Can You Hear Me Now? AT&T Has Undergone “Drastic Makeover”
Poor AT&T: They take a licking and keep on ticking. But if a new report is to be believed, the telco giant has actually made some dramatic improvements to their 3G network in the last year.If you were to go by the television commercials alone, AT&T’s wireless division provides both “a better 3G experience” as well as “the nation’s fastest 3G network.” Based upon PC World’s latest 3G wireless performance study, both claims appear to be true, according to TUAW.
PC World teamed up with wireless analysis firm Novarum for the study, comparing all four major U.S. wireless carriers in 13 cities across the country from December, 2009 through January, 2010. The study encompassed 51,000 separate tests, 850 square miles and 7 million wireless subscribers.
Out of the four carriers -- that’s AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile -- AT&T showed dramatic improvements when compared to a similar study conducted in March and April, 2009. AT&T hands-down had the fastest download speed in 11 of the 13 cities on notebook computers using either built-in or external 3G cards, and the fastest upload speed in all 13.
On the smartphone front, AT&T had the fastest download speeds in nine of the 13 cities, but again took the crown for fastest upload in all of them. And despite the vocal complaints of iPhone users, the pairing of the device with AT&T provided the fastest download and upload speeds of any device -- with the exception of reliability, where it only slightly trailed the pairing of T-Mobile with the G1, which posted the highest score in that category.
What does it all mean? Wireless service has everything to do with location, location, location, and there will probably always be certain places where one company’s 3G service will trump another’s. Given the escalating war between AT&T and Verizon over 3G dominance, perhaps AT&T isn’t quite the joke that many people seem to feel that it is. Time will tell...
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SpaceTrucker
February 26, 2010 at 8:59am
Don't blame AT&T's service for your problems when it's actually the device that's having the problem. It seems pretty funny the ones who are complaining are using iPhones and other PDA's but not the average joe using a cellphone. Those PDA's generally have weaker signal strengths due to their antennas and other interferences due to other broadcasting chips they have installed, amongst other reasons. I hear people here complaining their iPhone barely gets 1-2 bars when my Nokia is getting a full 5 bars in the exact same location at the exact same moment. Turning off their Wi-Fi and Bluetooth helps their signals somewhat but still it's not anywhere as strong as mine with Bluetooth turned on. (I don't have Wi-Fi on my current phone.) Therefore I can only attest to what I have actually seen firsthand and that is those phones are just having internal problems with getting their signals and need their receivers boosted.
kan831019
February 26, 2010 at 12:59am
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The new Gucci handbags collection of Gucci of 2010 has been "baked". The seasonal series is still filled with cool and refreshing sense. Fresh and cool is the theme of this season. Come on and have a look!
Gucci has always been famous for its high-end fashion, luxury and sexy appeal and becomes the consumer darling of the wealthy high society people. It produces well-known high-end luxury products such as Louis Vuitton,Prada,Chanel,Hermes and Coach. Whether they are shoes, bags or clothing, they both have "a symbol of status and wealth of the" brand image of a wealthy upper-class consumer favor.
popo.jay
February 25, 2010 at 1:13pm
With a nod to Loup407, I've had the opposite experience. And yes, we're talking apples and oranges with performance vs. coverage. I'm in Dallas and the coverage is exceptional (mostly), thus my experience has been wonderful--while in Dallas.I travel frequently to Houston and back, mostly by car, and the 250 miles in between is shoddy at best, barely getting even Edge coverage. Compared to the 200 miles between Dallas-Austin (which is almost ALL 3G, and strong 3G at that) the I-45 coverage is miserable. It's surprising since that's a highly travelled route between the largest and second largest metropolitan areas in the southern half of the U.S.I can't complain; I just wish I had more coverage on that drive, otherwise, I love the service I've gotten from AT&T. --Jay
CaptainV45
February 25, 2010 at 10:13am
I am happy with AT&T! I live just outside of Philly and have always got great service except for a few dead zones near Norristown. But I have also traveled with my iPhone and have received excellent 3G in Pittsburgh, Orlando and Washington DC. The only places I had poor performance was along the Appalachian trail in Maryland where I could not even get Edge.
Before I got my 3Gs, I was able to get full bars and edge in Elkins, WV. Back when I went to school there, I had a verizon phone. I barely got one bar if any bars at all.
Loup407
February 25, 2010 at 8:13am
It's clear that Denver must not have been one of the cities in which they ran the test. AT&T's service here has been abysmal,and has gotten worse. It's possible 3G here is faster, when you can get it, but the voice network is barely functional. What calls I do get (many go straight to voice mail) drop, with my signal strength inexplicably cycling back and forth from five bars to "no service", while my iphone is sitting on my desk. Granted, being close to the mountains is a challenging environment, but I was in Salt Lake City a month ago (with more mountains in more directions) and got better coverage.
SpaceTrucker
February 25, 2010 at 7:52am
Where's all the Verizon people at now?!? Still trying to upload their comments?!?
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