PCWorld recently conducted its second 3G wireless performance test in 13 U.S. cities, with AT&T besting the competition.
AT&T is still receiving heavy criticism over its voice & data network performance. The company has recently built hundreds of new cell towers to help address the on-going issues, which have been blamed on the popular Apple iPhone.
Compared to eight months ago, AT&T's scores went up a whopping 84%. The company's 3G download speeds were 67% higher on average, compared to the other carriers. According to PCWorld, AT&T clocked in at an average of 1410 kpbs download speeds, which was higher than Verizon (877 kbps), T-Mobile (868 kbps), and Sprint (795 kbps).
AT&T also had the highest upload speed, with speeds as high as 773 kbps.
The PCWorld tests used network wireless cards and the Apple iPhone to note the new test speeds. Specifically, more than 51,000 separate tests were conducted by PCWorld, within service areas covering 7 million subscribers and 850 square miles. It's worth noting the PCWorld tests haven't been independently verified, leading some in the tech community to doubt the company's testing methods.
AT&T and Sprint both provided 94% connection reliability during testing, which was good enough to secure the lead for AT&T.
In PCWorld testing eight months ago, Verizon and Sprint were the two leaders of the market. AT&T said it will invest an additional $19 billion in 2010 to help beef up its 3G network coverage and speeds across the United States.
I've criticized AT&T in the past -- and still have my issues with the company -- but it's a good sign to see such drastic speed increases in the past eight months. The company has also worked to increase network reliability in New York and San Francisco, which remain two of the company's highest data-intensive markets.
To be fair, AT&T still has issues with its network coverage -- not covered in the test -- but we'll see what additional changes are made in the future to hopefully fix those issues.
