PCMag has completed its annual Fastest Mobile Networks study and found that AT&T delivers the fastest LTE speeds and has improved its consistency from previous showings.
As expected AT&T's network doesn't have the reach that Verizon's does, so that may factor into your choice of carrier.
AT&T is on top of the world this year with the fastest LTE network in most major cities. While we don't test coverage in this study, we found AT&T's LTE network to be generally more consistent than past years, too. AT&T's 3G network is faster than Verizon's or Sprint's and even makes a good showing against T-Mobile's because of its ability to deliver the first byte of a Web page more promptly than T-Mobile does. All together, that makes AT&T our choice this year for a speedy mobile data network.
Verizon Wireless, as always, is the master of coverage and reliability. It's the only truly nationwide LTE network and it generally aced our streaming and Web page download reliability tests. While its LTE network is generally a bit slower than AT&T's, it's still fast, and the carrier wins our Reader's Choice awards year after year for its coverage area and general customer satisfaction levels.
The site also looked at Sprint and T-Mobile. Results can be found at the link below.
The PCMag Speed Score
To test the networks, PCMag used eight Samsung Galaxy Note IIs that were loaded with field test software from Sensorly. The final speed scores are a weighted average balancing 70% speed and 30% network reliability.
● HTTP download speed (30%)
● HTTP upload speed (20%)
● Web page download speed (10%)
● HTTP download time to first byte (10%)
● Successful Web page completion in 30 seconds (20%)
● 500kbps UDP streams with
You can find the individual scores for each tested city at the link below...
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As expected AT&T's network doesn't have the reach that Verizon's does, so that may factor into your choice of carrier.
AT&T is on top of the world this year with the fastest LTE network in most major cities. While we don't test coverage in this study, we found AT&T's LTE network to be generally more consistent than past years, too. AT&T's 3G network is faster than Verizon's or Sprint's and even makes a good showing against T-Mobile's because of its ability to deliver the first byte of a Web page more promptly than T-Mobile does. All together, that makes AT&T our choice this year for a speedy mobile data network.
Verizon Wireless, as always, is the master of coverage and reliability. It's the only truly nationwide LTE network and it generally aced our streaming and Web page download reliability tests. While its LTE network is generally a bit slower than AT&T's, it's still fast, and the carrier wins our Reader's Choice awards year after year for its coverage area and general customer satisfaction levels.
The site also looked at Sprint and T-Mobile. Results can be found at the link below.
The PCMag Speed Score
To test the networks, PCMag used eight Samsung Galaxy Note IIs that were loaded with field test software from Sensorly. The final speed scores are a weighted average balancing 70% speed and 30% network reliability.
● HTTP download speed (30%)
● HTTP upload speed (20%)
● Web page download speed (10%)
● HTTP download time to first byte (10%)
● Successful Web page completion in 30 seconds (20%)
● 500kbps UDP streams with
You can find the individual scores for each tested city at the link below...
Read More