Wired survey: AT&T network to blame for iPhone 3G woes?
Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:17PM EDT
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Does the new iPhone suffer from iffy 3G reception, or does AT&T just have a spotty 3G network? That's the question Wired sought to answer through an informal survey of iPhone 3G users.
Wired News posted the results of its survey early Monday; in all, more than 2,600 worldwide iPhone 3G users responded, each posting their fastest 3G and EDGE data speeds along with their cities, countries, and GPS coordinates.
Wired helpfully mapped the results here, complete with bars indicating levels of service and the number respondents in a given area. You can also peruse the raw data in this Google spreadsheet.
The results? Overall, European iPhone 3G users—and especially those in Germany and the Netherlands—seemed to get the fastest 3G data speeds (averaging a whopping 2,000Kbps), with the slowest speeds coming from Australia (just 700Kbps). U.S. iPhone users landed somewhere in the middle, although they reported the most "0" speeds (no data access at all); then again, most of the survey respondents (more than 1,600) were from the U.S., so keep that in mind.
Other findings: T-Mobile in Europe appears to be the speediest iPhone carrier (about 1,800Kbps), with Rogers/Fido in Canada coming in second, followed by AT&T, Telstra, Telia, and Softbank (average of 990Kbps). Coming in dead last: Optus and Virgin in Australia, with a pokey 390Kbps average.
Looking at the numbers, it looks like European iPhone 3G users are enjoying pretty snappy data performance compared to those of us in the U.S.—and as Wired notes, Europe has about a three-year head start in terms of 3G HSDPA networks (AT&T didn't launch its HSDPA data network until 2004, compared to 2001 for European carriers).
Wired's conclusion:
In our view, this data is a strong indicator that performance of the mobile carrier's network is affecting the iPhoe 3G more than the handset itself. This also furthers our thesis that it's highly unlikely that Apple is going to wave a magical wand and say, "3G problems, be gone" with a software update."
Interesting stuff—but I'd be even more curious to see how the iPhone 3G compares speed-wise to other 3G handsets on AT&T's HSDPA network.
For example: I happen to have the iPhone 3G and an AT&T 3G-capable Palm Treo Pro right here in my third-floor Manhattan office (in the vicinity of Astor Place).
Using DSL Report's mobile speed test (the testmyiphone.com service used by Wired's guinea pigs will only work on the iPhone), I put the iPhone 3G and the Treo Pro—each using AT&T 3G SIM cards—through their respective paces.
Running the test a total of 10 times for each device—twice with 100K files, three times with 1MB files, and five times with 400K files—the iPhone 3G managed an average download speed of 173Kbps, compared to 293 for the Treo Pro.
Ouch … also, the iPhone 3G peaked at a respectable 523Kbps but dipped as low as 72Kbps, while the Treo peaked at 508Kbps but never slipped below 155Kbps.
Now, a single test conducted by one guy in just one place doesn't prove anything, but I'm not sure how much the Wired test proves either, given the informal nature of the survey and lack of side-by-side device comparisons on the same network. To my mind, the iPhone 3G's reception—or lack thereof—is still open to debate.
So, reactions to Wired's survey? (Make sure to check out the complete report here.) Got your own iPhone 3G speed tests to share? Fire away.
Update: The Unofficial Apple Weblog reports that engineers in Sweden compared the iPhone 3G's reception with that of a Nokia N73 and a Sony Ericsson P1. The result: A "negligible" difference between the three phones, with the iPhone 3G's reception deemed "completely normal." So ... go figure.
Related:
Wired.com's iPhone 3G Survey Reveals Network Weaknesses [Wired News]
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Comments on Wired survey: AT&T network to blame for iPhone 3G woes?
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7 Posted by zurijim on Thu Sep 3, 2009 11:02PM EDT Report Abuse
love to see posting from a company - i.e. Verizon. Anyone who has and uses Verizon knows their "network" is terrible. I have never had more calls dropped than I do on my current Verizon phone. AT&T might not be any better, which is probably affecting the iPhone. Unfortunately, in the U.S. there is no mobile provider with even decent coverage. I wish Verizon spent half the money they do on marketing their network to actually improving the piece of....
