UK Network Speed Tests on iPhone 4

[applemax]

Hi

For people (such as myself) who have yet to purchase iPhone 4, please visit this link on your iPhone 4 or on your computer, and download the SpeedTest.net app.

Then do a speed test over 3G, take a screenshot (press sleep+home) and post it here so we can compare UK network speeds.

Many, many thanks in advance!

🙂

 

[biffarino]

i switched to orange on thursday and had mixed feelings. i had no signal at my house but when i was out and about 3g coverage and speed seemed a lot better than it had been on o2. the no signal at home was a massive problem though and i've had to terminate the contract and return the iphone 4 sadly. as i'm no longer an o2 customer, i can't go purchase an iphone 4 with them until july sometime, so i'll probably give vodafone a go. my girlfriend is on vodafone and the 3g is often patchy at her house, whereas both o2 and orange seemed steady and reasonably fast.

i wasn't prepared to wait for orange to fix the faulty masts in my area, because they didn't give a clear time of when it would be fixed. if there was reception at home, i'd be very happy with them.

 

[davidhawkins123]

I cant really say but o2 seems to be improving over time, however iPhone 4 with it's problems can sometimes give crappy signal but sometimes give an excellent one

 

[applemax]

Awesome, any test results? 🙂

 

[applemax]

Have tried my iPhone 4 on both Vodafone and O2 in Central London.

Vodafone has a vastly stronger 3G signal, which is particularly noticeable indoors (at my workplace (EC4) O2 barely had 1 bar of 3G signal, often dropping to 4-5 bars EDGE whenever the phone was gripped... 4-5 bars 3G on Vodafone). The data network was also often congested on O2, with timeouts or slow throughput despite a good signal. For GSM voice calls both are similar I found - no issues with dropped calls on either network.

Speed test are only one snapshot, but at similar locations and times of day I managed consistently higher throughput on Vodafone in addition to a much stronger 3G signal without dropping to EDGE/GPRS. See below.

Speed test below on Vodafone in central London (EC4) during peak hours (5:30pm). Typically seem to get 2 to 4.5 Mbps down, 1 to 3 Mbps up throughout central London on 3G signal.

One of the best results I've managed from O2 in the same location (EC4) below. Typically between 1 to 3 Mbps down, 1 to 1.5 Mbps up on 3G.

Granted, the performance of the network will depend on what infrastructure is installed at your location, but Vodafone certainly seems better in London. I will be terminating my O2 contract. 🙂

Source

 

[applemax]

...anyone? Come on, let's get all these speed tests in one place!!! 😀

 

[emkwan]

I intend to get an iPhone 4 on three mobile. All the apple stores i'v been to where i'v tested this shows the three mobile is better in speed then even o2 n orange. Next time il have to take a screen shot to show 🙂

 

[applemax]

I intend to get an iPhone 4 on three mobile. All the apple stores i'v been to where i'v tested this shows the three mobile is better in speed then even o2 n orange. Next time il have to take a screen shot to show 🙂

Awesome! Yeah, all the iPhones in the Apple Stores seem to be running on 3 for some reason.

 

[ReflexReact]

What a stupid test. Unless someone is using more than one network then how the hell is this a fair test?

You may as well just ask people what network they're on... as whatever they're on is going to be their fastest... duh.

 

[applemax]

What a stupid test. Unless someone is using more than one network then how the hell is this a fair test?

You may as well just ask people what network they're on... as whatever they're on is going to be their fastest... duh.

Well if everyone posts their speed test result, we can collate details on which networks perform better than others. For example, from personal experience, O2 rarely exceeds 700k for me, whereas Vodafone usually averages 1-2Mbit.

 

[Gav2k]

That's my lowest.

No bumper and oops touching the bottom left.

O2 canery warf area of London.

 

[billtanderson]

I'm in the City (Gresham ST), on O2, my signal strength is showing 5 bars.

Over a couple of minutes here are some tests I did, as you can see pretty variable, but not too bad over all.

More of a problem sometimes is the ping time which I have seen at over 20 seconds!

 

[applemax]

Any Vodafone tests out there? 🙂

 

[emkwan]

Awesome! Yeah, all the iPhones in the Apple Stores seem to be running on 3 for some reason.

