Gotta say I am sick of every carrier claiming they have the best 3g network, or the most reliable or whatever other claims they can all make

Doesnt bother me either way.. Ive been using ATT's 3G service since they rolled it out here in South Florida and the only problem Ive ever run into with their service is I barely get a 3G signal in our data center at work. Thats not bad though, as people with other providers cant get ANY signal when in our data center, let alone get a 3G signal.

i don't see anything wrong with alittle bit of friendly regulation. Someone needs to step in and do some real tests. Making bold claims use to mean something, now having the best 3g network is the new 'guarantee'.

I dont think speed should be considered under the "reliable" statement. But sure as poop it should be considered when claiming the "best" network.

Same here billin30, its all BS anyways. And I thought it was common knowledge that AT&T sucks and has terrible speeds!?!? Did they get better or something? I have been using the iPhone 3G since it came out a year ago and it drops calls at FULL FKIN SIGNAL in my apartment all day long. It also fails to pick up 3G a lot.

And why can't they just do a survey or study to see who has best speed and reliability..are you seriously telling me these gigantic companies don't do this on a DAILY basis???? really..

Everyone who is trying to sell something always claims theirs is the best. We really need court proceedings over this stuff? My solution as a consumer, talk to someone who has AT&T and see if they like it, then the same for Verizon.

While many countries are getting ready to move to 4G network or winmax, we as one of the most technological advanced and powerful countries on the earth are still struggling on our newly adopted 3G network. Fighting for who is the best amount of the worse is really funny or even sad to me.

Ill take CDMA, thanks anyways. Digital phones suck always, but in regards to the question at hand, yes SPEED IS A FACTOR IN RELIABILITY. Either way, all the carriers can lick my choad, i went with Cricket and get EVERYTHING (internet, texting, pics texting, calling, long distance) for 50 bucks a month. Try to match that ATT or VERIZON. Oh and NO CONTRACT EITHER

Seriously? Perhaps we should sue McDonald's for falsely claiming that, "I'm Lovin' It."

Must be your phone. I have AT&T and have never had a dropped call unless I lose signal while driving down the road. If I am not moving (ie. at home or work) I don't drop calls. There 3g coverage could be a lot better, but their network isn't bad.

Caveat emptor.

Do not waste our tax dollars for your marketing ploy. Of course it'll still get wasted on some other pork barrel project but this is just stupid.

try living in a rural area...Verizon FTW

Speed and reliability are two

My network could beat your network up!

These companies sound like 2 year olds. Are we sure these companies a run by adults.

What would you rather have, always on at variable speed or high speed when on with variable down time?

completely different things...
Why was my unsubmitted post submitted upon login?

I would like to know who has time to TEST both networks when you have to sign a two year contract to even get their service? How can a consumer make an informed decision when both the phone choice and service choice could possibly affect the outcome?

Consistency and dependability are components of reliability, not speed.

AT&T is wrong by definition.

Amen ATT didn't even work in West Phoenix (not that rural) where my house is located. Well at least until about a week ago. In fact for the longest time Verizon and Alltel were the only two that did.

Wow. a test of the two networks comparing SPEED (throughput when a connection is available) and RELIABILITY (ability to achieve a 3G grade connection)? Who would ever do that?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/167 [...] of_3g.html

IMO I think they need to do like the M$ ads. get some normal mofo to use a handset from both carriers and then let them say in front the camera who is better.

let the consumer say who is the better 3g network. After all, it's us who use them all the time, right?

I'm running Sprint and get a 3G signal in our steel reinforced concrete box they call an office building. AT&T has repeaters for only AT&T phones in the building but I never get a dropped call and need to place the phone in my all metal desk to lose the data signal.

Even though Verizon and AT&T are separate companies, it kind of feels those Coke commercial where Coke is suing Coke Zero for copyright infringement. I know these are two entirely different situations, that's the first thing that popped into my head when i read this article.

I know AT&T and Verizon are neck on neck since they are the two major ones, but I think reliability (being able to connect) is a main factor. Yes I understand AT&T has .3 or so Mbit/s on their 3G speed, but it's nothing to cry about. I've seem to have better luck with Verizon all over the place vs AT&T plus the fact part of my family has them and drosp calls sigh.. companies will never get along. lol.

Don't know how to edit, but when I say .3, I mean around .3 more on their 3G speeds. drosp = drops too lol

That is good. It's just like MetroPCS for southeast states.. The thing is.. I'm sure their coverage isn't so great. Not a lot of consumers/business users would be too satisfied lol. Thats why companies like cricket or metro isn't good at all. In fact, they are garbage no offense. If they had contracts to lock people into, that means more gross, and more cash into their system and so forth.. Companies like that are only good if you don't travel frequently and just happen to be in a great area to get signal.

Speed is irrelevant if you cannot remain connected long enough to notice it. A true test of reliability is that you consistently are able access the network, not how fast the network might be.

Cricket and Pocket are extremely niche... their service area is extremely limited and their MMS service only really works with other Cricket/Pocket users reliably. for a time, i couldn't even recieve MMS from cricket users but they seem to have resolved that. i'm a ATT user and they have the best service down here in the southern tip of Texas...

Ads should say.. we have a 3G network.. thats considered the best of the worst.. please do not use other world 3G networks as the standard!

A monopoly sibling rivalry... WHO CARES!

"The AT&T network's 13-city average download speed in our tests was 812 kbps. Its average upload speed was 660 kbps. Reliability was an issue in our experience of the AT&T system: Our testers were able to make a connection at a reasonable, uninterrupted speed in only 68 percent of their tests."

I think we're done here.

i have a point on this... i developed an application for the sales persons laptops in mycompany using the pc cards to connect to the main office to update the application and send the orders to the warehouse in "real time"... at first i went with sprint... it lasted not even a month and switched to verizon because as i was always without signal enougth to connect to the office... verizon works almost fine depending a lot on the areas... the problem is that i was getting corrupted files a lot of times, and they block the access to our smtp server, you must use verizon one... lately i tried Att and i have nothing to say... no more dropped connections, i have the smtp port opened, and my files are not corrupted anymore... i can say the speed on att is more stable i mean i have faster speed with less bars in more places then with verizon... if you are not steady at one place verizon is very very hard to work... in my experience i like att better, i didnt change all the cards to att but i will as the contracts with verizon ends...
About the mentioned dropped calls on iphone, thats a know complain with iphones, and not an usual problem with att neither with verizon, verizon for me is the most reliable cell phone carrier for voice service not data... for data i prefer att, but att voice service is almost as good a verizon...
if you want a cell phone with data services i believe like it or not you have to go with att!