Lighting up a network – How fast is your connection?

With the arrival of the iPhone and Samsung’s Instinct operating on 3G networks, cell phone users can now email, text, and surf the web at lightning speeds. A speedy network with a strong signal brings faster-loading Web pages, quick e-mail delivery and smoother video streams. On the contrary, slow data speeds and spotty network coverage means you may wait until you get to work or home before jumping online via computer. Wireless carriers all make similar promises of blazingly fast mobile Internet, even more so now with 3G, or third-generation, wireless. So what are the general differences between the networks of AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile and their top devices on these networks?

3G speeds vary
Minimum 3G data download speeds aren’t clearly defined, but are often pegged at between 128 and 384 kilobits per second. That’s still slow compared to a household Wi-Fi network.

T-Mobile and AT&T both use the GSM, or Global System for Mobile communications, standard, and the most popular form of mobile technology in the world by a wide margin. While AT&T’s iPhone has created the buzz around the G3 networks, users complain that it depletes the battery too quickly. iPhone consumers still expect a faster experience on this expensive handheld device (See Wirefly’s iPhone-TouchScreen comparison page). While T-Mobile’s 3G network is still in its infant stages, the investment in speed may increase with the partnership with Google and the HTC Dream G1 cell phone. Wirefly.com also has a side-by-side comparison of the G1 phone vs. other touch screen phones. It will be increasing to watch the development of Android, Google’s mobile platform that has been in development for a few years.

According to Marin Perez, InformationWeek.com’s associate editor and mobile industry expert, “Sprint has a wide, if not (the) widest 3G network of the carriers,” while Verizon Wireless “uses a fast 3G, EV-DO Rev. … AT&T has the handset everyone wants, but their 3G network is still smaller than Sprint’s.” Smartphones and touch screens like the LG Venus, Rumor, and Dare, and even the Samsung Glyde are helping Verizon Wireless attract data-heavy users.

Now with the convergence of email, text, video sharing, GPS, and web surfing on one device, the race is on to deliver 4G performance.