Both T-Mobile and AT&T have both launched and announced their HSPA 7.2 upgrade this week. This bumps them up from the previous 3.6mbps theoretical speed limit. Still AT&T admits that they still need to update the backhaul from the towers to the internet since that is the current bottleneck. That update is planned over 2010 and 2011 with Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami already getting the upgraded fiber optics backhaul love.
T-Mobile on the other hand did not make any mention of backhaul upgrades but they now claim their 3G network reaches more than 200 million Americans. They also plan to speed past carriers promising 4G LTE by being the first to roll out HSPA+ with 26mbps speeds in 2010.
All these 3.5G and 4G upgrades should make for an interesting year…
Edwin ( View Profile) Beginner - Posts: 236
Posted: January 6, 2010 at 10:36 AM EST
t-mobile is already down with there upgrades, i use to get Edge only on my Bold 9700 at work since Monday i have been getting 3G at work. That missed-up how AT&T is now upgrading there system to 7.2Mbps. So their the Fastest but they are not reliable
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Posted: January 6, 2010 at 11:11 AM EST
Before everyone starts jumping in thinking they are going to all of a sudden get killer download speeds, a note:
Just because the network has been upgraded to 7.2mbps, doesn’t mean that’s what people are going to start getting on their handsets. Device limitations also will come into play on how fast they are able to download data as well.
Also…with RIM, you need to understand that with the way RIM’s network compresses data, you’re not going to have the same readings as say someone with a G1 or MyTouch or windows mobile device.
Here’s some tests that I ran this morning on a 9700 on the TMO network using mobilespeedtest.com. These are by no means scientific, but they give a good idea of average usage by end-users.
If I find chargers for my other TMO 3G devices (MyTouch and N900), I will post those as well.
3G using TMO Wap Browser
100kb (can’t get anything larger to show for test)
Test 1: 125kbs
Test 2: 87.816kbs
Test 3: 158.416kbs
Test 4: 103.493kbs
Average:118.681kbs
3G using BlackBerry Internet Browser
2MB
Test 1: 2985.075kbs
Test 2: 1604.814kbs
Test 3: 5925.926kbs
Average: 3505.271kbs
3MB
Test 1: 6015.038kbs
Test 2: 8135.593kbs
Test 3: 8391.608kbs
Average: 7514.079kbs
5MB
Test 1: 6944.444 kbs
Test 2: 8016.032kbs
Test 3: 8492.569kbs
Average: 7817.681kbs
2G (EDGE) using BlackBerry Internet Browser
2MB
Test 1: 4255.319
Test 2: 4624.277
Test 3: 3883.495
Average: 4254.363kbs
3MB
Test 1: 4660.194
Test 2: 5405.405
Test 3: 7272.727
Average: 5779.442kbs
5MB
Test 1: 6240.25
Test 2: 6033.183
Test 3: 6015.038
Average:6096.157kbs
The highest I was actually able to receive download wise was running a 5MB test on 3G: 8492.569
beamolite ( View Profile) Enthusiast - Posts: 261
Posted: January 7, 2010 at 3:50 AM EST
Mobilespeedtest.com is known for being very inaccurate. Check around the web and see what others say. I have heard the only accurate test is tethering with a normal speed test on the computer.
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Posted: January 6, 2010 at 11:47 AM EST
Just for the hell of it, I ran a 1MB test on the new Bolt Browser
1MB @ 2G (EDGE)
Test 1: 482.8kbs
Test 2: 388.916kbs
Test 3: 434.783kbs
1MB @ 3G
Test 1: 527.704kbs
Test 2: 1333.333kbs
Test 3: 1275.917kbs