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iPhone 3GS Drives Explosion In YouTube Use
So how is AT&T's network holding up?

The folks at YouTube say uploads to the video-sharing site have jumped 1700% in the last six months. After last Friday's launch of the new video-centric iPhone 3GS, that growth sped up even further -- to the tune of 400% growth per day. Our immediate thought of course was how AT&T was handling the upstream bandwidth demand on their HSDPA network, given their almost admission of iPhone-related network strain. According to AT&T, the network's holding up well under the load.

"Upload has been a strength of our network for a while now with HSUPA," says spokesman Seth Bloom. HSUPA boosted the upstream capability of the company's wireless network to between 500kbps and 800kbps, and the upgrades were all-but completed by Spring of 2008.

Bloom reminds us of the company's next big batch of planned improvements, announced last May, which will also help capacity. "Things like adding 2100 cell sites around the country, adding improved backhaul to thousands of other sites, upgrading to HSPA 7.2 (7.2Mbps downstream) beginning later this year and concluding in 2011, and rolling out 850 (Mhz) to improve overall and in-building coverage" should all help, notes Bloom.

Can any 3GS users chime in on how they think AT&T's network is performing?

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TCub
Premium Member
join:2008-09-03
Olmsted Falls, OH

TCub

Premium Member

iPhone 3G...

I haven't noticed anything with my iPhone 3G in terms of increased or decreased speed since the release of the 3GS.

Altough one thing I'm curious about myself, will regular iPhone 3G users be able to use the HSPA 7.2 network when it's available or am I (we) stuck using the HSPDA 3.2 network?

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

1 recommendation

baineschile

Premium Member

Re: iPhone 3G...

I love using ATT's network as well. Its just as fast as verizon's clearly superior evdo network!!

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: iPhone 3G...

said by baineschile:

Its just as fast as verizon's clearly superior evdo network!!
That's a pretty subjective/localized opinion. Care to compare it to Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile ?
dcdeadbeat5
join:2008-10-07
Washington, DC

dcdeadbeat5 to TCub

Member

to TCub
said by TCub:

Altough one thing I'm curious about myself, will regular iPhone 3G users be able to use the HSPA 7.2 network when it's available or am I (we) stuck using the HSPDA 3.2 network?
Us 3G (non-3Gs) users are stuck with 3.6 down due to the radio in the hardware. It is unknown if it can be flashed to 7.2 (as many 3G cards can). But not to worry as I have a 3G card that does 7.2 down and I have not ever been able to reach anything close to that. So 3.6 down is probably just as good as 7.2 down on AT&T's network. I suspect that the problem is actually with the backhaul lines on the cell towers (too limited for too many users).
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: iPhone 3G...

7.2 is 2x as many bits per Hz as 3.6, so a 3.6 device is spectrally inefficient and could actually slow down a tower.

That aside, backhaul is a bigger issue.

Lastly, the old iPhone is 7.2 and HSUPA compatible. Not that the HSPA 7.2 side of things matters yet, but HSUPA puts latency in line with EvDO or maybe a little above.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: iPhone 3G...

the old iphone is 3.6mbps HSDPA, not 7.2
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: iPhone 3G...

Actually, if you look around the chipset on the original 3G supports 7.2. The only thing faster about the 3Gs is the processor; while that's a huge boost the original 3G is still compatible with AT&T's fastest network speed.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: iPhone 3G...

the chipset may support 7.2, but it'll be a cold day in hell before Apple upgrades the 3g firmware to support it.

TCub
Premium Member
join:2008-09-03
Olmsted Falls, OH

1 edit

TCub to dcdeadbeat5

Premium Member

to dcdeadbeat5
I see. I highly doubt well be able to flash it anyway. At least officially. Well, hopefully when AT&T does improve their network in the near future we'll at least see better reception and hopefully even something a little closer to 3.6 then what we're actually getting now. Just wishful thinkng.
dlewis23
join:2005-04-18
Boca Raton, FL

dlewis23 to dcdeadbeat5

Member

to dcdeadbeat5
@dcdeadbeat

They haven't even started 7.2 down so your still only seeing 3.6 down with. AT&T's 7.2 Mbps should be a vast improvement over the current 3.6. There should be no problem seeing around 4 Mbps down in the real word with it.

