Verizon has the fastest mobile data network, hands down
Recently, PC Magazine undertook a rather daunting task: figuring out which mobile phone carrier's data speeds were the fastest. The test covered 21 cities (and every place in-between), and measured speeds from AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and MetroPCS. Once all of the data was collected, Verizon came out as the clear winner, with 4G speeds more than quadrupling its competitor's offerings in most areas.
To accurately test data speeds, PC Magazine sent 2 cars packed with equipment on a cross-country trip, tweeting along the way. Speeds were measured by an array of the latest and greatest offerings from every carrier, all running Android 2.2 and a specialized app written by Sensorly that simulates surfing the web, VOIP, and video calls. As the test focuses solely on data speeds, things like voice quality or dropped calls were not measured.
We're sure Verizon will be pleased with these results, as it has long claimed to have the fastest network around and now has some hard data to back it up. If you're suddenly inspired to hop over to Verizon, keep in mind that its unlimited data plan will be killed off on July 7th — forcing new customers to pay for tiered data plans that may end up being more costly depending on data usage.
[Image credit: Eric Hauser]
Post by Jacob Bolm
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