Monday, October 17, 2011

"4G" data speeds on the space coast of FL

T-Mobile "4G" HSPA+(42): 8-15 Mbps
T-Mobile "4G" HSPA+(21): 5-9 Mbps
T-Mobile "4G" HSPA+(14): 3-7.5 Mbps

AT&T 3G: 0.5-1.8 Mbps
AT&T "4G" HSPA+ (21): 1.5-4.5 Mbps

MetroPCS 4G LTE: 1.2-4 Mbps

Verizon 3G: 0.5-2 Mbps
Verizon 4G LTE: appears to be coming in 2012

Sprint 3G: 0.1-1.8 Mbps
Sprint 4G Wimax: appears likely to never come to the space coast
Sprint 4G LTE: appears to be coming in 2013

Most all of the upload speeds appeared to be capped at or near 1-2 Mbps. But often were much lower in actual use, often 0.1-0.5 Mbps. Generally though, most uploads can run in the background and don't cause you to wait for them to complete like downloads do.

*Disclaimer: speeds are affected by many factors and are subject to change. This is in no way a representation of all possible scenarios or locations/towers. Carriers are constantly upgrading towers and bandwidth, so speeds should improve over time. This is only a snapshot of the testing that I personally have been able to perform over the last 2 weeks.

I have learned that Sprint 3G towers are being upgraded in this area between 10/31 and 11/15 of this year. I don't have detailed information about tower upgrades for other carriers.

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