@baineschile

In good places like south florida AT&T's network is much faster then verizon. About 600 Kbps - 1 Mbps faster.
sides14
join:2007-11-29
Peoria, AZ

sides14

Member

Re: iPhone 3G...

They have already launched 7.2 in certain markets. I can get 6.6 during some periods during the day in Phoenix.

jpl931
join:2001-02-22
Herculaneum, MO

jpl931 to TCub

Member

to TCub
Got mine on Father's day and it has performed perfectly so far.
ditka_b
Premium Member
join:2001-10-05
Barrington, IL

ditka_b to TCub

Premium Member

to TCub
No 7.2mb for Iphone 3G

Jameson
Premium Member
join:2004-05-28
united state

Jameson

Premium Member

No problems

I just bought an iPhone yesterday after being a Sprint customer for over 8 years. I must say I'm not having any issues with AT&Ts network, reliability or speed.

iLive4Fusion
Premium Member
join:2006-07-13

iLive4Fusion

Premium Member

What 3G?

Well, out here out of the Birmingham Metro area. My Blackberry Bold say's what the heck is 3G. Compared to Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile even. AT&T is the worst overall choice for phone service in terms of Coverage, 3G coverage, and voice quality. I had to return my iPhone 3GS because the call quality was so horrible due to extensive use of AMR-HR here, my Blackberry of course can be forced to use AMR-FR. Maybe we will be suprised with some 3G soon.

banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance
Premium Member
join:2001-08-18
Frisco, TX

1 edit

banditws6

Premium Member

All seems well here

My iPhone 3GS is my first AT&T 3G phone (I had only the EDGE iPhone before), and so far I have found the network to be excellent in my area of southwest FL. AT&T only recently (last fall) activated 3G coverage around here.

Compared to my EDGE phone, I've had much higher signal strength, better call quality, and have yet to find a "dead zone" where I can't get data at all. This town is littered with such dead zones on the EDGE network.

Edited to add: My 3G network speed tests around town consistently show around 1600 kbps down and 235 kbps up.

I'll be going up to the Detroit area before too long and will be interested to test the phone there as well. AT&T's EDGE coverage in the metro Detroit area was horrible the last time I was there. Couldn't even get a signal at my house or at Metro Airport.
Chaldo
join:2008-03-18
West Bloomfield, MI

Chaldo

Member

Re: All seems well here

I live in the Detroit area, major improvements have been made here, a lot of 3G coverage almost everywhere in Detroit/ Metro Detroit area. Whens the last time you came here? I also would inform you to restart your phone when you are here, I am sure you already know to do that.

banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance
Premium Member
join:2001-08-18
Frisco, TX

banditws6

Premium Member

Re: All seems well here

It's actually been about...a year? Or perhaps a bit more -- since I was in Detroit. Glad to hear it's improved. I look forward to trying it out!
Chaldo
join:2008-03-18
West Bloomfield, MI

Chaldo

Member

Re: All seems well here

Ya no problem, where you going to be around. Just check the coverage map. You will be surprised to see how much 3G coverage there was a year ago, and now here.

banditws6
Shrinking Time and Distance
Premium Member
join:2001-08-18
Frisco, TX

banditws6

Premium Member

Re: All seems well here

Travels will take me pretty much everywhere from Detroit outskirts to Dearborn Heights to White Lake Township...got lots of family and friends in the area. I'll have to take another look at the coverage map too.

kilometers3
join:2007-01-24
Sacramento, CA

kilometers3

Member

Great coverage here in my part of CA

My phone never drops to an edge signal and I'm constatly driving around northern and central California. Outside I always get a full 3G signal and most of the time I run the speed tests I get at least 1mbps or slightly less. Any location I drive to picks up 3G, even on the freeway driving for hours.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: Great coverage here in my part of CA

I've had 3G coverage in most of SoCal for quite some time (Santa Clarita to San Luis Obispo on the 'west', Santa Clarita through Barstow to Big Bear in the high desert, and pretty much anything in the L.A. basin)

On a side note, I'm waiting to see how it 'will be' up around Mt.Shasta/Weed area.

