CNET Labs spent two days of timing Apple iPhone’s download speeds between AT&T’s EDGE network and Wi-Fi. “Tests were run at different points throughout the day to account for changes in network bandwidth, and the iPhone was reformatted after each download to ensure that Safari’s browser cache wouldn’t skew results,” Donald Bell reports for CNET’s Crave.

CNET’s test results found that EDGE averaged a download time of 15.69 minutes for a 9.4MB file vs. Wi-Fi’s 1.18 minutes. In other words, iPhone’s Wi-Fi connection is on average about 13 times faster than EDGE.

Full article here.
In related news, water is wet. We’ve found EDGE is wonderful for stimulating conversation with people to whom we’re showing the iPhone’s Internet capabilities. It usually gives us just enough time to show off the casing front, sides and back while explaining the ring/silent, volume up/down, sleep/wake/on/off, and home buttons, plus allow for chit chat about the weather. Using iPhone with Wi-Fi is a whole different world; think “modem” vs. “broadband.” In some areas, EDGE works well enough, but it can never be described as “fast.” Thankfully, iPhone finds and switches to open Wi-Fi service whenever it’s available.