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Speed differences between 3G and Edge?

mkrishnan said:
I have a /User/Library/Caches/MobileSafari ... but it's empty.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that!

Is that location specified in another file somewhere, that you could look to see if it's changed?

Of course, the location could be hardcoded within the browser, or non-existent if using available RAM.

The reason I believe the cache is in RAM, is because of the Flash memory that's used in the iPhone. The cpu can only write to it in 256K blocks, which can be slow.

And the Flash only has a 5,000 write cycle lifetime. Perfect for songs and photos and contacts and things that rarely change. Not a good memory for constant use by programs or video recording.
 
We're getting what, around 150 - 200 right now?

3g is something like 700-800.

So more like, DSL to Cable... Only slower... A WiFi hotspot will still be faster. You'll probably get better reception with 3g, though.

Suddenly I'm thinking there's going to be a whole lot of disappointed customers when 3g is out...
 
kdarling said:
Is that location specified in another file somewhere, that you could look to see if it's changed?

...

And the Flash only has a 5,000 write cycle lifetime. Perfect for songs and photos and contacts and things that rarely change. Not a good memory for constant use by programs or video recording.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I'm kind of out of my league without a lot of research on iPhone hacking at this point. :eek:

Regarding the write lifetime, I highly doubt that is true in the real world. My impression is that, even for low end flash, that number is around 10,000, and people increasingly find that it just doesn't end up mattering in real life. I guess my biggest worry would actually be habitually overwriting e-mails, but realistically, I seriously doubt anything will happen, even with heavy browsing, during the iPhone lifetime.

bmb012 said:
So more like, DSL to Cable... Only slower... A WiFi hotspot will still be faster. You'll probably get better reception with 3g, though.
Click to expand...

I have Cox cable internet... for reference, here are some numbers from iphonenetworktest.com (just because I can run it on everything):

EeePC notebook, Ubuntu, Firefox 3.0, 802.11g router connection, cable internet: 2300-2400 kbps

iMac G5, Tiger, Safari 3.x, 802.11g router, cable internet: 2100 kbps (no idea why the iMac numbers are lower)

iPhone, 1.1.4, Mobile Safari, 802.11g router, cable internet: highly variable, 700-1500 kbps

iPhone, 1.1.4, Mobile Safari, T-Mobile EDGE: 120-140 kbps

(The router is an 802.11-g era AEBS, and everything is roughly 8-10 feet from the router during the test).

I have no idea also why the iPhone WiFi numbers are so variable, but basically, it seems like, in a good HSPA environment, the iPhone can keep pace with the iPhone on Wifi, but probably not with a computer on Wifi.... In less high power HSPA reception, it'll probably be about half as fast as WiFi, but still very good.
 
mkrishnan said:
Regarding the write lifetime, I highly doubt that is true in the real world. My impression is that, even for low end flash, that number is around 10,000, and people increasingly find that it just doesn't end up mattering in real life.
Click to expand...

Ah, well it's the curse of being an engineer with thirty years' embedded experience, half of that with handhelds, touchscreens and even designing some flash systems. I study and try to understand every spec I post about.

The flash memory used in iPods (including the iPhone/touch) is not like the flash you read about in SSDs etc. That would cost way too much. Instead, it has a much lower 5,000 erase/write cycle lifetime. As you say, normally that's plenty.

More interestingly, perhaps, is the fact that most of this kind of flash memory leaves the factory with bad blocks, again because of cost considerations. Up to 50MB, per 2GB segment, can come as bad and still be within specs.

Obviously this isn't advertised, because you could buy one 32GB touch and have little bad memory, whereas your neighbor could in theory get one with 800MB missing. I highly suspect that this is why iTunes shows such a nebulous "Other" memory section :)
 
BrittQ said:
Why EDGE versus 3G matters less than you think.
Click to expand...

Just another in a long line of articles trying to excuse the lack of 3G in the iPhone.

Real life experiences, however, show that ATT's HSPA should allow the phone to download web pages up to four or more times faster.

To some people, that doesn't matter so much. They have nothing better to do. For others, getting a page in 15 seconds instead of 60, is worth it.

Throw in the ability to do data and talk at the same time, and clearer speech, and articles like that one just sound like sour grapes.
 
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