3G data speed testing - XT on iPad vs iPhone 4 on Vodafone

[Zimsar10]

Last Sunday I undertook some comprehensive 3G Data Speed Testing – XT on iPad vs iPhone 4 on Vodafone.

For anyone who is interested, I have written a blog about this, which can be viewed here:

http://grantisnz.wordpress.com/3g-da...z-on-iphone-4/

Have a read of the blog – I understand there are some differences between the devices, but pretty much all of that is covered in my blog & feel free to leave a comment on the blog, if you want.


Cheers,



Grant

[Gremlin]

I'm surprised vodafone exceeded telecom at all. Tested data sticks in Parnell on the same laptop late last year. Vodafone's red zone, the best you should be able to get couldn't come close to Telecom.

[Zimsar10]

I'm surprised vodafone exceeded telecom at all. Tested data sticks in Parnell on the same laptop late last year. Vodafone's red zone, the best you should be able to get couldn't come close to Telecom.

Vodafone "Red Zone" has nothing to do with Mobile Broadband (which is what I was testing) - that is landline broadband that you are talking about.

[Gremlin]

well, vodafone is using the wrong terminology for its own gear then. The test was data stick vs data stick, minutes apart, same identical place, same laptop.

[Suntoucher]

Could have tried the same test but alternating devices. Thus you would also see how each device reacts to signal strength and have an overall fairer result.

Otherwise it makes me glad I made the swap to XT.

[Zimsar10]

well, vodafone is using the wrong terminology for its own gear then. The test was data stick vs data stick, minutes apart, same identical place, same laptop.

I haven't seen Vodafone advertise Red Network on any of their Mobile devices.

[Zimsar10]

Could have tried the same test but alternating devices. Thus you would also see how each device reacts to signal strength and have an overall fairer result.

Otherwise it makes me glad I made the swap to XT.

I could have - but for the extensive testing that was done - I couldn't be bothered with the hassle. ie removing microSIM from iPad putting it into the iPhone & vice versa....

[Gubb]

I haven't seen Vodafone advertise Red Network on any of their Mobile devices.

Considering that Vodafone doesn't do home broadband, everything they do is "Mobile".

[jonbuoy]

It is a little bit unfair to be using speedtest, a laptop with a USB 3G and Wget command would have been a better comparison, one thing I have noticed doing speedtests on mobile broadband is that the providers throttle you back a fair bit on downloads to try and keep general web surfing for all users snappy, you can see this with Wget - downloads starts off high and as it continues you can see it get capped or throttled back to 64K/bs or whatever by the provider.

[hayd3n]

i wouldent call ita comprehensive test but
i would call it a test tho

[Brian d marge]

It is a little bit unfair to be using speedtest, a laptop with a USB 3G and Wget command would have been a better comparison, one thing I have noticed doing speedtests on mobile broadband is that the providers throttle you back a fair bit on downloads to try and keep general web surfing for all users snappy, you can see this with Wget - downloads starts off high and as it continues you can see it get capped or throttled back to 64K/bs or whatever by the provider.

not just in NZ , the lying dodgy baskets I pay my wedge to throttle , but I cant prove it and they deny it , Ive tried all the shaper detectors etc on the web but when I download , bang you can see it kick in

next to bankers these toe rags are on my hit list for trip to Le Guillotine or just taken outside and shot

Not only do they advertise 100Mbps . and only give 33, national and 1.6 international
and download speeds of 250 Kbps ........

I cannot believe the fraud...... even dodgy used car salesmen give better service

ooops Ranting better stop

Ps , iphone 4 ,,,,, not going to get , have iphone 3g , next will be EVO 4 HTC ,,,, ooohhh ahhhhhh arriving in October

Stephen

[jonbuoy]

not just in NZ , the lying dodgy baskets I pay my wedge to throttle , but I cant prove it and they deny it , Ive tried all the shaper detectors etc on the web but when I download , bang you can see it kick in

next to bankers these toe rags are on my hit list for trip to Le Guillotine or just taken outside and shot

Not only do they advertise 100Mbps . and only give 33, national and 1.6 international
and download speeds of 250 Kbps ........

I cannot believe the fraud...... even dodgy used car salesmen give better service

ooops Ranting better stop

Ps , iphone 4 ,,,,, not going to get , have iphone 3g , next will be EVO 4 HTC ,,,, ooohhh ahhhhhh arriving in October

Stephen

For sure, they should give out the guaranteed minimum bit rates not just a peak or "burstable" bit rate.

[Zimsar10]

Considering that Vodafone doesn't do home broadband, everything they do is "Mobile".

LOL!!! That's not true at all - Vodafone NZ brought iHug in October 2006 & have been selling Home Broadband since.... http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/...25720200226874

Here are their Home Broadband plans: http://www.vodafone.co.nz/broadband/

[Zimsar10]

i wouldent call ita comprehensive test but
i would call it a test tho

It is comprehensive, in terms of the number of sites - 15 in total, this provides a far greater overview of Mobile BB Data speeds in my area.

[Zimsar10]

It is a little bit unfair to be using speedtest, a laptop with a USB 3G and Wget command would have been a better comparison, one thing I have noticed doing speedtests on mobile broadband is that the providers throttle you back a fair bit on downloads to try and keep general web surfing for all users snappy, you can see this with Wget - downloads starts off high and as it continues you can see it get capped or throttled back to 64K/bs or whatever by the provider.

Huh?? There is nothing wrong with using www.speedtest.net to determine the Mobile Speed in a given area (or landline speeds for that matter), it is accurate & I'm not aware of any NZ company deliberately slowing Mobile Data Speeds down....I'm happy to look at some evidence if you can prove it though.

You need to remember, that when more customers are using a cell site for Data, the speeds will decrease (by how much depends on backhaul to the cell site) & also the coverage area will decrease (cell site breathing).

My tests were done at a busy time of day as well, to provide a more "real world" indication of the speeds, at the time of testing.

You may also be interested in some Speed Tests that a person I know of completed in Dunedin, they were more comprehensive, in terms of measuring data throughput than mine & they certainly did not show any indication of speed shaping/throttling on either network.

View the tests here & check out the video to see actual download speeds:

http://buttonmasher.co.nz/ahmad/2010...t-vs-vodafone/