Nationwide Study Shows AT&T Has Fastest iPhone Data Speeds, Sprint Most Dropped Calls

[DMVillain]

AT&T - You can tether your phone and talk at the same time, while getting 3 times the speed of Verizon.

Verizon - You can't tether your phone, you can't talk at the same time, and you get 1/3 the speed of Verizon

Sprint - Unlimited data at 1/10 the speed

All carriers, you get dropped calls. It depends on where you are and your carriers good/bad spots.


Now... we know why AT&T customers remain loyal and why Mr. Jobs chose AT&T and stuck with AT&T for 3 years exclusively.

I'm tethering my verizon iPhone right now, and even though I never use it, wifi is all over so I can talk on the phone while surfing if I really want to waste my battery. Yes, data is slow.

Also, I'm not saying it was smart to turn it down, but remember who Mr. Jobs brought the iPhone to first.

 

[kleinias]

Verizon sure stinks up the chart, especially with all their bragging about ``Can You Hear Me Now?''

This comment doesn't make much sense in the context of the related article. As the study (if it is reliable) indicates, (and other commenters have pointed this out) Verizon had the lowest Call failure rate.

I think that some folks just have a set thing they want to say regardless of what the article or data actually shows. This looks to hold true even when the article they are commenting on refutes what they would like to say (or already believe).

I know this is common sense, but I do not have any loyalty to any cell-phone network providers (or almost any business for that matter). If they meet the requirements I have then great, if they are sub-par then I will look for some other provider that better meets my needs.

 

[WatchTheThrone]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I have a sprint iPhone 4s and the call quality is excellent!! Had a 3GS on tmobile before with no Internet ( tmobile edge only where I live anyway) so 3G on Sprint has been great with me!! Average slightly under 1 mb which to me is good and my ping is always good too!!
AT&T is gonna be faster because of hspa+ so no surprise there!!
I'm happy with sprint specially with the price (120$ month for 2 iPhone 4S's)
Which include unlimited data!! O and for those who say "with sprints speeds you'll never reach 2gb that other carriers offer but my first month I used 5.4 gigs so if I was with AT&T it would of cost me more than 20 bucks for the extra data!! HAPPY WITH SPRINT!!!!
If your happy with what you've got then don't worry about these tests because most of us don't live in the "test" cities they tested!!!!

 

[jona2125]

Maybe they can survey iPhone dropped calls, correlating directly to the phone. I've dropped over 30% of my calls held for over 8 minutes which is 85% of all calls I make. And it's not the the network it's the phone. Call just ends simultaneously on both devices or call fails simultaneously while remaining 4-5 bar connected at all times. Occurs on all carriers and is only an issue with iOS 5 iPhones. Very odd experiences. 3 replacements and now I'm out of luck with a phone that disconnects and dies on the charger. Apple has pointed to AT&T and AT&T have pointed to Apple. Neither take responsibility but a Genius employee has told me I'm not the first one to call out the issue.

 

[i-John]

I can't believe in this day and age, people still drop calls.

I'm surprised in this day and age that people still call one another

 

[devinci99]

With a proper price point and marketing strategy; Sprint can still compete with whatever technical issues or network performance they have.

Unfortunately, at the moment, Sprint strategy does not make a whole lot of sense.

I was curious on how much I could save if I switch to Sprint and went over to Sprint.com to put a package together for a quote. When you add up a typical Sprint plan and compare it with AT&T and Verizon; they aren't that much cheaper than the competition.

For some people like me, that difference isn't enough to for me to deal with the downside of being a Sprint customer.

I'm both a T-Mobile customer and a AT&T customer, and I've consider switching my family plan from T-Mobile and get my family on the iphone; but from reading reviews and comparing the price points, it does not make sense. Sprint is so much more expensive than T-Mobile is; and it wasn't worth it even for iphone 4S.

I've no idea what Sprint is doing just because they are able to score a iphone on their network. Their market segment is closer to t-mobile for a fair comparison, yet their prices aren't where T-Mobile is. I would seriously consider switching to them if they were more competition there.

 

[iphoneidiot]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

AT&T had a huge head start! They've had the iPhone since day one.

 

[delnerdo]

got coverage?

Give me a break.... A measurable download speed assumes coverage, right? If your coverage is lousy what good does it do to compare download speeds? And how can you rate all three carriers as "excellent" in reliability when you know the coverage varies?

 

[HiRez]

Your comment makes no scense. Verizon has the lowest call failure rate.

