Going Hands On With the New HSPA+ 21Mbps T-Mobile Network
T-Mobile is sure playing a good game of catch up when it comes to 3G. They may have been the last major carrier to launch their 3G network but they are planning to blow by the others pretty soon.
To put things into perspective, AT&T just launched their new 7.2Mbps 3G in 6 cities with plans to finish the 7.2Mbps upgrade to 21 different markets by the end of 2010.
Sprint is working on their 20Mbps 4G Wimax network, and has launched it in a few cities and is planning to have Wimax launched in more markets by the end of 2010.
T-Mobile claims that they will have 7.2Mbps IN MOST MARKETS close to the the of 2009 (not 2010) and that they will have their 21Mbps 3G network (backwards compatible, so all 3G devices will see some form of speed increase from this, no new handset required like with WiMax) rolled out to most markets by mid 2010!
Now all of this would just be talk if it weren’t for a 21Mbps testing area ALREADY up and running in Philadelphia.
Kevin over at Jkontherun.com has had the pleasure to test this new fledgling 21Mbps 3G network on a few current devices and was kind enough to post screen shots of their speed tests.
In a nutshell, Kevin got the following download speeds:
- Control: From his work outside the 21Mbps test zone, he got 1.1Mbps down.
- On the same USB stick (capable of handling up to 7.2Mbps) from the first test he got 5.5Mbps down in the new HSPA+ test area!
- On an N900 (which is capable of handling 10Mbps) he got a crazy 7Mbps down!
Check out his page for details.
yup t mobile posted about it in there forums heres the link http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Coverage/3G-Expansion-amp-HSPA/td-p/254526;jsessionid=3DA8C6E88617B15594B897D178C6CBB5
Do you happen to know a site that lists what phones such as the g1 or touch is capable of handling in mbps?
Smoke360,
They are capable of up to 7.2Mbps. But regardless the 21Mbps upgrade will increase their download speeds as well regardless.
that would be interesting if they had a signal everywhere, but its not just about how fast you run the base paths, you have to get on base first.
wat about if u have iphone
Eddy,
You dont get 3G so you wouldn’t get the new 3G speed.
Nice! I’m getting the N900 in about a week and was sketchy on the T Mobile service after being with ATT for about 4 years now. This looks promising.