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8 Posted by srwilco on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:38PM EDT Report Abuse
Very interesting--the only flaw in the study I could see is that the word "data" is a plural noun: "In our view, *these* data *are* a strong indicator that performance of the mobile carrier's network is affecting the iPhoe 3G more than the handset itself." Other than that, nice job :)
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9 Posted by cvanbus on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:32PM EDT Report Abuse
uh. I switched from Sprint to Verizon a little over a year ago, and I have yet to have a dropped call. They have a good network. Crappy customer service, but a good network.
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10 Posted by cruzan_son on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:31PM EDT Report Abuse
To srwilco: it is correct to use *this* and *is* in the statement. If you remove the noun data from the sentence, the sentence still reads correctly. "This is a strong indicator..." reads much better than "These are a strong indicator..." But then again the word data is one of those words that can be tricky to use. As for the iPhone issues, I dont have any b/c I dont have one...yet. ;-)
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11 Posted by robertovadia on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:45PM EDT Report Abuse
You spelled iPhone wrong in your conclusion: "In our view, this data is a strong indicator that performance of the mobile carrier's network is affecting the iPhoe."
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12 Posted by bryan.holliday on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:14PM EDT Report Abuse
I've found that they .5 bar I get for 3G is no faster than the Edge network SO I cut off the 3G unless I see I"m getting a better signal, but with the 3G battery drain Ill stick to the Edge I guess. So I upgraded for nothing really. The commercial is a lie when it shows that speedy web page action...they must be on WI-FI.
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13 Posted by ashleyjones0486 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:58PM EDT Report Abuse
SO I DONT BELIEVE THAT ITS AT&T NETWORK MESSING UP THE IPHONE. I HAVE A 3G PHONE FROM AT&T AND IT WORKS PERFECTLY, IF THE NETWORK WAS MESSING UP IPHONE 3G WOULDNT MESS UP OTHER 3G PHONES? SO I BELIEVE ITS A GLITCH IN THE IPHONE NOT THE NETWORK.
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14 Posted by kandawar on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:46PM EDT Report Abuse
After I bought the iPhone all my old(2G) voicemails are gone. AT&T doesn't care about the mailbox migration from 2G to 3G and also doesn't provide any mechanism to access the old voicemails. This is very bad being such big wireless operator.
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15 Posted by trixie152003 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:21PM EDT Report Abuse
Well, here's a thought -- maybe Apple's 3G network performance is lousy for the same reason that when you start loading applications from the application store your phone starts freezing up & dropping internet connections (while chewing battery galore) and the iPhone (either model) continues to have the absolute worst sound quality of any decent phone -- put it on speaker sometime for a real thrill! The problem is that Apple made the thing! The only time their products really work well is when Jobs has his dog & pony intro show, then it's all downhill. If they knew how to do 3G Apple would have put it in the first $600 iPhone, not the "less expensive" but more costly iPhone2.
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16 Posted by pdjwilliams on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:05PM EDT Report Abuse
We dumped AT&T years ago because their reception was lousy and switched to Cingular. Cingular worked very well in our area until AT&T took them over, so we dumped Cingular & went with Verizon, which has been great. As long as AT&T is who I have to go with in order to have an iPhone, I won't have an iPhone.
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17 Posted by joysmi1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:42PM EDT Report Abuse
AT&T claims to have more bars in more places. I beg to differ. I live in Gary Indiana. The reception is poor. I work inside of a hopsital. Everyone that I know who has At&T whether they have an iPhone, Treo or whatever, there is no reception. The people that I know who have other networks such as Verizon, Sprint, etc. get clear reception. When I called AT&T concerning this, the only response was that there may not be any towers in the area. This is from the company that claims to have more bars in more places.
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18 Posted by deborah.faith@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:40PM EDT Report Abuse
I have the original 8GB iPhone, which I now use only as a slightly glorified iPod, as I could rarely access the Internet and almost every single call throughout my first-year ownership period was dropped. AT&T service is horrible and I wasted nearly $1,000 thanks to them. I expect(ed) better judgment from Apple. Honestly, I don't think I'm the only one in this boat.
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19 Posted by zhenya_vish on Thu Sep 3, 2009 11:00PM EDT Report Abuse
cingular bought AT&T, pdjwilliams :)
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6 Posted by godfreytk on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:10PM EDT Report Abuse
I have the older version of the iPhone, it sucks for reception and we have the newest type of cell phone tower in our town. My phone was damaged in a car wreck and they are replacing it with the newer version. I hope that the signal is better when I get it. I have never had a problem with signal in any of my other phones.