What Should The Upload Speed And Download Speed Be On A 4g Lte Network
Fastest wireless network 2020: It's not fifty-fifty close
Fastest Wireless Carrier of 2020: It'due south Still Verizon
When it comes to LTE, how fast your smartphone can download and upload data frequently depends on where you are. But if your phone is tied to Verizon's LTE network, there'south a pretty good risk your data speeds are going to beat everyone else's.
5G may exist the hereafter of wireless service, but LTE remains the present. (See the section at the end of this folio for the latest on the condition of 5G.) For those of us who don't live in the specific areas where 5G coverage has launched, LTE is going to remain the way most of u.s.a. become our loftier-speed data. And when information technology comes to LTE, Verizon is nevertheless tops.
Later on testing wireless network speeds at multiple locations in eight U.S. cities, we constitute that Verizon consistently delivered the fastest LTE. The carrier swept all 3 categories we measured — boilerplate download speed, boilerplate upload speed and the time it takes to download an app from Google Play. This is the 3rd consecutive time Verizon has topped our network speed rankings. (Those rankings reflect our tests from 2018, only stay tuned — we'll be updating in the coming months with new LTE numbers every bit well as 5G testing.)
Which carrier is the runner-upwards depends on what metric you value. AT&T had the 2nd-fastest boilerplate download speed in our testing, a little less than 4 Mbps faster than T-Mobile. Merely T-Mobile posted the second-fastest boilerplate upload fourth dimension after Verizon, finishing ahead of AT&T. Ultimately, the runner-upward nod goes to AT&T, which finished 2nd in our app download test with an boilerplate time of 35 seconds; T-Mobile finished third with a fifty-second boilerplate.
While Dart may have placed last among the Big 4 carriers, it posted the biggest improvement, doubling its average download speed from the concluding time nosotros tested. It also performed dramatically better in our app download test, narrowing downward the gap with T-Mobile to vii seconds. It's clear that Sprint'due south efforts to ameliorate its 4G capabilities ahead of its planned merger with T-Mobile are paying off.
National Results
| Boilerplate Download Speed | Average Upload Speed | Boilerplate App Download Time (Min: Sec) | |
| Verizon | 53.3 Mbps | 17.5 Mbps | 0:28 |
| AT&T | 37.ane Mbps | 12.ix Mbps | 0:35 |
| T-Mobile | 36.3 Mbps | 16.iv Mbps | 0:50 |
| Metro past T-Mobile | 32.8 Mbps | 13 mbps | one:22 |
| Sprint | 32.5 Mbps | 4 Mbps | 0:57 |
| Directly Talk | 31.1 Mbps | 15.6 Mbps | one:06 |
| Cricket | 6.5 Mbps | v.eight Mbps | 1:00 |
| Boost | 29.4 Mbps | 3.7 Mbps | 1:29 |
Exterior the Big Four, Metro by T-Mobile (formerly Metro PCS) remains the fastest discount carrier, riding the force of T-Mobile'southward network to the fourth-fastest average download speed. But Straight Talk, which lagged other carriers in previous tests, turned in a stellar performance when using a SIM carte du jour tied to Verizon'south leading network. (Directly Talk uses other carriers' networks, besides, and when we tested with different SIMs, the speeds weren't as fast.)
How They Finished: City-Past-City Results
- New York: Verizon (Runner-upwards: Straight Talk)
- Philadelphia: Sprint (Runner-upward: AT&T)
- Houston: Verizon (Runner-upwardly: T-Mobile)
- Dallas: T-Mobile (Runner-upwardly: Verizon)
- San Francisco: AT&T (Runner-upwardly: Verizon)
- Seattle: Verizon (Runner-upwards: T-Mobile)
- Los Angeles: Verizon (Runner-up: T-Mobile)
- Chicago: Verizon (Runner-up: AT&T/Sprint)
How Nosotros Tested LTE Networks
Nosotros tested eight popular carriers. In addition to the Big Four wireless providers — AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon — we also looked at 4 discount carriers: Boost Mobile, Cricket Wireless, Metro and Straight Talk. (In our by tests, we've included Virgin Mobile, but during our test period, Virgin was positioning itself every bit an iPhone-focused carrier, and we use Samsung Galaxy phones in our testing to ensure a level playing field — iPhones apply unlike modems, depending on the carrier y'all select.)
Nosotros conducted our testing using the Galaxy S9. Seven of the carriers we tested supplied united states of america with a test unit tied to their network. In the instance of Boost, we bought an S9 directly from the visitor tied to its network.
