AT&T has been named America’s fastest 4G LTE network, according to a newly published PC Magazine study that tested 30 U.S. markets.
In addition to being ranked the fastest overall in the U.S., AT&T’s network swept the top rankings in all six U.S. regions from coast to coast: Northeast, Southeast, North-Central, South-Central, Northwest and Southwest. Moreover, AT&T’s network also ranked first in 24 of the 30 markets tested.
“AT&T is on top of the world this year with the fastest LTE network in most major cities,” said PC Magazine’s lead mobile analyst Sascha Segan. “Combined with a fast HSPA network where it doesn’t have LTE coverage, that makes AT&T our choice this year for speedy mobile data.”
Kris Rinne, AT&T senior vice president-network technologies, said in a statement: “This PC Magazine honor is another important third-party validation of our network quality. We’ve listened to our customers, we’ve invested heavily and worked hard, and today’s news again validates that AT&T offers an outstanding network, device portfolio and value.”
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The 24 markets where AT&T finished first were: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Memphis, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa and Tucson.
T-Mobile won Baltimore, Phoenix, and Washington D.C. Verizon won Detroit, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
Sascha Segan writes, “Beyond our 30 cities, coverage really mattered, and only one LTE network has nationwide coverage: Verizon 4G LTE. With Verizon’s LTE network the only one of its kind in the running, it aced every rural/suburban region and blew away the competing national networks.”
Read more in PC Magazine’s full article here.
24 down and 9 up the other day. Blows away my home Internet of 20 down 2 up.
This is a little off-topic, but relates to Malvado’s comments regarding his home internet service. I recently switched from DISH and DSL to the bundled Comcast cable solution for HDTV and internet. I was OK with the satellite TV (moved away from cable TV in 1995), but DSL speeds of 6 Mbps down and 610 Kbps up were not sufficient anymore, not with Netflix and similar online content. My only other high-speed internet alternative was AT&T Uverse.
Over the past couple of months on Comcast, my download rate has varied from a high of ~61Mbps to a low of ~34 Mbps — a vast improvement over DSL (7 to 12 times as fast). Upload has consistently been ~11 Mbps (18 times as fast as DSL). Ping is typically 13-22 ms.
My biggest complaint is with Comcast TV. The guide is terrible, I have had to reset the (huge) cable boxes several times each to force reload the guide, and the remote sucks big ones (no forward skip button).
The reasons why I ditched cable back in 1995 have all become clear to me again, but I am stuck with it for a while.
LTE speeds are so fast that they come close to (or even exceed) my cable internet service. The only advantage that I have is that I have a much higher data cap (250GB per month, not currently being enforced). Of course, I can’t take it with me on the road, either.
When wireless options provide sufficient throughput, I would be happy to ditch wired internet altogether and go back to satellite TV.
ATT-LTE Memphis: 33 Mbps down – 20 Mbps up
I can tell AT&T is noticeably faster here in L.A. and Orange County, CA. I get data faster than everyone in my smartphone world. Coverage king is still Verizon though.
I agree with you about LA and Orange County. I use the iPhone 5 to transmit photos to the Register all the time. The speed increase is noticeably faster. (now if I can only get a cell signal inside my house)
T-Mobile in NYC: 15Mbps down, 12Mbps up. I guess I could live without the extra 5Mbps…
With four lines costing $100 total (and unlimited everything, throttling of data at 500MB), I can’t really complain.
Not to mention that my $20 per month iPhone installment payment isn’t being taxed at 22% (on top of sales tax I had already paid).
ATT – LTE Austin (78727) 42.05 dn / 7.83 up / 58 ms Ping
AT&T to Verizon:”Can you hear me now?!”
My top speed was 56mbps down in a parking garage in San Francisco. It’s not uncommon for me to get 40mbps+. This is with my iPhone on AT&T (LTE). I also have iPads on Verizon and travel a lot. AT&T is much better for data except for a few places where Verizon connects but AT&T doesn’t. However, I’m finding more connectivity with AT&T as well. Things have really changed in the past couple of years.
Uh oh yeah sure. Too bad in 25 years AT&T/Cingular sucked completely in my neighborhood adjacent to the San Fernando Valley with a big population and a major traffic thoroughfare between 3 freeways. Oh they promised, just never delivered. Reception was miserable (I couldn’t make calls in my own front yard) and I had to use their WiFi MicroCell solution. So last year with the iPhone 5 we switched to Verizon 4G and left AT&T behind, which works great, faster than my Wifi so I’m not complaining. AT&T blew it big time.
AT&T rules here in Philly.
This is no news.
During the years since the iPhone was launched I have read 2-3 independent studies confirming that AT&T has te fastest network. Everytime it is just as surprising to people. Every time… AT&T is a crappy company that overcharges but they have a fast network. And it’s not studies like some dude driving around in a car with his phone… One if the studies that was done a few years ago was done then by a newly formed company that specialised in testing networks founded buy guys that had previously worked in the industry so they probably knew what they were doing. AT&T is fast but they can still stick it really 🙂 but hey, inn2 years when the next study is out, STOP GETTING SO SURPRISED!