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join:2009-03-28
1 edit | Hello there! I was considering the same thing because of the EVDO and the network, but I might end up with At&t because it seems cheaper for me and my family right now.
However, I finally had the chance to test some of this out, and it would seem that while the HSDPA is capable of greater speeds, it's just not as stable (not to mention the much worse coverage....verizon has EVDO practically everywhere)
So, while right now you might see around 2.0Mbps with EVDO Rev. A, In most places, except for some very urban areas, the HSDPA is only 1.8Mbps because they haven't upgraded to 3.6Mbps (the next step) yet in most areas. I haven't heard of At&t pushing out 7Mbps upgrades, and I don't know of any handsets that would support it...but that doesn't mean it's not true. Also, I have read (googled) about EVDO Rev. B and EVDO Rev. C, but I don't know whether or not Verizon is abandoning them for LTE or not. I think that's all I've got for question #4.
1. I'm not sure of coverage in buildings or not. Most of the faster networks (HSDPA/EVDO) run on 1900mhz, but I believe around here Verizon runs a lot of theirs on 850mhz. The trade off might be speed? I haven't run any raw speed tests so I'm not sure, but theoretically 850mhz means better penetration and 1900mhz is more bandwidth.
2. I think, but this is just opinion and speculation, that it would be better than At&t because of all of the iphones and the push they have to catch up. I would think Verizon might actually be a little bit ahead as far as capacity goes, while At&t is struggling to catch their breath. (but again, that's just speculation, I'm really not sure)
However, I was in San Francisco a while back with my At&t 3g phone, and it was constantly bouncing between 3g and EDGE. It was the most unstable 3g city I have been in and haven't experienced anything like it since. This was in February, so I guess they've fixed the problem since then. (as a matter of fact I called about it thinking my phone may need an upgrade or something and they said it was due to the hills...but I thought San Fran had been a 3g city for a while?) (later note: maybe the 3g was running on the 1900mhz network (I had an At&t rep a while back tell me that they were starting to do some deployments on 850, but 99.9% of the HSPDA was running on 1900mhz) but, it could have been that I was in some bad spots and the 850 was penetrating better, giving me regular gsm/EDGE service and not good enough for my phone to keep a lock on the 3g. But, I think there may have been a problem that has since been fixed, because it was really really bad and you seem to have had a great experience with it there. (sorry, I just re-read the speed test, that's really good for EDGE speed!  (I did read somewhere about San Franciso getting upgrades because of capacity issues maybe?)
3. I'm not sure about voice, if it is improved or not. But, think about this, 3g with At&t is a form of CDMA, being WCDMA. I've always found that voice quality was a little "shakier" with GSM networks because they only broadcast on one tower at a time, so if anything comes between you and the tower you get a blip or noise until it switches to a better one, with CDMA, if I understand it correctly, it broadcasts on up to three towers at a time, so if any packets are dropped by the primary tower the other two can make up for it. I would think this would be the same for the WCDMA at&t 3g network.
I can use voice and data at the same time with my At&t HSDPA handset, with EVDO, this is not possible (I've been told the data goes on hold and then it's back when the call is ended, like the EDGE data does)
I think that might have been a 1-4. I was on Verizon a long time ago and switched over to At&t when they rolled out edge. Let me give a #5 why I'd switch back to EVDO coverage in a heartbeat if the price was comparable:
Stability. I'm a tech guy and this is important. I sometimes service remote systems, etc. and latency, and more importantly a stable one is a big deal. I have used HSDPA and EVDO, and even in weaker signals the EVDO was rock solid. What I mean by that is, my pings with HSDPA are never below 300-350 at best. With the Verizon EVDO Rev. A that I've used, they are about 120-180 even with only 2 out of 5 bars of signal. If I were to surf the internet at the same time as my ping test, the HSDPA would be all over the chart, going from 600-700 and sometimes taking a second or two. Not the EVDO, even under stress and downloading something else, I don't think it ever got much above 350. It was hard to move it. So, I don't know if you do any remote desktop, VOIP/Skype, VPN's, or things like that (heck, I don't do them that often), but I think if/when you do At&t might cause some problems where Verizon wouldn't...even if it is a bit slower. And if I were a big betting man I'll bet even though At&t's technology is/can be faster right now in terms of download speeds, I'll bet deployment is about the same with the exception of a couple of major major areas that have been upgraded to 3.6Mbps already, and throw in the stress of all of the iphones and I'll bet it's all about the same, with Verizon being much more stable and predictable no matter where you are. But then again, you actually had a stable signal in San Francisco!!! Have a great day km. |
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[EvDO] HSDPA Vs. EvDO
