Ask HN: Who has the fastest mobile network in the US right now?

#1

Post by mmaunder » Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 8:42 PM UTC

I'm in the market for a new phone and It's tough to get a straight answer over who has the fastest network. By fast I mean throughput in MB/s with acceptable latency. I'd love to hear the community's thoughts. Bonus points for including your favorite handset on the network. Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: Who has the fastest mobile network in the US right now?

#2

Post by Jake541 » Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 9:39 PM UTC

Depends on the area of coverage, it could be Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile.

Technically, AT&T is the amongst the fastest currently (along with Sprint WiMax and T-Mobile HSPA, where available), but I've been both in areas where its much faster than Verizon and areas where its been much slower than Verizon.

T-Mobile has pretty limited coverage areas, but they're rolling out HSPA. If you're in an HSPA-covered area of theirs, that may be your best bet. If you're in a Sprint WiMax-covered area, Sprint may be your fastest bet.

Summary: It depends on your coverage area and congestion levels.

Re: Ask HN: Who has the fastest mobile network in the US right now?

#3

Post by byoung2 » Mon, Jul 26, 2010, 9:39 PM UTC

It depends on here you live and where you travel. In my experience, Sprint has the fastest average data speeds across a large footprint with roughly even performance wherever you go (http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=198054&page=1&zoomIdx...). With 3G covering the entire US and Puerto Rico, and 4G in about 30 cities, you can't go wrong with Sprint.

Verizon has roughly the same coverage as Sprint, with slightly higher speeds in some areas, but no 4G network up and running, though LTE is on the way.

AT&T claims to have the fastest network, but you can ask any iPhone user how often they get the max speed. In places like New York or San Francisco, it seems that the towers are too overcrowded to be reliable.

T-Mobile has been upgrading its 3G network to HSPA+, which is supposedly able to reach speeds of 21mbps down, 3mbps up, but there are currently no handsets that can connect to it. T-Mobile also has a very small network footprint.

EDIT: I have the HTC Evo 4G on Sprint. I have connected to 4G in Los Angeles at speeds between 3.5mbps and 5.6mbps down and 1mbps up.