We used the same phones to test the different networks in eight cities. Adam Ismail conducted testing in New York and Philadelphia; Jorge Jimenez ran tests in Houston and Dallas; Philip Michaels tested in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle; and Meghan McDonough conducted testing in Chicago. We conducted our testing from June to August 2018.
In each of the cities, we selected half-dozen examination sites based on geographic diversity and popularity. Those examination sites included an equal mix of outdoor and indoor testing. We ran Ookla'southward Speedtest.net app five times at each location to tape an average download and upload speed for each carrier. We also downloaded Discord (a 40MB file) from Google Play and timed how long the app took to install; if the app didn't download after 5 minutes, we stopped the exam and listed its download time at 5:00 for that location.
MORE: The All-time and Worst Phone Carriers
After determining average download and upload speeds for each location in each metropolis, nosotros used those results to come up with an average performance number for all 6 cities. To make up one's mind our last rankings, we looked at both download and upload averages besides how shut the gap was betwixt different carriers; we too considered how carriers fared when downloading mobile apps.
Here's how the different carriers rank in our tests.
1. Verizon
- Boilerplate Download: 53.iii Mbps
- Boilerplate Upload: 17.v Mbps
- Average App Download Fourth dimension: 28 seconds
Information technology's no mystery why Verizon has tightened its grip on the top rank in our network testing. It had both the fastest download and upload averages across our eight test cities. It also turned in the fastest average time on our app download test, with a blazing-fast 28-second average. In fact, in only i city did information technology take longer than a infinitesimal to download Discord on Verizon'south network.
Verizon was the height-performing network in more than half of the cities where nosotros tested. In three of the cities where Verizon didn't take the pinnacle spot (Dallas and San Francisco), information technology was the runner-upwards. The just city where Large Carmine missed the mark was Philadelphia, where information technology had the worst download speeds of any of the Big Four carriers.
Verizon'due south best performances were recorded in New York and Chicago, the country's 2 largest cities. The carrier non only had the all-time download speeds in both those cities merely also finished well ahead of the next-fastest carrier.
MORE: Verizon Data Plans: What's Right for You?
In New York, Verizon'due south 84.6-Mbps average was 54 pct faster than the 54.8-Mbps boilerplate Straight Talk recorded (using Verizon's network, as well). In Chicago, Verizon's 85.viii-Mbps download speed was 33 percent faster than runner-up Sprint's.
2. AT&T
- Boilerplate Download: 37.1 Mbps
- Average Upload: 12.ix Mbps
- Boilerplate App Download Time: 35 seconds
AT&T had the second-fastest average download speed at 37.ane Mbps, but edging out T-Mobile. While AT&T's average upload speed of 12.ix Mbps was only 5th-best amongst the wireless services nosotros tested, information technology had the 2nd-all-time score on our app download exam, which in our book puts it but ahead of T-Mobile.
AT&T tin can claim one urban center win in San Francisco, where it enjoyed a abode-field advantage when we tested outside the San Francisco Giants' ballpark (which just happens to accept AT&T's name on its sign).
Merely AT&T is more than a one-fob pony in the Urban center by the Bay. It was the only carrier non to struggle when we tested in the Haight-Ashbury commune, where information technology trounced the competition; and it as well fared well at tests in Gold Gate Park and the Duboce Triangle neighborhood.
MORE: AT&T Information Plans: What's Best for You?
We also saw strong performance for AT&T in Philadelphia and Chicago, where information technology was the runner-up in our tests. (Information technology carve up that award with Sprint in the Windy City.) The carrier's third-identify end behind Verizon and T-Mobile in Los Angeles was besides respectable.
3. T-Mobile
- Boilerplate Download: 36.3 Mbps
- Average Upload: sixteen.four Mbps
- Boilerplate App Download Time: l seconds
T-Mobile only missed out on finishing 2d in our rankings. Its average download speed of 36.3 was only behind AT&T's, though it had the 2nd-all-time average upload speed at 16.4, abaft only Verizon.
In the finish, it came down to our app download test: T-Mobile'southward average time of l seconds was good plenty for third, but 15 seconds behind AT&T'south boilerplate.
If you live in Dallas, T-Mobile has the top network with the best download speeds in that metropolis. The Uncarrier as well fared well in Seattle, Houston and Los Angeles, where information technology was runner-upwards to Verizon.
