Verizon has emerged triumphant in a recently conducted study aimed to find the fastest carrier in the US — but not across all US regions, keep that in mind.
To be more specific, it looks like the folks over at the northwest and northeast regions seem to be better off with T-Mobile, whereas AT&T seems to be faring noticeably better in the south-central region that includes Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
The study comes amidst a rather fiercely combated rivalry among all the major carriers, with each blowing the trumpet about being the gateway to next-generation network technologies, i.e. 5G.
For instance, AT&T’s widely publicized 5G Evolution plan recently came under severe criticism for making clearly exaggerating claims. And it’s not just about AT&T either. While nobody knows exactly when the 5G technology will be ready for public consumption, all major carriers seem to be leaving no stones unturned to become the first one to introduce it.
Besides 5G, the carriers are also locking horns with one another in an increasingly intense price war, with each company trying to use reduced tariff and other incentives to strengthen their grip on the market. However, reduced tariff means little if a network is unable to offer health coverage.
Verizon named the fastest carrier in America, but only by a small margin
In late 2016, a series of tests were performed throughout the United States by Rootmetrics. As part of this study, PCMag commissioned testers across the country to gauge network quality offered by all major carriers.
The study encompassing 36 cities and rural areas found that network quality was improving pretty much everywhere.
| AT&T | Sprint | T-Mobile | Verizon | |
| Maximum Download Speed (Mbps) | 202 | 195 | 199.9 | 215.7 |
| Average Download Speed (Mbps) | 32.6 | 20.5 | 29.3 | 31.1 |
| Downloads Above 5Mbps (%) | 0.87 | 0.66 | 0.83 | 0.88 |
| Maximum Upload Speed (Mbps) | 64.7 | 25 | 55.9 | 50 |
| Average Upload Speed (Mbps) | 12.4 | 6.5 | 18.3 | 15.8 |
| Uploads Over 2Mbps (%) | 0.9 | 0.72 | 0.88 | 0.9 |
| Average Ping (ms) | 45.42 | 50.74 | 38.91 | 41.21 |
| Reliability (%) | 0.97 | 0.94 | 0.96 | 0.99 |
| Speed Score (out of 100) | 93 | 74 | 96 | 97 |
“This was the tightest contest ever,” the publication observed. In terms of download speed, AT&T had the highest average speed nationally at 32.6 Mbps, closely followed by Verizon at 31.1 Mbps. T-Mobile and Sprint lagged behind at third and fourth spots respectively with an average download speed of 29.3 Mbps and 20.5 Mbps.
[Source: PCMag]