You Can Trust Our Reviews
Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Buying Guide: Facts About 3G/4G Networks
Contents
- The Fastest Mobile Networks 2010
- Fastest Mobile Networks: City Summaries
- Facts About 3G/4G Networks
- How We Tested: Mobile Networks
1: There is an official definition of 3G, but "4G" is just a marketing term so far. A 3G network must consistently deliver speeds of over 144 kilobits per second, while moving. Still, even though 4G has no real meaning, it's a useful term to describe newer, incompatible networks which follow 3G.
2: The fastest AT&T download we saw, at 5.05 Mbits/sec, was right behind Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, CA. Of course the home of the iPhone would have the best AT&T signal!
3: The fastest connection in any of our tests was a blazing 9.11 Mbits down on Sprint 4G in the Midtown neighborhood of Atlanta, GA.
4: The slowest city, on average, was Raleigh, with average 3G downloads of 880kbits/sec.
5: The fastest city was Dallas, whose 1.7 Mbits/sec average was boosted by strong performances from both T-Mobile and Sprint 4G.
6: T-Mobile's HSPA+ rollout is making a dramatic difference in speeds. We saw HSPA+ in New York, Dallas, L.A., and Charlotte. T-Mobile's average download speed in those four cities was 1.91 Mbits/sec, compared to 927 kbits/sec where they haven't started rolling out HSPA+. That's a huge change.