Why would one company's 3G connection drain your battery faster than another? If you're streaming internet radio over both, the connection will be open the same, no?
It's far more complex than that.
1) AT&T and Verizon/Sprint do not share the same 3G technologies. AT&T's UMTS (W-CDMA) uses a different air interface and multiplexing technology than Verizon/Sprint's EV-DO (CDMA). This means they may have different signal processing and power transmission requirements for the mobile phone.
2) Your phone does not use a
constant amount of transmission power. It varies considerably depending on how well the signal is traveling between it and the cellular tower. There are many elements that affect the signal transmission, including the type of network technology, the radio frequency that the network is on running on, the density and location of the tower placements, and the obstacles between you and the tower. A good rule of thumb is that the lower the frequency of the radio wave (and thus the higher the wavelength), the farther the signal will travel. This is because lower frequency (higher wavelength) signals have less attenuation from weather and other obstacles (like walls) and thus go farther with less transmission power. This is why over-the-air analog TV that transmits on 700mhz works so well in homes, and so many miles from the transmission station. This is why the FCC's auction for the rights to this very same 700mhz frequency was such a bid deal (in the USA) since current cellular networks run on frequencies between 800 and 2400mhz.
I don't personally know whether CDMA EV-DO technology or AT&T's UMTS/W-CDMA competitor is more efficient with regards to transmission power and signal processing power. I also don't know whose network is built better, but, judging by reports and coverage maps, it appears to almost exclusively depend on your local area. for 3G specifically, it appears Verizon has a larger coverage area for suburban/rural America, but AT&T is gaining fast and apparently has a better 3G network in the areas that is does service.
Have you ever been in a flakey edge area? Your battery meter will shrink before your eyes and your phone will get warm. Slower connections take longer to move data and during that time the battery is working hard for a longer time. You may not notice it with internet radio as a large buffer will try to keep the stream consistent at playback.
Yep, it's all about the signal strength and how much transmission power the phone has to use. I guess an analogy might be... the farther away your buddy is from you in a field or the more obstructions there is between you and him, the louder you have to yell and thus the more energy you use communicating. Is that terrible? lol
VZW and Sprint does lead at&t over in 3G coverage area for now. FYI, that at&t 3G coverage map is not most updated one. There are quite a few markets with 3G that are not marked in the map.
Nonetheless, at&t is working very hard to push 80 more markets of 3G this year.
Also, at&t's 3G upgrade path is easier than VZW and Sprint. They have HSDPA 1.8Mbit/s now, some markets have 3.6Mbit/s. Then they can go to 7.3, 10.2, 14.4. They use simultaneous voice and data which means you can browse the web, check your email, or anything data related while you are on the phone.
Even with Rev. A, VZW and Sprint are still not simultaneous voice/data network. They'll have to wait til Rev. B which is a pretty major ordeal to upgrade to as I understand.
Anyway, if you live in a major city and usually travel to other major cities like me, then you'll have no problem with at&t's 3G coverage. If not, at&t is catching up fast so hopefully your area will be covered soon.🙂
Well, I used the map from their website and that was put together 2 days ago... I'm sure they don't update it as often as they should though. Also, you did make a really good point about simultaneous voice and data use. I knew GSM/EDGE couldn't do it, but I thought both EV-DO and UMTS could.
FOR EVERYONE WHO IS THAT NOT EXCITED ABOUT A 3G iPHONE ---- IT WILL ALLOW YOU TO RECEIVE PHONE CALLS WHILE YOUR DATA CONNECTION IS ACTIVE, UNLIKE THE CURRENT iPHONE.
