iPhone speed tests give nod to ATT, Israel

Ookla founder and Speedtest.net creator Doug Suttles has run tests that show the AT&T iPhone holding the 3G performance lead in the US but still trailing well behind much of the world. In step with AT&T's use of 7.2Mbps HSPA for its 3G versus Verizon's 3.1Mbps EVDO Revision A, the original iPhone carrier was benchmarked roughly twice as fast on average, pulling roughly 1.7Mbps downstream and 712Kbps upstream compared to Verizon's 804Kbps and 502Kbps. The testing is consistent with early reviews and was reflective of the apparent tradeoff in the US, where Verizon users trade speed for reliability.

"I think the story is quality versus throughput," Suttles told Wired about the test. "What are you after?"

The benchmarks notably didn't include instances in which the test failed or was impossible to properly complete. AT&T iPhone users in some cities, primarily those in the San Francisco Bay Area, have regularly had problems where 3G data was either slow or non-existent. Coverage areas also weren't addressed, as Verizon has a larger overall coverage map but also occasionally has reduced coverage or none at all versus AT&T.

Both US providers, however, were well behind some international providers in additional tests. Israel's Pelephone was roughly twice as fast, managing 3.3Mbps down and almost 1.3Mbps up. Austria's A1 was just behind at 3.1Mbps downstream but just as fast upstream as Pelephone.

Canadian carriers were also close. Bell and Telus were fastest in downloads and uploads respectively; the former reached 2.9Mbps in downloads and 1.3Mbps in uploads, while the latter was lower at 2.8Mbps for the downlink but managed 1.5Mbps up.

A number of factors can play into download speeds that aren't necessarily in the control of the carrier, such as population density or the preference for a particular phone. However, many of the carriers have had months or years to either prepare for or compensate for the effect of Apple's data-heavy device on their networks.

By Electronista Staff