U.S. Carrier 3G and 4G Wireless Speed Showdown

PCWorld has performed 3G and 4G speed tests of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile at multiple locations in 13 major cities.

In this year's study, we took snapshot measurements of wireless service in 13 cities--Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.--across the country to get a real-time view of how the 3G-to-4G transition is progressing, and of which companies are currently delivering on the promised faster speeds.

Major Findings:
● AT&T's new LTE network turned in the fastest download speeds of any 4G service. Its 3G service was very competitive, too--and those two results help make a strong case for AT&T dual-mode 3G/4G phones.


● T-Mobile's HSPA+ 21 service won in the 3G bracket of our study, and the company's high-end HSPA+ 42 service competed reasonably well with other providers' 4G service. In addition, T-Mobile's service plans are more flexible and its prices are lower than those offered by competing carriers.

● Verizon makes 4G service available in many more locations than other providers do, and its 4G upload speeds are top-of-the-line, but its 4G download speeds don't match AT&T's. And Verizon's 3G speeds are not improving much, especially when compared to the competition.

● Sprint was consistently a laggard in our wireless speed derby. The company seems to have virtually stopped developing its existing 3G and 4G networks while looking for a way to make the transition from its outdated WiMax 4G technology to LTE.

Hit the link below for a comprehensive analysis of how each network performed.


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