I am wondering how fast 3G speed is on a phone that can access the web. I know it’s not as fast as DSL or cable modem but how long does it take to load a simple page? Does the speed vary depending on the carrier such as AT&T, Verizon ,etc.
Fast enough.
Even over Edge (slower than 3G), The SDMB loads in a few seconds.
In the US, ATT is the only authorized iPhone carrier.
There are a number of Youtube videos where they show comparisons between the iPhone, the latest Blackberry, and the Google Phone loading flash based websites, etc.
Here in the UK I think the particular provider has a bearing on speed as well as coverage, though the touted optimum speeds of 7.2 mb/s are often the subject of complaints to advertising watchdogs since users report getting approx 1/6 of that.
Also do you need to go to the mobile version of websites or does the site automatically load that version for you?
Depends on the site, but the iPhone handles non-mobile sites very well. The major flaw is the lack of a flash plugin.
Are other phones as fast as the iPhone? I am probably not going to get an iPhone. I will probably use AT&T as my carrier.
Honestly, I think if you are in an urban area with either AT&T or Verizon your data transfer will be fast enough.
I think a bigger impact is going to be the quality of browser: how accurately will it render pages not explicitly designed for mobile use, and how clunky is the user interface that allows you to navigate? Using my BlackBerry to navigate websites is slow and frustrating because the pages do not look right, and it takes forever to navigate around. The iPhone is the only phone I’ve seen that has a remotely passable browser, and even then the lack of flash support is a little frustrating. Still, it is a huge step in the right direction. I hope it one day comes to Verizon! Luckily I can do what I need to do with the BlackBerry with minimal browser usage (Google Maps, Gmail, etc).
I was getting as much as 2 megabits per second in my iPhone in Rogers in Toronto. That was a bit of a peak, though.
When the iPhone loads a web page, it displays the entire page width scrunched to fit in the browser. You can;t read fine text. What you do is ‘unpinch’ the page, or double-tap it, to make it bigger; then you can drag it around to see different areas.
Depends.
I have an iPhone (so use AT&T) and my 3G coverage yo-yos like crazy. Sometimes even when I am not moving. If I am moving there are 3G deadzones all over the freaking place. As an example when using my iPhone on the El (train) I pop in and out of coverage constantly (and mind you I am smack dab in the middle of a heavily populated urban area). Happens just walking around too and inside buildings it gets even more iffy. It is maddening and pisses me off more than a little bit considering the price I pay for my contract.
If the 3G coverage is solid and it’s like 3:30a then it is suitably speedy and nice.
If you are around tall buildings sometimes they can create problems with the signal so being in a big city is not always better for reception.
The iPhone & G1 (I don’t know about Blackberry) do not have Flash capabilities.
Most will re-direct, a few don’t. On my G1, If I type “flickr.com” it’ll redirect me to the mobile home page, but if I follow a Flickr link from elsewhere, the full page will load. It can be a bit irritating, but nothing I’d consider a real problem.
The G1 works with T-Mobile, and coverage has been pretty good in San Francisco. I had much better luck using my phone for calls, texts, and page loading on Opening Day* (~43,000 people in a small ballpark) than my roommate with an iPhone (AT&T).
*-Yes, the page loads and texting were baseball-related. I’m not That Guy.
I have a Blackberry Curve for Comms and an Ipod Touch for Media with Wifi capability, and can load Youtube on that with no problem - I assumed the same would apply to the Iphone. I thought you had to have a flash compatible device to view Youtube ? I know there is tinytube.net - but I am talking about Y/t. itself.
I would get a G1 but T Mobile has no 3G service here.
I have an EVDO windows mobile phone with Sprint and can tolerate the times a mobile page loads. Non-mobile pages are a test of my patience. As long as I stick with the mobile version of pages or first search with mobile google (which will then mobile format almost any page) Im golden.
I can sometimes get 800k-1mbps down but my real world average must be around 200-400kbps. This is determined by me doing random speed tests when Im bored.
>Does the speed vary depending on the carrier such as AT&T, Verizon ,etc.
Not really, a lot of the 3G tech is competitive between vendors and implementations. How well your local area is serviced is really the big determinant.
If we remove the phone from the equation and just focus on the connection using an air card on a laptop I find it to be tolerable, especially if I block ads and use flashblock. The latencies are incredibly high thus no VOIP or gaming, but email/web seems to work.
I have ATT service with a BlackJack II (got it refurbished for $50) Web with 3G is quite satisfying to me,
Depends on the site. Some are not set up to recognize mobile and so the regular site loads, on my phone I get the upper left quadrant of the page and then can scroll in the direction I want. Mobile versions, if they have them,will load automatically.
I have seen a couple people using their iPhones and played with one. I was expecting to be wowed and jealous. I was not. I have had a couple people on the bus lean over my shoulder to comment on how fast they thought my phone was, though, they were using whatever kind of flip phones, so I figure any smartphone would have impressed them.
I just tested my Blackberry Curve on toast.net, and it downloaded a 4.39MB file in .51 seconds, and that is with the crappy two-bar CDMA connection I get at home.
You’re getting 8+ MB/second over CDMA? That must be some sort of record.
He probably had the file cached locally and didnt know it. Try several different speed tests and average them. Something tells me he aint getting 8 MB/s.
Another possibility is his phone is tapping in to a wireless network (assuming it can do that…iPhones will when they find one).
I don’t know the details, but Apple/Google/Youtube re-code Youtube videos for use on their devices. It may be some form of Flash, but they cannot otherwise view Flash content.