AT&T faster than Verizon, Sprint in 3G wireless performance test

Today my eye doctor became the latest (of many) people to ask me if I knew when there might be a Verizon Wireless version of the iPhone -- he's been hesitant to buy one because of qualms with AT&T. But perhaps its time to look at AT&T through a different set of spectacles.

AT&T was the top performer in 13-city 3G wireless speed tests conducted by PCWorld. The network recorded download speeds that were 67 % faster on average than rivals Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

AT&T's average download speed was 1410 kpbs, compared to 795 kbps for Sprint, 868 kbps for T-Mobile and 877 kbps for Verizon. AT&T's 773 kbps upload speeds were equally impressive.  (Verizon came closest on that measure with 434 kbps.)

Testers successfully connected to AT&T on 94% of their attempts, tied with Sprint for tops on that score.

Despite is often poor reputation, AT&T is making enormous strides.  The results of PCWorld's tests looked far different 8 months ago, when Verizon followed closely by Sprint ranked atop the list. Since that time, AT&T's network times have improved by 84%. And PCWorld indicated that AT&T has improved dramatically in at least two cities, New York and San Francisco.

Tests were conducted on laptop cards and certain smartphones, including the iPhone.

By Ed Baig