More than: A Closer Wait at T-Mobile'due south Unlimited Data Plan
four. Metro past T-Mobile
- Average Download: 32.viii Mbps
- Boilerplate Upload: 13 Mbps
- Average App Download Time: one minute and 22 seconds
Metro by T-Mobile, known every bit MetroPCS when we ran our tests, benefits from the potent network of its parent company. Metro's average download speed of 32.viii Mbps was less than 4 Mbps different from T-Mobile 36.iii-Mbps average, and the difference in upload speed (16.4 for T-Mobile, 13 Mbps for Metro) was similarly narrow.
If at that place'due south a gap between Metro and T-Mobile, we constitute it in our app download exam. Metro'due south boilerplate time of 1 minute and 22 seconds was more than xxx seconds off T-Mobile's pace. Blame bad results in Houston and Chicago, where Metro'due south app download operation was significantly slower than T-Mobile's. (In Los Angeles and Philadelphia, our download times on Metro were slightly faster than they were on T-Mobile.)
One of the risks of using a wireless provider that relies on another carrier's network is that your data may get slowed downwardly when there'southward a lot of traffic. That seems to accept been the case in Houston when we tested and to a lesser extent to Chicago. For the virtually office, though, Metro'due south results were closely aligned with T-Mobile'due south upload and download speeds, with Metro actually finishing alee of its parent company in some test locations.
5. Sprint
- Average Download: 32.v Mbps
- Average Upload: 4 Mbps
- Boilerplate App Download Fourth dimension: 57 seconds
Sprint still lags its other Big Four rivals in our speed testing, every bit it has the previous ii years we've tested LTE networks. Its average download speed of 32.v Mbps barbarous just behind the average for Metro past T-Mobile, while its iv-Mbps average upload speed was the 2d-worst speed nosotros recorded. (Only Sprint subsidiary Boost was slower.)
But Sprint was noticeably more competitive in this circular of testing. The carrier turned in the superlative performance in Philadelphia, winning our app download tests and turning in the all-time average download speed. (Only Boost had a better boilerplate in Philly, and it uses Sprint'southward network.) Sprint was also runner-up in Chicago (where information technology split that award with AT&T) and turned in decent third-identify finishes in New York and Seattle.
On our app download examination, Dart finished with the quaternary-best average time, taking 57 seconds to download Discord. That's 7 seconds slower than T-Mobile.
6. Straight Talk
- Average Download: 31.1 Mbps
- Average Upload: xv.six Mbps
- Average App Download Time: 1 minute and 6 seconds
Direct Talk has brought upwards the rear when we've previously tested speeds on wireless carriers. That wasn't the case this time around, however: Its download speeds were inside shouting distance of Metro and Sprint, and its average upload speed of 15.8 Mbps was actually the third-all-time we recorded. We remember Verizon's network deserves much of the credit, though.
When you sign up with Straight Talk, you lot go a choice of SIMs tied to each of the Big Four carriers' networks. For our testing, nosotros used a Verizon-tied SIM carte. Straight Talk'southward numbers never quite matched Verizon's — download averages were off anywhere from 29 percent to 386 percent, depending on the urban center we tested in — only rarely did Straight Talk bring upwardly the rear in testing.
To see if our theory that the network you apply with Straight Talk plays a major role in how strong your operation is, we went back to some test sites in New York, replacing our Verizon-tied SIM menu in our Straight Talk-supplied Milky way S9 with a T-Mobile one. T-Mobile had the slowest download speeds of the Big Four Carriers in New York, and sure enough, the Straight Talk numbers weren't every bit practiced using that network as they were with the Verizon SIM. If y'all opt for Straight Talk, pay close attending to which Large Four carrier has the all-time functioning in your expanse.
seven. Cricket
- Average Download: six.5 Mbps
- Average Upload: 5.8 Mbps
- Average App Download Time: i infinitesimal
Cricket uses AT&T'due south network, then you'd call up that it would benefit from AT&T's fast speeds in the same mode that Metro rides T-Mobile's LTE coattails. Only that'south not the case, and it's no surreptitious why: Cricket warns you that it's going to cap your download speeds at viii Mbps on all merely one of its monthly data plans, and we tin can verify that the carrier isn't lying. We recorded an average download speed of 6.v Mbps — past far the worst of any carrier.
If there's any consolation for Cricket, it's that the speed cap didn't bear upon our real-world exam. Cricket downloaded Discord in an average of 1 infinitesimal flat. That's virtually twice equally long as AT&T took, merely it shell the boilerplate results for Metro, Straight Talk and Boost.
