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Wow, I did not know AT&T was capable of such high data speeds...

H

HXGuy

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 25, 2010
1,679
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I was in downtown Phoenix yesterday, looking up something online through my phone and noticed it was moving pretty quick.

Pulled up the Speedtest.net app and ran a quick test...

4.66Mbps download and 1.53Mbps upload. Pretty impressive, no? I guess they have downtown Phoenix pretty well covered.
 
Yep, AT&T has done a good job on increasing speeds (for the USA, anyway).

It's one reason why AT&T isn't leaping on the LTE bandwagon as quickly as Verizon.

For AT&T it's easier to continue to build out and upgrade their current 3G network and wait for Verizon to iron out some of the LTE details with equipment vendors. (AT&T chose the same vendors in 2010 that Verizon chose at the end of 2008.)
 
Wow, that's pretty damn good. I'm getting .72 down and 1.45 up. strange that it would have faster up than down. :confused:
 
kdarling said:
Yep, AT&T has done a good job on increasing speeds (for the USA, anyway).

It's one reason why AT&T isn't leaping on the LTE bandwagon as quickly as Verizon.

For AT&T it's easier to continue to build out and upgrade their current 3G network and wait for Verizon to iron out some of the LTE details with equipment vendors. (AT&T chose the same vendors in 2010 that Verizon chose at the end of 2008.)
Click to expand...

Exactly. AT&T got smart here. They are on a wait and see approach to prevent any shortcomings Verizon might and will encounter (random things happen when implementing a new network).

In any case AT&T is also layering their entire backhaul in fiber so that when LTE goes live, AT&T users see those 50Mb/s speeds in real life. Where as Verizon is going tower by tower by tower approach.
 
jav6454 said:
Exactly. AT&T got smart here. They are on a wait and see approach to prevent any shortcomings Verizon might and will encounter (random things happen when implementing a new network).
Click to expand...

Yes. In addition, much of the LTE spec was left open, so someone has to fill in the gaps.

Basically, AT&T is staying at least two years behind in LTE, which they feel is a good plan, and probably is.

In any case AT&T is also layering their entire backhaul in fiber so that when LTE goes live, AT&T users see those 50Mb/s speeds in real life. Where as Verizon is going tower by tower by tower approach.
Click to expand...

Both carriers have to do a tower by tower upgrade, preferably using fiber or microwave.

Verizon Wireless hired Verizon's landline side to upgrade all their towers with fiber by 2013, when LTE is fully rolled out. AT&T recently stated that they will still be deploying fiber backhaul through at least 2015.

Also, Verizon bought MCI back in 2006 specifically because of their major national and international fiber trunks.
 
Exactly, as much as everyone wants you to think otherwise, AT&T actually has excellent speeds (except in NY and SF). I have reached upwords of 6mbps during the day on 3G here.
 
There's an ATT tower in my town, and whenever I tether my iPhone 4 to my netbook and download something I consistently get 800-900KBps, which translates to 6.4-7.2Mbps.

ATT service and speeds are really great in New Jersey.
 
I've been getting constant 2mbps in the L.A. area...

But when I hold the iPhone the "wrong" way...that's another story :\
 
My area was recently upgraded and the best speed I've seen is 3.5 down 1.5 up. A definite improvement from before the upgrade when EDGE speeds were getting unusable and the average speed was 30-50k(sometimes less).
 
HXGuy said:
I was in downtown Phoenix yesterday, looking up something online through my phone and noticed it was moving pretty quick.

Pulled up the Speedtest.net app and ran a quick test...

4.66Mbps download and 1.53Mbps upload. Pretty impressive, no? I guess they have downtown Phoenix pretty well covered.
Click to expand...

I get 5.10 MB download and 2.15 Mbps upload with 5 bars in Maryland. I am very impressed.
 
Me neither.

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If you live in big cities like LA and NYC, then I hear you get a crappy service with AT&T. Well....... sorry for ya all.
 
hcho3 said:
If you live in big cities like LA and NYC, then I hear you get a crappy service with AT&T. Well....... sorry for ya all.
Click to expand...

Well, from my point of view, you hear wrong... "LA" is such a large region, the signal from any cell carrier varies depending upon where you are within the region. Where I am, AT&T is pretty good. As I posted earlier, my gf has Verizon and there are plenty of times when I get a signal when we are together and she doesn't.
Can't comment on NY or wherever you are, and don't pretend to be an expert in places I don't travel or live in.
 
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