Metrico Wireless has released a nationwide study wherein they measured nationwide cellular data speeds with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. They found that AT&T had the fastest data speeds, while Sprint came in as the slowest with speeds about 1/5 that of AT&T. Across all carriers the iPhone 4S pulled slightly ahead of the iPhone 4 in download speeds. This is likely due to Apple’s new antenna system introduced with the iPhone 4S.
It’s not all bad for Sprint though; they have the best call quality on the uplink. That is when the iPhone owner is the one speaking. AT&T on the other hand has the best voice quality on the downlink.
Surprisingly, Sprint has the most dropped calls at 3.7% call failure rate. Verizon saw a 2.1% call failure rate, and AT&T saw 2.8% call failure rate. In sum, AT&T seems to handle the iPhone alright now (as compared to a few years ago) Verizon comes in somewhere in-between and Sprint pulls up the rear, especially in regards to data speeds.
I’m a Sprint customer, and I’ve had only one dropped call, and at least to my thinking, was due to me standing in a partially underground building with three foot thick concrete walls. But I’m sure that had nothing to do with it. As for data speeds, yeah, they’re pretty bad on Sprint, but I knew that when I signed up, and I’m rarely off of Wi-Fi.
Image courtesy of Metrico Wireless.
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TAGS: AT&T, carrier partners, iPhone 4, iphone 4s, Sprint, Verizon
