Which iPhone Carrier Is The Best In Your Area? It's Complicated

**fraydog** · 05-30-2012, 09:47 PM

That conclusion isn't scientific unless they're looking at -Dbm data. MOST cell phone bars are bad indicators of signal strength. See iPhone 4 Antennagate and Galaxy Nexus initial signal reading issues as proof.

I'm just not sure these guys are as good as Root is, I think to be really scientific you have to have people do testing that are trained and dedicated to it.

Overall this is my favorite graphic as it aggregates data from everywhere Root has done tests in 2012.

**formercanuck** · 05-31-2012, 12:53 AM

Here in SoCal, i'd pick at&t for the current model of iPhone. I only have an iphone 4, which has given me better than 6Mbps down. I can assume that the 4s should get around 10Mbps down. My Galaxy S II has hit 14700kbps down and 2900kbps up, and there isn't even LTE here (only south 1/2 of LA in the basin)

**DRC72** · 05-31-2012, 04:24 AM

Originally Posted by Trocks797

The truth is, most can't tell the difference in 5mbps and 500kbps on the iPhone. .

Sorry man I gotta totally disagree with you on this point............ I've messed around with my friend's Verizon 4S, and there is a clear difference in speed between my 4 and his 4S. My iPhone 4 clearly loaded pages a lot faster. His speeds where about 900Kbps and I was testing at 5.5Mbps. It was no contest.

CA · 05-31-2012, 08:10 AM

It's all about the "snap response", I noticed it, and it's in ATT's face!

I have both and am in a good Verizon/ATT Lte area, you can pick a page, any page, or your favorite page, load them both and you're in for a surprise. In the past it's been the devices speed, and other things, but now it all about network tuning, get used to it!

**Trocks797** · 05-31-2012, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by DRC72

Sorry man I gotta totally disagree with you on this point............ I've messed around with my friend's Verizon 4S, and there is a clear difference in speed between my 4 and his 4S. My iPhone 4 clearly loaded pages a lot faster. His speeds where about 900Kbps and I was testing at 5.5Mbps. It was no contest.

That makes sense, but on most mobile pages that iPhones get directed to, the difference would be minimal. With Verizon's quicker response time, they often times finish first. I don't have an iPhone but have experienced it before. I suppose the same could be said for other phones, but some browsers load pages differently which would affect the outcome.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

**fraydog** · 05-31-2012, 10:53 AM

I played around with this at an Apple Store West County in St. Louis a few months ago comparing a Verizon 4S to the AT&T 4S.

The AT&T 4S had a quicker response time.

**-banned-** · 05-31-2012, 11:16 AM

I had the iPhone 3GS & now the 4S with AT$T (8 yrs and still going now) and i cannot complain one bit, hence the reason why I've been with them for 8+ yrs
I had the iPhone with Sprint for a short period of time (6 months) and while data was no where near as fast as AT$T, it worked most of the time and was pretty reliable when needed…
My significant other has the iPhone 4S on both AT$T & Verizon, one for personal use and the other is company issued and she complains ALL the time how Verizon's data is slow and half the time does not work, and its not the iPhone 4S, cause she has had 4 phones with them and all with the same issue…
We are here in Orlando Fla and i can tell you from the those 3, AT$T is the best, Sprint is good and Verizon sux…

**johnhere** · 05-31-2012, 11:19 AM

I really like att in fl. Each time I visited it was almost flawless everywhere I went.

**RCtennis3811** · 05-31-2012, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by DRC72

Sorry man I gotta totally disagree with you on this point............ I've messed around with my friend's Verizon 4S, and there is a clear difference in speed between my 4 and his 4S. My iPhone 4 clearly loaded pages a lot faster. His speeds where about 900Kbps and I was testing at 5.5Mbps. It was no contest.

Ditto on that. There is quite a noticeable difference between .5Mbps and 5Mbps when using an iPhone. Lucky for me, almost everywhere I go the speeds align closer with the latter.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**-banned-** · 05-31-2012, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by johnhere

I really like att in fl. Each time I visited it was almost flawless everywhere I went.

u go that right… The only issues i run into is going into large steel structure bldgs, i have no service and Publix is very known for this issue.
guessing if its build WELL, RF has a hard time penetrating…

**johnhere** · 05-31-2012, 03:11 PM

Yeah if I lived in fl and prob tx, att would be my first choice hands down. If att was building out lte as fast as vz is, att would prob be my choice now.

**DRC72** · 06-01-2012, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by Trocks797

That makes sense, but on most mobile pages that iPhones get directed to, the difference would be minimal. With Verizon's quicker response time, they often times finish first. I don't have an iPhone but have experienced it before. I suppose the same could be said for other phones, but some browsers load pages differently which would affect the outcome.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Concurred.... Some browsers do load pages quicker, but as far as 3G goes, AT&T definitely wins out most of the time on the iPhone. Now an AT&T LTE iPhone, and a Verizon LTE iPhone is a whole other ballgame. Should be an interesting match up.

**ggore** · 06-01-2012, 06:37 AM

If you never ever leave your city for any reason, pick the carrier that offers the best service there, it's a relatively easy decision. But if you travel outside your city for work or vacations, it's a whole other nightmare, and one that is almost impossible to prepare for. Be ready to drop to EVDO or EDGE or 3G or GPRS or HSPA+ or whatever and endure long stretches of little to no signal, even though you may pass through towns of significant size. And all this can happen in just a few miles from the edge of your city.

**ilvla2** · 06-01-2012, 10:08 PM

Well, we have two carriers here who offer the iPhone, AT&T and Verizon (USCC, T-Mobile and Metro PCS are iPhonelesslessless lol), and the best one really varies on where you live, work and travel in our two county market (RSA 344-Mendocino, Lake Counties). In a town like Ukiah, I would have to say AT&T as they have a much faster network and good coverage, if you go to someplace like Leggett, well, AT&T doesn't have coverage there (neither does T-Mobile our other GSM carrier) but Verizon does, so Verizon would be the best one in places like that. Overall though, AT&T definitely has a better data experience as they have HSPA+ w/EB in many areas up here, while Verizon only has EVDO, so where both have good coverage I'd say AT&T.