For the first time in ages, AT&T is topping Ookla Speedtest's crowdsourced results for the fastest LTE network in the US.
This Ookla Speedtest Intelligence chart, which shows mean LTE download speeds for each carrier over the past several months, tells the tale. AT&T's 4G network has been on an upswing since July 2018, as the company has ramped up its installation of gigabit LTE technologies, which AT&T calls "5G Evolution."
AT&T hasn't been in the top speed spot nationally for several years; the last time I remember it being there was when it won our Fastest Mobile Networks award in 2013. Competition, clearly, is getting more intense.
"We are thrilled Ookla has confirmed that we are the fastest wireless network nationwide. This is further proof that our wireless network strategy and build are benefiting our customers in ways that other carriers cannot match," said Andre Fuetsch, president of AT&T Labs and Chief Technology Officer.
To get the best speeds, you'll need a relatively current phone. AT&T's gigabit upgrades have used four-carrier aggregation, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), and 4x4 MIMO—technologies that generally need a flagship phone from 2018 or 2019. The Galaxy S9, Galaxy S10, and iPhone XS have these technologies; the iPhone XR, older iPhones, and most midrange phones don't have all of them.
It also helps to be in the right location. Last year, we saw 537Mbps speeds on AT&T's 4G LTE LAA network in Chicago. A lot of AT&T's improvement trend has been about AT&T taking those kinds of technologies and making them more widespread. When we go on the road for our Fastest Mobile Networks tests in May, we'll see how AT&T's leap forward applies over the 30 cities and six rural regions we'll be visiting.
Misleading on 5G
AT&T has clouded the issue, unfortunately, by installing a misleading "5G E" indicator on gigabit-capable 4G phones when they're in gigabit LTE zones. This has led to people on AT&T's support boards thinking they have 5G when they don't, as well as a lot of frustration and mockery when slow LTE speeds end up paired with a "5G" indicator.
In reality, 5G NR is a new radio technology that 4G LTE phones can't use with a simple software update—it requires all new hardware.
Dear AT&T: Updating people's status bars to say "5GE" is bad and you know it's bad.
Not only is it just regular LTE... but long term, results like this will diminish what regular people thing 5G actually is. pic.twitter.com/eumqzUZaxK — Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) April 2, 2019
The Ookla results show that AT&T has no need for such skullduggery. Its 4G LTE network is doing just fine. The company also now says it has a 5G NR network in 12 cities, which just got an upgrade that AT&T says gives it download speeds of over a gig. We look forward to being able to test that.
So Many Ways to Slice It
There are a lot of conflicting speed tests out there. Ookla and OpenSignal both use crowdsourced testing, which is constantly up to date and can give you a great range of devices and locations, but can suffer from bias if, say, one carrier's users tend to have newer phones than another's. GWS, Root Metrics, and PCMag do drive testing, which lets you honestly compare carriers at the same time, in the same place, but covers limited area and can only be done periodically.
Complicating things further, everyone who hands out awards calculates them differently. Ookla tends to give badges based purely on download speeds; we factor in upload speeds and latency; Root adds call completion and text delivery.
Until recently, T-Mobile has won a lot of overall Ookla Speedtest download speed awards. Verizon tends to win a lot of the drive-testing awards. AT&T won an award from GWS based on a very complicated methodology factoring in 12 variables with both drive testing and a user survey. (I thought my methodology was complicated, but GWS makes me look like a piker.)
Obviously, we think our Fastest Mobile Networks awards, which will be revealed in June, are the best. They're certainly the most fun; you can follow our drivers on Twitter in May and suggest places to test. But as a longtime speed tester, I can tell you that what matters is when the awards start to agree.
AT&T's Ookla win is a big step for the carrier. Let's see if it can nail it down when we get our cars on the road.
(Disclosure: Ookla is owned by PCMag parent company, J2 Global. Ookla is also our technology partner for our Fastest Mobile Networks drive tests, and we work with them on various stories.)