Although it will various regionally, that's certainly my experience. Previously, on AT&T, I would have about 50% of calls made from various locations either dropped, or with some other issue (bad quality, echoing, one side cannot hear the other, etc.). It was so absolutely abysmal it drove me to switch to Verizon, despite knowing I wouldn't get simultaneous voice and data, and would get lower data speeds. We have 2 iPhones, since we switched, we have had ZERO dropped calls on Verizon on either phone. Not one. Furthermore, there are so far no places I've not gotten 3G coverage. AT&T's 3G would either be on the fringe (unreliably switching on and off and with slow speeds) or unavailable quite often.

 

[joeshmo2010]

Give me a break.... A measurable download speed assumes coverage, right? If your coverage is lousy what good does it do to compare download speeds? And how can you rate all three carriers as "excellent" in reliability when you know the coverage varies?

The only place if never had coverage with AT&T was out in butt **** nowhere Montana, but now if I go back there, I will have 3G coverage since att acquired some of alltell. AT&T has great coverage overall, I find that I have more bars in the majority places that my Verizon iPad will show 1-2.

 

[Rocketman]

AT&T has the only "4G" iPhone. If they are using the HSPA+ or whatever it is called while the other carriers are using 3G, it's a mute point. Try using AT&T's actual 3G network. There is no way in hell the 4S and 4 are nearly equal on AT&T.

It looks like both the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S takes advantage of HSPA+. This is interesting because when the iPhone 5 is released middle of next year and the very popular iP3GS is replaced by the iP4 on the low end, the entire ATT iPhone line will be so-called 4G, however the LTE device will be actually that.

I would like to see LTE iPhones and iPads and iPod Touches offer either data only and voice via VoIP, or keep the voice capacity on some models with a paygo option to enable it when/as needed.

We saw a segmented bucket data plan when iPad was released and that should be the model going forward.

Rocketman

 

[CubusX]

At&t

Although it will various regionally, that's certainly my experience. Previously, on AT&T, I would have about 50% of calls made from various locations either dropped, or with some other issue (bad quality, echoing, one side cannot hear the other, etc.). It was so absolutely abysmal it drove me to switch to Verizon, despite knowing I wouldn't get simultaneous voice and data, and would get lower data speeds. We have 2 iPhones, since we switched, we have had ZERO dropped calls on Verizon on either phone. Not one. Furthermore, there are so far no places I've not gotten 3G coverage. AT&T's 3G would either be on the fringe (unreliably switching on and off and with slow speeds) or unavailable quite often.

Ive had the same experience. I drooped 18 calls in 3 days. I called AT&T and they tried to sell my the personal 3G tower (can't remember what it's called) at a cost to me. When I told them it was unacceptable that I have to buy additional equipment to make their service work. They then told me that in the next few months a new tower near my house would be built. I told them them it was unacceptable to wait for them to improve service. that's they had.

I went to Verzion and haven't looked back. Yea, the slow data and the occasional lack of talk and data sucks but I prefer to be able to make and keep calls.

 

[Lek]

I went to Verzion and haven't looked back. Yea, the slow data and the occasional lack of talk and data sucks but I prefer to be able to make and keep calls.

I was just about to get pissed that I had Verizon and slow data rates when I remembered I really enjoy good phone service.

 

[damir00]

A little surprised Verizon comes in so slow. How does their much-hyped 4G service stack up against the (apparently) much faster ATT 3G?

 

[KnightWRX]

A little surprised Verizon comes in so slow. How does their much-hyped 4G service stack up against the (apparently) much faster ATT 3G?

The iPhone 4S can't use Verizon's 4G service. But it can use AT&T's. So really this article is pure bunk. Of course AT&T is going to have the faster data rates.

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Verizon sure stinks up the chart, especially with all their bragging about ``Can You Hear Me Now?''

Your grasp of what we are talking about here is astounding. What does reachability have to do with bandwidth ?

 

[nickn]

I can't believe this. AT&T is one of the worst "companies" I have ever seen. I live in a suburb very close to Chicago, and we still can't even get 3G. This is confirmed from my own observations and by asking several people who use their service around here. That is totally unacceptable. You would think they would invest in some tower upgrades in one the largest metro areas in the entire world, but I guess this is AT&T we are talking about. It is also hard to even make regular voice calls. Calls are frequently dropped and even if they don't drop they sound terrible. Additionally I find it humorous that AT&T actually wants people to pay to get an Internet relay device. Why should I pay from my own pocket to fix their coverage issues. Isn't that what the monthly changes for service are for?*

 

[damir00]

The iPhone 4S can't use Verizon's 4G service. But it can use AT&T's.

Yes, obviously. I'm asking how a Samsung 4G-enabled on Verizon fares against Apple 4S on ATT 3G.

