Sometimes HSPA+ is as Fast As Some LTE Networks

Though controversy about what networks can legitimately be called “fourth generation” has been an issue, in some cases, some 3G networks can provide access speeds so comparable to 4G Long Term Evolution that most users could not tell the difference.

Though that should not continue to be the case always, at the moment, some 3G services offer access speeds quite comparable to LTE, Rootmetrics tests in the first half of 2012 suggested.

In those tests, Verizon delivered 77.4 percent of their downloads at speeds above 5 Mbps. Verizon also offered the least percentage of tests in the “slow” bucket.

“Verizon was the most consistent carrier for delivering fast speeds and also the most consistent at avoiding the slowest speeds,”  RootMetrics found.

But T-Mobile USA’s performance using an HSPA+42 network was quite strong.

Though AT&T edged ahead of T-Mobile, the distance between the carriers was small, Rootmetrics says. T-Mobile USA speeds  were often closer to T-Mobile than to Verizon.

Compare, for instance, how often each of these three carriers delivered speeds above 5 Mbps: Where Verizon delivered speeds above 5 Mbps 77.4 percent of the time, AT&T did so in 48.1 percent of the tests.

T-Mobile USA surpassed 5 Mbps in 46.7 percent of the tests.

Also, performance by Sprint and MetroPCS shows the importance of adding LTE service. Both Sprint and MetroPCS, nearly 70 percent of the time, tested in the “slowest bucket.”

On the other hand, Sprint proved much better at the top end of the tests. MetroPCS delivered speeds above 5 Mbps 0.9 percent of the time, while  Sprint did so in 17.2 percent of the tests.