For the most recent info, check out the 2010 T-Mobile 3G Speed Review.
T-Mobile 3G speeds can get up to 1 Mbps and are expected to increase to 3 Mbps in 2009. That’d be faster than AT&T, ‘the nation’s fastest 3G network’Last time we covered T-Mobile speed…there was no 3G speed to be covered. There was only WiFi, EDGE and GPRS. This time, they’ve got a full buffet for your internet appetite. The only question is, ‘exactly how fast is it?’
Reportedly, it has a maximum of 1 Mbps downloading and is to be tripled to 3 Mbps soon. How does that matchup with the WiFi, EDGE and GPRS you’ll also connect to at some point? Let’s see:
| Location | Connection Type | Speed (kilobits per sec) | Speed (kilobytes/s) |
| Partner Locations | WiFi | 2,000 – 3000 Kbps | 375 KB/s – 2,048 KB/s |
| Urban Areas | 3G | 1024 Kbps | Unknown |
| Interstates | EDGE | 200 – 400 Kbps | 24.4 KB/s – 48.8 KB/s |
| Rural Areas | GPRS | 56 – 114 Kbps | 6.8 KB/s – 13.9 KB/s |
If we just take a look at the average download speeds, we’ll find that they look something like this:
As you can see, T-Mobile’s 3G speed falls below WiFi but above EDGE and GPRS in speed.
While it may look slow compared to WiFi, it’s not bad by current U.S. 3G standards. AT&T who uses the same network technology has average speeds of 1.7 Mbps while Sprint and Verizon advertise average speeds of 0.6 Mbps to 1.4 Mbps. When you take that into account, T-Mobile 3G speed can punch with some of the big boys…if you can connect to their network that is.
Like we mentioned before, T-Mobile’s 3G network is the smallest of the bunch right now. Before deciding on them for your mobile broadband fix, you’ll definitely want to check out T-Mobile 3G coverage.