PC World: AT&T Wins in 3G Performance Test

AT&T's 3G network pumped out download speeds that were 67% faster than any other national wireless carrier in the latest testing, according to a new series of tests published by PCWorld.com. The report finds that AT&T's network has undergone a dramatic make-over in the last eight months since the previous test was conducted.


In the 13 cities tested, PC World found AT&T's average download speeds increased by more than 80%.


The AT&T network's reliability improved drastically as well: Last spring, PC World testers got a usable broadband connection with AT&T only 68% of the time. In the latest tests, testers connected to AT&T successfully in 94% of their attempts.


Verizon Wireless, which performed best all-around in last spring's 3G network testing, and Sprint, a close second, both continue to perform well, according to the recent study. The tests found that Sprint's network delivered download speeds nearly identical to those measured eight months ago in the 13 test cities, while Verizon's download speeds decreased by 8% on average.


PC World included T-Mobile in its tests for the first time this winter. Its download speeds were competitive with those of Sprint and Verizon in the tests in most major cities.


Throughout December and January, PC World's testing partner, Novarum Inc., tested the download speeds, upload speeds and network dependability of AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon 3G networks from 20 locations in each of 13 U.S. cities. Using laptops running Ixia ixChariot testing software and smartphones running the Internet-based Extreme Labs mobile broadband performance test, Novarum performed more than 10,000 tests in total.
http://www.pcworld.com
http://www.novarum.com/