You’ve certainly heard about about how fast 4G LTE speed is, but how do different carriers perform when stacked against each other?
RootMetrics has the answers. The Seattle company, which gathers information on mobile technology and communication, released its latest industry-wide study on mobile carriers and their data performance Tuesday. The company performed nearly 500,000 tests within 75 markets and found that Verizon leads the way in terms of overall performance.
The data analyzed six carriers: Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, MetroPCS and Cricket. Each was sorted along four evaluation points: average speed, download speed intervals, within market performance and data reliability.
While Verizon and its expansive LTE network performed the best, AT&T was close behind with its continued roll-out of LTE coverage. Despite not having the LTE technology, T-Mobile still performed well with its HSPA+42 network. Meanwhile, Sprint did not impress, but the carrier is on the verge of rolling out its first LTE markets. MetroPCS and Cricket, not surprisingly, did poorly.
Here’s a summary of their findings:
Average speed: With its huge LTE infrastructure, Verizon earned the top spot in terms of average download and upload speeds. Verizon’s average of 13 Mbps was substantially ahead of second-place AT&T, which averaged just over 7 Mbps. Cricket, MetroPCS and Sprint ranked at the bottom.
Download speed intervals: Speed intervals provide information on how consistent each carrier delivered fast download speeds. Again, Verizon came in first place for the fastest speeds and also for avoiding slow speeds. Verizon had 77.4-percent of its download tests at speeds above 5 Mbps with just 11.6-percent of downloads below 1.5 Mbps. T-Mobile and its HSPA+42 network came in third for download speed intervals. “Their HSPA+42 network proved a major story of our first-half testing,” wrote RootMetrics’ Patrick Linder.
Within market performance: This part of the study aimed to find out if carriers were consistent in their performances from market to market. Verizon led the way in this category as well. “They’re fast,” wrote Linder. AT&T reached faster speeds in their top markets than T-Mobile.
Data reliability: In terms of each carrier’s average data failure rate, AT&T and Verizon finished with the fewest disruptions with failure rates at or below 3-percent. T-Mobile faired a little worse at an average failure rate of 8-percent.
