Network speed tests shootout: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint modems go head-to-head: Battle of the Big 3 provides surprises

SAN FRANCISCO — Tired of battling hundreds of convention-goers for the last bits of bandwidth on the local “free” Wi-Fi connections or forking out $10 to $20 per day for wireless Internet access at your hotel? Well then maybe it’s time to take the plunge with a cellular modem card. And, with the nation’s top three carriers supporting extensive next-generation network footprints – T-Mobile USA Inc. is in the process of rolling out its 3G network – there are plenty of choices.
With this possibility in mind, the RCR Wireless News staff decided to use the CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2008 event as a test bed for what the carriers have to offer and provide an unbiased assessment of how these networks and related devices handled their duties in a high-density environment like a convention center.
Testing was done using Microsoft Corp. Windows XP-based laptop computers in several areas around the convention center during different times of the day. Network speeds and latency results were recorded using a Flash-based program from the Web site dslreports.com, so your results may vary.
(One note for anyone taking the plunge: We would recommend you set up the device and connection software before you need to use the service; in some cases the installation process required up to 30 minutes of software updates and PCs had to be restarted several times. Also, you might want to think twice about accepting the connection manager software’s desire to control both the cellular and Wi-Fi connections on your laptop. We found that when we gave total control over to the software, it regularly would try to bump us off the cellular network if a Wi-Fi network was found, even if that Wi-Fi network required a fee or special log-in information. We understand that carriers are looking to remove traffic off of their networks whenever possible, but these network conflicts often would interrupt a cellular session.)
The results
Each carrier scored a victory in the testing. AT&T Mobility posted the fastest upload speeds; Verizon Wireless posted the fastest download speeds and Sprint Nextel scored the lowest latency.
More specifically, AT&T Mobility’s much-derided 3G network provided blazing upload speeds at times touching nearly 1 megabit per second. Download speeds were also robust with results often in excess of 1 Mbps and occasionally touching 1.5 Mbps. Network latency could not match the CDMA twins with results ranging from 120 to 180 milliseconds.
However, AT&T Mobility’s service was the most inconsistent with several speed tests interrupted by what seemed to be dropped connections and other tests coming back with speed results in the 100 kilobit per second range.
By comparison, Verizon Wireless’ CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network was the model of consistency with every test smooth and results linear. Download speeds were the most impressive with some results in excess of 2 Mbps and none slower than 1.5 Mbps. Upload speeds fell short of AT&T Mobility’s peak, but were nearly always around the 500 Kbps mark. Network latency hovered around 120 milliseconds, though some tests went as low as 92 milliseconds, while others shot up toward 150 milliseconds.