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How fast is Verizon's 3G network?

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I am looking to go to Verizon to get an iPhone and we only get 1-2 bars of 3G at my house and I was wondering how fast that it would be. I need the personal hotspot because our only option is the AT&T service that we have 1 bar of edge or dialup. Thanks
 
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I could be wrong but I don't think how many bars you get is an exact indication of data speeds. If you want to know how fast your data speed is then go to any internet speed testing site and run a test.

If you have access to both a Verizon and AT&T iPhone then test out their data speeds in the same spot. That way you will know for sure if one is faster. I don't believe the same amount of bars means it will be the same speed on a different phone and especially on a different phone service company.
 
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Correct. The bars indicate the strength of the cell signal not the data network. You can actually have no cell signal and still have 3G service.
 
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Generally the Verizon network runs up to 1.2Mbps if you have enough signal. I've run 3G down to 1 bar and gotten 80kbps or so. The more signal the faster it gets. On average I get around 400kbps-800kbps.
 
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Don't forget about LTE. I've compared my speed (Sprint) with friend's speeds on both ATT and Verizon, and it really depends upon where we are. Typically ATT is the slowest in my experience. With 4G I can get about 12mbps down and about 5-6 up. On 3g I can get about 2mbps down and maybe half that up. I've seen similar results with Verizon.

Doug
 
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Don't forget about LTE. I've compared my speed (Sprint) with friend's speeds on both ATT and Verizon, and it really depends upon where we are. Typically ATT is the slowest in my experience. With 4G I can get about 12mbps down and about 5-6 up. On 3g I can get about 2mbps down and maybe half that up. I've seen similar results with Verizon.

Doug

Comparing 4G to 3G is like comparing Cable to dial up. I don't think anyone doubts that 4G will be/is faster. Your 3G is about the same as my AT&T 3G in my local area, but as you pointed out it depends on where you are and what the network conditions are like at any given time.
 
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Most everyone has a different experience with network speed based on location and how many people are using the network.
My Verizon iPhone can be faster at times than some of my friends AT&T iPhones but most of the time their phones load data faster. :Angry-Tongue:
 
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I have the AT&T iPhone And the 3G speeds are fast but the nearest 3G tower is 20-30 miles away, and I just talked to Verizon and the nearest 4g tower being put up is 40 miles away from my house. I did talk to AT&T and they said by this fall we will have 3G in my area and might be able to put it up.thanks for the help.
 
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I went to a verizon store with my AT&T iphone and did tests between the two and verizon was about 5 seconds faster then At&t when opening the sites that i normally visit.
 
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Do the opposite in an AT&T store and let us know what happens.
 
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I went to the apple store on Saturday and the Verizon iPhone with 4 3G was still faster then the Att iPhone with full 3G by about 4 seconds on every test that I did. At my house we get 3 to 4 bars of 3G and it is pretty fast.going to get a white 4 tomarrow on Verizon and haven't determined if I am going to keep my AT&T one to use as a touch or not.
 
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I found that in my area the iPhone 4 on AT&T loaded data about three seconds faster than my iPhone 4 on Verizon. IMO I feel Verizon is a much more stable and their 3G coverage is much better in the US compared to AT&T so I am very willing to lose those few seconds it takes to load data.
 

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