We all know that Verizon has superior 4G LTE coverage compared to AT&T, but which 4G LTE network is faster? Location, time of day, and season can all impact network speeds, but it appears that AT&T has the upper hand when it comes to network speed as the article below explains. AT&T Trouncing Verizon in LTE Performance TestsSome initial testing I performed yesterday appeared to support this, but it was just that, an initial test. I'm going to conduct more testing over the next two weeks to get a better picture where I live. Just one piece in the overall pie to consider when choosing a provider.

Interesting article...My take, it doesn't matter how fast it is if you can't get a strong or any signal at all.When we were with ATT we got spotty, inconsistent signal on the Oregon Coast... With ATT we often got "no service" and often got dropped/cut-offs.Hasn't happened even once now with Verizon.

Try central or eastern Oregon where you are often lucky to get 1X service and no att service

downtheroad wrote:Interesting article...My take, it doesn't matter how fast it is if you can't get a strong or any signal at all.When we were with ATT we got spotty, inconsistent signal on the Oregon Coast... With ATT we often got "no service" and often got dropped/cut-offs.Hasn't happened even once now with Verizon.That pretty well sums it up.

I spend some time in Mesa also, using Verizon. The speed varies a lot, depending on the time of day. Can't speak to ATT.

Here In southern Calif all cellular traffic is congestedMy VZW phone was much faster on vacation in Indiana than hereThe phone didn't change, the network towers and internet backbone was less congestedThat's another thing most fail to realizeWhere does the cell network connect to the internetMy Verizon IP will come back as someplace in riverside or even San Bernardino county, a hundred miles from where I am campedThe tower sends internet traffic to the Telco system, the system sends it to wherever the system connects to an internet backbone node A lot of the speed loss is in the amount of data traffic being carried on the Telco system to and from the access node

AT&T 4G LTE Faster than Verizon? | Good Sam Community

rockhillmanor
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
MrWizard wrote:
Here In southern Calif all cellular traffic is congested
My VZW phone was much faster on vacation in Indiana than here
The phone didn't change, the network towers and internet backbone was less congested
That's another thing most fail to realize
....

X2

What time of day has a huge impact also. Be parked near any big city and mornings and evenings when most seem the need to get on, your speed will drop, they roll it back substantially to accommodate the usage. You might have a 4 equipped unit and be paying for 4 but you are only getting 3 and peak times and/or where only a 3g tower is available.

Park in one place and do that test at 2:00 am and then again at 5:00 pm.! :B

THEY are in control of what speeds we get not what we are paying for.
wcjeep
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
LTE speed tests also depend on generation of LTE. Locally Vzw 1st gen LTE used to be fast. Eventually it slowed. Moved to the new Samsung S5. It appears to access the next gen LTE. My speeds have improved dramatically.

If you want to talk coverage, Vzw is better locally than all others.
srt20
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
joeshmoe wrote:
srt20 wrote:
I'm routinely in the 40's DL and teens upload. VZW In WI. I use ~20GB a month.

You're getting 40 megs? Do you climb up the cell site towers or something?

No, I'm way to chicken for that.

I have hit 60 Mbps once. Usually can get 50+ late at night. A buddy of mine has a iPhone 5s and usually gets a little better speeds than me at my house. I'd like to see what he can get here late at night.
joeshmoe
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
srt20 wrote:
I'm routinely in the 40's DL and teens upload. VZW In WI. I use ~20GB a month.

You're getting 40 megs? Do you climb up the cell site towers or something?
srt20
Explorer
Jun 10, 2014
I'm routinely in the 40's DL and teens upload. VZW In WI. I use ~20GB a month.
Ranger_Smith
Explorer
Jun 10, 2014
Mello Mike wrote:
Here are the results of yesterday's test using speedtest:

1. Verizon LTE: Download: 6.62 MBPS - Upload: 1.31 MBPS
2. AT&T LTE: Download: 13.38 MPBS - Upload: 3.05 MBPS

Ranger Smith, where are you located?

Massachusetts right now.
1492
Moderator
Jun 10, 2014
I think mobile data coverage is more important than overall speed? Most users are not going to download large files on mobile data on a regular basis. Considering that virtually all mobile plans limit the amount of high-speed data bandwidth anyway. Even if you're on an unlimited plan.
Mello_Mike
Explorer
Jun 10, 2014
Here are the results of yesterday's test using speedtest:

1. Verizon LTE: Download: 6.62 MBPS - Upload: 1.31 MBPS
2. AT&T LTE: Download: 13.38 MPBS - Upload: 3.05 MBPS

Ranger Smith, where are you located?
Dog_Folks
Explorer
Jun 10, 2014
Verizon has few, if none, of their own towers in Kentucky. They use others and you are "secondary" to that towers clients. In some areas of south central Kentucky, Verizon does not work at all.

Also in North Florida, Verizon service is not that great.

This is NOT to knock Verizon, we had them in the western states and they were great!!

I guess it comes down to where you intend to use the service.

The above is what we have experienced. Others may have different ones.
Ranger_Smith
Explorer
Jun 10, 2014
I have an Ipad on verizon and a iphone on Att. I just did speedtest to the same host
Verizon 69 ms ping. 13.96 down. 5.87. Up
Att. 363 ms ping. .89 down. .54 up

Att sucks