Maybe because three is actually the better in terms of '3G' and I also had one of the apple store guys actually say to me three he thinks is the best network in the east midlands for iphone4

 

[dstart]

Bought my handset out right on launch day at Apple Retail and switched over to an o2 micro SIM in store from a normal o2 SIM.

At work, I ran the speedtest app and got 1.7mbit/s down 0.6mbit/s up.

Since then, I've switched to 3 since I waited for them to make their move and come out with the 3 micro-SIM £15 rolling month jobby 😎

I ran the speedtest app again and I now get 4mbit/s down, 2mbit/s up and bare in mind this was inside a solid brick office inside a steel walled warehouse.

At home, I have no 3g masts near me so 3 falls back onto Orange network and I barely get 1 bar, usually no service. Never even bothered to run test. (Will be getting a dual band repeater soon to sort this out anyway)

 

[emkwan]

Bought my handset out right on launch day at Apple Retail and switched over to an o2 micro SIM in store from a normal o2 SIM.

At work, I ran the speedtest app and got 1.7mbit/s down 0.6mbit/s up.

Since then, I've switched to 3 since I waited for them to make their move and come out with the 3 micro-SIM £15 rolling month jobby 😎

I ran the speedtest app again and I now get 4mbit/s down, 2mbit/s up and bare in mind this was inside a solid brick office inside a steel walled warehouse.

At home, I have no 3g masts near me so 3 falls back onto Orange network and I barely get 1 bar, usually no service. Never even bothered to run test. (Will be getting a dual band repeater soon to sort this out anyway)

Thanks for the input dude. Wow where do u live?! Lol

Great to see three doing well where it needs to be. My experiences with o2 r negative :-(

 

[dstart]

I live way out in the sticks on a farm inbetween many hills and valleys. There's basically no coverage on any network. o2 and Vodafone are marginally better but that's only because they operate on 900mhz opposed to 1800mhz for Orange and T-Mobile. (Lower frequencies travel further and are less absorbed but carry less data)
The masts are at the same location.

 

[zeeflyboy]

i switched to orange on thursday and had mixed feelings. i had no signal at my house but when i was out and about 3g coverage and speed seemed a lot better than it had been on o2. the no signal at home was a massive problem though and i've had to terminate the contract and return the iphone 4 sadly. as i'm no longer an o2 customer, i can't go purchase an iphone 4 with them until july sometime, so i'll probably give vodafone a go. my girlfriend is on vodafone and the 3g is often patchy at her house, whereas both o2 and orange seemed steady and reasonably fast.

i wasn't prepared to wait for orange to fix the faulty masts in my area, because they didn't give a clear time of when it would be fixed. if there was reception at home, i'd be very happy with them.

FYI - vodaphone have a femtocell dealio (i forget what they call it... suresignal or something maybe) which plugs into your home internet and gives you a 3g access point, so if you do find you have issues in your home that is always an option.

I know it's not ideal having to pay out for one of those, but I'd rather go for the network that gives me the best reception out and about where I have no control over it, and then if need be at home get one of those cells to give me solid signal.

 

[dstart]

I did consider Sure Signal as an option, but it would mean £50 for the unit plus £25+ p/month SIM only contract for 12 months or £120 for under £25 contracts which would totally circumvent the savings on buying the IP4 outright 🙂

My family are all on o2 which would mean they would all have to switch also, plus any friends who come over would still have sucky signal if they are on any network other than Voda. Sure signal only allows 4 phones connected aswell.

After looking into SureSignal a bit further, it isn't seamless, as in the transfer between femtocell/microcell and macrocell due to the fact the femtocell runs over your internet connection with a lot of users (depending on handset and coverage) have issues with the handset identifying which mast to use or time taken for the handset to negotiate connection with the femotocell. The femtocell also has issues registering the chosen handsets to their servers. It also requires that the handset is 3g.


My solution is this: http://www.wi-ex.com/YX520-I.aspx

It is a large investment, considerably more than Voda but it benefits everyone and when split between 4 people, the cost is affordable.
This allows seamless reception for anyone on any network, it will carry EDGE/HSPA data too. As for really data intensive stuff on my iPhone, I have Wi-Fi to replace my 3g speed needs 🙂