AT&T has the fastest 3G, well I beg to differ; recently I switched over from Verizon to AT&T when I picked up the iPhone. The phone is great! However the data speed is not as so prominently advertised. Yes, it is much faster than the prior version of the iPhone, however not nearly as fast as any phone I tested on the Verizon network.
Recently I tried a test, I purchased a Cradlepoint wireless access point, where I can plug in my Verizon Broadband card. The idea was I could easily attach my Macbook Air and friends could share the card if needed. For the heck of it, in a setting where I had full strength on the iPhone in the 3G network. I was connected my phone to my cradlepoint, which was connected to my Verizon Broadband with 50% signal strength. All web access on the iPhone increased by 400% over the 3G from AT&T.
After further research I found that AT&T uses a very fast interface on their towers for 3G, however the majority of their towers only have 2 T1’s to cover (x) users. Most cable modems provide greater levels of capacity than a total of 3mbps, the total of 2 T1’s. Just to be sure my phone wasn’t the issue, I asked a buddy in the UK to load the same US page and his phone responded at least 4x faster.
How is it AT&T can advertise the fastest 3G network, when clearly they do not have the fastest working network in the US?
I have even tested my Verizon Broadband Card against a late model 3G AT&T card on the exact same laptop. Both having the same signal strength, however the Verizon card out performed the AT&T card in every single test. I am lost; can someone explain this to me? I have heard all of the reasons why from a top-level guy at Sprint, that knows this stuff inside and out.
Category Archives: verizon
AT&T 3G
Verizon Customer Service
After my Verizon V640 data card was damaged and started to act up I called and had it replaced under the extended warranty. They where out of the V640 and offered me a V740 as a replacement. I thought this was a great idea and figured that this should be a simple replacement. This also offered me the ability to purchase an express based broadband router, which normally was not available with the V640, however available with the V740 card.
The Verizon V640 did not come with software or drivers for the Mac. The crafty folks at Apple, however updated the operating system with drivers and simple support for the card. The V740 was designed to use the VZAccess manager software previously available only for Windows. Thus swapping out the 2 cards was not so simple.
When I called in to Verizon to change out the ESN # on my account, I asked to assistance getting this new card to work. This was the only part that was a hair annoying, Mac support is a level 3 help desk support function. So I had to talk to the new and technically less than savvy person from level 1 for a few minutes, not so bad, normally I am sent through heavy obstacle courses before they will transfer me.
Since the VZAccess software for the Mac is poorly designed, when I was asked to install it, the process took 15 minutes just to install and reboot. My laptop is a 2.33 Mac Book Pro with 3GB of memory. The rep on the phone was not rushed at all and did not mind waiting. A level of service that I have never seen from a wireless phone company in the past. We spent a total of 45 minutes getting all of the setting back to normal and testing the card. Even though it was excessive, I could not believe he was so willing to work with me.
Thus even though I will be switching service from my Blackberry 8830 to the new 3G iPhone next month. I will really be sad to move from Verizon to AT&T. When they where Cingular I criticized their coverage and service continually. However, the iPhone is the ultimate Mac device and the Blackberry does not compare. I will not move my data services from Verizon to AT&T and I will also keep a spare Verizon phone to ensure coverage in the US, while I travel.
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