellevue area share your speed here please? Will probably consider switching to T-Mobile if ATT is found significantly slower than T-mo in this area. Thanks guys!
 
I think its the network, not your phone. Just did a test and got 6.45 download. I've seen it as high as 32 on previous tests.
 
It's the network. Because T-Mobile's US headquarters are in Bellevue, the area is way built out for TM's LTE bandwidth by comparison with AT&T. The speed difference completely blew me away when I switched.

I think I maxed out between 9-12 Mbps on AT&T.

Indoors, signal sucks on both, but is a little worse on T-Mobile. Oddly, in Bellevue proper, I sometimes get LTE indoors on TM in the same spots where AT&T would get nothing on the exact same phone. In my house, which is a little further out, it's equally sketchy 4G for both. Step outside and it's LTE on either...but the TM speeds are around 3x-4x faster.

Add in TM's wifi calling and $30/month prepaid, and switching became a no brainer for me. That said, if you travel much, you might need to research their coverage in places you travel to, because I understand it's really bad to nonexistent in some places.
 
iPhone 6 with ATT here. Typically tested at less than 6 - 7Mbps download speed around Seattle/Bellevue area, where my friend with T-Mobile would get some 40 - 50Mbps while testing side by side with me (connected to the same server). I am starting to wonder if there's an issue with my phone. Could anyone with AT&T from Seattle/Bellevue area share your speed here please? Will probably consider switching to T-Mobile if ATT is found significantly slower than T-mo in this area. Thanks guys!

I average around 15-20ishMbps on N Bellevue (towards Kirkland) while in downtown Bellevue I sometimes get 10Mbps. Enough for streaming but somehow when indoors it gets really slow.
 
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