A new report from Apteligent had T-Mobile posting the lowest network latency among nationwide carriers, while Sprint CDMA reliance slowed Boost performance
T-Mobile US’ network performance received accolades from an applications analytics firm, which found the carrier posted the lowest latency in terms of application requests.
In its latest report for April, Apteligent said its data showed T-Mobile US’ network posting average latency of 299 milliseconds, edging out Verizon Wireless for top spot among domestic carriers. T-Mobile US was also applauded for having the “most predictable network performance,” with Apteligent noting only 16% of requests on T-Mobile US’ network required more than 500 milliseconds to complete.
At the other end of the scale, regional carrier U.S. Cellular was dinged for having the “slowest” network, with tests showing average latency of 337 milliseconds and 22% of requests taking more than 500 milliseconds to complete. U.S. Cellular is still in the midst of rolling out LTE services, and has a much shallower spectrum position than its larger rivals, though it also supports considerably fewer customers.
Sprint prepaid brand Boost Mobile was also noted for providing substandard network performance, with Apteligent noting its tests showed the service providing average network latency of 331 milliseconds, though the research firm attributed the performance to Sprint’s CDMA network. Boost Mobile services, like that of its parent company Sprint and fellow prepaid brand Virgin Mobile USA, rely on a combination of Sprint’s LTE and legacy CDMA network.
Beyond the network conditions, Apteligent cited several reasons for lagging application request performance, including network architecture.
“There are several strategies to deal with slow network performance,” Apteligent wrote. “If you have a content heavy app, consider deploying a content delivery network in regions with high latency. An app can also be designed to ‘hide’ slow downloads by bundling content with the app download and intelligently downloading content ahead of when the app needs it. Another common mistake is to misuse or abuse cloud service APIs. A good practice to reduce data transfer is to add parameters to your API calls that restrict the results based on time or location.”
T-Mobile US earlier this year posted strong network performance results in tests conducted by OpenSignal, which found the carrier tops among its peers in terms of 3G network latency, 3G download speeds and LTE download speeds. Verizon Wireless, which has a history of strong performance showings, raked in a pair of top placings, including LTE coverage and a tie with T-Mobile US in LTE download speeds.
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