For the past week I have been in an enviable position to be able to test network data speeds for both Verizon Wireless’ LTE network and Sprint Nextel Corp.’s WiMAX service from what I have come to believe is a very “real world” environment: the fringe of network coverage.
You see, I have had in my possession both a HTC Corp. Thunderbolt and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Epic 4G device, both of which are powered by similar Android operating systems and sporting similar processor capabilities. Looking at both devices, I have also found that due to some geo-planetary anomaly, I can only receive “4G” coverage for these devices when standing in certain parts of my home. Get too far away from a certain window and both devices drop their “4G” coverage like a hot potato.
Having also travelled around a bit with both devices, I have come to the conclusion that for their respective nascent networks, this is probably a situation many of either Verizon Wireless’ or Sprint Nextel’s customers also find themselves in.
As such, I thought I would take advantage of this advantageous situation to see just how powerful these respective networks are from the fringe.
First up was the Epic 4G running on Sprint Nextel’s WiMAX network. Using the downloadable Oookla SpeedTest.Net application I found that the network provided somewhat consistent download speeds of around 2.5 megabits per second of data transmission, though a few tests showed speeds dip down to 1.3 Mbps and spike up to 4.6 Mbps. For the uplink, a majority of the tests showed speeds of around 1 Mbps, though occasionally those would dip down to just 150 kilobits per second.
In stronger signal areas I have seen downlink speeds rise as high as 6 Mbps, while uplink speeds have traditionally topped out in the 1.1 Mbps range.
Overall, recorded speeds were somewhat below advertised numbers on the downlink and just about in range for the uplink, not too bad considering that if I turned my back to the closest window I would lose “4G” coverage all together.
Moving to the Thunderbolt, testing showed download speeds averaged in the 3.5 Mbps range, with an occasional spike to near 4 Mbps and a dip to as low as 3.1 Mbps. For the uplink speeds returned from the test application were somewhat strange in that I consistently recorded speeds of between 20 Mbps and 22 Mbps, with only an occasional dip below that range. Usually download speeds are superior to upload speeds, but then again, when you are working from the fringe, strange things can happen.
Similar to the Epic 4G, the Thunderbolt provided download speeds that fell just short of advertised speeds from the carrier. However, on the uplink, recorded speeds far exceeded what Verizon Wireless notes in the fine print and was even superior to the speeds recorded when using an 802.11n Wi-Fi access point with cable Internet backhaul.
So, what did I learn from this little exercise? Well, just because you might be on the fringe of service does not mean that you are excluded from some impressive, though inconsistent, mobile broadband speeds. And also that if you are having trouble securing a 4G signal, try spinning around.