Ynic
@mycingular.net

Ynic

Anon

IPhone 3GS

Well living in Chicagoland the 3GS have constant 3G connection I surf all day with only a slight slowdown in speed through various sites. Only thing I've noticed that some pictures don't pop up. Wish they could fix that.

cbrigante2
Wait til Next Year
Premium Member
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL

cbrigante2

Premium Member

Re: IPhone 3GS

said by Ynic :

Well living in Chicagoland the 3GS have constant 3G connection I surf all day with only a slight slowdown in speed through various sites. Only thing I've noticed that some pictures don't pop up. Wish they could fix that.
Yeah the data works pretty well out in the burbs, but the calls do drop some still (better than it was a year ago, but still higher than it should be).

mlong
Premium Member
join:2000-05-27
Parker, CO

mlong

Premium Member

My results

My 3GS is getting 1285 Kbps down and 236 Kbps up here in my house in Parker, CO (I turned off WiFi to test it). I did a few uploads to YouTube (»www.youtube.com/markclong) and it worked like a champ. I tried to send a two minute video but it wasn't having it. This was all over WiFi however so I'm not sure what the issue was.

Having been a Verizon customer for four or five years I was dreading AT&T after all the horror stories but I have to say I've been very happy with the service. The 3G speeds are decent and there is nothing like seeing "T1 download speeds" on a phone to make you laugh. All in all it works well and using Skype Out over WiFi is great. I called my parent's the other day over it and talked for 30 minutes without a hitch. I think the iPhone version is better than the Windows version of Skype.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: My results

I have WinMo Skype, and its quite garbled (compared to my laptop over WiFi).
I was hoping iPhone 3g/gs is better.

Alpine6
Premium Member
join:2000-01-11
Atlanta, GA

Alpine6

Premium Member

Same boat..

The 3GS is my first trip into iPhone world and I haven't had any problems, either. 90 second YouTube video went up yesterday very quickly. Less than 5 minutes from the start of recording to it being up on YouTube. Very cool.

Aside from the network being perfectly fine so far, the device really is cool. Light years ahead of my old WinMo Blackjack II.

Adam

dib22
join:2002-01-27
Kansas City, MO

dib22

Member

iphone (low)quality youtube

Youtube only looks good on iphones when your connected via WiFi... on at&t you get the same (low)quality youtube on EDGE as you do on 3G... its kinda sad....

for example speeds tests show im getting 1 meg downstream and the youtubes look just as blocky as when im on edge (getting 120k down)...
Cloneman
join:2002-08-29
Montreal

Cloneman

Member

Re: iphone (low)quality youtube

You need to get MXtube on your phone to watch Wifi-Quality streams over 3G

djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV

djrobx

Premium Member

No performance problems.

The 3GS is so much faster at rendering web pages, I don't think I'd notice if the network was a little slower from the strain. No complaints about the AT&T network so far.

I'm guessing the youtube "explosion" will calm down once the million+ new iPhone 3GS users stop testing feautures of their new toy just for the sake of testing. I hope Youtube has a lot of hard drive space handy though, LOL.
pika2000
join:2005-10-13
Seattle, WA

pika2000

Member

Enjoy while it last

Knowing AT&T, next thing you know they will put an amendment on their TOS prohibiting youtube uploading from the iPhone. They did it with sling, so we'll see.

FastiBook
join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA

1 edit

FastiBook

Member

Youtube restriction...

Ya, not going to happen. ATT is basically following apple's policy to the letter in the contract. Everything iPhone is insanely strict, with every function or possible function being detailed in its limitations uses etc. The iPhone may be the most enabled phone to ever hit the market because of this contract. The apple-att iPhone contract allows users to get only so much billing credit per iPhone acct per month, but the amount of total compensation is in the hundreds of dollars, try that with your free phone (not gonna go far), apple wants a good user experience. Also little discussed is the fact that 2G data does not count against your data plan per line cap, only high speed cell data (3G) counts against it. If you can EDGE, do it. Another point, is that outdoors, where the higher of the 2 frequencies is more useable, in most areas you have 3-5 bars. Once i leave my house i generally have 5 bars everywhere. Lower signal means the phone tries harder to get better signal, meaning less battery time. When i get poor signal but need to remain in contact for message & calls, i turn off 3G.

I think folks need to put iPhone (3G for the most part) in perspective. 99 dollar (74 dollar refurb) apple multi-touch widescreen video ipod cellphone that surfs the web pretty respectably & also has 50k apps does email great and can do business stuff & some IT stuff...

I could never use the internet really on my razr or use it instead of my macs, iPhone bridges that gap & is reliable & fun.

Ban youtube access? Yea, as likely as a 15% decrease in data & voice plan rates next month.

- A