So really this article is pure bunk. Of course AT&T is going to have the faster data rates.

That doesn't really make much sense. If Verizon has to go to "4G" to match other people's "3G", then they're hyping something pretty mediocre.

And that's what I want to know - does using Verizon 4G with a competing phone fare better than using ATT 3G with latest iPhone?

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What does reachability have to do with bandwidth ?

VOIP. If data bandwidth is limited, then you will be less reachable by Skype/Facetime etc.

It's a new world out there...

 

[Rodimus Prime]

If T-Mobile carried the iPhone, they would have the fastest data.

Very true. T-Mobile has the fastest "fake" G network between AT&T and T-Mobile.
Now since this was limited to only the 3G and "fake" G networks who is really surpised by the fact that AT&T came out on top. Now say they were testing some true 4G power phones (LTE or WiMax) then AT&T would of been on the bottom of the list. But this was iPhone testing and iPhone does not have 4G yet. It is a year away.

Verizon sure stinks up the chart, especially with all their bragging about ``Can You Hear Me Now?''

Umm that is about coverage. Not about data speed. Wrong topic

The only place if never had coverage with AT&T was out in butt **** nowhere Montana, but now if I go back there, I will have 3G coverage since att acquired some of alltell. AT&T has great coverage overall, I find that I have more bars in the majority places that my Verizon iPad will show 1-2.

I think it should be limited to you have to be in AT&T 3G or HSPA+ network. If you are in Edge aka not near a major city then Verizon beats the crap out of AT&T. I want to say Sprint would as well since it roams on Verizon's towers.

 

[CubusX]

Studies

A little surprised Verizon comes in so slow. How does their much-hyped 4G service stack up against the (apparently) much faster ATT 3G?

I believe a study was recently released that had Verizon as the fastest 4G service in the US but it wasn't tested due to the iPhone 4S only being a 3G phone.

 

[Sankersizzle]

I'm only getting 4.66 Mbs on 3G. Damn you Rogers!

PS. Can someone link me to the 4S 3G speed test thread? I can't find it for the life of me....

 

[CubusX]

Studies

A little surprised Verizon comes in so slow. How does their much-hyped 4G service stack up against the (apparently) much faster ATT 3G?

I believe a study was recently released that had Verizon as the fastest 4G service in the US.

And who knows if the AT&T iPhone was tested on the its actual 3G or 4G network.

 

[NoExpectations]

I believe a study was recently released that had Verizon as the fastest 4G service in the US.

And who knows if the AT&T iPhone was tested on the its actual 3G or 4G network.

AT&T and Verizon both have 4G LTE....both are exactly the same specs and speed.

AT&T and Verizon use different 3G technologies. AT&T's is far superior than Verizon's or Sprint. AT&T is much faster and can support data/voice multitasking.

The current and latest iPhone 4s is a "3G" phone.

 

[Norkusa]

Heard too many negative comments here about AT&T, so I signed up with Sprint when I got my 4S. Unlimited data but I average 0.4 mbps download at home and 0.1 - 0.2 mbps while on the road.

If I could do it all over again, I would have signed up with AT&T.

 

[walkejos]

I actually think they may not be measuring a huge number of "missed" calls on the ATT network. While I do have calls dropped by ATT (typically 3-5 calls per day will just totally crap out on me), what is much more common is an inability to connect or just not receiving calls altogether.

I use Google Voice, which tells me when I've had a missed call even if my phone never rings, and I get tons of "missed" calls that pop up in my Google Voice notifier even though the phone never rang. Just as frequently, I will attempt to place a call and have the phone try and reach the ATT network for 30-60 seconds and then fail.

The dropped calls are only the tip of the iceberg. The problem with ATT is huge. Not being able to rely on calls coming through consistently is a huge problem, particularly if you are using the phone for business reasons. My friends who have both Verizon and Spring iPhones here in Portland, OR, do not have similar problems with their phones.

 

[Nielsenius]

AT&T is the best network for an iPhone user, unless you live out in the boonies. AT&T's 3G (and HSPA+) data speeds blow the competition out of the water. Coverage is fine and dropped calls are getting much better. Plus, AT&T's network supports data multitasking, which Verizon and Sprint don't.

Android is a different story because many of those phones support LTE and Verizon has a larger LTE network than AT&T. Sprint is some crap. They've been doing poorly for years and, unless they turn things around, they'll go out of business or be acquired by another carrier.

I'd switch to another carrier (I'm on AT&T) in an instant if they had an offer better than what I have now. I'm no AT&T fanboy, it's just the best carrier for most iPhone users at the moment.