Cricket's average upload speed of five.8 Mbps, while not groovy, still beat out Boost and Dart.
8. Boost
- Average Download: 29.iv Mbps
- Average Upload: iii.7 Mbps
- Average App Download Time: ane minute and 29 seconds
Boost's average download speed of 29.4 Mbps in the viii cities where we tested is much faster than Cricket'due south hampered-by-speed-caps boilerplate. So how come Boost finishes in concluding place? Because information technology fares worse than Cricket and other carriers in everything else we tested.
Heave, which is currently endemic past Sprint (at least until information technology'south spun off as role of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger) and uses its parent company'due south network, had an average upload speed of iii.7 Mbps. On our app download test, Boost averaged ane minute and 29 seconds, finishing 5 seconds behind the next-slowest carrier.
While Boost generally matched the performance of its parent carrier Dart, in a few cities we saw noticeable differences in download speeds — and that hurt Boost'due south overall numbers. Boost's download speed was xxx per centum slower in Seattle and 61 percent off Sprint's step in Houston. Only in New York did Boost match Dart'southward time for downloading the Discord app; everywhere else, the disbelieve carrier was anywhere from 12 seconds to one minute and 59 seconds slower than Sprint in that exam.
Other Tests
Our LTE testing provides only some of the picture on how wireless networks are performing. Tertiary-party testing firms, who do cypher but evaluate network achieve, speed and latency, periodically publish their ain results, and it's worth paying attending to these reports to go a fuller idea of how network performance is evolving, especially for reports appearing later on our tests were conducted, as those can give you a sense of how networks have continued to improve. With the FCC reporting that wireless carrier maps aren't always accurate, information technology'south more important than always to pay attention to reports from third-party testers.
OpenSignal's January 2020 study reflects information nerveless betwixt September and December last twelvemonth. AT&T posted the fastest 4G download speeds, pulling ahead of T-Mobile (which topped the July 2019 report) and Verizon. T-Mobile had the all-time upload speeds while Verizon took the peak prize for 4G availability and video streaming experience.
AT&T as well fared well in a July 2019 report by Ookla, where the carrier earned earn the highest speed score for the first one-half of 2019. T-Mobile placed second while Verizon finished 3rd. Sprint, which finished quaternary, had the second largest yr-over-twelvemonth improvement in Ookla's numbers.
Equally for RootMetrics, its January 2020 report on network operation during the second half of concluding year put Verizon in the elevation spot for the 13th sequent testing period. AT&T was runner-up in v of vi categories, and split honors with Verizon for texting performance. AT&T too had the best national amass median download speed, according to RootMetrics.
5G: The Future of Wireless Networks
We've focused on LTE in our testing considering that'south the fastest network available for most smartphone users these days. But that's changing as nosotros speak, at present that wireless carriers are launching their 5G networks. Verizon ended last twelvemonth with 5G service in 31 cities; it too has coverage in 17 NFL stadiums and a handful of arenas. (Annotation that Verizon's 5G coverage just reaches sure sections of stadiums and arenas and not the entire venue.) Sprint's 5G service now available in nine cities, reaching sixteen one thousand thousand people.
T-Mobile fabricated its initial 5G network bachelor in six cities concluding June, and has since launched a nationwide 5G network that covers 5,000 cities. (This network uses sub-600Mhz spectrum, which isn't every bit fast as some of the 5G networks we've seen to date; see our easily-on with the OnePlus 7T Pro 5G McLaren to find out how T-Mobile's network measures up.) AT&T'southward 5G Plus service now reaches 35 cities, simply it's express to business customers. Like T-Mobile, AT&T launched a 5G network that uses low-ring spectrum in Dec — it won't be as fast as the millimeter-wave-based 5G Plus service, but it will reach more people. That'southward currently in 45 cities.
Wondering what 5G service will hateful for your hereafter smartphone? Now that we've had a chance to test AT&T's network after before tests for Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile, we've at present been able to experience 5G with all iv carriers, using the devices that work on their corresponding networks (the Galaxy S10 5G in the instance of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile and an LG V50 ThinQ for Sprint). RootMetrics has done some testing, too, and not surprisingly, it found that Verizon's high-speed network is the fastest, though other carrier have wider reach.
Here's a more detailed look at what carriers are doing with launching 5G networks.
- AT&T'southward 5G status report
- Dart'due south 5G status report
- T-Mobiles 5G status report
- Verizon's 5G condition report
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